Does my computer have a bios wifi module whitelist?

[mustangmarcus]

Hello, I have a "Pavillion 17 - ar050wm" and I'm wondering if the bios has a wifi module whitelist. And if it does, where can I find a bios that does not have the whitelist? It is to my understanding that HP stopped putting whitelist on their computers but when I plug a new adapter in there is an error about my CPU fan not working even though I can clearly see it spinning as normal, and it will not boot. I have updated all my drivers to their latest version as far as I can tell for now, including my bios which is currently running on version "AMI F.29, 7/1/2020" Any help is appreciated, thank you in advance.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Unfortunately no one would be able to answer your question unless by some miracle someone with your notebook upgraded the wifi card.

HP does not release any info on what models have whitelists.

What we know based on forum info...

All HP notebooks made in 2011 and earlier have whitelists.

Very few models made in 2012 do not have BIOS whitelists -- lets say 15 - 85

A few more made in 2013 do not have BIOS whitelists--let's say 50 - 50.

Most notebooks made in 2014 and later do not have BIOS whitelists--let's say 90 - 10.

I don't see any posts where someone has upgraded the wifi card, because you are one of the lucky folks that actually got a dual band AC wifi card in your model.

The good thing is if you want to experiment at least your notebook has two wifi antenna wires connected to the card, so all you need to do is swap out the card for a better one.

I have a HP 15-ee047nr with an AMD Ryzen processor and HP installed an Intel AX200 card in it.

Only certain model Intel wifi cards work in AMD notebooks.

That would be the card I recommend if you want to experiment.

This is the description and part number...

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 ax 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.0 MU-MIMO M.2 2230 non-vPro   HP part # L35282-005

You should be able to find this card on eBay.  Search by the part number, not the model of the wifi card.

You must get the non-vPro model or it will not work.  That is why I suggest you search by the part number.

l35282-005 | eBay

Below is the link to the service manual, where you can find the wifi card removal and replacement procedure.

HP Pavilion 17 Laptop PC (model numbers 17-ar001 through 17-ar099) Maintenance and Service GuideIMPO...

Looks like the Intel card you have was the only one offered in the model series.  Note that it is non-vPro.

[mustangmarcus]

Thank you for your reply, It's nice to be able to confirm that as the years continued they gradually got rid of the whitelist. However, I got my computer maybe 2 or 3 years ago (so I expect it to not have the whitelist) but for some reason when I plug something else in the NGFF port the computer won't boot. Seems like a whitelist but I'm hoping it is something more fixable. Do you know what else might cause this no boot issue?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

What model wifi cards and part numbers have you tried in the existing wifi card slot?

You can only install wifi cards in the slot, not SSD's, egpu's etc.

[mustangmarcus]

Well, that seems to be the problem. I am trying to connect an eGPU, and don't understand why it's not working, even when I plug in the "empty" (lack of a better word) NGFF cord that is not plugged into anything but the computer itself, the computer still won't boot. In doing my research before I bought the parts I thought that the two ways to connect an eGPU were via the m.2 port or USB-c thunderbolt, and since I don't have a thunderbolt port, I expected it to work on the NGFF port. However, a few bucks later and months of waiting, despite my research it's just not working

[Paul_Tikkanen]

It might have worked (50-50) in a M.2 NVMe slot used for SSD's (which your notebook doesn't have), but I have never heard of anyone successfully installing an eGPU in a M.2 wifi slot on any HP notebook.

[mustangmarcus]

Alright, well I guess in my spare time I'll keep looking into the root cause of why the computer doesn't boot with the device at all. But your advice was certainly helpful, thanks so much. I'll be marking this thread with the reasonable solution that you stated earlier until I learn to get things working... if that happens.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

Sorry that you were unable to accomplish your goal.