Nope … that’s postage included (I think) … and if you only have the default 512MB, it’s DEFINITELY worth it … but your choice 
If on the other hand your AA1 is the model that has 1GB b default, then yeh, it won’t make such a drastic difference.
Yes it has 1GB already.
I remember when I bought it in Singapore trying to get it ‘for UK price’, and the shop showing me how the UK spec only had 512mb…
You’ll be fine then
[EDIT]
Don’t get me wrong … PeppermintOS Two will happily run in 512MB, but it’s a slightly smoother experience in 1GB+ … specially when you have multiple apps open, or multiple browser tabs.
Okey-dokey. I’ll try and remember to keep multi-tab usage down in future. It’s done for convenience really, so no problem.
I found your links to the tutorials for taking the A110 apart. That’ll be fun, look forward to it! :-\
p.s. I think I will leave unpacking/installing the new battery until I know I can successfully change the SSD. If the latter goes irrecoverably wrong, well then at least I can Ebay the still wrapped battery I suppose!
The only awkward part is removing the keyboard … the rest is about as simple as it gets … good luck, though I’m sure you’ll manage
A question re: fitting the SSD.
The green PCB is the original one, the blue PCB is the new one
You’ll see that the ribbon connector slot is on the reverse side with the new board. On the green board there is a cable guide glued to one chip but it has a space to thread the cable through so it is also a cable guide. I can take it off. I don’t know if it is vital to transfer it to the new board, but I’m imagining it is.
To connect the cable to the new board, and for the latter to be in the same position that makes the cable upside down. I can’t mount the board upside down as the heat-sink obstructs.
Is the trick to reverse the cable as well so the ‘MB’ end goes into the slot on the SSD board instead of going into the MB?
Is there anything stopping you just flipping the new board over ? … it doesn’t matter which chips are on the top or bottom, as long as the ribbon cable is connected so the contacts of the ZIF socket meet the bare contacts on the cable.
http://linuxforums.org.uk/MGalleryItem.php?id=1542
The block in the middle of the ribbon cable is (AFAIK) there solely to anchor the cable … so just stick it to the new board (or exclude it if you wish) … in one of my AA1’s Acer themselves had forgot to remove the tape that protects the glue on the sticky pad that holds the anchor down, so it was free floaing(ish) … never caused a problem
I can flip the board over, but not if I want to keep that cable guide on the equivalent chip on the new board, the guide projects too far down for the space available. The guide is metal and weighs a bit, that is why I thought it was heat sink of some kind. The attaching adhesive is strange, like a little at each end of a black rubber pad and then a piece of white double-sided tape stuck on rather skew whiff covering the other middle 90% of the pad. I will go ahead and slot in the new board upside down without the guide.
Fingers crossed and thx!
Like I said, if it’s a heat sink … Acer messed up with one of My AA1’s … it wasn’t stuck down at all … and I’m pretty sure the pad that’s used to stick it down would insulate rather than transfer heat 
It MAY however be something to stop interference affecting transmission down the ribbon (like the block on the power cable) … so if there’s any way have having it on the cable, but not necessarily stuck to the board, I’d do that … up to you though.
[EDIT]
It’s most likely a ferrite core, which is supposed to reduce “noise” in the cable at high transmission speeds by absorbing electro-magnetic interference.
[END EDIT]
I think it’s only stuck to the board to stop it floating around too much.
Ok thanks. Now assuming I can get the whole thing back together…
Do I just go ahead and power it up? And if so what might I expect it to do?
Is the next step then to reinstall Peppermint as per previously?
See the edit in my last posting about the ferrite core (anchor block) …
From what I gather it’s a ceramic block containing ferrous material that is supposed to dampen electro-magnetic interference (EMI)
I’d put it semi-together first … as in, don’t click the keyboard back in place till tested.
First I’d boot to the BIOS and see if the SSD is listed
I’d also have a Peppermint LiveUSB handy … then boot to it, and see if the SSD is being seen by Peppermint, by opening a terminal and running:
sudo fdisk -l
if that see’s the 16GB drive … by returning something like Disk /dev/sda: 16138 MB … go ahead and install Peppermint to it, and clip the keyboard back in place.
