EliteBook 8460p does not detect miniPCI-e x1 to PCI-e x16 adapter

[ShermanRosario]

Hi, I have been using my ElliteBook 8460p for 2 years and now I want to upgrade it a little bit. I'm trying to use the mini PCI-e slot now used by the wifi card to connect an external graphics card. I bought a  mini PCI-e V8.0 EXP GDC Laptop External Video Card Dock, but when I remove the internal wireless card, connect the adapter to the slot and turn on my laptop it shows this message: "Wireless Module not supported: The system has detected that a wireless module installed in the system is not supported and disabled. WWAN Module ID (703)".

I have contacted the seller and he pointed to a BIOS problem so I updated the BIOS to latest firmware, but the problem still there.

There is anything I can do to solve this? Is there something like a custom BIOS or Beta BIOS which can left enable the PCI-e slot?

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

No. The laptop is much more than 2 years old, more like 6 or 7. It dates back to when HP had a whitelist that would block the laptop from booting unless one of a few specific wireless cards is installed. It is a hard stop and there is no alternate BIOS without the whitelist. Not all eGPUs are detected as wireless cards but this one apparently is. I do not think there is a way forward for you. 

[ShermanRosario]

I got it. Where is no way to customize the BIOS by reprogramming it to eliminate the whitelist?

[Huffer]

You are very late to the party. This was vetted years ago. You may find some hacked BIOS out there on the internet but I would not trust them. HP Business notebooks have very stringent BIOS security. There is a very strict checksum applied and efforts to modify BIOS are very likely to brick the machine. 

[ShermanRosario]

I catch up. I guess I will need to explore another solution. Thank you Huffer.

[Huffer]

A different eGPU might work better but it is expensive to test several of them.