Costco Members: HP 14" Laptop: i3-8130U, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD Expired

Maintenance and service guide showing internals
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Man...tid=166580

Pics from DCheeseDanish showing two ram slots
https://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=121739716&postcount=94
Max RAM supported: 16GB (2x8GB-2400) DDR4 That's what the official specifications say. However, it accommodates 32GB (2x16GB). 2666 MHz was used to verify this and it ran at only 2400 Mhz.

3min video of the laptop made by SDUser rapdeals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmHJoN0c4mM

The other thread about this deal. Shorter and has some good info
https://slickdeals.net/f/12169396-costco-wholesale-black-friday-hp-14-df0023cl-14-laptop-intel-i3-8th-gen-4gb-ram-128gb-ssd-win-10-for-299-99?v=1

Memory chip used (2 slots, 1 used): https://www.samsung.com/semicondu...1a0a1c0e14

Crucial Memory Checker [crucial.com] Going in and out of stock

Battery replacement
Eventually the battery life will deteriorate. Replacement batteries are about $40. Replacement is quick and easy. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...UTF8&psc=1

Can anyone find a compatible 4GB stick in stock?
Don't overpay for faster ram the device won't support. Buy 2400 MHz ram.

If I want to replace the M.2 SSD, can I use an NVMe or does it have to be a SATA M.2 SSD?

Lots of debate about this. This is what we know:
- the laptop ships with an M2 SSD that is SATA
- The service manual MENTIONS NVMe drives, but it could be for a different model, so this does not guarantee that it would work.
- THIS post is by a SDealer who has successfully installed an NVMe M2

Can a 2nd drive be installed?
There is space inside the body of the computer for a sata drive to be installed. It can be seen in the maintenance guide and in photos posted by DCcheeseDanish.

There are HP parts required to possibly use a 2nd drive. There is a bracket and a cable to connect the drive to the sata connector. Part numbers are listed in the service manual and the part number for the cable is: L23187-001 The bracket is: L24490-001

SSDs come in two thicknesses, 7 mm and 9.5 mm. Thickness is referred to as the z height. Only a 7 mm will fit. You can't close the case with a 9.5 mm SSD installed. You may be able to use NVMe and a NVMe to SSD adapter instead of SSD, haven't tried yet.

If you go to http://partsurfer.hp.com/search.aspx and select the UK as your location, the cable can be ordered, but the cable does not seem to be available from HP in the US

There are many similar looking cables that can be found on Ebay or even Amazon if you search for terms like: HP 14 sata cable Some of these appear to be too short while others are really long. With a short cable, you'll have to have the SSD connections toward the outside of the case. With a longer cable, you can orient the SSD connections further away. Having flexibility in how you mount the SSD is helpful when you have a tight fit. The ribbon cable attaches to the motherboard connector from the side away from the edge of the case. You lift up a tab, put the end of the ribbon cable in the slot, then close the tab.
First thread-confirmed installation of 2.5" HD from p4spooky
HDD Cable used: DW17 6017B0421501
This is the one p4spooky used successfully: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XKQ8T4Z/

WiFi 6

You can upgrade the wireless card to a AX200NGW for under $20. Do not get an AX201 NGW because it is not supported. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...00?ie=UTF8 It's available on eBay for less. You don't need anything extra. Detach the antennas from the old card. Save the screw holding the old card in place and reuse it after inserting the new card. Reattach the antennas. Install the wifi and Bluetooth drivers.

BIOS RELATED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS


I heard the CPU is throttled and only runs at 1.3 and not 2.2 GHz. What's the deal?

LINK TO GET BIOS UPDATE

Quote from starsky1 : https://support.hp.com/us-en/driv...ku=5JV97UA

Link for BIOS update instructions from HP: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00042629

Some users have reported that running tests on the CPU shows it as being throttled constantly. It seems that this problem can be fixed with a BIOS update. See this post for info: https://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=121988113&postcount=700

I can't get the BIOS to update using the HP Utility / When i try to update the BIOS, it tells me to reboot but nothing happens

From p4spooky:
Bios would not update running HP utility. Had to install UEFI diagnostics on HDD partition and then apply the BIOS upgrade from this tool (HIT F2 repeatedly to get to the diagnostics menu while the system is booting)

Link to Tool: https://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/hpsupportassistant/pc-diags.html [HP UEFI Diagnostics Tool]


If laptop fails to turn back on after HP utility Bios update: Holding down the power button does not fix it. The fan keeps coming on, and shutting off. You will need to remove the internal battery for a minute, while unplugged. This should fix the issue. But there might be some F or delete keys to try out that might resolve this first, before having to remove the battery??


