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Add an ssd to Revo 3610 - EarnheadJ - 2010-11-22

Is it possible to add a ssd to my Acer Revo 3610 and keep the original 160 gb hard drive in there too?

- maddog808 - 2010-11-22

Doubt it. Not a lot of room in there. Why would you want to?

- poofyhairguy - 2010-11-22

No.

- EarnheadJ - 2010-11-23

maddog808 Wrote:Doubt it. Not a lot of room in there. Why would you want to?

Just so I could keep the original windows 7 O.S. there when I want to use that. I was going to buy an ssd for xbmc and put the openelec version on it for a fast boot. Right now I use an sd card for xbmc and it boots in 25 seconds. I know I could probably repartition and put both on the ssd drive or the drive in there now but I am afraid I would mess things up as it seems to work good now. Also was hoping to use the original hard drive for extra storage. I guess if aint broke dont fix it. Thanks for the answer though

- maddog808 - 2010-11-23

EarnheadJ Wrote:Just so I could keep the original windows 7 O.S. there when I want to use that. I was going to buy an ssd for xbmc and put the openelec version on it for a fast boot. Right now I use an sd card for xbmc and it boots in 25 seconds. I know I could probably repartition and put both on the ssd drive or the drive in there now but I am afraid I would mess things up as it seems to work good now. Also was hoping to use the original hard drive for extra storage. I guess if aint broke dont fix it. Thanks for the answer though

I actually bought a SSD, and did a fresh install of Windows 7, without all the Acer bloatware, using a OEM copy of W7 matched with the W7 key that came with the Revo. I deleted all previous oem and system partitions, and left 10.4 GB as unallocated space for XBMC Live. I ended up going with XBMCfreak dharma beta3. The Revo boots into this by default, but can easily boot into W7 if I need to. Let me know if you need step by step instructions on installing the SSD, or setting up the dual boot. I took pretty good photos of the Revo when removing the HDD, and replacing with the SSD.

Matt

- Hannes The Hun - 2010-11-23

maddog actually did the perfect way IMHO do get the revo perfectly running. for opening up the revo and changing the HDD, there's one or two excellent video tutorials on youtube.

- Icarus3000 - 2010-11-23

maddog808 Wrote:Let me know if you need step by step instructions on installing the SSD, or setting up the dual boot.

I recently purchased a Revo 3610 and am waiting for my SSD to arrive. Am planning the exact same thing as you. If you have step by step instructions already prepared for installing the SSD (and setting up dual boot), I would love to see them!

Thanks!

- spencers - 2010-11-23

Here's what I followed when swapping the drive in my 1600 to a SSD:
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/04/27/inside-the-acer-revo/1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_snaps/3767888634/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48373875@N06/sets/72157623529909513/
http://aceraspirerevo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=320

It's kind of an amalgamation of all them, but it worked for me.

- maddog808 - 2010-11-23

Icarus3000 Wrote:I recently purchased a Revo 3610 and am waiting for my SSD to arrive. Am planning the exact same thing as you. If you have step by step instructions already prepared for installing the SSD (and setting up dual boot), I would love to see them!

Thanks!

I'll put something together for you when I get home from work later tonight. It's not that tough, especially if I can figure it out. The hardest part was finding a OEM version of W7 Home Premium 64 bit, without any added bloatware. I ended up finding a torrent, and was a little nervous about installing it. Once I got to the activation part, I just entered the product key from the sticker on the Revo's case. It worked with no problem.

- EarnheadJ - 2010-11-24

maddog808 Wrote:I actually bought a SSD, and did a fresh install of Windows 7, without all the Acer bloatware, using a OEM copy of W7 matched with the W7 key that came with the Revo. I deleted all previous oem and system partitions, and left 10.4 GB as unallocated space for XBMC Live. I ended up going with XBMCfreak dharma beta3. The Revo boots into this by default, but can easily boot into W7 if I need to. Let me know if you need step by step instructions on installing the SSD, or setting up the dual boot. I took pretty good photos of the Revo when removing the HDD, and replacing with the SSD.

Matt

Thanks, I would be interested in the instructions. What size ssd did you use? I did open my revo up when I first purchased it to install the crystal card in place of the wireless so I could use xbmc in windows, so I am familiar with getting inside the revo. If I do get an ssd I am going to remove that card as it is no longer needed even with the windows version. But I sure need help on how to format and dual boot. I also downloaded a copy of windows 7 ultimate via torrent but I may just use the 64 bit that came with my machine, if that is possible.

- maddog808 - 2010-11-27

EarnheadJ Wrote:I did open my revo up when I first purchased it to install the crystal card in place of the wireless so I could use xbmc in windows, so I am familiar with getting inside the revo.

Hey Earnhead,

Sorry for the delayed response. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my place this year, so it's been kinda hectic. Plus I am trying to get my unraid server going, and upgrade my office pc with Black Friday deals on Newegg.

Anyway, I will tell you what I did as best I can remember. You already know how to get into the Revo, so I will start from there. In order to unscrew the factory installed HDD, you need to get to the underside of the motherboard. It may be obvious to some people, but it wasn't to me. In order to do that, you need to:

  1. Remove the 4 silver screws that hold the MoBo to the Revo's case.
  2. Remove the 3 tiny black screws that hold the CPU fan to the heatsink.

Here is a photo that illustrates the above instructions:

Image

Now you can:

  1. Move the fan out of the way.
  2. Remove the four screws that hold the heatsink to the MoBo.
  3. Move the heatsink out of the way.


Here is another photo:

Image

Now you can:

  1. Move the two tabs that hold the small circuit board with the usb port in the top left corner of the below photo.
  2. While the tabs are spread apart, you can carefully remove the motherboard, making sure not to pull on any of the wires.

