Adding a second HDD to ENVY 14 by replacing Slot Loading Optical drive

I bought one like this and had to mod it a bit to fit it into the laptop.

 

got another question for you people. I was wondering if I could fit in a WD Scorpio Blue 1TB seeing as it is 12.5mm in thickness. Has anyone tried to fit in a thick HDD like that before? How did it go?

 

Has anybody installed a second hard drive in the Sandy Bridge Envy 14?

 

The process is the same for the sandy bridge envy 14.

 

Writing this in frustration... Just bought a caddy + samsung momentus 750gb. The problem is that the screws is so damn tight on my envy, the first 10 is out (my fingers are hurt) and two are left. One of them feels like its glued to the computer, the other one is loose but doesn't come out (manufacturing problem i guess...). Why cant they build a computer that's easy to deassemble? -.-

Any tips on how to remove the top cover+keyboard?

Edit: I went and bought a better screwdriver and the screw that was tight finally popped out. I still couldnt get the other one out, it just rotated in its place. I then tried to open up the front cover, where the keyboard is. And now I can get a glimpse on the screw that only rotates. HP has put some kind of lock on top of it, its a golden circular thing thats screwed on the end of the black screw, so I cannot remove it. I cant get a grip with some kind of tool around it either because the front cover only lifts up about 1cm.

Maybe a little bit dull but I hope you can understand. Anyone experienced this problem before?

 

I know this thread is for the ENVY 14, but I just got the new ENVY 15 (2011 model) and was looking to swap out the optical drive for a HDD or SSD.

Do you guys know which caddy is compatible? Will the same one fit?

Any help would be great, thx!

 

All caddys are compatible since they are designed to be the exact same size as standard optical drive. I suggest you watch a teardown or two before you think about replacing the optical drive. I know I should have because it was harder than I expected (but eventually managed with good results)
Happy modding!

 

Has anyone here tried fitting this caddy into their Envy 14's? eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices I already ordered it, I just hope that it'll fit.

 

Hi everyone! This is my first post and naturally I'm here to take and not to give. That is, I need advice.
I got an Envy-14 and I replaced the default HDD with an SSD drive in order to give it a boost, I only got a small 120GB one as I thought I'd do this trick and use the old one as the main storage. Today I received the 9.5mm SATA caddy but while I was trying to open the bolts on the side of the casing, I found out that three of them wouldn't come out and only went around and around. I'm quite inexperienced with these things so I was wondering if someone has faced the same problem? I tried put varying pressure around the screw area but it didn't work. Do I need to get someone who actually knows how to do stuff to do some magic with the three screws that are screwing me?

 

If you place your DVD with a HDD can you use the DVD plugged into the eSata port?

 

If you get a decent enclosure, yes.

 

You would need to buy some cables, but I bet you would.

You could also just buy an enclosure with USB connection.

 

Having a small problem here. From time to time the HDD stops working and does not show up when I boot the laptop. A reboot or two fix it usually, but I am wondering what it might be.

Any ideas?

 

Hi guys, so sorry to be digging up this old topic again but I am in need of some help.

After having followed the guide and successfully installed (yay!) the new harddrive in the caddy my trackpad is no longer functioning. I've opened up my Envy 14 multiple times to reconnect and make sure that the ZIF ribbon is properly inserted and locked into place. But each time I boot the trackpad still doesn't work. Device manager still shows a "PS/2 Compliant Mouse" which should be the trackpad as the device info shows the hardware to be "ACP\SYN1E2A"

Is it possible that the ZIF ribbon was damaged when I opened the laptop? I was careful to remove the cable when I opened it but when I was replugging in for the first time I was forced to peel it slightly off the adhesive so I could get a bit more wiggle room to get it back in place.

Any help would be appreciated.

Sincerely, a laptop user without a trackpad.

 

I had the same problem and the ribbon just snapped out of its place when I closed the laptop. What I had to do was disassemble it until I could open the front a bit and made sure I put the ribbon back into its place AND taped it in position. Closed the laptop and it has been working fine since.

 

Bringing this back alive. Just wanted to double check a few things before I start my revamp tonight.

I'm putting a 256gb Vertex 4 SSD in my 1st gen Envy (I know only Sata II speeds but it was $195!). I'm also moving my 500gb Momentus XT to the optical drive.

Do I need to do anything on the BIOS side of things for this to work or should it be plug n' play?

I will be wiping everything off the hard drive so I'll be doing a clean install of Windows.

 

Plug and play.

 

It's Plug 'n' Play.

Could you please report back with the benchmarks of that drive in your Envy? Would SATA II also affect the IOPS or just the maximum throughput?

Happy modding!

 

Definitely planning on letting you know! I'm just trying to find a chunk of time to redo everything on the laptop! I've been using my desktop since I've been home from school so I'm trying to make sure I have everything backed up.

As for the SATA II connection, I'm not too sure. I figured getting the drive for $195 would justify any performance loss for downgrading to a SATA II connection and also giving me a great drive for when I actually upgrade to a SATA III capable laptop.

 

Just wanted to let you know I posted benchmarks in another thread! Probably shouldn't have created a new thread. Seems like our 1*** series is getting rarer and rarer.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/677794-vertex-4-ssd-1-series-envy-14-benchmarks.html

 

Hello everyone,

I followed this guide to try to replace my envy 14 optical drive with my new 60 GB SSD.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...-14-replacing-slot-loading-optical-drive.html

Everything was fine until this moment : "If you are following the manual then at this point it will tell you to start removing the optical drive cable from the mainboard, but again it's not necessary. I didn't realise this and disconnected it anyway and it was a tricky little bugger to get back into place, so don't make the same mistake as me! Below is a photo showing the connector you DO NOT need to undo (indicated by my screwdriver):"


When i tried to take out the optical drive, i think I pushed a little too strong, and the cable was disconnected from the motherboard. I tried to connect it back to the motherboard, but it just seem to not connect on it, nothing can fix the connector. I tried to plug it in the motherboard, but i just cannot see where should i plug in and how is it inside.I tried many times to plug it in, and then test by switch on the laptop, I cannot see any new drive in "My Computer".

I tried to re connect the optical drive, but it doesn't work anymore. So I am sure that the problem is the optical drive cable. I don't connect correctly for sure. Does anyone have an idea? I will upload some photos now. So that you see better what I mean. Thank you in advance.

 

No one has an idea please?

 

bump bump bump

 

The port for that connector is located 'on the other side' of the MoBo AFAIR.

Check the service manual, but mine slipped out of its port and my HDD in the ODD stopped working so I took apart the laptop and pushed it back in. The funny part is, that the port itself has no locking mechanism. You just push the cable in.