HP 800 G1 usdt mxm graphics card upgrade - not booting

[silverchairbg]

HDD issue is no longer at hand (was probably bios issue, after upgrading to latest it just works), so back to what this topic was originally for: how to get an MXM card working on this machine. Background:

1) k2100m taken down from working zbook, installed in 800 G1 slot.

2) Charger is 180W one

3) Machine starts, no beeps or anything, it boots successfully to OS and bios, but card is not seen in either.

Regards

[waek]

Hello

How did you stop the legacy mode? 

I've turned a lot of options off but no results.

[Goyinator]

My comment to a Amazon review for the M600M may help (concerning 8300/800 G1 USDTs):

This card also works in the HP EliteDesk 800 G1 USDT, which allows for Haswell CPUs, like i5-4590S, in Windows 7/8.1/10. You have to change BIOS setting to UEFI graphics (not Legacy/CSM-mode), and use the top DisplayPort out (bottom for 8300 USDT), or else it will be running via the Intel GFX. These are some BIOS settings for 800 G1 (Note: using 2.77 BIOS, which seems to have been pulled; 2.71 is latest now):

POST Mode: FullBoot, POST Messages: Enabled, Option ROM Prompt: Enabled, Integrated Video: Enabled, Legacy Support: Disabled, Secure Boot: Disabled, Fast Boot: Enabled, VTx & VTd: Enabled, AMT: Disabled, UEFI Boot Sources: Windows Boot Manager ... Samsung SSD, VGA Configuration: Nvidia VGA Controller (Primary VGA device), Option ROM Launch Policy: (all UEFI Only)

Have to use minimum 180W HP power supply (for M600M). It won't boot up with the standard 135W power supply; it just beeps. Can spend a bit more and get the official HP MXM heatsink (HP Part # 689369-001), which is larger and also has pads that cover the memory chips. Not sure that's necessary for this 30W card (for 45-55W cards, below); could use generic pads with the cheaper HS mentioned in review.

UPDATE:

If you want the best, Nvidia Quadro M1200 or M2200 MXM cards w/ 4GB VRAM also work in the USDT machines- 8300 & 800 G1 tested. M1200 is GM107-based (older, smaller die; 45W) Maxwell, and M2200 is GM206 (newer, larger die; 55W) Maxwell Gen2. Same form factors as M600M. I use the HP 230W AC adapter (HSTNN-DA12). 800 G1/8300 USDT power supplies are interchangeable.

PassMark score comparison:

M600M - 1932
M1200 - 3046
M2200 - 3630 (on par with GTX 750 Ti)

My current setups:

$400-500
(Gaming/Plex Server + others)

HP 800 G1 USDT (v2.77 BIOS)
Intel i5-4590S
Nvidia Quadro M2200 4GB (Plex HW transcoding/gaming)
8/16GB DDR3 1600/1333 MHz
512GB/1TB Samsung SSD
Windows 7 x64 Ult. (Plex) / Windows 10 x64 Ent. (Games/Emu/LaunchBox/etc.)

For Plex, with the Intel HD 4600 Graphics Disabled in Windows Device Manager (not BIOS), the M2200 hardware transcodes, even HEVC/H.265. It defaults to two streams HW, but can be unlocked for unlimited. I tested transcoding four high bitrate streams, H.264, 1080p -> 720p HW, and GPU usage did not exceed 20%.

The one issue I encountered with the system & card seems limited to Windows 7. I messed around with the BIOS settings, and was unable to enter the BIOS (or rather- output any video via any port before it booted into Windows). CMOS clear did not fix it, and neither did attempting to flash 2.71 BIOS in Windows. I had to remove the card, set Legacy Support: Enabled, Video Option ROMs: UEFI Only (others Legacy), put card back in. Now I'm able to enter BIOS using Windows 7 with the M2200.

[silverchairbg]

@Goyinator thanks for these details, however I am not successful. I am using the same bios version as you2.77. I try with both Nvidia k610m and with m1000m (both HP cards from Zbook), but none of them works. The k610m gets recognized and Windows installs the drivers automatically, but it sits with Error code 43 and never initialises. The m1000m doesn't even get recognised, it shows as Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. I've downloaded the drivers from Nvidia site, but they would not install, fails with: no suitable hardware recognised. Both cards are taken out from working laptops, so I know the issue is not with the cards. I've tried your settings to the letter and still no go, any idea what I am missing?

