HP 802E MB - can I add m.2 as boot drive?

[Lurking]

I have business HP Z240. HWinfo64 says it has a "HP 802E" MB With intel C236 chipset. It has an i7-6700 and 16GB. Currently i use an SATA SSD. it has proprietary PSU and power plugs. 

 

I see 4 PCI slots (2 16x, and 2 1x). HWInfo64 shows me under "system Slots" 5th slot described as M.2 PCIe 3.0x4. I looked and looked but I cannot find a 5th PCIe slot, and not an m.2 location on the board. i didn't take off the CPU shroud to see if anything is hiding there. Is it possible I just don't see it, or does HWInfo64 just show me the lanes it may have, but HP didn't actually install a physical m.2 slot? 

 

So assuming ti doesn't have m.2, can i use the existing 16x PCIe slot and boot from that? I was not able to find any documentation from HP for that board. So it isn't clear if that can be bootable. It probably will work as a data drive, but I'm specifically asking if that could become my bootdrive? 

 

 

[Radium_Angel]

40 minutes ago, Lurking said:

and not an m.2 location on the board

Possibly on the underside of the mobo? A google image search ought to reveal this info.

My guess, is HP simply cut corners and re-used a BIOS from a board that did have it.

41 minutes ago, Lurking said:

So assuming ti doesn't have m.2, can i use the existing 16x PCIe slot and boot from that? I was not able to find any documentation from HP for that board. So it isn't clear if that can be bootable. It probably will work as a data drive, but I'm specifically asking if that could become my bootdrive? 

Bootable m.2 PCIe cards can be had, but if your system doesn't support booting from such a thing, it won't work, unless the card in question has its own controller built-onto the card, and those cards are quite expensive (I have several for a system that doesn't natively have an m.2 slot)

[Lurking]

11 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Possibly on the underside of the mobo? A google image search ought to reveal this info.

My guess, is HP simply cut corners and re-used a BIOS from a board that did have it.

Bootable m.2 PCIe cards can be had, but if your system doesn't support booting from such a thing, it won't work, unless the card in question has its own controller built-onto the card, and those cards are quite expensive (I have several for a system that doesn't natively have an m.2 slot)

I couldn't really find anything that looks like my MB on google. And HP website only produced this for that PC when you look under "system board" there is only mention of the four PCIe slots. So best I can assume is there is no m.2. And since there is no information on bootable PCIe, I just give up on this idea. i wouldn't spend $ on a special card with controller because this would not be useful on other PCs, and I still would not have a guarantee it would work. i looked into the "BIOS" and I would not trust them to have done upgraders any favors. 

 

I expect the proprietary MB or PSU to fail at any time and then I only can re-use RAM and CPU. So I'm not investing anything in it. Only reasons I would entertain getting an m.2 drive (or re-use one I have) is that this can be used on different systems. So it wouldn't be useless once that PC fails. 

[Radium_Angel]

Just now, Lurking said:

So it wouldn't be useless once that PC fails. 

That's totally understandable. The bootable cards can run north of 250$, and are kinda pointless on modern systems (which have built-in m.2 slots anyway)

 

[Lurking]

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

That's totally understandable. The bootable cards can run north of 250$, and are kinda pointless on modern systems (which have built-in m.2 slots anyway)

 

 A Ryzen 3 3200G plus MB (w/ m.2 slot!) would cost $190 and would resolve more than just this problem. 

 

 You have to be rich to keep an old PC running!

[Radium_Angel]

2 minutes ago, Lurking said:

 A Ryzen 3 3200G plus MB (w/ m.2 slot!) would cost $190 and would resolve more than just this problem. 

 

 You have to be rich to keep an old PC running!

Tell me about it!

I've got a dual Xeon X5-2643 v2 (Iv bridge) workstation with possibly 1000$ overall in it, but since I'm not much of a gamer, it'll work great for my needs until the hardware dies outright...

[Selle]

HP service manuals are usually pretty good, but it seems like this model is an exemption, there was no good information there 

 

On HP SFF models from this time period the m.2 slot is usually on the edge of the board, and the drive screws in to the case, not the motherboard 

 

Im attaching a picture of a board with a red circle around the m.2 slot, but when looking for a picture I noticed that some boards only have the solder pads without a slot soldered in 

 

[Lurking]

3 hours ago, Selle said:

HP service manuals are usually pretty good, but it seems like this model is an exemption, there was no good information there 

 

On HP SFF models from this time period the m.2 slot is usually on the edge of the board, and the drive screws in to the case, not the motherboard 

 

Im attaching a picture of a board with a red circle around the m.2 slot, but when looking for a picture I noticed that some boards only have the solder pads without a slot soldered in 

 

Found it! There seems to be the m.2 standoff where the screw screws in. but before that is another type of standoff with some black plastic thing. i guess that would have to be rmoved, unless that is the m.2 screw. So this still is sketchy. 

 

What a bone-headed design! And this is reason #1,000 why we don't buy pre-built systems. This was a free PC from my wife;s company. Even for free, this is a great disappointment. 

[Radium_Angel]

12 hours ago, Lurking said:

What a bone-headed design

Does the m.2 drive stick *away* from the motherboard?

That's insanity....

[Lurking]

1 hour ago, Radium_Angel said:

Does the m.2 drive stick *away* from the motherboard?

That's insanity....

Yes, I also think it would make original assembly more expensive since they couldn't fill the MB before placing into the case. 

And above the screw is the drive cage that swings out, but only 45°. so it may be tricky to actually screw in, but I didn't try. 

 

I won't buy an m.2 drive just for that. Maybe I try if I happen to have one left over. but since I still have a few older SATA SSD, i might just save m.2 for newer built. That weird plastic screw thing looks like it could cause trouble and I wouldn't pass it by HP to not allow it in BIOS.