HP DV 9000, Add another drive for storage

The model of laptop (dv 9013cl) that I have has option for two hard drives. One already in use, the other is empty. If I had purchased the laptop from HP and gone through their customization process, I could have opted for two 120GB drives.

I've pulled the hard drive supplied and got the model number (seagate) and I've found the hard drive caddy with all the same components as what is presently installed.

Here is where I bang head....If I purchase (taking chance I realize) is there anything special that would have to be done other than treating it like a plug and play type application for additional storage of files (BIOS settings, ?????) or has technology taken some of the pain away. OR, should I walk away and go external?

answer to NOTE: Ordered the recovery discs from HP for the XP side b/c I could not make my own. Fully licensed copy of Vista came with machine. So, should be good to go.

Adam

...even if it's available...

First, is heat buildup.. The lifetime of a laptop is already shortened over that of a desktop because of heat issues.. Adding another drive and the potential for a unsuitable power supply for the extra equipment tends to lead to a decreased lifespan of the computer..

In addition, because we use laptops for remote use without batteries, two HD's use up more power and shorten the amount of time the computer can be used..

Instead, we use external drives for data storage if necessary.

Still, it's your choice.

Hope this helps.

Grif

Provided as you say, it is optionable for a 2nd HD, then buying the caddie and installing should be a breeze. The bios would have to enabled or acknowledge it to be used. You still need to prepare the HD for use and thus be sure to direct that the proper drive. The HD maker will also have some s/w to install the HD to make things easier, just visit Seagate support website and get their tools, I believe DiskManager(or similar).

Good for the original OS disks when you get them.

tada -----WIlly

The HP models that are dual HD capable are truly outstanding laptops.

I have the DV8110 and installed the second, optional hard drive myself. I also purchased the HP DV9330 and have again purchased the second HD.

I was banging my head for months trying to find a caddy for the 8110 because the HP response for the part request was "you have to buy the hard drive from us to get the caddy". Typical. Their prices are of course triple the cost of the OEM drive itself.

I kept diligently searching and finally found a listing for the caddy and bought it for I think $12.

I am still looking for the 9330 bracket, however HP pulled a fast one on this unit. The drive requires a plastic connection adapter because the drive drops straight down into the hard drive compartment and into a vertically slotted connection receiver built into the board. There is no way to interface the drive without this special adapter. Hopefully, it will be part of the caddy package when it becomes available.

A few things have been mentioned regarding the reliability of dual hard drive laptops, and I would like to address them.

I am a professional full time DJ and use my laptops to perform with. I use professional DJ programs and peripherals including midi interfaces and PCMCIA or USB based 24 bit sound cards, DMX lighting controllers, etc.

I work these laptops constantly for 4 to 8 hours at a time, several nights per week. The drives are constantly running. Playing the songs, searching the database, accessing the swap file and whatever surreptitious tasks it normally performs, literally grinding the entire duration.

These particular laptops have always run medium cool under these circumstances, not once getting overly hot. The power supply and cooling system in the models with the dual hard drive option are suitable for this application because that is how they are sold off the shelf in some configurations. We are simply saving a few hundred dollars doing it ourselves, or want to incrementally 'max out' our laptops rather than shell out the money all at once.

I cannot speak to battery life because my most intensive use relies on AC power. However during my client meetings at the local Starbucks it happily goes online to view my website video demos via my Treo 700p/PDANet connection (I hate hotspot fees), navigates my Outlook Calendar and plays DVDs for the hour or so meeting time, all on battery power.

I believe my particular use demonstrates the robustness of these models in a most unique way and I am able to give both models I mentioned a big thumbs up. Keep in mind I haven't installed the second drive in the 9330 yet, but am running the peripherals I mentioned plus an external drive. It demonstrates the same reliability and resilience I have come to expect from the HP line.

I might also mention that the DV9330 comes with the Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 video card with 256MB dedicated RAM. An extreme video card for an extreme laptop. This is going to be my playback unit for music video DJ'ing (VJ'ing). A much more intensive task than simple music playback and mixing. VJ'ing involves playing back two or more videos simultaneously while mixing or 'scratching' the videos back and forth to create an extended dance set, compilation or entirely new composition using components of separate works.

