Wireless card upgrade

[Chuck486]

I have tried twice to upgrade the wireless card in this notebook. It comes with an Intel 7265 card. I tried upgrading it with both an Intel 9260 and 8265. Both of which result in the PC not booting, meaning they must not be on the whitelist. The manual is somewhat confusing, it says the 9560 is supported but that's a different interface, is this really compatible? What is the best wireless upgrade for this at the moment that will work?

[Huffer]

There is no whitelist. What I suspect is happening is that you have tried to use vPro wireless cards and the computer only suports non-vPro cards. vPro is a security protocol by Intel and is built into the processor chipset, etc. 

See p. 3 of the Service Manual here:

Manual

You want to use this card:

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC+Bluetooth 5 Combo Adapter (non-vPro) L22634-005

It is a wireless AC-9560 card (non-vPro) 2230 form factor

HP does have it in stock:

https://parts.hp.com/hpparts/Search_Results.aspx?mscssid=CC393A96D0FF484B81942681B378D42E&SearchIn=P...

It does not have to be an HP part numbered card (hence no whitelist) but it cannot be a vPro card. 

Post back with any other questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[Chuck486]

I believe you are right, even though the 9260 I bought SAID non-Vpro, I think the description was wrong. So the 9560 will work even though it uses the CNVio interface? The 7265 says Wi-Fi(PCIe), BT(USB), basically two notches instead of one. Can you confirm?

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

All the motherboards are the same and the wireless slot is the same interface. It will take a little while but I will download an image of your card by part number and then an image of the replacement I recommended and we can visually compare. But I am about 99.99% sure the recommended one will fit. 

Recommended:

9560 with 2230 form factor

 7265 NGW card (what you have now):

card you have now

These are both M.2 cards and the notching is different but they will fit in the same type M.2 slot. 

Post back with any questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[Chuck486]

Hmmm, Ok I ordered the 9560 and installed it....same exact thing as the other two cards I tried. I can't figure out why this is happening. I can only boot back up by re-installing the original 7265 OR removing the wireless card.  The PC turns on, but I get no HP screen, I cannot get to the bios or anything.  Here is the exact card I ordered:

Exact card: Intel Wireless-AC 9560, M.2 2230, 2X2 Ac+Bt, Gigabit, No Vpro

[Huffer]

When it refuses to boot up do you get any kind of message on the screen?

[Chuck486]

No but I noticed the caps lock button does a series of flashes. Otherwise no message at all. I hear the PC start up but nothing. It will boot with no card at all or the original card only. I can't remember if the other two cards did the series of flashes or not. 

[Huffer]

All I can think is try booting into the BIOS and turn off any security settings you see in there but otherwise I have to admit being confused on this one. 

[Chuck486]

Those are my thoughts as well. There's not too much to turn off, but that's what I'll be looking into later today. 

[Chuck486]

Veyr dissapointed at this. Is there any possibility that they could add support with a bios update? It seems like there is a whitelist or a block at play here.