Introduction: Acer Aspire One (A Guide to Dismantling)

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About: I love internet reading. I think I have acquired more knowledge from the internet than I have and probably ever will from a standard institution of learning.

One morning I got bored and curious plus my crappy netbook went on BSOD. This guide will show you exactly how to dismantle, reset BIOS if removing CMOS battery did not work and eventually flashing of the latest BIOS to revive your netbook. Now, this is a very common problem with this netbook since it was released to the market with a defective BIOS software that can eventually fail and needs to be upgraded. This problem is so common that the manufacturer decided to post the solution on the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) of the site.

DISCLAIMER: THIS STEP BY STEP GUIDE IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO ACER ASPIRE ONE MODEL AOD150. FOR OTHER MODELS, DISMANTLE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Step 1: Finding All the External Screws...

First off, you need a screw driver. After that, find all the external screws of the netbook. They're usually located under. You may need to remove some rubber legs as it conceals the rest of your screws. There should be like 3 screws under the battery, 3 screws under where the touch pad is and 2 under the rubber legs near the hinges.

Step 2: Removing the Keyboard...

Now removing the keyboard is a little tricky. You may need a flat head screw driver for this. There are 3 latches that hold the keyboard in place. The latches are above the "Pause Break", "F8" and "F2" keys. I suggest that you start with the middle latch where the F8 button is. Just push it upward towards the screen with your flat head screw driver and the keyboard should pop out.

Slowly slide upward the keyboard but watch out for its cable. Carefully remove the cable and the keyboard should come right off.

You should see a few more screws on the metal plate after removing the keyboard. Remove all these screws to take out the plastic cover of the netbook. Keep your screws in segregated piles as they are slightly different in size.

Step 3: Hard-resetting CMOS...

Lift the locks for the touch pad but be careful with the touch pad cable. It's located right above. Carefully remove this cable before forcing the whole cover to open.

You should be able to see the motherboard. Remove the SSD connector (bottom right) and LCD connector (top left). Unscrew the motherboard then carefully lift it up. You will see the memory slot on the back of the motherboard.

If you're having a BIOS problem, clearing the CMOS might help you with this. However, if it does not revive your netbook, then flash it with the latest BIOS which can be downloaded from ACER site.Now, I was not able to locate the CMOS battery of my netbook that is why I did the hard-reset method. As you can see from the motherboard, look closely you will notice there are four memory chips on the board nicely aligned next to each other. A few millimeters to the right are two triangles with a small C1 printed next to them. Connect both triangles using conductive material, effectively shorting them, and press the power button. The CMOS has been reset.

Step 4: Exploring the LCD...

Removing the LCD cover should be easy. Most of these screws are hidden beneath the round rubbers glued to the LCD cover. Just remove these rubbers and you should see 4 screws immediately. To completely remove the cover, 2 more screws are concealed near the hinges. Just remove the black rubber stickers and you should be able to see it. Unscrew them and carefully lift the cover. It should come right off easily.

TO FLASH/UPDATE BIOS, FOLLOW THE ACER TUTORIAL HERE.AFTER UPGRADING TO THE LATEST BIOS, MY NETBOOK WAS REVIVED. I HAVE INSTALLED UBUNTU 11.04 AND NEVER GOT THE BSOD PROBLEM SO FAR...