If this won't kill it...nothing will.


Ken Wilson
San Diego, CA

...drives.. If I remember correctly, he recently got a terrabyte drive for his laptop which gives him almost unlimited storage capacity and he loves it. At this time, laptop drives don't have that kind of storage capacity.

Thanks for the great input..

Grif

Hey Grif,

Yes, a lot of us have 'the box' we carry around with our entire music/karaoke and video libraries. I am on the verge of tapping out my Terra box as we speak. Those music videos really hog the space.

For normal operations, the 320GB available for the dual drive laptops (2X160GB)is plenty for gigging and provides a huge amount of music to select from. After all, as a DJ you really don't need to take your 'Complete works of Led Zeppelin' with you to do weddings.

I rip all my music at 256kbps CBR and have a huge library with tons of room left on the laptop drives. Also, DJ laptops aren't (or shouldn't be)loaded down with anything but DJ software and maybe an Office application to manage your business while on the road.

And if there does happen to be a song I need that's not on my personal FTP that I can download in 2 minutes, then I can go to one of my online music stores and buy it just as quickly.

The convenience factor is key when you already have so many things to setup. That one extra external drive, usb cable and power supply...not to mention the footprint can take an extra 2 or 3 minutes that could better be used elsewhere.

Losing your index is a common problem with external drives and DJ'ing, especially if you use the external drive on multiple computers. Updating the music from another computer will cause the laptop to reindex the drive during your gig...which of course is out of the question.

The ability to access information quickly is essential and indexing provides this. Internal drives will never lose their index and are always ready to go. This is iffy at best with external drives.

There is also the issue of AC power. The external 3.5" drives do not run on bus power, they require external AC power.

Bonus! Later this year we expect to see 250GB+ laptop drives on the market, so having a dual drive laptop makes more sense than ever.

I mean, do your really want to lug around a big box with you wherever the laptop goes, and look around for the nearest AC outlet just to access your music library?

Ken Wilson
San Diego, CA

I just installed my second drive f: in my new dv9207us laptop.
I ordered the HP parts, drive caddy & SATA drive interconector
from HP. HP's Part # 434106-001 called an SPS-HDD Bracket Kit.
It was quite expensive. Say $50.00 dollars. But you need it to
mount the drive.
Then not knowing WinVista yet, I used Norton's Partition Magic
8 to do the rest. I don't know if this put any overhead on the
installed HD?
Hope this helps you.

Yeah, I ended up ordering from HP. About $50 with tax and shipping.

I just use the seagate disc manager tool I have from another drive I bought and it works fine. It doesn't check if the drive is a Seagate or not..It works flawlessly on any drive.

I ordered the kit from the part number you listed 434106-001 , and it came with the wrong adapter. It is for an IDE drive. Did yours come with the SATA adapter?

The bracket is right, but the adapter is wrong.

bro,

ive verified this with hp, because i too bought a 160hdd for the other bay of my dv 9000 series notebook only to be dismayed to find out that it needed a caddy notwithstanding the fact that this was listed to have a plug and play hdd; well they said that the connector is for sata interface, ordering one now. i suggest that you have the one sent to you replaced as that part number 434106-001 is for a sata hdd. the same part number is for Hard drive mounting bracket kit - Includes hard drive mounting bracket, connector (22-pin), and four M3*0.5+3.5I mounting screws SATA Connecter SATA HARD DRIVE CADDY FOR BOTH HARD DRIVES of the Notebook as per hp support.

yes, that is the correct part number. Some moron in shipping just put the wrong connector in the box. The replacement came with the correct SATA connector.

In your post, you mentioned that you had found a caddy for around $12. You also mentioned that because of the "custom" bracket adapter required, you did not know if the caddy you had ordered would include this component.

Would you consider addressing the outcome of your purchase. If you would include the name of your vendor(s), it would be much appreciated.

Thanks -

- James

Here is the source for the DV8000 series caddy http://newmode.us/mcart/index.cgi?code=3&cat=5 (about halfway down the page) It is listed at $28 but I'm sure I paid less about a year ago when I got mine. This caddy requires no special adapter. I was referring to the DV9330 caddy when speaking of the adapter.

