Anybody here with HP hacking skills?

[HP Really Sucks]

Hey everybody! This is about a HP Media Center PC and my need to add my own
disks for storage.
Before I detail my concerns I'd at least like to know if anybody has hacked
their way through HP computers and knows the new goofy BIOS to work-around
the way HP cripples their hardware with goofy chassis and BIOS
configurations for SATA drives?

 

[Fishface]

Hey everybody! This is about a HP Media Center PC and my need to add my own disks for storage.
Before I detail my concerns I'd at least like to know if anybody has hacked
their way through HP computers and knows the new goofy BIOS to work-
around the way HP cripples their hardware with goofy chassis and BIOS
configurations for SATA drives?

Wow, I hadn't heard about this, or maybe you just have a weird perception
problem?

 

[BigJim]

I hacked this buy buying a DELL

 

[HP Really Sucks]

Wow, I hadn't heard about this, or maybe you just have a weird perception
problem?

The HP Pavilion Media Center m8200n PC has what they call a Media Drive Bay
which utilizes a proprietary SATA drive enclosure on the front of the box
that utilizes a proprietary SATA pass-through to connect a standard cable to
a standard SATA interface on the MB. They use this "drive bay" to rip people
off over-charging for a puny under-sized capacity SATA drive with this
proprietary interface I am talking about as there is not other way to add
storage to this machine.

I thought I could disconnect their gimmick from the MB and interface my own
SATA drive --which I can-- but there's a funny BIOS configuration I've never
seen before. I need to figure out how to route around their bullsh!t BIOS
configuration if possible so I can make it possible to boot from my SATA
drive where I want to store the OS image for disaster recovery.

They subvert this by also embedding Vista Premium in a proprietary
executable which will only "restore" to the same SATA disk which comes with
the PC. This subverts and cripples the Windows Vista License which says I as
the licensee may install Vista on --ANY DEVICE-- the problem being their HP
crippleware restore software will not restore to any other disk than the one
they install at the factory which is sold with the machine. Thus, buying a
HP computer is only sound for one year which is apparently the term of their
warranty: when the disk fails after one year there is no way to replace the
disk myself without paying HP 2-3 times the market price and without
shipping the PC to them leaving me with nothing for who knows how many
weeks.

I bought this HP Media Center through CompUSA which is now out of business
so I have this load of shit to try to work around with these circumstances
too.

Now do you perceive what I am talking about? They provide no MB docs and
they refused to provide me with a copy of the OS that is not crippled and
embedded in their restore software.

This is my first --and last-- HP as I won't be falling for this corrupt
bullshit again and I'm already filing papers to sue in court for fraud and
misrepresentation but I need to work-around this crippled machine in the
meantime.

Now, do you know how to work with the BIOS on HP machines or what?

 

[HP Really Sucks]

Please review my reply to FishFace and comment if you have any skills to do
so.

 

[DonC]

Please review my reply to FishFace and comment if you have any skills to
do so.

Not quite the attitude to get people to go out of their way to help.

Besides, according to HP:

"To handle all this digital video, the HP Media Center PC comes standard
with a behemoth 120GB hard drive and can be upgraded to a whopping 160GB!"

120GB = "Behemoth"????? 160GB="Whopping" ??

Why do you have any need to upgrade when HP (as they claim) provide such
incredible capacity? ; )

 

[Paul]

Wow, I hadn't heard about this, or maybe you just have a weird perception
problem?

I cannot reply to the original post, because the post comes from RoadRunner,
and RoadRunner is currently still under a UDP. (Roughly translated, it means
the operator of my USENET server, filters out postings from RoadRunner.
This will continue, until RoadRunner is more proactive about spam and abuse.)
I had to look up this thread on Google, in order to be able to read it entirely.

If there is some kind of proprietary lock-in at the BIOS level, as you
could imagine, that would be pretty hard to defeat. We cannot see your
BIOS screen, and unless you can list the options, we cannot guess at
how clever HP has been.

Looking at the HP site, they refer to making your own Recovery CDs or
getting Recovery CDs from Tech Support. That may be one way, to allow
you to use a third party replacement drive, for your boot drive. I
don't know if there is any further hardware keying, to prevent the
Recovery CD/DVD from being used or not.

You could try experimenting. Make or buy Recovery CD/DVD. Install a
new hard drive. Disconnect all other drives (in case the HP software
is "erase happy"). Use the Recovery CD to prepare the new disk.
If the new disk is smaller than the previous boot drive, then
maybe the partitioning stage could have a problem. If the new
drive is bigger, then maybe there would still be room for the
Recovery CD/DVD to install its hidden recovery partition.

If you want to add more storage, then perhaps you could purchase
a PCI add-in card or a PCI Express add-in card, with either
internal or external connectors. Install the driver for the
new hardware. Then connect new data disks to the add-in card.
Using an add-in card, may preserve the full bandwidth the
drive has to offer.

If you do not wish to work inside the computer, you could also
connect a USB2 hard drive enclosure to a USB2 port. Perhaps you
could add data capacity that way.

