zBook G2 Owners - Alternatives to "Z Turbo Drive"?

The WD pcie NVMe works without any option boot. just install windows as normal and the zbook reads it as usual

 

hello

can you please upload the files needed to put on the usb/sd card as the links are alll dead now? please thanks

Hello Mate,

I have the same SSD installed. Is there a chance you can send me the drivers *.efi as the links are all dead. I will appreciate your reply thanks again

Hello

I hope that you cans still receive this. The links on your post are all dead. can you please send it to meplease..

 

So its basicly plug -instal windows and go??
Normal stuffs?

I just recently bought zbook17 g2 with i7 4910mq and k5100m with 16 gb what seems to be crappy 800mhz samsung RAM and noisy 500 gb HDD so i just replace hdd hith my hp 8560w ssd back up drivers with Double Drivers and i was ready to go...

What you guys think if i take out Samsung PM951 NVMe MZVLV256, 256 GB from my Razer Blade 14 and try to boot?

Cheers

If any good soul can make my life easier and specify which m.2 will work- boot normal without hacks i ll be greatfull coz my head will explode with all mxm ,dreamcolor 1 2 3 m.twoos and all things i am trying .
to comprehend
And ti be worse i am on middle of atlantic ocean right now hehehehe
Cheers

 

According to hp zbook 15 g2 page, the speed is not that much higher than SATA III SSD.

Interface

• ATA-8, PCIe 2.0

Performance

• Maximum Sequential Read: 730 MB/s
• Maximum Sequential Write: 620 MB/s

Is it worth it to upgrade just for 100-200 Mbps upgrade? Or is there a speed bump when using PCIe 3.0 or 3.1 nvme SSDs?

 

I purchased SDAPMUW-512G 512GB PC SN520 PCIe Gen3 x2 NVMe from newegg. I was able to connect is without booting from it. However, the guide on page 14 didn't help me to boot from it even though my produce is slightly different. The problem with the guide is that there are so many files indicated but the links are dead or proper reference is not made.
What I tried is to clone the nvme from OS disk, change it GPT but it doesn't boot.
I tried to install a fresh windows installation but windows say controllers are not installed and not recognized in bios.

Did anyone make it work to boot from an nvme?

 

Finally, I was able to boot from my nvme for HP Zbook 15u G2. Thank you Urr and Lubomir for the guide! I had to return the WD nvme to newegg as they sent me the ssd without original manufacturer box and I got Sabrent 512GB Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2242. It is over 30$ cheaper and as fast. My PC boots in 10 seconds! Also programs open much faster. Below is the benchmark.


The links shared by Lubomir are dead so I got the files from other sources and uploaded them here just in case the source I shared below are also not dead.

Sources for NvmExpressDxe.efi and Shell_Full.efi:
https://github.com/tianocore/edk2-archive/blob/master/EdkShellBinPkg/FullShell/X64/Shell_Full.efi
https://www.win-raid.com/t3557f13-Small-NvmExpressDxe-driver.html - you just need NvmExpressDxe_Small.efi but rename it to NvmExpressDxe.efi so that the code by Urr works.

 

Might be worth for people here to look at the 2013/2014 Macbook Pro's/Air's, they have basically the same issue as this where NVME drives don't work properly due to incorrect bootrom support which was fixed on the 2015

 

Bios mod is not something that is easy and safe.

 

I never mentioned anything about a Bios Mod.

 

OK got you

 

Hello, I have got the same M2 SSD as you, but I cannot get my 17 G2 to boot from it.
There is a difference though in what I am doing - I cloned my old 2,5' SSD to M2, and use the old SSD as starting point for the boot process. Let me try to describe my steps, someone might realize where the problem is:

1. I use Acronis True Image to clone 2.5' SSD to the new M2 SSD.
2. Reboot with USB drive (I use Macrium PE USB recovery for that), and copy the three files from your zip to EFI partition of old SSD in the right place (EFI\Shell directory)
3. I run bcdboot command in order to associate Windows folder on the new SSD and EFI partition on the same SSD
4. Reboot, go to BIOS, edit Customized Boot
5. Reboot again

It should work now, but it's not:
a. I can see from the echo that NVMe drivers are found, the NVMe disk is found, booting starts, but after a while the PC restarts

I tried also to use another HDD as EFI starting point, made EFI, put EFI\Shel\ files in there, but when attempting customized boot I get a blue windows with error message that winload.efi is missing or corrupt.

Are there any thought on this situation.
Many thanks in advance.

