Z240: Remove pci video card bracket

[AtlanticVA]

I need to install a PCIe Firewire card in a new Z240 but cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the bracket pictured below, which holds in place the Nvidia graphics card....

....but also holds in place the normal PCI retainer clip.

I have searched for instructions on this particular bracket but have found nothing, and have tried gently to move it from various angles but there seems to be no way to pull it out without putting immense pressure on the Nvidia card itself.

In the image below, the button (1) can be pressed down, and it does pull back on the wedge portion (2) which is tucked up behind the rim above the pci openings, but pushing down on the button does not come close to pulling the wedge portion clear.

As shown below, the bracket actually pins the normal PCIe retainer clip in place (1), so there is no way to open the space for a PCI card without getting this bracket off. The bracket also is directly on top of the Nvidia card (2), so if one were to push REALLY hard downward to try to remove the wedge from under the computer case rim where it is being held in place, that force would also go directly onto the top of the graphics card, which seems like a bad idea.

There must be some direction in which one can apply significant pressure to get this bracket off, but I don't want to try and discover it by trial and error, because I don't want to break the Nvidia card. Or maybe there is some simple solution that I am missing.

If anyone can point me to any instructions or info about this apparently new type of pci card retaining bracket, I would be very appreciative.

[erico]

This is definitely a new type. I can ask HP about it for you.

Even the HPE media library videos do not include that type of bracket.

[AtlanticVA]

I never did get an answer from HP tech on this, so I think I will re-post the entire question in a day or two. They have had some sort of system change going on, right?

[erico]

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@AtlanticVA wrote:

I never did get an answer from HP tech on this, so I think I will re-post the entire question in a day or two. They have had some sort of system change going on, right?

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Please do not do that. That would be spamming. I will ping HP about it again.

[AtlanticVA]

Oh, no, sorry I definitely don't want to break any rules, I am just trying to get one piece of information. If nobody from HP can help here I will see if they have any type of phone support.

Thanks so much for answering!

[erico]

@AtlanticVA

You aren't breaking any rules as long as you stick with your original thread.

I  got a response from an HP Forum Administrator just a few minutes ago.

He is checking his resources for me.

I should have some solid information for you in a few days.

@AtlanticVA

What is the complete product number of the z240 workstation?  It is in the BIOS in the system information tab.

The format for the product numberis xxxxx#xxx

Is it the tower or small form factor version of the z240 workstation?

[AtlanticVA]

The product # is

L9K63UT#ABA

Tower

thanks very much, Eric.

[SDH · Accepted solution]

Eric,

This should help.... you have been suffering with this too long!  

I believe the creative engineering of your dual-card device uses the same method as with the single-card green full height PCI card retainers from the xw6400 and xw6600 generation of workstations.  Those have HP part numbers imprinted on the plastic of 406343-001 and 351165-001, and they work quite well once you figure them out.

Those too were quite confusing, but make sense once you know the trick.  It takes two hands to "unlock" them.  One hand pushes down to straighten the curve that exists in the locked position (the card-edge groove of the device will slide along the card edge away from the rear of the case by doing this).  Mine has the green ridges to push down against.  Yours has two oval finger recesses molded in which you can see in your pictures.  This straightening of the curve creates just enough "slack" that then it is easy to simultaneously use your second hand to lift up on the little lever as I note in the pictures.  This will thereby release the locked "bottom hook" of the device that is snapped over the metal edge shown.  Then you can rotate the whole device upwards and remove it.  Yours looks like the same concepts all are used, but it is a wider device designed for use on either one or two cards simultaneously.  Because you only have one card under it you may need to only push down on the associated oval finger groove on that side to get this to work.  I believe your plastic part with the green bar on it is the part you will be pulling up on while you are pushing down on your oval finger groove(s).  While you are doing this you also will be rotating up the device when the lower hook is freed up from that metal edge.  The engineer who came up with this concept must have been quite the genius, but not smart enough to provide directions.

Here are some pictures of the xw version, and yours.  You'll not be able to see them until a moderator releases them.  Please wait to view the pictures because I want you to fully understand this and to not break anything:

Finally, here is your picture with my extrapolation of how to release  the device.  You can see where the bottom two hooks are, and I believe there are also two top hooks hidden under the upper metal edge.  Those green ones took me quite a while to figure out!  I hope this helps......

[AtlanticVA]

SDH, that did it!

Pushing down, and sort of pulling back, on the "dimples" was the trick. As you suggest, by doing that, there was created sufficient room for the device to unhook from the rim over the PCI covers.

One additional note for anyone else needing to remove this bracket: This procedure worked immediately for the RIGHT SIDE of the bracket (the one in forefront of bottom photo in SDH's post above). The left side did not want to unhook itself despite me using both hands and exerting force on the finger dimples from several directions.

In order to get the left side out, I needed to use pliers to get a firmer grip on the bracket, directly under the case rim, and pull back and slightly side to side. From a fairly large amount of force, the bracket came free. I do not know if this is an inherent aspect of the bracket, or just a result of how mine happened to be installed. Using a tool is probably not recommended - but it seemed the only way my bracket was going to come off.

One more note: I did attempt to put the bracket back in place, but that left side really did not want to fit back in easily. Rather than apply a large amount of force to re-install, after getting my Firewire card installed I decided to leave the bracket off. There are already PCI cover clips holding the cards in place,and the video card seems to be very well seated with an additional clip holding the card in the slot from the bottom.

So call me crazy, but I am leaving that bracket out of the computer.

Thank you so much for the thorough explanation and solution to this problem, SDH!

[erico]

@SDH

Thanks for sharing that information. I asked HP, but did not get a timely response.