Add the ssd drive into the second M.2 slot in zbook 15 G5

[zbychu]

I would like to add the ssd drive into the second M.2 slot but I don't know if I can install the M.2 SATA ssd I already have.

I have one 512 GB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD installed and the second slot is empty. I can't find anything helpfull information in the generic documentation received from HP.  I would like to know if the existing M.2 slot can support both either M.2 SATA or M.2 PCI or only SATA or PCI. What would happen if I install SATA ssd into M.2 slot that supports PCI only? Can I damage my laptop ? or rather it will not work but no damage. 

Below are the configuration details of my Zbook I got in December 2018:

ZBook 15 G5 with Intel® Core™ i5-8300H processor (2.3 GHz, up to 4.0 GHz with Turbo Boost, 8 MB cache, 4 core) + Intel® UHD Graphics 630 (2YW99AV)

Product number: 2YW99AV

•Intel® Core™ i5 Label (G8)

•No Adobe Software

•150 Watt Smart Slim AC Adapter

•4 Cell 90 WHr Long Life Battery

•15.6" diagonal UHD LED UWVA Anti-Glare with HD Webcam slim Ambient Light Sensor (3840x2160)

•No Internal Storage

•No Near Field Communication (No NFC)

•No Broadband Wireless

•16 GB (2x8 GB) DDR4 2666

•Fingerprint Reader

•512 GB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD

•Integrated HD 720p DualAryMic Webcam

•Intel® Wireless-AC 9560 (2x2) Gigabit Wi-Fi + Bluetooth® 5 (no-vPro™)

•Country Localization US

•Dual Point Backlit spill-resistant Collaboration Keyboard

•Windows 10 Pro 64 - HP recommends Windows 10 Pro

•Drivers for Windows 10 (Recovery Media)

•One-year (1/1/0) limited warranty

•C5 1.0m Tag Power Cord

•Windows 10 Pro Operating System Recovery DVD

•ENERGY STAR Qualified Configuration

•No AMT vPro™ Technology Supported

•Elite Services Information Card

•HP Laser 3 Button USB Mouse

•FDA Class 1 Certification

[zbychu]

Looks I may not be able to reuse my old M.2 SATA ssd module but still looking for confirmation. It looks M.2 sockets are designed to accept only one of M.2 module types as exlained in the link below:

https://www.atpinc.com/blog/what-is-m.2-M-B-BM-key-socket-3

I opened my laptop and it looks that I have M type socket so I guess it will block my old SATA ssd of M+B type.

Any advice will be appreciated. Looking for recommendation for PCIe NVMe SSD 500GB or 1TB for HP Zbook G5.

[zbychu]

This post describes the solution. I end up purchasing and successfully installing 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD module on my ZBOOK 15 G5 Mobile Workstation running Windows 10.

In my last post I stated that my second M.2 socket will likely block my SATA M.2 ssd module. This is likely not true but I concluded that SATA is not supported by the second M.2 socket and purchased PCIe M.2 sdd. I also was not sure whether I may damage my laptop by installing SATA M.2 ssd. It is likely not true but I didn't even try.

I examined motherboard and both M.2 sockets are next to each other and very likely attached to the same storage controller. Since the ssd in the first socket was also Samsung SSD based on PCIe and NVMe, I concluded that the second M.2 socket will also support PCIe/NVMe SSD.  Also, I booted to BIOS and noticed an option to configure Storage Controller for RAID that require that both SSDs are the same.

The first boot after completing installation of the second SSD didn't work which was a bit scary. Boot got stuck and was not making any progress. Problem disappeared by powering down/up.

Finally I followed up instructions in the following link to configure the new drive. 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/initialize-new-disks

All  works so far but I need to test the new drive for a few more days if not longer to be sure all is good.

[zbychu]

Last comment. It is a bit disappointing  the lack of clear customized information attached to the purchase.  After year or more of the purchase, many users want to add the second drive and face the same challenge as I described in the post.