But you’re the man with the screw driver … so how you go about it must (in the end) be your decision
Thx for the info:
I re-attached the ferrite core to the ribbon cable and left is not attached to anything. It looked fine.
I installed Peppermint without any problems.
I went through the list of tweaking and updates. The only one that was not possible was step #9, because it appears in this perhaps latest version of the OS there is no ‘Quick filter’ box visible.
Everything else seems to work fine (battery still reporting as broken, but a new one is due any day).
The one remaining problem is the touchpad connector on the MB. When I originally removed the connecting cable the tiny black flip-down closer, flipped off instead. And now I can see no way to get it back on, without which the touchpad won’t work. It is not the end of the world as I can use an external mouse anyway, just a shame to not get it back and keep my options open. I’ll give it another hour of trying tomorrow, or reconcile myself to it not being possible.
There are some good high-res pictures here re: disassembly, the latter connector mechanism is shown on page 4.
www.dalekeller.net/Other/Computers/AspireOne/Disassembly.pdf
Cheers!
If the black part is broken, all I can suggest is maybe holding it in place with say a screwdriver, and covering it with glue from a hot glue gun.
Good luck.
BTW, the “Quick Filter” box WILL appear (as long as you installed apt-xapian-index), but it takes a while for it to appear the first time, don’t ask me why, just one of those things … it will probably be there the next time you open Synaptic.
[EDIT]
About your battery … do you know which BIOS version your AA1 is running ? … if unsure, what’s the output from:
dmesg | grep DMI
I like your thinking
Trouble is that I can’t see how to slot it in. It is so tiny and fiddly it is very difficult to handle and manipulate at all. The linked picture shows exposed pins on top when the black piece is in place, and it’s not clear how one gets to that point as you can’t view the socket directly front on. Still, no problem, I’ll continue trying tomorrow when good daylight is back and if all else fails I’ll have a go at gluing it in (hadn’t thought of that, so thanks!)
BTW, that’s a very handy disassembly PDF you found there … I think I’ll upload it to my dropbox later, so I can post links to it for the next person that needs to take an AA1 apart … Thanks
Oh … see the edit in my last posting.
The Quick Filter box did reappear!? So, that’s all done now. (For the record I don’t recall that little hiccup last time around in May).
re: checking the BIOS. Alt+F2 brings up a Run window in which that command does nothing. Typing in ‘Terminal’ yields an errror, ‘Failed to execute child process “terminal” (no such file or directory)’
However F2 on a reboot shows: SysBIOS v0.3309, and VGA BIOS: Intel V1585
p.s. Would fast drying epoxy be an alternative to a hot glue gun?
Yes I liked that .pdf file too, glad it might be of use to others. I also note that the eponymous ‘TnkGrl’ and her A110 videos are essentially no more (i.e. they’re cutoff from the original 30 odd minutes each to c. 3-5m)…
The 2 problems with epoxy resin are:-
a) it’s not as viscous as hot glue, and may work its way under the ribbon cable and break the contact
and
b) Hot glue can be undone by re-warming, or just flicking it off
But as always … it’s your call.
3 ways to open a terminal …
-
menu>Accessories>Terminal
-
Ctrl+Alt+T
-
Alt+F2 then type lxterminal … and click OK
OK noted thanks. I might pop down to the hardware shop tomorrow and see if they have glue guns.
re: BIOS. The suggested returns -
[ 0.000000] DMI 2.4 present.
[ 0.000000] DMI: Acer AOA110/ , BIOS v0.3309 10/6/2008
Ooops … forgot to mention … as far as I’m aware the battery charging issues were fixed by that BIOS version (v0.3309) … so you’re probably right and the battery is just dead.
There IS a later BIOS (v0.3310) but I can’t see the point in flashing it to your system, unless there’s a NEED I don’t like advising people to flash their BIOS … if it goes wrong, you can turn your system into a doorstop.
I don’t think it being left on permanent charge for 2-3 years did it any favours! (no surprise)