HP Mini 110 & Crystal HD Decoder

[marvin-miller]

Hi Folks!

Looking for some advice - I have a HP Mini 110-3000 that I really love. I've been 'souping' it up over the last while with memory, SSD, 3x3 MIMO etc.

I always wanted to install a Crystal HD Decoder card (mini pci-e). The problem is, the mainboard only has one mini pci-e slot installed and it's taken up by the wireless network card.

There is a spot a little higher up on the mainboard, however, where the WWAN card would go if my mini had one. There's no mini pci-e connector there but the solder points are. So I ordered up a connector and got the local electronics shop to install it for me.

Today I plugged in my Crystal HD card but it was not detected. I then tried putting my wireless card in there - same thing. I then tried moving the Crystal HD card to the wireless slot - it worked fine.

So it seems my new connector either doesn't work or there is something else going on. The electronics shop mentioned when I picked it up that they tested every solder point and I know they are pretty good as they are the local warranty depot for any number of popular brands.

Any ideas on what else could cause this? I was thinking BIOS lock on the WWAN port but there are no start-up messages. I was also able to confirm that at least once of the traces on the new connector has power going to it.

[Mick]

go through the HP site and find a model that has the feature you need, try the driver/software that toggles the power on and off. If you have a multi meter check that power is actually going to the pci-e.

I think if its a whitelist block it will tell you so but you could post a link to your bios and a link to a bios that you know works on the same board with the feature enabled

[marvin-miller]

go through the HP site and find a model that has the feature you need, try the driver/software that toggles the power on and off. If you have a multi meter check that power is actually going to the pci-e.

I think if its a whitelist block it will tell you so but you could post a link to your bios and a link to a bios that you know works on the same board with the feature enabled

Hi Mick - thanks for the reply!

I loaded the drivers in for the card and it works - just not in the new slot. It appears that the only way you can turn it on/off is if you have WWAN card in that slot - at that point the software from HP will allow you to turn it on/off (whether it's the card or the slot no one knows for sure - I suspect it's the card itself). Unfortunately, I don't have a WWAN card so that software refuses to install :-(

I did try getting on some of the pins with a multi-meter and it did show power but I had a hard time finding a decent pin-out for the mini pci-e connector. Every one I saw showed different values for the different pins. I do know there is some power there though (at the connector). The problem is that the pins are very small and the ends of both my multi-meter and my soldering gun are very big (in comparison).

I do know that the electronics shop specifically told me when I picked it up that they checked each and every trace. Other then that, I'm wondering if it's a lost cause.

I'm not seeing any start-up issues reported from the BIOS and I did pull all power from the unit (including CMOS battery) but to no avail.

The BIOS I'm using is this one => http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Re...6#pid39486

I'm wondering if it's possible that the BIOS has a hidden switch to turn on the WWAN option....

[Mick]

<-snip->

there are some mods here who have experience with this stuff, sometimes blanking the on/off switch out with a bit of tape helps, sure someone will come along soon to help you more.....

[marvin-miller]

there are some mods here who have experience with this stuff, sometimes blanking the on/off switch out with a bit of tape helps, sure someone will come along soon to help you more.....

That would be great as it's currently just sitting in the WWAN slot doing nothing

[marvin-miller]

Hi folks!

I have an HP Mini 110-3000 and was wondering if anyone has ever been able to install and activate the second mini-pci express slot (WWAN) if the netbook didn't come with one from the factory?

My Mini 110 didn't come with the pci connector but the solder pads were there so I had one profesionally installed. The installer checked each pin after soldering to verify functionality.

When I got home I installed a Crystal HD Decoder card in that slot and it was not detected. I then moved my WLAN card into that slot to see if it would work and...nothing.

This causes me to wonder if it's even possible to activate the native WWAN slot if the netbook did not originally come with one. There are no options in the BIOS to turn it on/off (likely because it didn't come with the WWAN option).

Has anyone out there ever been able to successfully activate a soldered on connector in the WWAN slot on a Mini 110? If so, what did you do to make it work?

This is the connector I'm talking about (top one)

[marvin-miller]

I just installed the same card into an existing mini-pci slot in my nephew's netbook (an Acer Aspire One) and we had the very same issue - the card was not detected.

However, we updated the BIOS to the latest release from Acer and, Presto! the card was then detected.

That really causes me to wonder if the issue is that the BIOS on my Mini needs to have the WWAN slot turned on. I bet that's all it is.

[marvin-miller]

No one??