Asus S56CA-WH31 15.6" Ultrabook Teardown, integrated SSD hack, and OS install hack

Hello, i am a newbie at this forum, but i understand that it is a amazing thread!
I have the Asus S56CB - XX173H , and i am really dissatisfied with asus and the quality and performance of the laptop!
Probably change the ssd with a brand new is a solution in performance and starting up of this laptop.
But the quality of screen is really low! Does anyone know if that laptop (vga gforce 740m) could support a full hd screen? And if there is some useful links of some screens/?

 

Hi, recently I bought a SSD Micron C400 128GB. I wanted to remove a standoff, but I couldn't do that. So I done something else. My disk fits on motheboard without removing the standoff. Only problem was one element on the disk, which was touching the standoff. So I made some bracket from a hard cardboard. Everything works great. Below is a picture, showing how I made it.


And screen from AS SSD

 

HI, right now i removed the standoff with a solder, with a veri tiny edge, just tap the standoff for 2 or 3 seconds, and it wil be released.

 

Hi All,

My first post here, how are you? Great thread!

Anyhow, I've followed the instructions posted here and I was able to install a copy of Windows 7 Pro on a
S56CA-BH51-CB.

I then followed the instructions to get the 24 Gb Sandisk SSD working as it came from Asus and all is good.

However, my notebook refuses to fully shutdown. It goes through the sequence of shutting down but the
light on the start button never goes off. If I then push the start button for about 10 seconds it will turn off.

The unit also refuses to go into sleep mode. It will go through the motions but then it will fail to enter sleep
mode. If I then push the start button for about 10 seconds it will re-boot and give me the choice of starting
in safe mode.

I purchased the unit at Newegg (refurbished) and I'm happy with it except for the mentioned problem.

I thank you for your reply and look forward to it.

mrfixityet

 

I've been using this machine for quite a while.... tried to upgrade the SSD and succeeded following your posts... the only thing that's bugging me is, I could install the windows os from a usb thumbdrive through the UEFI on to the SSD... but I doesn't seem to be installed like the OEM did..... Here the case the original laptop from the factory had the SSD invisible which would just aid in instant on and some IRST functions with all the System files on the HDD... Apart from the Boot folder I assume...! How can I bring the same scenario with my new SSD installed??

 

Hi MiftuneT. I was able to take my S56CA apart thanks to your guide, and I did it within 20 minutes of signing the Amazon delivery guy's pad. I've now got 16 gigs of RAM singing on the notebook and it irritates my colleagues to no end. Here's my next hurdle. I want to use an HDD caddy (like many others in this thread) but I also want to install an SSD to the caddy and migrate my entire OS to the SSD. Let me break it down.

1. Install caddy with SSD
2. Migrate HDD data to SSD (clone it)
3. Boot off the SSD and use the HDD as data storage

Here are my stumbling blocks

1. Will the BIOS automatically pick the caddy with the SSD as the boot drive or do I need to specify which drive to boot from
2. Is it a better idea to swap the drives and put the HDD into the caddy and the SSD into the HDD bay on the motherboard
3. Will doing either of the above snap the link between the OS drive and the mSATA SSD thereby rendering it useless.
4. If the answer to query #3 is true then what's a good way forward to use the 24GB mSATA SSD after making the switch.

Thanks to you and anyone who cares to point me in the right direction.

 

My first post here too. I have an S56CM that had the same problem. I think that some of the 24GB SSDs are faulty, so I removed it and the laptop started shutting down and starting up properly again. Had to use the Win8 refresh to clear up driver issues causing the computer to freeze every now and then.

Cheers

 

Thank you, I upgraded the SSD to a 240GB Samsung 840EVO mSATA. Getting rid of the hard drive reduces the weight by 118gms, I can always use the space for a large drive later.

The SSD standoff was easily removed with a soldering iron and immediately placed on the next slot, mind that a very sharp soldering iron might melt the tiny red and black wires underneath.

Used Macrium Reflect to clone old drive to the SSD on the laptop, no issue with Windows 8.1. Needed because ASUS do not appear to supply a free clean install disk creation method.

Macrium lets you resize the partitions, I removed the D (Data) drive because its pointless and reduced the recovery drive to 16GB. Macrium UI is weird, you need to calc the size of the C drive and increase it before you add the other partitions to the set for cloning.

Boot time form 25 seconds to 11 and windows updates are many times faster.
Very happy and thank you for your guide.

