Simplified Installation of M.2 NVMe Drives on HP z420, z620, z820

[-Dragon-]

MothaJ,

Could you possibly provide your modified 3.91 BIOS again for download?

Thanks!

[MtothaJ]

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@-Dragon- wrote:

MothaJ,

Could you possibly provide your modified 3.91 BIOS again for download?

Thanks!

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I have uploaded it again here:

https://uploadfiles.io/zce2u

Would be grateful if you could report back as to what NVMe disk you are using and whether it ended up working for you.

[-Dragon-]

MthothaJ,

Thank you!  I'll definitely report back!

I'm trying a 960PRO 1TB module.

Thanks!

[caromero1]

I can vouch for the Clover bootloader -- it was very simple to get working in the end. Using with a 960 EVO 512GB.

[-Dragon-]

It says the file is missing or corrupt when I try to update it in the BIOS.  I've downloaded it twice.  Am I just missing something obvious?

[MtothaJ]

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@-Dragon- wrote:

It says the file is missing or corrupt when I try to update it in the BIOS.  I've downloaded it twice.  Am I just missing something obvious?

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What HP workstation are you using? The file is prepared on the basis of the Z420 / Z620 bios file.

Have you tried flashing from within the bios? People have reported that it flashes fine that way, but from what I recall the one report has been that for a particular disk while there was a difference in the boot process it still did not end up working as intended.

[-Dragon-]

I'm working with a Z420. That's how I tried updating the BIOS, from within the BIOS.

This is so bizarre. I have an extra 840Pro 256G so I installed that, and loaded windows 10 on it. Then I used acroniss and cloned it to my 960 Pro. I booted the Windows 10 USB to a command prompt and deleted all but the Fat32 partition off of the 840 Pro and edited the EFI boot parameters via bcbedit to point to the 960 pro. It still won't boot. So frustrating....
I'd prefer to not have to use a USB dongle, but it's definitely appearing like I might not have a choice.

[AxelM]

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@caromero1 wrote:

I can vouch for the Clover bootloader -- it was very simple to get working in the end. Using with a 960 EVO 512GB.

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I ordered a Z620 last night and will be adding 960 Evo when I get it,. I have been reading all these NVME threads and from the beginning I did not understand why people don't just add an old USB drive and boot to Clover which should allow the NVME drive to load the OS normally.

http://www.win-raid.com/t2375f46-Guide-NVMe-boot-without-modding-your-UEFI-BIOS-Clover-EFI-bootloade...

Is there a spare USB port in the machine, inside on the mobo, that I can use to keep the USB drive out of curious hands?

[SDH]

There is a HP document about the internal USB 2.0 adapter for the Z620  HERE.  There is no internal USB 3.0 adapter.

You can find the part/images by searching Google for 430684-001, and also by searching for option part EM165AA.

Same part, older instructions:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01512460

Backordered on HP USA Parts Store, with price 18.00 USD each, plus its going to be about 11.00 for shipping.

The header plug (blue end) has one "blank" that is plugged, and read the instructions carefully.  Know which set of 4 pins to use on your motherboard's USB headers.  I believe there are 3 9-pin USB 2 spare "2x5" headers that can be tapped into, but this device is meant for the side of the 2x5 header that actually only has 4 pins (standard USB header terminology lists those 4 pins as 1,3,5,7, and the "blank" is 9.  The other 5 pins on the parallel side of the same header are 2,4,6,8,10.  It does not look like it can be used on the 5-pin side from the pictures (the 5th pin end is all blue plastic, with only 4 holes exposed).

HP uses standard USB pinouts, but there must be some reason they designed this as they did.  The kit includes a reusable zip tie/foam tape attachment too.  Tripp-Lite has one that is similar:  the USB Header Cable IDC Female 4 PIN Motherboard U024-06N-IDC.  Note that the wiring color sequence is red, white, green, black for pins 1,3,5,7 and the HP adapter has the blue plastic blank for placing over the pin 9 area.  If you buy the Tripp-Lite one make sure to have it shifted to plug onto pins 1,3,5,7 and the area 9 of the motherboard header will not be covered by the shorter Tripp-Lite plug.

Here's some pics including both ends of the HP adapter, always the best quality:

Close up of the HP motherboard header plug end and its pin numbers plus 9 is a blank (no pin there)

Only can be used on the 4-pin side of the 2x5 pin header (9 total pins on that header)USB 2.0 interface, one, at this end

 The Tripp-Lite equivalent:

Pin order of attachment to the motherboard header

[Gergalyn]

Hi,

Can you upload somewhere NVMe modified bios to the HP Z420 ?

Thanks.