What does updating the BIOS fix? What does it break?

One person said: I FIXED THE THROTTLING ISSUE. YOU MUST UPDATE THE BIOS AT SUPPORT.HP.COM

One person said: The bios update caused network issues for the machine I can't fix on either WiFi or Ethernet

However, another person replied to this: Is anyone getting network lag or timeout once a while? by saying the BIOS update fixed network problems I had the same issue. I updated the Bios (see wiki), and it connected much better afterward.

And a totally different person said: I find the issue I am seeing only happens on WiFi, only on battery, and only when using Bluetooth. Updating the bios did not help.

Most recently, this was posted: There was a driver update available for the Realtek RTL8822BE 802.11ac PCIe Adapter #2 in the device manager. The driver updated to version 2024.0.1.102, and helped with my latency issues. I still see the first packet normally fail, but the latency issues aren't as rampant as before.

Update 2/12/19 This user posted, at the suggestion of user Bearcat17, that uninstalling the Realtek RTL8xxxx driver downloaded via Device Manager and installing the driver sourced directly from HP completely solved his dropout/latency issues.

One person said: While you're in the BIOS, you can also turn off the action keys so that you get all your F1 thru F12 keys back.

I heard the BIOS update makes it so you can't switch out of the "S" version anymore?

Multiple users have reported that they switched from Windows 10 S to the Home version and THEN did the BIOS update and were put back in Win10 S and couldn't switch out to the Home version again without reinstalling the OS first.

What is the easiest way to restore the OS if this happens?

If you haven't installed any additional software, you can do an HP factory restore which should bring it back to original setup state. Instructions in this post

If you update the BIOS before you switch from Win10 S to Win 10 Home, does that work?

Quote from svinokot : I just updated BIOS via HP assistant utility and after restart it did not switch back to Windows S mode. I did all windows updates though before updating the drivers. Maybe that's why.

This comes with Windows 10 S. How to I change to the Home version of windows.
What else can I do to eliminate software bloat?

Helpful posts from users are:
To switch out of S mode. Go to Settings, Update & Security, Activation and Switch to Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 has a "Fresh Start" feature already. It's a feature that removes 3rd party software. Its under Windows Security. (under Device Performance & Health)

So this will remove all HP drivers? If that's the case, will some functions (audio, video etc) of the laptop become disabled or distorted?

Save HP drivers and programs that you want to a USB drive: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers. Windows 10 will install drivers on its own -- you can install HP given drivers afterwards (just to play it safe if you're worried) and install whatever HP programs you want on there


The big issue I found is the WiFi connection is constantly dropped entirely using Bluetooth, battery power and Wifi at the same time. The adapter seemingly can't handle using both Bluetooth and WiFi at the same time on battery.

RAM QUESTIONS

What RAM should I get?!?!?!?


The thread is long and full of suggestions, responses, and backtracking. If you're not comfortable making the decision yourself, or figuring out what post is the best to listen to, Crucial memory has a RAM finder for you:
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/com...4-df0023cl

Below is additional relevant info regarding the speed of the RAM:

Quote from RespectSlickyD : So the memory is 2666 MHz according to: https://www.samsung.com/semicondu...620a1c0e0d

Quote from NickN7069 : 1.2v and CL19 2666 mhz 4 GB

Quote from woodlecj : More details if anyone is interested. Memory = Samsung (DDR4-2666 / PC4-21300)

Quote from 02nz : The installed stick of RAM is capable of running at up to 2666, but the computer determines what speed to actually run it at. 2400 is all the chipset/processor support, per Intel: https://ark.intel.com/products/13...-3-40-GHz- Bottom line, get DDR4-2400 or 2666 RAM, it doesn't matter. In either case it will run at 2400. Correct, it was verified it runs 2666 MHz ram at only 2400 MHz. [B]Don't overpay for faster ram.[B]

Quote from harle : Are you absolutely certain? I only ask because the service guide says that it will only support 2400 dual channel. I wasn't sure if the laptop would automatically change it to 2400 if I bought 2666 ram. It did for me.