Here is the last photo:

Image

Now, finally you can unscrew the HDD from the underside of the MoBo, and screw your new one in place. Obviously, follow the steps in reverse order to reassemble the Revo.

My next post will deal with formatting the SSD, installing Windows and XBMC, and dual booting.

Regards,
Matt

- maddog808 - 2010-11-27

EarnheadJ Wrote:What size ssd did you use?

I ended up going with the OCZ Agility 60GB. I would have gone with a 30GB, but it would have been tight with the dual boot setup, and the 60GB was only $18 more after the mail in rebate.

Quote:But I sure need help on how to format and dual boot. I also downloaded a copy of windows 7 ultimate via torrent but I may just use the 64 bit that came with my machine, if that is possible.

OK, this part was a bit tricky. I contacted Acer, to see if they would send me a recovery disc. No luck with that. So I rolled the dice by "finding" a copy of Windows 7. I am pretty sure you have to install a OEM version of W7 Home Premium 64 bit, because that is the version that will match the product key on the sticker attached to the Revo's case. I did a Google search for "OEM Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit torrent". One popped up, and I downloaded it.

Now once you have the iso image for the W7 install files, you need to somehow put it on a usb stick, and make it bootable. I found WinToFlash, downloaded the latest version, and followed the instructions to create the bootable usb stick.

Now make sure the Revo is turned off, plug in the USB stick, and press the power button. While it is booting up, continually press F12 until you get to a list of bootable devices. The USB stick should be on that list. Use the arrows to highlight it, and press enter. The Windows 7 install should now begin.

I might be off a bit on the following instructions, but it's not that difficult to figure it out:

  1. Choose your language, time and currency format, etc. Click next.
  2. Click Install Now.
  3. Check the box to accept the license terms. Click next.
  4. Select “Custom (advanced)”.
  5. Now you should be in a window that asks "Where do you want to install Windows?" Click on "Drive options (advanced)".
  6. Then click "New"
  7. Now you will create a partition for Windows. You can manually enter the size of the partition. I entered something like 50,000 MB, so that 10GB or so of my 60GB SSD would be left as unallocated space for XBMC Live. The 10GB was recommended by someone with way more experience than me, so I went with it.
  8. Once you decide on the size of your Windows partition, click "apply".

A warning will pop up saying that Windows might create additional partitions for system files. Click OK.

Now you should have:
  • Disk 0 Partition 1: System Reserved 100.0 MB....
  • Disk 0 Partition 2
  • Disk 0 Unallocated Space

Select Disk 0 Partition 2, and click "Next".

Windows will now begin copying files. Then it will expand files. Then it will install features. Eventually, you will get to the point where windows needs to restart. This is when you can pull the usb stick from the Revo, just to make sure the install doesn't start over completely.

Once it reboots, it will update registry settings, start services, and completes installation. It will reboot once more, then you can create a user name, computer name, password if you like, etc. Now you will enter the product key from the sticker on the Revo. The rest is self explanatory. At some point Windows will want you to activate your license. This is where I got nervous, but it activated with no problem. Done. Now for the XBMC install.

I chose to use the XBMCfreak Live CD 10.00 beta 3, because it is already tweaked for the Atom/Ion setup. I recently updated to 10.00 rc1. Anyway, regardless if you go with XBMCfreak Live, or just XBMC Live, you need to create a bootable stick with the downloaded iso image, like you did for the Windows install. Linux uses UNetbootin for this purpose. Download it, follow the instructions, and then stick it in the Revo again. When you get to the point where it asks where you want to install XBMC, just make sure you point to the unallocated space.

It should install, and now whenever your Revo boots up, it will boot into XBMC by default, but you can choose to boot into Windows by simply selecting it with the keyboard while it is booting up. Good luck, and feel free to ask if you need any more help with the Revo. I've only had mine for about 2 months, so I am still learning myself. Big Grin

Regards,
Matt

ssd - EarnheadJ - 2010-11-27

Great instructions maddog808. I almost pulled the trigger on the OCZ vertex poofyhairyguy recommended somewhere else on these forums. Newegg has a mail in rebate until 11\28\10. Guess I need to order now with these detailed instructions. Takes some of the fear out of screwing things up. I am surprised Acer didn't send you the recovery discs. I was able to receive a set from them. Might be able to just use them? Anyways thanks again. Jim

Edit: My wife just ordered me the OCZ vertex II 60 gb from NewEgg. Big Grin Can't wait

- maddog808 - 2010-11-27

EarnheadJ Wrote:I am surprised Acer didn't send you the recovery discs. I was able to receive a set from them. Might be able to just use them?

I'm not sure why they wouldn't send the discs. They weren't very much help on the phone. Just know that if you use the discs:

  1. You will still be stuck with their version of Windows, including all the useless bloatware, etc.
  2. You will still have to use something like WinToFlash to install the OS via USB.

Quote:My wife just ordered me the OCZ vertex II 60 gb from NewEgg. Can't wait

That is a smokin deal!! Shocked I wish I would have waited, and got that one. The specs show significantly faster speeds than my OCZ Agility. Have fun with the project! Big Grin

Matt

- EarnheadJ - 2010-11-27

[quote=maddog808]I'm not sure why they wouldn't send the discs. They weren't very much help on the phone. Just know that if you use the discs:

  1. You will still be stuck with their version of Windows, including all the useless bloatware, etc.
  2. You will still have to use something like WinToFlash to install the OS via USB.

Ya the first thing I did was remove all the bloatware when I first got my revo. Definately speeded things up considerably. I will do the same when I reinstall to the ssd. As far as needing WinToFlash I have a external cd/dvd that I use now, so I should be ok to install with my discs with that shouldn't I? Jim