Repopulating SATA ports -- HP 800 G2 SFF.

[ipmungam]

Hi All,

I have a HP Elitedesk 800 G2 Small Form Factor (SFF). Apparently it is the same motherboard as the Tower (TWR) version, and their BIOSes looks to be identical. The TWR supports up to 5 SATA connections, the SFF only 3 -- and indeed there are 2 unpopulated SATA port pads on my SFF motherboard. I'd like to get these working.

I removed two SATA port connectors from a scrap board and soldered them to the empty pads on my motherboard (once again, dicky96's YouTubes were very helpful, thanks). It went pretty well, connections look good, however the BIOS still only detects 3 SATA ports.

I am wondering if there are more components necessary, e.g. some resistors or some such, that also need to get added in order to activate the ports?

Any advice welcome.

[foshland]

Re: Repopulating SATA ports -- HP 800 G2 SFF.

Hi, try saving the bios from the SFF and install the TWR version, maybe it works, if not, turn back to SFF bios.

Soldering a sata port will not tell the board that there is a new sata port, so that should have been the last thing to do, first let the motherboard know it has 5 ports.

In worst case you can buy a PCIex to Sata card, I know that is not what you want, but its the worst scenario solution.

[ipmungam]

Re: Repopulating SATA ports -- HP 800 G2 SFF.

Thanks -- I agree, whether or not the pad is populated shouldn't change what the bios recognises, but when I checked the HP site the TWR bios update had the same file name as the SFF, so I thought something else might be going on. I will try the TWR bios and see.

[piernov]

Re: Repopulating SATA ports -- HP 800 G2 SFF.

Could be set by feature byte, could be set by strapping resistor.

[ipmungam]

Re: Repopulating SATA ports -- HP 800 G2 SFF.

Thanks again -- checked the MD5 fingerprint of the latest TWR and SFF BIOS update files from HP and they are the same, so presumably identical (indeed, HP refers to the BIOS update as "TWR/SFF").

I am unfamiliar with feature byte, guessing the BIOS updater reads this from the motherboard before flashing? In that case, would appreciate being pointed to any known work-arounds.

I also searched for high resolution photos of the SATA ports on the TWR motherboard in order to look for any different SMD components, but didn't find anything conclusive. If anyone happens to have the TWR motherboard and wouldn't mind taking some clear snaps of the SATA port area would be much appreciated.

[piernov]

Re: Repopulating SATA ports -- HP 800 G2 SFF.

Feature byte is part of DMI info. BIOS update from manufacturer doesn't contain any DMI info. Full dump from another board will contain the associated feature byte.
Strapping resistor if it exists will usually be near EC or PCH, even then it may simply be a difference in resistance (rather than a resistor being populated or not) to set board variant.

[ipmungam]

Re: Repopulating SATA ports -- HP 800 G2 SFF.

Hello again -- update on my HP 800 G2 SFF. I never got the new SATA ports working, as piernov pointed out it requires more than a bios update.

It does look like I did however cause some corrosion on the motherboard, and a while ago what looked like a SMD capacitor blew up near the SATA ports. I replaced it with one of the same size (no idea what the value is supposed to be) and it worked again, at least for a while.

Now the computer won't start, emitting HP's 3 short 4 long beep code -- apparently this means a power problem. I removed all the components: if the CPU is not present, it gives the 3 short 5 long beep code indicating there is no CPU -- that's good. But as soon as I put a CPU in, I get the 3 short and 4 long -- tried a different CPU and a different power supply, no change.

I can't see any physical damage on the board, and haven't found any obvious shorts on the VRM coils. Any suggestions on how to track this fault down? Is the fact that it works (that is, doesn't work) as it should without a CPU, but then complains about a power issue when a CPU is present (and nothing else; no memory, no drives, no CMOS battery) a hint?