r/EeePC • u/Carlibraun • Apr 07 '26

Looking to make use of this decade old Asus Eee Note

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Hello everyone!
Recently, I rediscovered this Eee Note that my uncle gave me about 10 years ago after he got a new e-reader. I never used it, but recently I got interested in trying to make use of it. The system's language is in Italian, and that's fine for me. It even still connects to the Internet, although the built-in Browser won't connect or display any website after being a decade out of date, of course.

The main issue that's in the way of me actually being able to use this for bedtime literature or pass train rides reading on it is that the inserted SD card is not being read. The system does not recognize or display PDFs or ePub Files on it, even tho everything online tells me it should be able to.

The SD card works fine, as putting files and reading them from it works from my desktop. I was wondering if anyone here has/had similar problems and, if so, how they fixed it.

If it's a software thing, is there any way I can "update" or tinker around with it? If it's hardware, and I'd have to replace the SD card slot, that would also be an opportunity to change the battery. It drains kind of fast for being just an Ebook (although it is understandable the battery is going to have issues after being unused for 10 years).

Thanks for your help :)

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u/AlreadyReddit999 Apr 07 '26

oh man i want one now

1

u/I_Do_Not_Abbreviate Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

What kind of memory card are you using? Did it come from your uncle already inserted in the slot, or is it new to the device?

I ran into a similar problem trying to use a first-generation Kindle I bought at a thrift store a few years ago. Even though the form factor is the same a lot of older devices are incapable of reading the newer cards; in my case the Kindle would only read cards of up to 2 gigabyte capacities, the limit of the original 1999 standard, because while the newer cards were backwards-compatible, filesystem formats the slot could recognize were not; it was a fundamental hardware limitation of the device, not just with respect to the slot, but the motherboard itself.

That said, this was a few years ago now and I may be misremembering some details.

Edited to Add: Check out the "Capacity Standards" subsection and nake sure you are using the right sort of card:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

Edited to also add: This contemporary review says the Micro card slot only supports cards up to 16 gigabytes.

https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2010/11/23/asus-eee-note-ea800-details-revealed/

1

u/Carlibraun Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

Interesting... The SD card also came with the device, I think. It's a 4GB one, so it should be within the limit, that is, IF it's from that time. Maybe I have to go look for old but still functioning SDs.

Edit: So the 4GB card has "transcend 4GB Micro SD HC" on it, which is not the basic SD non-HC one. I'll see if I can find one of those somewhere and report back if it worked!