I am considering getting a second-hand HP 840 G1, on which I intend to run Linux (Ubuntu MATE specifically). After reading up on other people’s experience, it seems the major issue is the wifi adapter, which requires a proprietary firmware blob to work.
My idea therefore was to replace the wifi adapter with something that’s fully supported, no proprietary blobs required.
According to the information on ifixit, the wifi adapter is just plugged into the motherboard and should be really easy to replace.
However, I know previous HP models (the EliteBook 6930p being one I know of) had some check in their BIOS that would prevent them from booting if a non-stock component (such as a third-party WWAN card) was present in the system.
Does anyone know if the 840 G1 has similar checks in place? Has someone by chance successfully swapped out their wifi adapter for a different model?