2530P - second harddrive via optical drive bay

[User Retired 2]

Optical drive caddies able to replace the 2530P's 9.5mm SATA optical with a 2.5" HDD or SSD for storage explansion are summarized below. The genuine/newmodeus-clone 2530P caddy even has the two screwposts so is ready to afix straight to the 2530P chassis.

newmodeus US$42 caddy with 2510P faceplate. Great for hotswapping b/w 2.5" and optical drive.	HP's 2530P genuine optical bay caddy	newmodeus US$59 2530p clone optical bay caddy with additional bottom plate. Looks perfect installed.

Price and Link	Comment
US$10-$20 shipped	Basic product. Look for the "Fenvi" branded ones with a swappable faceplate and metal chassis. Other generics have mismatched flat faceplate with underside gap. The product can be used between different systems with same SATA rear connector, eg: Dell E6400 install.
US$42+shipping	newmodeus 9.5mm sata caddy. Recommended for regular hotswapping due to the chassis strength and easy-to-swap HDD design. No USB port to clutter things. Ask for 2510P faceplate.
US$110-shipped	Genuine product with proper contoured faceplate and extra USB port.
US$59+shipping	Genuine product clone. Plastic surround and faceplate bezel are genuine, some internal parts not but are functionally equivalent. Proper contoured faceplate. Includes extra USB port. Extends on the HP product by including an additional removable support plate for the HDD.

See Adding SSD or HDD storage using an optical bay caddy for usage details: hotswapping, setting standby idle timeout if using the optical bay caddy with a primary bay drive.

Genuine HP 2530P optical bay caddy

Maintenance and Service Guide, pg 68 here, gives the following parts. Pricing from partsurfer which includes shipping:

• 492574-001 Secondary hard drive cage assembly, includes additional USB port (required for installation of secondary hard drive)
• 495027-001 Secondary hard drive connector board (required for installation of secondary hard drive)
• 495028-001 Secondary hard drive system connector board (required for installation of secondary hard
  drive)

How to install the HP/newmodeus 2530P caddy?

Follow the video at HP's Media Service Library-> Laptops->Elitebook->2530P->Replace/Repair Videos, then select 2.5" hard disk drive/USB board.

2530P 1.8" SATA connector If purchased a 2.5" model and didn't receive it HP P/N 495026-001 US$16: Primary hard drive connector board (required for installation of primary hard drive) OR newmodeus' US$30 1.8" SATA Hard drive caddy / bracket kit for HP_Elitebook_2530p as shown on the right.

Adding a 1.8" SSD/HDD in a 2.5" drive bay: see adapters to do this here.

[jordan45]

Thanks for your information.

I am now looking for the way to use the secondary hard drive in the optical bay, I may use the official guideline from HP to replace the drive with 3 spare parts as stated in the Maintenance and Service Guide.

Originally, I want to consider your suggested alternative, using 2.5"" drive in optical bay, but I am worried if any problem by doing so. From the maintenance and service guide, to add the secondary hard disk, they use the extra USB port for the connection from the hard drive cage assembly to the notebook instead of using the the SATA port same as the optical drive.
May I know the alternative is workable on 2530p?

[jordan45]

Hi nando4,

one more question, do u know if all the screw position on the optical bay HDDis fitted with 2530p? Thanks.

[jordan45]

I cannot confirm if the alternative caddy works on a 2530P as I don't have one to try on. I can speculate based on my experience with the newmodeus.com caddy with the 2510P. The optical bay caddy just replaces the optical drive and use the interface provided to run a 2.5" HDD or SSD.

First thing to check is the connector on the back of the optical drive. This can be used to do a visual comparison.

If it's a SATA connector then could try an even cheaper $25US shipped 9.5mm SATA optical bay caddy for Lenovo T400 but the faceplate appears to have a square cutout suitable for Lenovos. Perhaps don't mind a bit of a gap? Or the $42US newmodeus.com one? Either one is a considerably cheaper than the $107US HP caddy but don't offer the extra USB port.

If it's a PATA connector (less likely), then the same caddy as used in the 2510P could be considered as described here.

Thanks for your detailed reply.

the optical drive of 2530p is 9.5mm with SATA interface as below, then I may consider the one in newmodeus.com....

[bogusnj]

Ive used the sata - sata connector sold by newmodeus for my 8530w.

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?...roducts_id=216

It was easy to install and works just fine. I was a bit disappointed my old faceplate did not fit on the new caddy and the new caddy's faceplate does not match, but it doesnt look bad.

I know this model probably isnt the right one for the 2530p, but just wanted to let you know that the newmodeus option does work fine at least for the 8530w.

[max-walker]

Hi

I have HDD installed via optical drive bay and now I wanted to install second harddrive into primary bay.

I bought 495026-001 - HP Primary harddrive connector board and 1,8" SSD 64GB microSATA harddrive.

BUT it`s not working.

I checked new SSD and it`s 5V - could this be a problem?

What is onboard harddrive voltage for primary bay? Is it 5V?
Does connector change it from 5V to 3,3V?

To make it work do I have to change to other SSD (3,3V)?
I hope there will be another way

[User Retired 2]

I checked new SSD and it`s 5V - could this be a problem?

What is onboard harddrive voltage for primary bay? Is it 5V?
Does connector change it from 5V to 3,3V?

To make it work do I have to change to other SSD (3,3V)?
I hope there will be another way

Both the 1.8" 120GB Samsung HS122JF microSATA HDD and 1.8" Intel X18-M microSATA SSD that HP supply with their 2530P models run off a 3.3V source. Therefore we can safely say the HP cable you purchased delivered 3.3V from the systemboard socket.

Which model of 1.8" SSD do you have? I have not heard of a 5V 1.8" SSD before, so worth checking the specifications about it AND double-checking your cable is affixed correctly, perhaps even testing with the 1.8" HDD if yo have it. Otherwise you may have a dud SSD. Can confirm if that is the caseby testing it in your optical bay caddy using an adapter:

Adding a 1.8" SSD/HDD in a 2.5" drive bay

1.8-to-2.5" adapters allows a 1.8" SSD or HDD to be installed in the optical bay caddy or 2.5" primary bay. SATA adapters are sold by Lenovo, newmodeus and cheapest very basic adapters are on ebay.

[max-walker]

I double checked everything
I`m just wondering if the connection cable does not make 5V->3,3V change.

and Yes, SSD I bought is 5V drive.
PQI SSD 1,8"

[User Retired 2]

I double checked everything
and Yes, SSD I bought is 5V drive.
PQI SSD 1,8"

Yes - PQI S518 does work at 5V as shown here. Note a reviewer comment duplicated from this link below:

Cons: This drive will not work on many ultralight notebooks as most provides only 3.3V operating voltage. As far as I know, this drive will not work on Samsung X360 and Sony TT.

Other Thoughts: It is beyond me why they make a 1.8" micro SATA drive that will not work in many if not all ultralight notebooks when ultralights are the primary consumer of 1.8" hdd. Perhaps there are a lot of users that prefers to use 1.8" in their 2.5" notebook or desktop

Suggest you return it since it won't work and get a 3.3V 1.8" SSD, like Samsung or Intel. Good to get a refund on it - it uses a jmicron controller reknown for stuttering as shown here.

[ippuzzo]

very usefull post, the caddy driver is bootable?