DV7 second hard drive problem

I just got a DV7t-4000 with a 500gb hard drive with the hope that I could put in a second hard drive. HP told me it was totally possible, I just had to buy this super simple mounting kit. So I did (not through them, because $50 is a ridiculous amount to pay for that), and was all excited that I could still use my old WD Scorpio. But I have absolutely no idea where I'm actually supposed to connect this hard drive.

Here's what I'm looking at when I open the bottom:


And here's the hard drive just laid in there. My question is, where exactly am I supposed to plug in that SATA connector that's circled in red?


There's only two mounting kits that I could find for the DV7, the mylar/SATA one that I got, and a basic metal bracket version. Neither seem like they would work with my case. I was able to open up a DV7-3000 series laptop and it was pretty clear where the second hard drive goes. This, however, is a mystery.

 

I don't have this model, so I can't say for sure, but in the hard drive removed picture, it looks like a connector on the left side of the drive bay.

 

That's what I thought too, but there's nothing over on that side. There's a bit of grounding metal and padding, but no motherboard visible. :/

 

Maybe open more of it?

 

The 2nd drive connector is just below the dvd connector. It needs a longer cable with a different connector to work. I ordered the kit from HP, expect it in by tues/weds, I'll let you know if it has the right cable in it. The dv7-3000 and previous cables don't work for the 2nd drive.

 

Thank you! If you can take a picture of the kit too, that would really help me out.

 

Bought one of these:

Hard Drive Caddy & Cable for HP dv7-2000, dv7t-2000, dv7-3000 [HP-dv7t-2000] - $38.55 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

Under $40. Works great for my dv7 3060us.

 

Yes I bought the same thing before I recieved my laptop, but it doesn't work with the 4000 series (2010 model) that he and I have. There's a note on the web page about it that there working on one. My HP kit shipped so will see it Tuesday so I'll let you know.

 

The kit (part # 605415-001) comes with both cables bracket for 1 drive and the screws. It's $51.30 plus tax and shipping is about $11 or $17 depending on option. I can take a picture but 2nd drive cable is 3-4" longer with the bigger connector on motherboard end like the dvd drive. Looks like this is only option til newmodeus comes out with theres. You get it through the HP parts store not hpshopping.

 

Thanks dmz, I really wish HP would show images with their parts. It seems like a brand new kit, Google turned up only one store that offers it..."soon":

605415-001 HP New HDD HARDWARE KIT

Well, that's annoying, but thank you for replying! If you still manage to get a photo up, it might help future people who come to this thread with the same problem.

 

yeah we have to suffer for being early adopters hehe. my dv7t se gets delivered on 7-22 so I can't wait. going to replace the hard drive with an SSD

 

dude was that a pain in the butt taking off the back cover or what.. didnt cleanly come off at all for me.. what did you think?

 

The back cover wasn't too bad, it's just the snaps that I hate. I don't like the feeling of ripping off a giant chunk of plastic.

 

So this should be the solution? 2nd Hard Drive Caddy & Cable kit for HP dv7-4000 series [HP-dv7-4000] - $38.55 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

 

has anyone installed and verified this one works?

 

motoboss, I don't have one of these model laptops, but looking at the second photo from the original poster on page 1, in the second photo with the red circle, slightly above and to the right looks like where the SATA and power connector is on the laptop, next to the RAM....can you see it? So I would say the kit in maniacshouse photo has a longer cable than the original posters in his second photo. So looks like it will reach in my opinion. Does that help at all?

I should add that the hard drive in maniachouses photo would be pointing the opposite direction and the cable on the other right hand side if it was dropped in the laptop in the original posters photos.

 

This is definitely different than the caddy for the DV8 and older DV7. So I am pretty sure that it will work for the newer DV7-4000.

I have taken out the original caddy from the DV8, installed the additional caddy. The older caddy do not have the 4 extruding brackets from the caddy.

 

That one i just ordered and tracking said its already at the post office. I will report back here how my install works out.

 

Where did you buy the HP Sandy Bridge laptop? I thought they are supposed to be released at the CES next week?

 

At the local MicroCenter here.

 

Bravo!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Thanks for posting!!!!

 

yeah, been fielding bench request all week. Ha ha...