 

I managed.... So for archival purposes, if someone else gets along cloning a disk to an M.2 PCIe on ZBOOK 15/17 G2:
1. Clone your old disk to the new M.2 SSD (I used Macrium Reflect)
2. copy three files mentioned above to EFI partition of the old disk (EFI/Shell directory). You can do it from Command Prompt run as Administrator
3. DO NOT RUN bcdboot
4. Reboot, go to BIOS, edit Customized Boot (EFI\Shell\Shell_Full.efi), Save changes
Voila!

You can safely swap the steps 1 and 2

Keep in mind that you should never format your old disk entirely, its EFI partition must be kept safe.

 

I got my Western Digital SanDisk SDAPMUW-512G SN520 512GB {825 MB/s and 807MB/s R/W} working on my HP ZBook 15 G2 - I got Windows 8.1 Pro on the M2 PCI-e drive, the old SATA SSD drive is now partitioned with a 512 EFI drive for the Shell/Driver/Startup script followed by a Linux Mint Partition installation. It took work as I encountered several issues however it worth the speed boost over my old 8 year old Sata SSD drive, boost of 300MB/s in read and almost 600MB/s in write.

I've been trying for the past week plus to research an EFI scripting solution to easily dual boot between both operating systems using the EFI script above. If I change the second to last line on the script from the existing " EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi " to " EFI\Ubuntu\grubx64.efi " the Linux Mint operating system will boot up and of course leaving it pointed at the original entry Windows will boot up. Does anyone have any script examples out there that they could share or link that shows an example where I could add a boot-up option to the script to have it prompt me to choose between the two operating systems?

 

out of complete madness, I went looking and I noticed there are almost no 2260 drives, and the ones listed are not marked as such but there are a ton of 2230/2242 drives on eBay even some in 512 and 1tb capacities has anyone tried one of these other form factor drives?

 

Yes, you can take a 2230/2242 drive and with a bridge/extender adapter "extend" it's size to 2260 as needed for the HP ZBook 15 G2 M2 Slot.

I'm using a 2242 size drive ( Western Digital SanDisk SDAPMUW-512G SN520 512GB ) with such an extension, works fine.

 

Hey. I need some minor minor assistance.
I went through this process, on my ZBook 17 G2. I have the M.2 SSD installed and a SATA drive.
Went through this whole process, and it works,... but once per session, you never know when it's coming, but you get a BSOD and a WHEA error related to uncorrectable error.
I've never had this before when I had the notebook without the M.2 SSD installed... so I'm thinking that MAYBE it's related to the shell or nvmexpress driver just not being up to date or up to par. The stuff is honestly so old I can't imagine it couldn't be an issue....
I've run hardware diagnostics, reseated things.... nothing fixes it.

I would like to move from this whole process, to replace the bootloader with Clover. It seems that's a more modern way of doing things... and I'm thinking that MAYBE that will resolve my continual BSOD issues. The other option is to remove the SSD, go back to the SATA drive only, and see if a fresh windows install stays working.

Anyway, at the moment, I've got clover installed, when I boot the system it goes to clover... but it won't go further. none of the options work. I've tried getting it to boot, but nothing seems to work. I added nvmexpressdxe.efi moving it from the OFF folder, to the clover\drivers\uefi folder
The boot options are Windows From Windows EFI, From Legacy HD0, From Legacy HD1 and From EFI. From Windows EFI goes to a trouble screen, and stops.
The others just reboot back to bios and start the pc over

So at the moment, from a cold start, I'm still booting the old way... with help.
I'm going into BIOS, selecting a boot method, navigating on shell to efi\SHELL\Shell_Full.efi
I put that in, as the selected EFI file to boot from... and it comes up. It's using that shell,nvmexpressdxe.efi and the startup.nsh script mentioned by Lubomir, OP, etc.

But how do I go about replacing this, to make Clover boot the system?
I think it should be straight forward, I got EasyUEFI... I can add the Clover shell there. But it still won't boot. My thought is if I edit the BIOS to point to the clover file (it does that now) it goes to the Clover bootloader screen. I somehow need to get it to point to the SSD and boot there. UGH what a pain in the butt....

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!
I really feel like this is just something small I'm missing

 

OK I got it to boot... I just don't know how to make this the default...
Finally hit F1 on Clover and saw all the options
Hit F3 to show hidden partitions... and it said EFI boot on EFI
I hit that..... hadn't seen that before.
and it booted into windows!

now I gotta figure out how to make that the default. Set it and see if the BSOD's go away


Edit - Nevermind. BSOD came back. I don't get it.

 

As you're getting BSOD with both the Startup Script / EFI Shell solution and with Clover, the issue more likely lies with either the hardware or with the software (Operating System).

Did you use a cloning process or copy process or similar to move your Windows over to the M2 from the SSD? You didn't state in your post if you did or did not, an option to help rule out the operating system would be doing a clean install on the M2 Drive.