I guess your tuner probably fits in the PCI Express x1 slot.
You may have a video card upgrade in the PCI Express x16 slot.
If you don't have a video card in the x16 slot, then a PCI
Express add-in card could go there.

This $42 PCI Express x1 card, can fit in a PCI Express x16 slot
(subject to the possibility of an immature BIOS of course - par
for the course). The IOGear GICe720S3W6 appears to use a SIL3132,
with the oncard BIOS being set up for non-RAID mode. The SIL3132
supports two disks. You would also need to purchase SATA cables,
if you don't already have them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815290003
http://www.iogear.com/support/dm/driver/GICe720S3W6
http://www.iogear.com/support/driver/GICe720S3W6.zip (driver)

If you want to install an add-in card, in an available PCI slot,
then some of the options stink. On Newegg, I see VT6420, SIL3112,
and SIL3114 based solutions. If you are interested in the PCI slot
options, I can give you some background, but to do so now
would double the size of this post

Paul

 

[BigJim]

you don't need skills when you run a dell.
Hp sucks their support sucks their ceo sucks end of story

 

[harikeo]

Hey everybody! This is about a HP Media Center PC and my need to add my
own disks for storage.
Before I detail my concerns I'd at least like to know if anybody has
hacked their way through HP computers and knows the new goofy BIOS to
work-around the way HP cripples their hardware with goofy chassis and
BIOS configurations for SATA drives?

One thing which threw me recently on an HP laptop was that there were 2
access keys to access the BIOS. Using one key I'd get a crippled BIOS
which showed a bit of info and was read only. The second access key
displayed the full BIOS which is what I needed.

 

[Fishface]

I thought I could disconnect their gimmick from the MB and interface my
own SATA drive --which I can-- but there's a funny BIOS configuration
I've never seen before. I need to figure out how to route around their
bullsh!t BIOS configuration if possible so I can make it possible to boot
from my SATA drive where I want to store the OS image for disaster
recovery.

OK, now I'm perceiving that HP totally sucks, too. But they've been doing
this proprietary shit for years with printer cartridges, even getting in trouble
for it. You might try the modified bios linked from this page:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=2598192

 

[HP Really Sucks]

<snip />

All of what you say about HP as a company may be true and likely is as I'm
now learning but neither I or anybody else needs to hear your worthless
comments which are nothing more than kicking a guy when he's down and
laughing at his ill fortune so say something useful or shut the f*ck up and
change this bad habit you have picked up somewhere. That's not to much to
ask is it?

 

[HP Really Sucks]

OK, now I'm perceiving that HP totally sucks, too. But they've been doing
this proprietary shit for years with printer cartridges, even getting in
trouble
for it. You might try the modified bios linked from this page:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=2598192

I'm going to follow that lead in few moments but want to let all know I'm
also going to inventory the BIOS settings sometime today so I can put them
back out on the table (here) for public review. I'm not a newbie but I've
never seen this type of config before.

 

[HP Really Sucks]

<snip />

I called HP support and they provided me with a URL to their motherboard
specifications so I have something to work with.

 

[johns]

Sounds kind of ominous to me. HP just took the
Federal contract away from Dell and IBM, and
I'm watching for the change to "Vista Only" boxes
which they are supporting in the Compaqs. No
BIOS at all ... and no hardware drivers used.

I will be supporting that junk. My past experience
with HP was their BIOSes were accessed in
several ways ... one being a tech BIOS that let
me make needed changes. I only had access to
that BIOS when HP tech gave me the passwd(s)
for my machine(s).

Call HP and ask is all I can suggest. Also, you
might try Office Depot techs. They sell the HPs,
sometimes, and they tend to be street savy. Tell
them you are trying to upgrade your box and need
a bigger drive. Might work. Also try Best Buy.
There is no loyalty to HP there.

For sure, if they bring their "Vista Only" boxes
into Federal offices ... it will be ... amusing.

johns

 

[HP Really Sucks]

Sounds kind of ominous to me. HP just took the
Federal contract away from Dell and IBM, and
I'm watching for the change to "Vista Only" boxes
which they are supporting in the Compaqs. No
BIOS at all ... and no hardware drivers used.

I will be supporting that junk. My past experience
with HP was their BIOSes were accessed in
several ways ... one being a tech BIOS that let
me make needed changes. I only had access to
that BIOS when HP tech gave me the passwd(s)
for my machine(s).

Call HP and ask is all I can suggest. Also, you
might try Office Depot techs. They sell the HPs,
sometimes, and they tend to be street savy. Tell
them you are trying to upgrade your box and need
a bigger drive. Might work. Also try Best Buy.
There is no loyalty to HP there.

For sure, if they bring their "Vista Only" boxes
into Federal offices ... it will be ... amusing.

johns

Its all over for now as I put my own SATA into the case --literally-- label
side down laying on the inside of the chassis until I get around to
unclipping their proprietary interface off the back of the cage they call a
Personal Media Drive Bay and positioning my own drive into that bay which
will then be accessible to me from the front of the machine never having to
bother opening the case for this matter, e.g. my own pluggable drive bay.