Can the HP Pavilion 15-cs2073cl Laptop Really use an M.2 NVMe storage device?

[krlkrvr]

I'm trying to upgrade my HP Pavilion 15-cs2073cl Laptop with a Samsung 980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 SSD. Based on information in the Maintenance and Service Guide HP Pavilion 15 Laptop PC, I knew that "select products only" did support this type (if not this specific) SSD. I also knew that although my model did not come with an SSD, it did have an available socket inside to install one.

I continued searching for more specifics and came across this thread. Based on the "Accepted Solution" reply from "Expert" Paul_Tikkanen, I was encouraged to take the plunge, and purchased the Samsung.

Unfortunately, upon installing the SSD, I found that the computer's BIOS would not give any indication that it could detect the M.2 NVMe SSD, regardless of various BIOS settings. I also tried booting into Windows, but the OS also did not detect the SSD.

I then tested the SSD in another computer, and it works fine.

Next, I went back to searching the Internet, and only then did I find some troublesome threads. This one, for instance, is extremely similar to my own experience. Note this reply from "Expert" Banhien early in the thread.  He states definitively, "Machine supports both M.2 SATA and NVMe." But later in the thread, users do not seem to confirm his conclusion. Towards the end of the thread, the consensus seems to be that an M.2 NVMe upgrade on this exact model is not possible.

A more recent post that is on point has yet to receive a reply in about 9 months.

But then there several similar posts from user BrianPer indicating that he succeeded in this exact upgrade. He apparently got the idea for his method from "Expert" Banhien. Some of BrianPer's threads are even marked "Solved".

I've followed BrianPer's exact steps several times. Where I fail is during Windows 10 installation when the process looks for a drive to install the OS on and fails to detect any devices. BrianPer never mentioned this issue. I've further tried to get the Windows installer to install extracted storage drivers downloaded from the HP website for my laptop model. I've tried the latest Intel RST driver, as well as the older driver intended for Windows 10 v1903. Both do not fail to install immediately, but after some time generate the following error message: "We couldn't install the [Intel(R) Chipset SATA/PCIe RST Premium Controller... Contact your vendor for an updated driver."

Lastly, tried forcing the Windows installer to install the motherboard chipset drivers first. Doing so doesn't generate any error messages, but also doesn't yield confirmations that the motherboard chipset drivers are successfully installed. Afterwards, I repeated trying to install the RST drivers, but still received the same error message.

I think BrianPer's posts are made in good faith, so I can only assume that because he succeeded back in 2019 and I continue to fail in 2024 the problem may be in version changes of BIOS, OS installer, and/or RST driver since 2019. For the record, I updated my laptop to the latest BIOS and Intel IME firmware before starting my efforts, and I'm using a Windows 10 USB bootable installer created  by Microsoft's Media Creation Tool for 22H2.

Can anyone point me to an HP updated Intel RST driver that may work? Any advice that can help with this upgrade would be tremendously appreciated.

[BeemerBiker]

You have an i7- 8565u which is an 8th generation Intel.  It will not use the newest intel RST drivers.

It is not clear what the problem is.

1.  Are you installing Windows 10 from an ISO files you downloaded from Microsoft?  if so, during the install, does it ask you to provide a driver and give an indication of  what you are to provide?

2.  Unless I am mistaken your product ID is 6MZ82UA#ABA and you have cloud restore

Are you installing windows from your cloud backup?  If so, any missing drivers will be included

Go to the below site and use a 32gtb flash to get the restore. It will take over an hour to create the USB flash.  You need your product ID and serial number.

https://d34z73bbtpzgej.cloudfront.net/

Put the NVME chip in and remove the HDD.  Be sure to get into the bios and set defaults for each page. When booting ensure that the USB boots. If it says there is data on the NVME then select "yes" or whatever it take do delete the existing partitions (if any) on the NVME. 

After (if) your system boots up you might want to directly upgrade to windows 11 and bypass all the updates for 10.

When you put the HDD back in ensure it does not boot up as you want the NVME to boot up.  There should be a selection for this option in the bios.

If the cloud restore cannot install into the NVME then there is an incompatibility.

[edit] If the NVME is incompatible then return it and get one of the 2.5 SSD such as a western digital 2tb

You can clone your HDD to the SSD or use the cloud restore and directly upgrade to win11.  if you clone the old HDD to the SSD then you need an adapter like this one.

If you decide to upgrade to 11 then dont bother setting up WI-Fi or ethernet.  Just use that RUFUS trick that Paul described and configure network after 11 is installed.  Use that usd3 adapter to copy important files from the HDD if you did not clone.  

[Paul_Tikkanen]

@krlkrvr 

You shouldn't need any storage controller drivers for Windows to find the drive on Intel 8th gen core processor platforms,

A couple of things you can try:

1. You can use the HP cloud recovery tool to create a bootable USB recovery drive that will reinstall Windows, the drivers and the software that originally came with the PC.

