Adding WiFi and Bluetooth via PCIe to Z6 G5A. Where is USB Header connector?

[christophhoevel]

Hello community,

I want to add bluetooth and WiFi to my Z6 G5A via a PCIe card, i.e. Asus PCE-AXE58BT. I need Windows and Linux drivers.

What I have seen so far, all the PCIe adapter cards for WiFi and bluetooth require a connection from the PCIe adapter card to the motherboards "USB Header" port for bluetooth to work. Looks like, PCIe is only dealing with the WiFi traffic and bluetooth requires a separate port (=USB) (not sure if terminology is correct here)

But: I cannot find a "USB Header" connector on the motherboard, which usually is a 9 pin connector. There is a "P24 INT USB2" connector on the motherboard, but this is a 6 pin connector, with one pin missing (2nd from the right).

I would like to avoid using an external bluetooth dongle and prefer to have it all on a PCIe card. I would like to avoid loosing the front USB as well.

Does anybody now, how to use a PCIe card with bluetooth on the Z6 G5A?
Is there any PCIe card, which does not require a connection to the "USB Header" port?

Many thanks

[SDH · Accepted solution]

I've attached the most recent 9/2/24 QuickSpecs for your review, and my recommendation is to only get the HP Wi-Fi/BT card they offer for your Z6 G5 A. Go to pages 12 and 62-63 for what you need, the HP 340L7AA kit, which will include the proper interface cable, PCIe card, and external antenna optimized for both Wi-Fi and BT.  LINK  This approach requires the proper HP interface cable for BT to work properly. Wi-Fi will work without that cable attached. Of interest the same module in a motherboard's M.2 Wi-Fi socket provides both Wi-Fi and BT so there must be some special traces for that socket that the card kit does not get when it is placed in a regular PCIe slot. Recent laptops are built that way with a short M.2 socket for Wi-Fi/BT and even some desktops.

There are two main HP interface cables for these PCIe card kits, one with the 2x5 format on both the motherboard and card ends, and one with the x6 format your motherboard has (yours is a single channel USB motherboard header). I have both cable types here and have been working to document use of the HP PCIe card with older and more recent Intel Wi-Fi/BT M.2 modules. Non-HP brand PCIe Wi-Fi/BT cards use different interface pinout cable and thus likely will not work with your motherboard. The single channel cable I have does have a HP part number label on it. That is the best one you could get and both may be in your HP kit. HP drivers for that Wi-Fi and BT module are easy to find, and there even are Intel updaters recently released that I'm using.

Note that the QuickSpecs document specifies use of a non-VPro AX210 module for your workstation. Paul's post HERE talks a bit about this. The little Intel M.2 modules have some different part numbers printed on their front label, and the HP one is listed next to the "SPS:" notation. That gets you exactly the NV (non-VPro) one. The more recent non-VPro modules are backwards compatible, so my older IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi mesh system works fine with them too. I have one of those ready to test in my Z4 G4 and Z440 systems when I have time. Here is exactly the Intel module I got from eBay, unopened in antistatic bag from Intel, under 20.00 USD. This is also the one that HP specifies for your workstation. I'm doing a "roll your own" project here:

There are different versions... mine is 0F

[SDH]

There is an excellent anandtech.com review of your workstation HERE and a pic from that shows where you'd plug the USB single-channel HP interface cable onto its header on the bottom edge of the motherboard. Remember that you don't need that cable ever if you're not wanting to use Bluetooth.

You can get a HP PCIe wireless card and antenna used off eBay plus one of those recommended Intel modules I showed above... that is all you'd need if you're only going to run Wi-Fi, plus drivers. The HP antenna has two leads that screw onto the exposed rear of the card... one lead is for Wi-Fi only and the other is for Wi-Fi and BT combined. I have not seen any guidance on where to put what cable attachment... does not matter here so far. There are some really old HP PCIe Wi-Fi cards but the common ones you'd see appear to be all the same, as are the antennas in my testing. Here's your motherboard pic:

Plug it in here if you want to use Bluetooth...

For you and that fine workstation I'd get the real HP kit. It should have an instruction sheet inside plus all the up to date parts.

[SDH]

Turns out I had some of the older card-to-motherboard interface cables none of which had a HP label on them (but all wired the same and originally from HP). Plus I have 1 of the newer interface cables that have a 2x5 plug on the card end and a 1x6 plug on the motherboard end, plus a HP label. All these have one "blank" at each plug end for orientation. Attached are 3 PDFs from scanning them, below, out of order... they should be viewed 1,2,3.

[SDH]

I'm not going to try to make this pretty... here is the info you need for pinouts for both types of the internal USB cables to get

Bluetooth to work. I think in the official kit you might get both types of cables... not sure. There is an added header on the card, small, CLink named, 2x3 pins with 1 blank, and this has no relevance in modern motherboards. The pinouts and wire colors are in the attached PDF below. Combined with the prior pictures this should make sense. There was an old reference Intel PCIe card showing only 2 of the wires really are needed (at least back then), and a similar newer Dell PCIe card with incompatible pinout for the HP motherboard attachments.

The "2 black" for the pinout of the newer type cable refers to two black wires running in parallel to the same plug pin socket at each end. This represents continuity of that cable's outer shielding also going to ground.

