Note: This is a copy of the present version of the article available at Jonathan Rothwell’s Brain Dump here. More up-to-date (or incorrect) information may be available there.
The Asus Eee PC is a fabulous little computer. However, it has one big Achilles’ heel: it only has 512mB of RAM by default on the lower-end models. This means that even applications such as Firefox, Evolution and OpenOffice.org can struggle. In most cases, RAM is more of a bottleneck than the CPU clock speed.
Why upgrade the Eee’s RAM?
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It futureproofs the machine against more demanding applications.
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It frees up space in the RAM for caching, reducing the load on the swapfile and thus prolonging the life of the disk drive.
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It makes pretty things like Compiz, Emerald etc, less choppy.
What to order
The Eee PC accepts up to 2gB of 200-pin SO-DIMM random access memory. (The Eee only uses a 32-bit CPU by default, and therefore can handle a theoretical maximum of 3gB of RAM, but as there’s only one RAM slot on the logic board, it can only handle 2gB without replacing the motherboard and CPU.)
I ordered my RAM from Crucial, who are, I have to say, excellent. The module arrived within sixty hours, along with an anti-static wrist strap. Their pricing is reasonable too.
I highly recommend the anti-static wrist strap. It’s a little strap with an adhesive side that you wrap around your wrist, and a copper tape on the end which is connected to ground. Normally, you’d connect it to the chassis of the computer: but as the Eee’s chassis is plastic, this will not do any good. Anything metal and exposed should work. I connected mine to the pipe of a radiator.
With regards to other tools, you should have access to a small-ish cross-headed (Phillips) screwdriver, and you should also have a large, clean-ish workspace, with access to a suitable grounding device and a spare thirty minutes or so, if you’ve never touched the inside of a machine before. If you have, it’ll probably take less than ten minutes. I swapped mine in less than a quarter of an hour, and the process would have been a lot quicker if I didn’t have to keep stopping to take photographs.
A Word of Warning and a Disclaimer
Upgrading the Eee PC’s RAM will most probably void the warranty. On some machines, an additional warranty sticker is stuck over the RAM access panel, so you would void the warranty by opening it. It’s no use coming round the other way either: all Eees have a warranty-void sticker on the spacer plate between the keyboard and the logic board. If you’re using the Eee 4G Surf (i.e. the 4gB disk drive but no webcam), you have no choice but to come down through the keyboard and trackpad, as there is no RAM access panel. On the 2G Surf, don’t bother: the RAM is soldered directly onto the logic board, so you’d have to replace the logic board as well as the RAM - and as the hard drive is soldered onto the motherboard, you’d need to replace that as well. Overall, it might be more economical for you to return the Eee and buy the next model up, if you are desperate for more RAM.
Even if you do not void the warranty, should your Eee fail and you want a refund from Asus, you would have to prove that the fault exists with the original hardware. This means restoring the original RAM module. If you intend on retaining the warranty’s validity, you’ll just have to put up with the RAM how it is.
I can take no responsibility for any damage that arises out of you following the instructions provided here. They are provided in good faith and are correct to the best of my knowledge, but they are provided as is and with absolutely no warranty whatsoever.
Right then… let’s go
Method
This method comes in five parts: preparation, opening the case, installing the RAM, closing the case, and testing. This method should work for the Eee PC 701 4G, 8G, the 900 and the 901. I’m unsure about the 902 onwards, and the 1000 models. The 2G 701 has RAM that is impossible to replace, and the 4G Surf has no RAM access hatch. RAM can still be upgraded in the 4G Surf, but the ‘opening’ procedure should be modified to involve removing the keyboard, trackpad and top part of the case, and lifting the motherboard out of the case to access the RAM. Instructions for this can be found elsewhere on the Internet.
Preparation
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Power down the computer (duh!)
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Unplug the power cable from the computer.
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Close the computer and turn it upside down, so the bottom is facing you and the ASUS badge is facing the work surface.
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Remove the battery from the Eee. This is done by moving the switch closest to the power port to the ‘open’ position. This is marked by a red dot being visible in the switch’s recess. Then slide and hold the other switch, and pull the battery out of the machine. Keep both the battery and the power cord to one side.
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Ground yourself by touching an exposed metal object. If possible, use a grounding wriststrap. Be careful not to move around the room during the procedure without grounding yourself again.
Opening the case
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Take the screwdriver, and undo the two screws on the RAM access hatch. They undo counter-clockwise and are screwed in clockwise.
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Place your fingernail in the recess to the bottom of the panel, and lift it out. You should now be able to see the bottom of the logic board and the RAM slot, with the present RAM module.
Installing the RAM
It’s worth grounding yourself again before doing this, just to be safe.
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Look at the RAM module. It is retained in its place with two clips on either side of the module.
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Gingerly push the ends of these clips towards the edge of the RAM access hatch, so that they move away from the module. Be VERY careful. Once it is done, the module should pop out and rest at an angle to the logic board.
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Carefully lift the module out of its position, and place it somewhere safe. If your new RAM module is broken, you’ll want the old one back.
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Place the new RAM module where the old one was, so that the gold connectors are pointing into the slot. Ensure you have the chip the right way round.
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Push the RAM module’s pins into the slot, firmly but without too much force. If it begins to hurt pressing down on the module, stop: you’re applying too much force. The object here is not for it to click flush against the logic board yet, but to make sure that the pins are far enough into the slot that the notch around a quarter of the way from the left of the module is occupied by the small piece of plastic jutting out in the middle of the slot.
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If you are certain that the module’s pins are correctly connected, push gently down on the top of the module (I suggest pushing the plastic casing of the chips) until the clips ‘click’ into place above it. The arrangement should now look practically identical to how it was before.
Closing the case
Place the RAM access hatch back where it was, and click it back into position. Replace the two screws, this time screwing clockwise to screw them in.
Testing
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Insert the battery and the power cord.
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Turn on the computer. If, at the Asus logo BIOS screen, you hear a loud sequence of beeps and the computer does not continue booting, then the RAM may not be properly recognised, or may be damaged. Check you’ve followed all these instructions carefully, and, if necessary, revert to the original 512mB RAM module.
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At the BIOS screen, quickly press F2 to enter Setup. You should be able to see the size of the installed RAM module: press Escape or F10 to quit.
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Start your operating system as usual, and let it enjoy the extra room to breathe. Your computer will thank you for it.
If you’re still using the original Eee Linux distribution
The Linux distribution that ships with the Eee PC has a kernel which is only compiled to handle 1024mB (1gB) of RAM, downwards. If you have a 2gB module and want to take full advantage of it, you will need to recompile the kernel. Instructions for this can be found elsewhere on the Internet.
Speaking of which, if you’re still using the default distro, why? It may be easier and cleaner for you to install Ubuntu Eee or Eeedora than to use the default, buggy, ugly, messy Xandros distribution.
great manual, thanksalot.
it’s like a whole new speed-experience now surfing on the eee 901 …!
Comment by fw — Saturday, September 20, 2008 @ 13:14
According to ASUS replacing the ram definitely does not void the warranty. See http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/12/10/eee_pc_warranty_still_intact/
Comment by Justin — Thursday, October 9, 2008 @ 03:19