The DV9330 required HP's Part # 434106-001 called an SPS-HDD Bracket Kit. It comes with the required adapter. As explained in the post above, my first order came with the right caddy but the wrong adapter. This was probably the fault of unskilled warehouse labor because I simply reordered the kit and it came with the correct one. I received an RMA for the first kit and sent it back.

Don't bother calling HP. When I called I was told I had to order the drive from them to get the caddy and it wasn't available by itself. When I explained that I had already purchased the caddy kit by itself they still insisted it was impossible and not available by itself. Friggin morons spewing the company line. I just gave them my order number and told them i wanted to return 'it'. They gave me an RMA.

So do yourself a favor and and avoid the headache. Don't call. Just go the HP Parts store and order HP's Part # 434106-001 called an SPS-HDD Bracket Kit. This is for the DV9000 series.

Here is the link http://h20141.www2.hp.com/hpparts/Search_Results.asp?mscssid=DR6DKS2ES1GE8LVXJHL6KTQG7D7WCDVB&SearchInc=PartNumber

Thanks to bhunter46 for that part number!

Your response to my inquiry has been received. I am grateful for your assistance and the "make this easy for him" type of posting.

- James

Ken,

Is the designation of slave found on the 4 pins that do not slot into connectors"

Ron

Here's the link to newmodeus.com's site for the HP dv9000 caddy

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=131

Wilson stated that he had added second internal HD to 8110. What HD did you add and where obtained?

For the 8110 I bought a Seagate 160GB for $169 at Frys.

For the 9330 I bought the OEM 160GB Hitachi drive from Tiger Direct for $109. It is the exact same drive that was included as the primary drive.

Kwilsonjr,

Would this be the Seagate at Frys you installed in the 8110:

Seagate 160GB Ultra ATA 8MB Buffer ST9160821A-RK - 2.5" Retail Notebook Hard Drive Kit
SEAGATE:
FRYS.com #: 4753689
SEAGATE'S NEW PERPENDICULAR RECORDING TECHNOLOGY
5400 RPM
8MB BUFFER
RETAIL BOXED HARD DRIVE (INSTALLATION KIT INCLUDED)
5 YEAR WARRANTY
REGULAR PRICE:$169.99

Hust want to be sure I have the right from factor. Now selling for $119.99

Thanks for your prompt reply,

Ron

Yes, That sounds like the right one. Just make sure it is not the serial drive (SATA) if you're installing in the 8110. The 8110 is not serial but the 9330 is.

kwilsonjr,

Thanks for the info re NOT serial drive. I have an e-mail into Fry's asking if that is the approproate drive for the dv8110us.

Also thanks for the above source for the caddy.

Is the install process within the limits of a non-pro? Any sources that describe the install process?

I just added -replaced one of the two- 512 strips with a 1 gig RAM strip; otherwise my 8110 is original OEM.

Very easy. Just use common sense and don't overtighten any screws or touch the connectors and you'll be fine. Make sure the drive is lined up with the pins before you push it into the connector all the way and don't force anything...take your time.

Once you get the drve installed, you will have to use Seagates Disc Wizard to format the drive. Windows won't even see the drive until Seagates software has been run. The drive will probably come with the disc, but you can download it from seagtes website if it doesn't.

Just post here if you run into trouble, I have email notify turned on.

kwilsonjr,

Have Seagate 160 "In Process" order at Fry's and caddy ordered from Newmode. Will touch base with you when I receive HD and read install instructions,and look at fit into caddy and extra slot. Thanks for the "hand holding".

Ron

Have Seagate 160 "In Process" order at Fry's and caddy ordered from Newmode.

Will touch base with you when I receive HD and read install instructions,and look at fit into caddy and extra slot. Thanks for the "hand holding".

No Problem. When you get the drive and caddy, don't lose the screws. They are teeny tiny and can easily blend right into the carpet if you drop one. Have a very small phillips head screwdriver (non magnetized tip) available when you are ready to install.

Ken