 

NEEDED THIS MORE THAN ANYTHING, CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH! Even went through with the mSSD mod, you are a GOD sir. :thumbsup:

 

I have a HW configuration identical to this and i'm having some issues with HDD/SSD ..i made a new thread to keep things organized..also my netbook is a different model ( S550CB )
Hope someone will check my thread out please please please http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ion-vga-740m-error-code-43-a.html#post9725330

 

Hi,
maybe you Guys like to know that i successfully have changed my internal Qualcomm Atheros PCIe WiFi Card into a Intel DUAL Band Wireless-AC 7260 PCIe WiFi Card You have to know that there are 2 different Intel Cards. There is a HMC and also a M.2 Version. The difference is the Slot (it's something like AGP and PCI long time ago in PCs) The Asus S56CM needed the HMC Version. This Intel WiFi Card does not only have WiFi ac/a/b/g/n it also have Bluetooth 4.0 Smart Ready Low Energy and of course supports Intel WiDi (Wireless Display) so you can for example use your TV as a Monitor without any HDMI Cable. This card is great and works perfectly! I only have deinstalled the Qualcomm Driver and then plugged the new Card into the Laptop. After booting Windows 8.1 up the new card was automatically recognized and installed and ther was nothing more to do. Plug and Play at its Best.

 

So I have the K56CB model, with the hidden mSata ssd slot under frame. I managed to raise the plastic enough to insert the ssd (Micron C400 128gb) there and plug it in. But the laptop won't start anymore. If I remove the ssd the laptop will turn on, otherwise won't. The ssd is in contact with the screw on the motherboard, maybe that could be an issue?

I tested the ssd on my desktop system and works fine. Anyone can help me with a suggestion?
Thanks.

@jaguar963: so you have the same K56CB laptop as mine? Can you tell me how you managed to get it work? Thanks.

 

Yes the card will be shorting on something most likely.

 

I read the whole thread and as I saw in the first OP posts, there might be an issue with that warranty screw. Anyway, I sent an email to Asus and asked them to install my ssd. Hope I'll get the answer I need.

later edit:

So I managed to wrap the ssd with 1cm wide tape so now it won't touch the screw on motherboard directly. I rebooted and it works. I can see the ssd.
So no need to void your warranty, just sneak the ssd under the plastic frame (raised with something made of plastic) and it's done. I'll come back with pictures later.

So when I tried to install win8.1 on ssd from dvd, I got this error:
0x80300024

So I looks like I have to disconnect my had in order to install, but I'm not sure it's gonna work.
Do you have any safe solution without losing my data stored on had?

 

Great mods for this ultrabook guys.
I for one am a guy with no mods to this laptop.
I am here with a unique query. Am htinking of installing the Win 10 preview edition.
Has anyone tried this yet. If yes, any big issues that I should be aware of.
Can you please give me step by step instructions of doing the same. Would be great help.

Thanks on advance.

 

Hi, I am also a complete noob with laptops (I have a good bit of experience with desktop PC builds and OS installs).

I have the s56ca laptop, when i made it dual boot with Ubuntu it worked for a while then the Windows 8.1 side of things BSOD'd and now refuses to recover because it cant find the recovery partition. The Ubuntu side of things works completely fine and i can see the recovery partition and all other windows and asus partitions are intact, I found some information on another forum saying its because creating a new partition for Ubuntu could have broken the factory link to the recovery partition.

If I completely reformat the HDD (I don't need any data from the HDD) and use this method to install windows 8.1 will that work?

TL;DR
Can I use this for just a fresh start on the HDD?

 

Greetings friends! I know this topic is old , but just bought this laptop, asus s56c and reinstall windows 8 ruling, the screen is not lit more , and tried uninstalling everything, memory, hard disk , disk ISSD , disconnect the battery of the bios , disconnect battery , but does not react , could someone please help me!

 

If the screen wont even display the bios with the disk removed then it's a hardware issue. Check the display cable is seated properly.

 

first thank you very much for answering! I do not think the problem is the screen, which would serve if the display is connected by HDMI on another screen apart makes no sound fault, do you think changing the motherboard could be arranged?

 

It might be the screen since the screen is consisted of LCD and backlight.
So if there's no light then the text on the LCD becomes dim.
Plugging in an external display will work because the display itself also has backlight,

 

Thank you! but I still think the problem is the BIOS, which connect another monitor and does not work , it will be possible to repair the BIOS? or its inpossible repair the BIOS

 

No, it cannot be BIOS problem.

 

But i try everthing, i dissamble all the laptop, disconnect the BIOS battery and nothing happened , i think the problem its because the last person who use the laptop try to install win 8 and cant install win 8, i see the same on another web, my question is if possible to repair the BIOS, or is necessary to change the motherboard

 

Installing an OS can't impact the BIOS in that way. Windows 8 can be installed on a laptop with windows 7 comparability basically. When you took apart the machine did you check behind the panel?