Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Joe Winograd
Joe WinogradFlag for United States of America

asked on

What is the slot to the left of the mSATA slot on the HP EliteBook 8770w?

Here's a photo of the inside of my HP EliteBook 8770w:

User generated image
Check out the slot where I put the three red question marks — what's it for? The gold connectors at the top look remarkably similar to the gold connectors at the top of the mSATA slot, but I don't think that the laptop supports two mSATA drives, although I could be wrong about that. Anyone know for sure what that slot is for? Thanks much, Joe
Avatar of noxcho
noxcho
Flag of Germany image

If you remove that cover from the red question marked area - does it have another mSATA drive in it?
If yes then looks like there is a second mSATA drive already installed in your laptop. And BIOS presents it on a hardware level as as part of first mSATA drive. This was done to manage a bigger storage at the early stage as the SSD drive capacity was not so big.
I think that's a modular slot.  According to  https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP-EliteBook-8770w-DreamColor-Notebook.88367.0.html#toc-specifications  this machine can (look under Storage Solution)

HP offers a variety of possible combinations of storage devices for the EliteBook 8770w. Theoretically, up to four drives can be installed as the laptop has an mSATA slot, two regular slots and the modular slot.

The question then becomes "What is a modular slot?" and on that point I'm not sure ...
Avatar of Joe Winograd

ASKER

> If you remove that cover from the red question marked area - does it have another mSATA drive in it?

Neither slot has a drive in it.

> I think that's a modular slot.

Based on the article link you posted, that sounds like a good bet.

> The question then becomes "What is a modular slot?" and on that point I'm not sure ...

...and I can't find it in the HP doc. I have the 128-page User Guide and the 159-page Maintenance and Service Guide...the word "modular" does not appear in either one...and the diagrams do not mention that slot.

Thanks to both of you for the comments. Regards, Joe
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of Seth Simmons
Seth Simmons
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Thank you, Seth, I'm confident that you are correct.

And thanks to noxcho and dbrunton for participating.

Regards, Joe