Here is an info link for how to use the utility.  You will need a 32 GB USB flash drive to create the recovery media with.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Customer Support

You can download the software from the Microsoft Store.

HP Cloud Recovery Tool - Microsoft Store Apps

Since you have to use the utility on another PC, you will need to enter the notebook's product number in the tool's search window in order to proceed to make the recovery media. 

The PC's product number is: 6MZ82UA#ABA

2. If you want to clean install Windows, when you are at the screen where no drives can be found, format the drive and create a partition at that point:  It's in Arabic but the Windows version is English so you should be able to follow the video.

Make sure you select the correct disk when you run the dispart command if you retained the hard drive.

حل مشكلة عدم الفورمات عند تثبيت الويندوز 7/8/10 عدم ظهور الهارد (youtube.com)

[krlkrvr]

Thank you for your reply.

1. For Windows install, I'm using a bootable USB FLASH drive created using Microsoft's official Windows 10 media creation tool for Version 22H2. It looks like BrianPer did the same, but with whatever version of Windows 10 the creation tool made back in 2019.

2. That is my correct product ID #. I have not yet tried cloud restore since BrianPer did not mention that he used it in his successful account. I'll try it now and report my results. Thank you for the 2.5 SATA SSD suggestion as well. I'm aware of the option, but was hoping to keep my 1TB HDD and take advantage of NVMe performance.

[krlkrvr]

Thanks for replying.

I have not yet tried cloud restore, as BrianPer did not mention it in his successful account. I will try it now and report back with my results.

Thanks also for the video showing how to format and partition the drive. I'll watch it and see if it helps.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[krlkrvr]

I followed your suggestion and tried the HP Cloud Recovery Tool. The good news is that on a modern budget gaming PC with a fast USB 3.0 drive and 300 Mbit internet, the creation process did not take over an hour, but on the order of 10-20 minutes. I reset all BIOS pages to factory defaults before booting to the created USB restore media. While the recovery software was booting, the process stops with the following pop-up error:

[ 1:14:14.36][startnet] Error, Get failure from Dynamic Recovery Tool

The error window has an "OK" button. Upon clicking, the PC reboots, and the tool attempts to start again, but just stops again at the same error.

Unless I receive other suggestions in this thread, I think I'm going to wave the white flag and assume that the 15-cs2073cl is not compatible with the Samsung 980 M.2 NVMe SSD,

Thanks again for your help.

[krlkrvr]

I followed your suggestion and tried the HP Cloud Recovery Tool. On booting from the created recovery USB, the process stops with the following pop-up error:

[ 1:14:14.36][startnet] Error, Get failure from Dynamic Recovery Tool

The error window has an "OK" button. Upon clicking, the PC reboots, and the tool attempts to start again, but just stops again at the same error.

I also tried the method in the video you linked for me. On running diskpart and using "list disk", the only disk listed is the USB drive containing the Windows 10 install media. There's no entry for my 1TB Samsung 980 NVMe SSD.

Unless I receive other suggestions in this thread, I think I'm going to wave the white flag and assume that the 15-cs2073cl is not compatible with the Samsung 980 M.2 NVMe SSD. At this point, my feeling is the BIOS included for this particular HP laptop does not include the necessary code to support the M.2 socket.

Thanks again for your help.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Sorry that none of the suggestions we offered worked for you.

Yes, if the dispart command could not find the disk either, then NVMe SSD's are not supported.

You will have to resort to using a M.2 SATA SSD unless you plan on replacing the 2.5" drive instead.

There is a very remote possibility that the M.2 SSD slot is no good.

I am perplexed as to why NVMe SSD's work in some of the 15-cs model series and not in others.

The 'select models' normally means those PCs that came with Intel Core processors.

[krlkrvr]

I appreciate your help nonetheless.

Unfortunately, I don't have an M.2 SATA device on hand to try it out, and I'm not confident that it would work in any case. The documentation definitely doesn't specify that only SATA M.2 devices work, and that NVMe devices need to be avoided. Having already purchased the NVMe and found that I cannot use it, I'm reluctant to order further drives on the possibility that they may work.

I agree it's possible the socket itself is bad, but that seems unlikely.

As it is just one user's posts, I can't be absolutely sure that what BrianPer reported about his NVMe working in my specific laptop model is 100% correct. If multiple users reported the same success, I'd be more confident. Perhaps it works in other Pavilion 15 models, but just not this specific model which seems to have only been sold through Costco.

I tried a 2.5" SATA SSD that I had on hand replacing the stock 1TB HDD, and that did work, so I think I'll just go that route, abandon the M.2 socket, and use external USB storage devices going forwards.

Thanks again for your assistance.