Can anybody tell me what this slot is?

[Meta_Man16]

I was just dissecting an old lap top (HP pavilion dv2 1039wm) and found a mysterious connection that I can't find information on. If I had to guess it looks like a spot for a wireless card, but there is already a wireless card installed on another spot. It's located right next to the ram. I'm assuming it'll be pretty obvious to somebody here. I was also wondering what I could put in the slot that would be useful. I just use this as a Linux machine to do random web browsing and word processing.

[Guest Kloaked]

M.2 slot.

 

See below

 

2 minutes ago, oskarha said:

 

In a Windows Vista laptop? 

I dont think so.

Its probably just another mini PCIe slot for a second WiFi/Bluetooth/whatever card.

[3EP]

M.2 SATA

[oskarha]

1 minute ago, Kloaked said:

M.2 slot.

 

1 minute ago, 3EP said:

M.2 SATA

In a Windows Vista laptop? 

I dont think so.

Its probably just another mini PCIe slot for a second WiFi/Bluetooth/whatever card.

[Guest Kloaked]

Just now, oskarha said:

 

In a Windows Vista laptop? 

I dont think so.

Its probably just another mini PCIe slot for a second WiFi/Bluetooth/whatever card.

You're right. The pins are wrong for M.2.

[NTDaws]

Probably for bluetooth.

[ministrsinister]

I agree, too old for M.2

 

I'd say try to look up the model no. and get a full list of parts to make sure we're right though.

[Mira Yurizaki]

It's mSATA. The two mounting holes give it away that it's not M.2

 

(It's most likely Mini PCIe)

 

EDIT 2:

 

It could be mini PCIe. That's the most likely candidate.

[3EP]

5 minutes ago, oskarha said:

 

In a Windows Vista laptop? 

I dont think so.

Its probably just another mini PCIe slot for a second WiFi/Bluetooth/whatever card.

You're right. I had a look at the specs for that machine on HP's site and no info on the slot.

[Guest]

Y'all it's a SATA power and data slot for 2.5inch drives ( the stuff at the bottom anyway) I have one in my laptop and it's where the HDD goes

[oskarha]

2 minutes ago, Ethan Meskin said:

Y'all it's a SATA power and data slot for 2.5inch drives ( the stuff at the bottom anyway) I have one in my laptop and it's where the HDD goes

I don't think so, check @M.Yurizaki's post.

[3EP]

3 minutes ago, Ethan Meskin said:

Y'all it's a SATA power and data slot for 2.5inch drives ( the stuff at the bottom anyway) I have one in my laptop and it's where the HDD goes

You could have just told us it's where you keep your spare change

[Doramius]

the connection is mini-PCIe, however, I'm not seeing micro coaxial connectors for WLAN or WAN.  Most likely it would be for an mSATA drive, but you'd have to check specs to see if the system supports mSATA drives.  If it doesn't then there is another peripheral or expansion that would use it.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Doramius said:

the connection is mini-PCIe, however, I'm not seeing micro coaxial connectors for WLAN or WAN.  Most likely it would be for an mSATA drive, but you'd have to check specs to see if the system supports mSATA drives.  If it doesn't then there is another peripheral or expansion that would use it.

Sounds about right

[Daniel644]

23 minutes ago, Kloaked said:

You're right. The pins are wrong for M.2.

the MOUNTS are wrong, M.2 mounts with a single screw in the middle, not 2 on the outside.

[Guest Kloaked]

11 minutes ago, Daniel644 said:

the MOUNTS are wrong, M.2 mounts with a single screw in the middle, not 2 on the outside.

The pins are also wrong. M.2 has four pins on the top/left/whichever way you want to look at it.

 

I wasn't looking at the mounting, which is why I said the pins are wrong and I should have realized.

[NumLock21]

The mysterious slot you're looking at is mini PCIe, it's used for cards such as Wifi, Bluetooth, HD accelerators or other devices Top slot is your SIM slot.

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

39 minutes ago, Doramius said:

the connection is mini-PCIe, however, I'm not seeing micro coaxial connectors for WLAN or WAN.

The antenna connectors are on the card themselves.

[NumLock21]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The antenna connectors are on the card themselves.

You can tell that HP is a cheap model, cause the wifi antennas are missing and so are the mounting screws.

 

[Bleedingyamato]

56 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

It's mSATA. The two mounting holes give it away that it's not M.2

 

(It's most likely Mini PCIe)

 

EDIT 2:

 

 

It could be mini PCIe. That's the most likely candidate.

So if it's mini PCIE what would it be used for?  

 

I mean I assume the laptop would have a separate wifi card already installed wouldn't it?    Or is this laptop somehow new enough to support a wifi card yet old enough for it not to be a default component?

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

You can tell that HP is a cheap model, cause the wifi antennas are missing and so are the mounting screws.

I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility the slot is a spare. I recall having an 2008 Dell Inspiron with a free Mini PCIe slot (or something).

[Bleedingyamato]

2 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

You can tell that HP is a cheap model, cause the wifi antennas are missing and so are the mounting screws.

 

Is it possible there used to be a card of some type installed but might've been removed along with the screws?

[mmaatt747]

2 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

So if it's mini PCIE what would it be used for?  

 

I mean I assume the laptop would have a separate wifi card already installed wouldn't it?    Or is this laptop somehow new enough to support a wifi card yet old enough for it not to be a default component?

It makes it easy to upgrade the WiFi on the laptop.  For instance you can buy 802.11 AC mini PCIE adapters.  You can buy bluetooth mini PCIE adapters.  You can even buy mini PCIE SSDs.

 

 

[NumLock21]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility the slot is a spare. I recall having an 2008 Dell Inspiron with a free Mini PCIe slot (or something).

That slot is a spare, but a useless one when there is no way to secure it your card.

 

3 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Is it possible there used to be a card of some type installed but might've been removed along with the screws?

It needs a screw mount in order to secure the card with screws. They like the ones for your motherboard, but a lot smaller, similar to mounts for M.2

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

That slot is a spare, but a useless one when there is no way to secure it your card.

It's likely the hardware you would use to occupy that slot would've come with screws like in this product: https://www.amazon.com/Mini-PCI-E-Express-MiniCard-Adapter/dp/B01J6YMVSO/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1486495371&sr=8-14&keywords=mini+pci+express