Secondly if you've never used the M2 Slot on your laptop, much the same as I didn't for the first 6 years of owning my ZBook 15 G2 (now on my 7th year and approaching 1 full year of using the startup script continuously) - it's also possible that the M2 Slot is hardware defective and you are only noticing it now that you are using the slot. There's also the possibility that the M2 SSD itself is the culprit and perhaps it was a bad one off the production line, if it's still new you could try getting an RMA or replacement to help you in ruling that out or trying it in another laptop if possible.

 

Thank you for the reply! I greatly appreciate it.

This was a new install of Windows when I did it. Right onto the M2 drive.. which I think is a Sabrent Rocket?

I first did all these upgrades in January/February, I had the BSOD a bunch. Then, after about a month, the motherboard totally fried. It's still a great laptop, i7 processor, etc...
So I got a new board, replaced it, moved the ram over and everything else... and the BSOD continues.

I've done the RAM test.... that seems ok, and I did the drive test w/ no errors.
I did go out and get a notebook SSD as opposed to the M2 size one. So I've got that on the side....
I was thinking either fresh install of windows on the M2...
Or fresh install on the notebook SSD (1TB SATA as drive 2 also)....
I guess if it boots ok on that SSD, it's the M2 that's bad.

It does seem like it's the M2 drive, if I had to guess...
b/c it's not like it just craps out... there's a second or two of lag/lock... then it BSOD's


So... based on this... the things that are the same, from before MB replacement to after... are the RAM, M2 Drive, and windows installation.

The Ram I've swapped out... and can't find errors... it still crashes.
So M2 or Windows I guess

 

It might be worth trying to run the system on a clean install on the 2'5 inch SSD (1 TB) and see if you encounter any BSOD on it while not having the M2 Sabrent Drive in the system. I looked up WHEA errors, wiki says WHEA "builds on the PCI Express Advanced Reporting to provide more detailed information about system errors and a common reporting structure." - it would imply the M2 SSD drive is the root of the issue.

 

DHV217 - Thank you so much for the advice, I've actually had this other SSD for over a week, and really held every last hope that I could find some bad driver or other issue.

I took the Sabrent out, copied all data to an external drive, and reinstalled Win 10 on the notebook SSD. Had to install it "normal"... after which I went back after and converted to UEFI and turned it on in the bios.

I've been using the system for nearly 2 days now with no crashes. So I guess it's the Sabrent. I will have to see if I can still return it, I'm not sure they will take it back at this point...
But everything is nice and stable, working well, working fast... and I'm not getting a BSOD every 5 to 20 minutes.
Thanks! I appreciate the info, it motivated me enough to move and try and fix it, which I did...
thanks!



QUOTE="dhv217, post: 11125560, member: 508094"]It might be worth trying to run the system on a clean install on the 2'5 inch SSD (1 TB) and see if you encounter any BSOD on it while not having the M2 Sabrent Drive in the system. I looked up WHEA errors, wiki says WHEA "builds on the PCI Express Advanced Reporting to provide more detailed information about system errors and a common reporting structure." - it would imply the M2 SSD drive is the root of the issue.[/QUOTE]

 

@dhv217 2 weeks, not a SINGLE crash.
It was the Sabrent.

I opened a case with Sabrent. They were saying that it was the laptop, or the firmware or something....
Then they came back and said that the system doesn't support PCI/e... all of which I corrected them on.
They lastly said that the system (ZBook 17 G2) supports 256Gb but not 512.

FINALLY after pushing back again and again and saying it was an obvious hardware issue, they issued me an RMA.
I bought the drive in February, so it took a while, but I got a return after 8 months.
They haven't yet said if it will be a refund, or a swap out. We'll see

 

That's great news, have you gotten the replacement or refund yet?

 

Hey!
I got the RMA approved, and shipped my module back to them.
I was sent a brand new, 512G drive. To be honest, it's still sitting here on my desk.

So let me ask you. I have installed the notebook drive/style SSD, and have a 1TB as my D: drive.
Not a SINGLE crash or BSOD since I did that, which is now over a month.

I can install the PCIe/M.2 Sabrent back in this.... but if I do it as a C: drive, I have to go back through the mess of Clover/nvmexpress.efi and all that crap, and reinstall the OS.
I've been reluctant to set the m.2 back in there, because I'm not sure what I'll use it for.

I could set programs to install on the M.2, leave the notebook SSD for OS, and regular data on the 1Tb sata...

or dedicate the M.2 to 512G of Virtual Disk? Seems like a waste.
Got any suggestions?

 

@dhv217 any thoughts on uses for that other SSD?
Another idea I thought of, was to install it, use some as ram/cache.... but use the rest as a place to load VMWare Workstation images, so i could run another pc or linux box or something