How To Upgrade Ram Memory And Bluetooth On Acer Aspire Laptop

Upgrade Acer Aspire 3680 with 1GB Ram module

and Internal Bluetooth 2.0 Module

(text by Paulsiu, edited by Kamen Nickolov, additional info by Andrea Rampi)

RAM Upgrade:

The acer 3680 has two memory slots that takes DDR2-533/PC4200 or DDR2-667/PC5300. Because the Celeron M has a FSB of 533 Mhz, you’re limited to 533 Mhz even if you use DDR2-667. The computer typically come with a single 512 Mb module and can accept up to a maximum of two 1 Gb module for a total of 2 Gb. In this case I'm putting 1GB additional ram. You can get cheap one here:

Cheap Memory Update

To install the memory, power off the laptop and remove the battery. Turn the laptop over. The memory module is located under the middle panel, the one with the Windows Product Key sticker. To remove the panel, remove the two screw on the bottom of the case. There is plastic washer underneath the panel holding the screw in. You will have to unscrew the screw all the way and then carefully use your fingernail to pry off the screw (be careful not to lose it).Once you remove the screw, you will find resistance as you try to pry over the panel. The panel is actually being held in by plastic fingers that stick out to the back of the panel and some to the side. Pry open the cover gently so you don’t break the fingers. In my opinion, it’s a really bad design, since plastic get brittle with age and the fingers may break if you keep opening the panel.After you remove the panel, you’ll notice 2 white plastic washers. Carefully remove them so they don’t get lost.The memory module is toward the back. Examine the memory module carefully, you’ll notice that the memory module is being held by two clips. The clip fits into a notch on the side of the memory. Gently pry the arms of the clip outward, causing the memory module to flip up to about an 45 degrees angle. Remove the memory. Insert the new memory at an 45 degree angle and swivel the memory gently until it clicks into the clips. Since there is a notch on the connector, you cannot insert the memory in the wrong direction. Do not force the memory or you will break something.Once the memory module is in, don’t close the memory door right away. Test it to make sure it works first. If you don’t get a BIOS welcome screen, then the memory is not installed properly. If you get a blank screen, don’t panic. Turn off the machine, remove the battery, and re-seat the memory. I find that I may have to re-seat the memory a few times before the memory works. If it still doesn't’t work, try different combination of the memory module. You may have a bad memory module. Trying different combination allow you to discover which one.Once everything is working, turn the laptop over again. Carefully put in the white washers on the screw hole. Reattach the memory panel door starting with the fingers in the back. Be careful you do not knock off the white washers. Once the panel is click in place, put the two screws back in.

Internal Bluetooth 2.0 Module:

All Acer 3680 have a bluetooth button on the front, but only some models of Acer 3680 actually have the internal bluetooth module. This has led people to spend hours trying to get bluetooth to work, only to discover that they don’t have bluetooth. This does mean that all or most model of Acer 3680 probably have a connector for the internal bluetooth module and an internal antenna. All we need to do is to find a compatible module to connect to the connector.Acer does not sell the bluetooth module as a part. Since the connector is essentially a USB connector, I could have rewire a USB dongle if I can figure out the pin outs. I managed to acquired an aftermarket bluetooth module. Took this one form Ebay: The part was not an original Acer part, but it was only about $30 with shipping. If it worked, the it was a much better option than USB dongle or PCMCIA cards. There are a few other vendors offering the part (one vendor wanted $150, why would I spend that much money for an accessory for a ~$400 laptop?)The module arrived in a few days. The module is a tiny box size of a fingertip with a cable terminating in a 6-pin connector. There’s some double sided tape in the back of the box. I have no idea who the vendor is since the label on the box is in Chinese.Installation is actually pretty easy for the Acer 3680. All you need to do is to remove the memory door panel, exposing a white 6 pin socket. All you need to do is plug the connector into the socket (it only goes in one way). You can remove the backing of the double-sided tape and stick it on some part of the motherboard. In my case, I just tucked into a crevice of the case.To test it, I boot the laptop up and press the bluetooth button and the blue light lit up, indicating that it was working. It works works under XP and Vista, without additional drivers. OS will recognize and install the drivers itself.This module will work on following Acer Aspire models:

2480 2483 3050 3052 3053 3260 3261 3262 3680 3270 3274 3680 3682 3683 3684 5050 5051 5570 5571 5572 5573 5580 5583 5584


Original 512 Ram Module	Additional 1 GB Ram Module plugged into empty slot

Internal Bluetooth Module with double-sided stick tape on the back	Internal Bluetooth 2.0 Module

Internal Bluetooth Module plugged into place	An empty socket for bluetooth connection

Initial view	Final view with 1 GB module Ram and Bluetooth 2.0 device

Internal Bluetooth Module sticked onto motherboard	Frontside panel with bluetooth switch and blue led

Additional Information - Using cheap USB Bluetooth dongle modification

(Thanks to Andrea Rampi)

I had success in connecting internally a modified usb bluetooth dongle to CN19, it works perfectly and it turns on and off with the frontal button with blue light. The pinout of CN19 is, counting 1 the side in direction of the screws and 6 the side of memory modules:1 = + 5v
2 = GND
3 = + data
4 = - data
5 = blue lightpin 6 is not used, pin 1 and 5 can be connected together if you want the blue light working. Here is how the 5 pins must be connected to the usb dongle:

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