[christophhoevel]

SDH: You are amazing. Your feedback makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, at the moment neither the official kit nor the cable 816542-001 is available (at least not in Germany). And I dont really dare to solder something together with the risk of killing the motherboard. So I need to go to my fallback scenario which is a bluetooth dongle. Not quite elegenat, but will do the job. Have a great day 🙂

[SDH]

Cristoph, Happy to help... I noticed that too. Perhaps you want to order the proper HP official kit and get by with that other option while you wait. Or, roll your own. So, for you and others here's the best info, probably more than you wanted to know.

My Z4 G4 has both types of internal USB2 headers along the bottom rear edge of its motherboard, and both types of cables I showed work fine to activate Bluetooth, even cross-matching. HP pinouts tend to follow Intel standards and these do too. You can buy pin-for-pin equivalent non-HP 2x5 with one blank quality cables, for example HERE .  However, I consider the HP 1x6 one end with 2x5 other end HP interface cable the very best because of its added shielding. Here's my bottom edge picture and the two USB2 header types. Your motherboard only has a single 1x6 with one blank type. Pin numbering from HP starts with 1 (which has a tiny white arrowhead by it printed on the motherboard surface). Some types of 2x header's pins are numbered along one row first and then the second row. All the HP USB 2x header's pins I've seen are crisscross in numbering. The "blank" is to help get proper orientation because on the plug that socket-hole is filled with epoxy or plastic. The unconnected pin(s) at the far end(s) are considered guide pins to help stabilize the plug onto the motherboard header (valuable especially with a 1x header). You usually can fit a 2x5 plug onto a 1x6 header unless some other motherboard part extends down too far into the gap above the 1x6... in the pic below that capacitor position looks too tight but it actually is not:

Most people don't know the HP 1x4, 2x5, 1x6, and 2x6 motherboard USB2 headers are all the same per row if you know that the wiring really only uses the first 4 pins in each row. A 1x row of pins gives a single USB2 channel; a 2x row gives two channels. Only 1 channel will be needed to get Bluetooth going from that card. There is a worthwhile Spiceworks post related to all this and the guy's solution, using the standard HP 2x5 1-blank-each-end cable on his HP 2x6 1 blank motherboard's USB2 SD Card Reader header. He just used the first 5 pins of each row of that header. HP even had a 2x6 2-blanks motherboard USB2 header in the past, HERE . Same compatibility too. Here's the Spiceworks post LINK. The first picture in the post shows his HP 2x5 plugs each end interface cable (identical to mine including same color wires shown above).

The other part details:

The PCIe card: The more recent HP ones all seem the same regardless of what Intel M.2 module is inserted, and you can remove the original module and put in the specific non-VPro one I recommended. This card has HP Assembly P/N 801771-001 and Spares P/N 806721-001. It is a low profile PCIe Card with a high or low bracket. Some come with the original 2x5 plugs-each-end, but those don't have that extra black shielding wire built in. If there is a CLINK cable present you can throw that away. The complete HP card kits are made in China so you can perhaps get the free Chinese shipping to Germany and a good price.

The antenna: There are several part numbers for the exact same antenna that I've taken apart... they have same internal part numbers on the internal PCB. I'd favor the -003 or L versions: HP wireless dual band Wi-Fi antenna L95421 497317-001 -002 -003 (all are certified by Anatel). These seem capable for up through Wi-Fi 5 and 6 Intel modules.

Intel Module: The unopened-from-Intel version I showed in eBay pic above is my current preferred non-VPro one to get. The HP PCIe card kit includes a messy "Do Not Remove" white sticker to at least remove from over the antenna lead connections... a hassle but doable. That label intentionally self-destructs into sticky fragments, so be patient if you choose to make it look perfect (not worth the effort). Note that the correct leads to attach where are marked by the Intel module's two lead receptacles. The upper lead from the upper backplate antenna port goes to the module's receptacle named "1" (= AUX). The lower lead from the lower backplate antenna port goes to "2" (= MAIN). Paul recommends care with the tiny lead connectors (which can break if you don't line them up nicely before pressing straight down). You can open up the antenna casing to see what lead comes from the higher larger antenna plate on the PCB and consider attaching that to the lower ("MAIN") backplate port... you can label that one by its screw-on end. This is probably not necessary, and HP gives no guidance on that. Here's some added details:

Added info...

[OliverHarris]

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@SDH wrote:

I'm not going to try to make this pretty... here is the info you need for pinouts for both types of the internal USB cables to get

Bluetooth to work. I think in the official kit you might get both types of cables... not sure. There is an added header on the card, small, CLink named, 2x3 pins with 1 blank, and this has no relevance in modern motherboards. The pinouts and wire colors are in the attached PDF below. Combined with the prior pictures this should make sense. There was an old reference Intel PCIe card showing only 2 of the wires really are needed (at least back then), and a similar newer Dell PCIe card with incompatible pinout for the HP motherboard attachments.

The "2 black" for the pinout of the newer type cable refers to two black wires running in parallel to the same plug pin socket at each end. This represents continuity of that cable's outer shielding also going to ground.

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Thanks, For help.