To save Acer £5 they decided to remove bluetooth support from my Acer 5051 Notebook, as I travel alot with my Acer it becomes a tedious task to carry USB dongles around so I needed to internally mod a bluetooth module.

Poking around the insides of the Acer I found a small socket header, since the WLAN is on a Mini-PCI card and the modem module is on another similar header I guessed this is where the bluetooth goes, did some research on the web and found it's for a bluetooth module, eBay had one for £15, a bit expensive but what the hell...

If you are attempting this mod remember to unplug the notebook, remove the battery, ground yourself (e.g. on a radiator) and place the notebook upside down on a cloth or mouse mat to prevent scratching the lid.

It arrived today so got right into installing it (black wire is antenna):


The user removable panels are removed exposing the Mini-PCI/RAM compartment and HDD


Just to the top of the coin battery is the 6-pin header (CN19) for the bluetooth module


The HDD bay looks bare with the HDD removed but it hides a secret.


The bluetooth module hides there! (Antenna is looped around and stuck right next to the module, did this after taking the photo)


There is a convenient recess for the cable to be routed through.


It's important to tape the wires down so they don't get grazed when reinstalling the HDD.


Slide the HDD back in, put covers back on and done!


The front bluetooth activation switch and light now function properly,


Vista/XP has all the drivers so no need to download.


Success!

Nice mod and nice write up.

Indeed - nice work DDY.

Thanks for the comments.

I forgot to mention, I've seen similar mods which have the bluetooth module and antenna stuck near the RAM/Mini-PCI area, this is a bad idea. The lid that covers the RAM/Mini-PCI is coated with metallic paint which acts as a Faraday cage killing the reception and range of the bluetooth signal.

That's why I figured the HDD bay area is the best candidate for the module as the lid and plastics there are not covered in metallic paint reducing signal loss, then I discovered that small space is the perfect size for the module and includes the cable recess, maybe this is where the original module was supposed to go?

Nice mod DDY. I wonder whether my Sony has something similar. It has Wifi, but the lack of bluetooth is annoying - skype would be a hell of a lot more practical with a headset.

Hey ddy.

As my Dell 6400 should have bluetoth but hasnt got it would i have the same plug?

I will have a look in a min

edit:

Just looked at takeing the back off my Dell. But seems the Mobo is attached to the plastic and i cant evan get in without mabey killing it...

I found some on eBay, http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search. ... oth+Module

Check you have this connection first: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/s ... #wp1000550

lol well that was simple :O

I have the cable sitting there waiting for a Bluetooth module.

when i have £15 to spend i will get one.

Thanks DDY!