 

If I am so brave as to suggest, the Toshiba 1 GB HD goes into the storage slot and the boot drive with an SSD, best upgrade I had!!!

I swear, that's what I WOULD DO!!!!

 

No worries, already bought a Sandforce SSD, and the adapter is already at the post office. I just bummed out by the 8 DVD's needed to create a restore option for this laptop.

 

It's insane that one would need 8 dvds for a restore option!!! What are they thinking!!!

Just another note, a lot of the google links were deleted and/or obsolete to your posts and/or benchmarks !!!

 

The main reason I chose the 2 x 320GB HDD option for $20 more .

 

???? what ??? For the FREE caddy?

 

I have no plans to change HDD yet.

But it does avoid headache of needing to scramble for vendor specific parts if/when I decide to upgrade/replace one or both HDD. Maybe there is a SDD in my future

Plus 2x HDDs are supposedly faster than one.

 

And, just like that, the hdd caddy is here, and I still haven't got enough DVDs to create the restore discs....arrgh! (newmode is fast, that 2 days from CA to MD, in this weather...good job)

 

It is insane.

And thosee links at some bloggers sites now wont work coz the thread was merged so new link. But it's still there.

 

Finally finished installing, migrating to an SSD.

The caddy kit listed in the previous pages works fine. The caveat was the soft shielding was attached to the brackets in the wrong position. Not a problem since only some sticky stuff held it there, i just peeled it off and turned it around.

The cable itself was perfect length.

WEI score went from 5.9 w/ the 1TB Toshiba drive to 7.4 w/ the G2 Sandforce SSD

 

Can anyone tell me the drive height that the newer DV7t will accept ?
is it just 9.5mm or will it also accept 12.5 (i.e the 1TB Hard Drives that are currently on the market)

 

Congratulations on your SSD upgrade. Mine was the best upgrade for me!! WEI went from 5.9 Samsung 500 GB 7200 RPM to 7.6 Hope you tweak it!!!

 

I ordered the dv6, but and thinking about switching to the dv7 because of the ability to run two HDD's.
Question...
If you order dual HDD's up front, will all the wires and the 2nd caddie be there?

 

Yes. And you will not have to buy the caddy depending on which DV7 you buy. HP uses different caddy for different DV7 models. There is a thread on that subject.

 

hp caddy coupon codes. Find and share coupons, discounts and promotion codes for hp caddy.

FB72808

A quick google came up with this coupon code for 5% off. Not much...but better than a sharp stick in the eye.

I'll probably send my DV6TSE back when it shows up and get a DV7TSE. That touch screeen better blow me away. But I'd love to have two HDD's.....

Worse comes to worse, I know someone that works at Wal-Mart. I'll hand them the cash, and get 10% off. That will remove the tax at least. That will get me a dv7 with a Sandy Bridge i7 for $1100 out the door. I'm at $975 for my first gen i5 dv6 right now.

 

I come to this thread a bit tardy; late last month I bought a refurbed DV7-4263CL, which I am now beginning to upgrade. HP wanted $59+ for this drive kit, but NewModeUS prices their own (and they do make it, it's not made by HP) at $38.55 still, so I bought that. Economics abhors a vacuum! BTW, here it is eleven months later - to the day! - since panthermark posted his coupon find, and it still worked! It saved me a whopping $1.93.

Anyone else find it odd that HP used the same connector for the second SATA drive as it did for the SATA optical drive, rather than using the same connector used for the primary drive? I wonder what they were thinking?

 

I just registered to anyone who sees this, thank you. I wanted to fill the 2nd harddrive bay on my dv7 machine as well and needed to verify that I had the right cable and mounting hardware.

Thank you.

 

hp pavillion dv7 6166nr
bought cable - laptop had caddy installed-no cable
2nd HDD Cable kit for HP dv7t-6000, dv7-6000 series,dv7qte [HP-dv7t-6000] - $28.95 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks
switched HD to 2nd bay add SSD to first bay - installed backup from previously made backup...deleted all Windows files form original disc - kept all restore and setup files in case ... works like a dream
The cable was back ordered for 3 weeks - the seller provided a ship date and it arrived 2 days early... alot better then paying HP 60$ for cable and caddy HP does not sell cable alone

upgrades to Laptop
SSD - ram upgrade to 8gig - A6-3400 APU upgrade