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For a secret project I am planning I decided to swap out the stock wifi card for one with alternate features.  I use the 1000HE eeepc for ham radio and some other tasks.  I really like it.  Due to my background and preferences I had installed linux, at the time I installed I wanted to get all the drivers and all as easily as possible.  To that end I opted for the eeebuntu distribution.  It is currently based on ubuntu, although the next release which is currently in beta will be debian due to severe problems with things breaking with each ubuntu release.

This is the saga of how I did it.Disassembly was fairly simple, I followed this guide with a couple of additions.  Anyone who has previously set up their own system or installed services such as O2 broadband shouldn’t have much difficulty in completing this task. I did not take any photos of the process, but it is fairly trivial to explain.

When removing the keyboard there are two tiny tabs on each side of the keyboard, if you flex the case slightly you can get them to pop out without breaking.  This ensures a snugger fit when you put it all back together.

After removing the bottom cover, remove the hard drive.  The hard drive helps hold the mainboard in place.

After the last step there are 2 screws at each of the two hinges, you need to pull those.  There are also two screws, one near each hinge that connects a terminal connector to the board.  They should be removed.  There is 1 or 2 (I forget now and its back together) screws on the right side, one is by the battery and the other is closer to the power button if memory serves.  Once those are out you can slide the mainboard up and left (watch for connectors like the speakers by where the space bar is and the fan by where the tab key is).  The VGA connector will bind against the case, just go slow and easy and maybe push a little from the bottom and it should come out.

Once you have the main board out you can look at the bottom where the mini pci-e wifi card is.  Carefully disconnect the two antenna connectors without bending the metal!!  The metal will bend easily, if it bends its likely to break.  Remove the two screws and swap devices (you don’t have to put in a wifi card although most people like wifi).  Screw the other device down and CAREFULLY press the two antenna connectors on, if applicable.  When you press the connectors on make sure you dont bend anything including the small pin that is the center of the connector.  This means that they have to go on straight, not at an angle, and you need to have direct downward force.

To reassemble just follow the instructions in reverse.  There are only 4-5 sets of screws you pull out, I prefer to group them so that each step has its own stash of screws.  That was I can easily get the right size and not have to mess around as much.

The only other advice I can give is make sure there is no dirt or debris on your table top, I got a couple minor scratches in the case

Installing the drivers

Eeebuntu (latest stable, last ubuntu based) does not have the ndiswrapper kernel module installed even though a apt-get showpkg linux-image-$(uname -r) indicates that it does provide that package.  This prevented my card from working (yeah, the stock one has native drivers, but for this currently classified project I had to go with an ndis install).

I downloaded the source for ndiswrapper and put it on the box.  Fortunately I had everything required to build already installed, including all the kernel headers.  After a

make all install
ndiswrapper -i <my driver>.inf
ndiswrapper -l
(make sure it worked)
ndiswrapper -ma
ndiswrapper -mi

I had working wifi again, and this time with the features that I need.