P.S. I am not able to enter BIOS with neither card and I am with Windows 10 64 bit. So what you've described doesn't appear to be Windows 7 issue only. Machine would boot directly to Windows, skipping the bios screen. I've tried your workaround of enabling Legacy and setting Video Option ROMs: UEFI Only (others legacy) but this did not change anything.

I am at my wits atm, so many people succeeded, yet there is no single proper way to do it. I really wish there was a way to save the bios settings in a file, so that it can be restored to another machine. This would really save a lot of time trying to figure out such issues.

[Goyinator]

@Silverchairbg

I'm not sure- I have M600M, M1200 & 2x M2200, and all work properly in these machines, but there are some possibilities:

If possible, uninstall Windows drivers, or don't let them install initially, and try Quadro QNF driver 436.30 (what I'm using).

Maybe if you are able to pick up a M600M for cheap and get the drivers installed, the others might work...

My cards all appear to be Dell parts w/ Dell vBIOS(es), so maybe that has something to do with being compatible.

Odd that the Nvidia driver package won't install with the M1000M. That's the card that I would expect to work, given that the M600M does.

Legacy shouldn't have to be enabled for Windows 10 x64, since it is (more) UEFI-compatible, and you should see corresponding "Windows Boot Manager" in the BIOS Boot Sources as first entry. I think, at least, as long as it was installed with those BIOS settings already changed.

I also don't know if all cards work with 180W instead of 230W power supplies. I know the M600M does, but it is 30W TDP. The others I've only used with the 230W adapters mentioned. Since the 230W adapter is $15-20 in the US from electronics recyclers, it made sense to use them, since they seem to work with any configuration of these machines (dGPU or not).

Other than that, I really don't know either. It didn't seem that difficult to get them all working on my end, so I'll consider myself lucky.

[silverchairbg]

Thanks for your reply. Here are some details that I omitted, but your reply reminded me to mention:

1) My power supply is 180W that my 800 G1 came with. Originally this machine only sold with 135 and 180W (https://support.hp.com/bg-en/document/c03836666) and I think the 230W supply only makes sense if you would pop a card at the maximum that MXM 3 A slot supports which is 75W. If it is not a problem, can you confirm the m2200 works with 180W?

2) My machine came with the original Radeon HD 7650A card which is 33W (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-hd-7650a.c1694). Quadro M1000m (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/quadro-m1000m.c2739) is 40W which is only 7W above, K610m is 35W. Anyway, previous posters in this thread confirmed the 180W being enough. If it is not enough, the machine never starts, it only beeps.

3) The machine is HP, so it wouldn't make sense to me to be incompatible with HP cards, but run with Dell cards at the same time. Although the original 7650A is in fact MSI, so who knows ...I can of course try flashing vbios-es, but if I brick any of the cards, it would be real bad. I still consider that it is just a missing setting that both cards do not work and not a vbios issue.

4) I would try the QNF driver, but do not hold my breath. I used the https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html to uninstall the Nvidia driver before I try to install the quadro driver. I haven't uninstalled the Intel and ATI drivers, because they shouldn't be a problem.

I would try the above things and if I go nowhere, I would take screenshots of my bios settings and post here for you to compare if you are willing to give me a hand.

[Goyinator]

Well, I don't have much more to offer. Really, and I swear this has been the odd case with friends & family- they will buy the same things but have something about them not working. They can't figure it out, I can't figure it out. All I know is that mine works, and theirs doesn't. Not that it makes your situation better...

It does seem like it should work with 180W. I'm working on one of my M2200 builds today or this weekend, so I'll try the HP 180W adapter out, run GPU benchmark on it, and report back later.

I also did have a 7650A originally, since I thought it was the best compatible MXM card. The only thing I did differently was to uninstall the AMD drivers first and use a driver cleaner before installed the Nvidia drivers, but that wouldn't seem to matter since the cards work in multiple 8300 & 800 G1 USDT machines. I have 2x 8300, 3x 800 G1 from local electronics recycler.

We can compare BIOS settings, as I took similar screenshots of a different working machine when I was trying to figure out why I couldn't access the BIOS after I messed with settings (black screen).