Quote from 02nz : Yes. You can run 2666 RAM at 2400, but not 2400 RAM at 2666 (at least not without stability issues).

Quote from 02nz : Same size to run 100% in dual channel. If you mix say 4GB and 8GB, you'll get dual channel for 8GB out of the 12GB total.

HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE

Quote from HappyGorilla491 : FYI: Shockingly, this laptop's display supports HDR. Another nicety I would never expect at this price point, along with Windows Precision Touchpad. I do like that the machine came in S mode on account of that meaning the machine ships with near-zero bloat. Just UWP apps that can be uninstalled by right clicking on them.

Quote from HappyGorilla491 : In the Settings app. Open it and search 'HDR', select 'HDR color options', scroll down and select Windows HD Color settings. That page will tell you that the display supports HDR and let you turn on HDR.

Quote from WeakestG : I did some test on YouTube 4k HDR videos and WOW the colors and black levels are much better than original factory settings. More darker with eye popping vivid color details.

Quote from speedbump47 : Here is the Windows 10 stance (seems like for laptops they've only started with the brightness and not the color improvements): https://blogs.windows.com/windows...n-your-pc/ "2. Improving video on current generation built-in displays (i.e., laptops) Currently, most laptop displays don't truly support HDR content, particularly when it comes to color (they do not have wider color gamuts nor higher color precision). Nevertheless, medium- to high-end models tend to have bright screens. We can combine these bright screens with the expanded range of brightness information available in HDR video formats so that Windows plays HDR video at its best for that display. Playback quality of HDR content on these devices is noticeably better than the SDR version of the same content. This is particularly apparent in scenes where movie creators have mastered their content to fully exploit new HDR technologies. While this update for built-in displays focused on the better brightness of HDR content, in the future we are working on bringing you better color. " I know you said you've adjusted with some software, but in case this also aids you: https://support.microsoft.com/en-...ay-for-hdr

Quote from WeakestG : AOU // To test you need to use EDGE browser. Chrome and Firefox runs only at 720p even with netflix. So use Edge browers goes on 1080p/4k and then run Youtube 4K HDR. Make sure you see (HDR) on youtube settings, otherwise it won't work.

Attached icc profile for the LG panel.Hope it's useful to some folks.
Link: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index....8406189786

SCREEN REPLACEMENT
If your screen cracks or you just feel like spending the money for a matte screen, you can buy this from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/SCREENARAM...B087K2JZSS

The matte screen looks great. It took about an hour to replace it. These instructions from a similar HP laptop are close enough for you to have success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWvQdJGvmZY I did not replace the adhesive. The bezel snapped back in place just fine without adhesive or double sided tape.

HOW TO GET INTEL GRAPHICS CONTROL PANEL WORKING:
It allows you to make custom resolutions, adjust brightness, contrast, gamma, color(s), Video, 3D, gaming profiles, and power plans. Only the drivers from Intel's site will work.
See post # 1871 https://slickdeals.net/f/12270274-costco-members-hp-14-laptop-i3-8130u-4gb-ddr4-128gb-ssd-315?page=125#comments


HP Firmware/BIOS Bricking Issue (06/19)

Quote from smt96 : Here's the steps i took to recovery bios of my laptop. 1. Download hp 4 in 1 usb key from here. https://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaig...diags.html, http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp9...p96164.exe 2. Format and create a usb recovery disk. You can also use an existing usb drive, name the volume as HP_TOOLS and open sp96164.exe in 7zip, and unzip the contents of field folder into the root folder of usb drive. 3. Copy the following files from BIOS folder into HP\BIOS\Current\ of usb drive. 08498.bin 08498.s12 0849E.bin 0849E.s12 0852C.bin 0852C.s12 4. Press windows+B and perform the BIOS recovery process as mentioned in hp support website. https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c02693833 5. In case recovery didn't work look for error logs here:HP\BIOSUPDATE\HpBiosUpdate.log 6. After recovery is complete I followed the following steps to disable bios from updating again. https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Not...27#M166385

Link to this Wiki