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    USB3 mini-pcie card at HP 8710

    Discussion in 'HP Business Class Notebooks' started by nkar, Mar 11, 2011.

  1. nkar

    nkar Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just bought a mini PCI-e card NEC with 2 USB3 ports

    I installed it in place of my 8710p but it is recognised ONLY IF
    i boot with the original 4965 intel wifi mini PCI-e and hot swap it during windows 7 sleep

    After hot swapping it works fine and with great speed with my external
    USB3 hard disk.
    I plan to connect both an internal hard disk with a usb3--> sata in the dvd-rom bay
    and an external usb3 port

    My problem is how to make it work without hot swapping?

    I tried both 8710 unwhitelisted bios

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...000-8710-8510-6910-6710-6510-2710p-2510p.html


    and Bios from:

    This is no request thread! HP COMPAQ bioses, how to modify the bios?

    with no success.

    If I boot with the usb3 mini-pci installed the card is disabled and no
    matter what i do it can not be seen from windows.(but i get NO ERRORS
    during boot)

    I also tried
    vidock
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...51-diy-vidock-experiences-63.html#post6295529

    without success

    Any HELP?

    Thank you
     
  2. User Retired 2

    User Retired 2 Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    I had exactly the same problem with my 2510P when attaching a DIY ViDock via the mPCIe slot. Unless the HP bios sniffs a wifi card on bootup it disables the port.

    The workaround is to use the anti-whitelisting feature of DIY ViDock Setup 1.x. Do that by:

    1. Boot with wifi card installed. Save a PCI dump of the port it uses with 'iport save 2'
    2. Swap in the USB 3.0 card, ensure it appears in 'lspci -tv' output
    3. Perform a PCI compaction on the USB 3.0 card:

    Code:
    compact pciend 100000000 useonly [PCI-ID of USB3 card] makebatch %DRV%:\config\pci.bat
    4. 'edit %DRV%:\config\startup.bat' to contain

    Code:
    # restore whitelisted mPCIe port
    call iport restore
    
    # Configure PCI space to accomodate the USB 3.0 card
    call pci
    
    # Chainload into Win7
    call grub4dos w7
    5. Reboot, boot via DIY ViDock Setup 1.x bootitem, select "automated startup via startup.bat". If you have a disk image install then when it chainloads back to the bootitem select Win7 on the second instance.
     
  3. nkar

    nkar Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks it worked with vidock

    I booted 1st with the original wifi minipci and saved a PCI dump of port 2
    then shudown and insert the USB3 miniPCI

    Boot again with:

    #enable minipci port 2

    call iport on 2

    #restore whitelisted

    call iport restore

    #configure PCI

    call pci

    #Boot windows 7
    call grub4dos w7



    Now i have 2 extra usb3 ports
    I think I will use one for an internal sata disk
    and the 2nd for an external port
    (i will remove the dvd bay
     
  4. So7t

    So7t Notebook Enthusiast

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    Where did you buy that mini-pci usb3 card ? ;)
    I wil try to instal it on my Acer !! ;)
     
  5. nkar

    nkar Notebook Enthusiast

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    I bought it from pridopia at e-bay
    If i would buy again i would buy one with low profile connectors
    such as
    USB3.0 Half Mini Card--USB3.0 Host & Peripheral

    or

    www.globalamericaninc.com/p1507880/...d_USB_3.0_SuperSpeed_Module/product_info.html

    because the one i got needs hardware modification to fit to my laptop
    (mainly the connection cable between the mini-pcie card and the usb3 ports uses big connectors

    Also you need power (I think only 5 v are needed alhough the card i bought has a normal power connector)

    But with my tests with a powered external hard disk it seems that it works even without connecting the
    power connector
    I don't know what will happen with an unpowered device (such as a USB flash) if you don;t give power
    to the card

    Finally

    I tried many different drivers
    It seems that with the card I got there are some compatibilty problems with seagate flexdisk usb3 (unpowered)
    even if I connect power to the mini pci card (It is picked as a USB2 device)

    But my powered ICYdock is working fine
     
  6. entity00

    entity00 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi,
    I'm also looking for a mini-PCIe USB3.0 card, but I need a " half mini PCIe" one, because my laptop (ASUS G73JH) has not enough space.

    With that said, the IO Interconnect card would be ideal, but they don't seem to sell to retail customers (just OEM's). The Global American one is not half mini-PCIe and would not fit.

    Any hints on where to find an alternative half mini-PCIe USB3.0 card somewhere else?
    Thanks in advance.
    Best,
    EnTiTy
     
  7. Duct Tape Dude

    Duct Tape Dude Duct Tape Dude

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    Sorry to revive a dead thread, but could anyone here link to a USB3 mini pcie (mpcie) card? I found this one on eBay but I'd like to try and find one in the US.

    Mini PCI-e USB 3.0 Express Card 2 Port NEC chip | eBay

    Alternatively, is there a cheap mpcie to Expresscard adapter somewhere?
     
  8. entity00

    entity00 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I wonder where does it get the power from (see the right plug on the right end side of the second picture)?

    I have an ASUS G73JH and I've also been looking for one of those adapters for quite a while...

    Furthermore the adapter going inside the laptop will require that the cable is mounted vertically, not exactly the preferred setup for a laptop...

    Best,
    EnTiTy
     
  9. yuhdiing

    yuhdiing Newbie

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    HI, I have a HP 6910P, would like to add USB3.0 functionality, also encountered the same problem. Ask you how to obtain this software? Thank you. Sorry, I'm from Taiwan, English is not very good, please forgive me.