I can also report a bit on thermals with the cards:

- I replaced all case fans with Noctua versions (front & rear), so they probably behave differently than stock.

- I use the official HP MXM heatsink mentioned previously, incl. memory pads, with these cards. For the backplates and screws, I replaced with the parts from recycled ATI HD 5450 MXMs.

- I monitored thermals running GPU-Z & UNIGINE Valley benchmark (likely higher temps than other apps).

M600M/M1200:

These cards are lower TDP (than M2200), and work fine- for the most part- with default BIOS, and no case mods (although you could). The M1200 in particular benefits from setting the fan Thermal (idle) setting in BIOS to 4 marks/blocks (default seems to be 0, and middle is 3), as the rear fan next to GPU HS spins noticeably faster at that manual setting, since the system can't seem to monitor GPU temp and change rear fan speed. I hit 82-84C sustained load, and the card did not thermal throttle. Idle 34-37C.

M2200:

It's tricky to keep this card at reasonable load temps (non-throttle), and I modified the case internals to accommodate instead of changing fan speed via BIOS (which I set at 3). The HP HS contact doesn't even cover the whole GPU die, since it is larger. I removed the whole cage assembly- HDD caddy, ODD, big bracket- and zip-tied a Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40MM fan directly to the heatsink, opposite the rear case fan (for kind of push-pull), using the incl. LNA adapter to keep acceptable noise level. The SSD, I side zip-tied around the cut out in the CPU fan shroud, and used a combo SATA/power port cable extension to the MoBo SATA connector. The rear and HS fan use a Y-splitter to the usual rear fan connector. 76-78C load, 29-34C idle.

[silverchairbg]

Yeah, I am the exact opposite, if anything can go wrong, it would go wrong. Never have it easy ..

Anyway, I was thinking the exact same thoughts about additional cooling (if needed) and for this purpose bought Y splitter for the rear fan and got Evercool EC4010TH12EP which is pretty much the same quality, but 4 pin and 2 times cheaper than Noctua (at least in Europe). But as you know I've got to get the cards running first before thinking for this mod. But I am not a fan of zip-tied solutions, so if I am to do what you did, I would make a small modification to the metal cage, most likely cut it off a little so that the 10mm fan can fit, current measure shows it is 7mm between the HS and metal cage. My 7650A comes with a bigger HS than those of the HD 5450, so I don't think it would be that problematic, but we would see, as long as I am able to get it running eventually.. If I can't get it to run with vbios flashing, I would probably send you the BIOS screenshots as PM to avoid spam in the thread, If we figure out where the issue is, I would post it as solution of course.

Have a nice weekend!

[silverchairbg]

@Goyinator: I could not get anywhere with the k610m, flashed an HP bios different than what the card had but nothing changed i.e. still no BIOS, card is recognised in Windows, drivers installed but could not be initialised (Error 43).

I had bigger luck with the M1000m, I initially flashed HP vbios but this was what I already had, so nothing changed. I then flashed Dell vbios and voila: still no BIOS, but card is recognised in Windows, drivers installed and card is properly initialised (no errors show in device manager, shows working correctly). Great, but unfortunately there is no video signal on the upper DP slot, only on VGA or the lower one. So basically card cannot be used, everything I try to run (Passmark, Furmark) runs on the integrated Intel adapter. I tried setting everything UEFI (the card reports as UEFI in GPU-Z), tried disabling secureboot, fastboot. Tried enabling Legacy in Secure, but have Video Option Roms: UEFI - no dice. It is exactly the same scenario that @Anitawee reported earlier in this thread, but she uses M2000m. @Anitawee did you ever solved this problem?

@NevynPA, @Bufulo: can you guys share whether your cards were Dell? What power adapter do you use 180W or 230W. Would you mind saving your BIOS settings via Replicated Setup. I am running out of ideas here and getting pissed as hell. I start to suspect this is some HP whitelist/blacklist **bleep**.

Any help appreciated.

[NevynPA]

My card(s) were Dell FirePro M5100's. There may be an issue if the vBIOS you are using is LVDS vs eDP; not sure if that is relevant or not on the Nvidia cards as I don't have one.

I was using a 230W the whole time.