Replacement WiFi Card; laptop won't boot

[ntruby]

Hi

The internal WiFi card (a Realtek) in my Pavilion 15 stopped working recently.

  

I purchased a replacement:

 ... but the Pavilion won't boot with it installed, not even a flash screen.

I've re-installed the old one and it all boots OK again.

ChatGPT tells me that the problem is that HP "white-lists" compatible products and so the BIOS is willfully rejecting the new card in order to force me to buy an HP-approved one (from HP presumably?).

My problem is that I now don't know what to buy.   Searching finds plenty of WiFi cards similar to the one I bought, but I have no idea whether they are compatible.   I certainly can't find any that are obviously HP-approved.

Would anyone be able to help please?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, that is correct.

You can't just install any Wi-Fi card in some HP notebooks.

What is the full model number or product number of your notebook?

Find Your HP Laptop Name, Product Number, or Serial Number | HP Notebooks | HP Support

Did the original Realtek Wi-Fi card have two antenna wires connected to it?

[ntruby]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. 

It's a 15-eh1505sa.

Yes, the card has two fiddly little wires labelled "1" and "2" that clip into the two slots similarly numbered on the picture of the original. 

Regards

N

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

Intel Wi-Fi cards in HP AMD notebooks are very particular.

Some work and some don't.

In your situation, the card with the part number you bought according to chapter 3 of the service manual should have worked just fine.

Maintenance and Service Guide

Since it didn't, I suggest you play it safe and order the Realtek Wi-Fi card that came with your notebook that is found in the parts list:

HP PartSurfer

SKO-WLAN Realtek CAVA ax 2x2 (RTL8852AE)    HP part # M34027-005

[ntruby]

Thank you.  I couldn't find that exact model but have ordered a Realtek one that seems to be the nearest match.  I'll let you know how it goes.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[ntruby]

The laptop DOES boot OK with the replacement Realtek card, and the card is working fine even though I managed to break off the daggy antenna cable "2" trying to attach it to the new card.

So, thanks for all your help from a happy correspondent!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Sorry that happened to you.

I did you one better and broke both of the terminals off a card I was upgrading and got the broken terminals lodged inside the antenna connectors.

It took me over an hour with fine instruments to extract the broken pieces out of the connectors so I could attach them to the replacement card.

I vowed never to try and upgrade a M.2 Wi-Fi card again.

Never had that problem with the many PCIe Half Mini Wi-Fi card's I have replaced in the past, because the antenna wires and connectors are almost twice as big as those on a M.2 card.