I fixed my MediaDirect 2.0 button.....herre's how. - Page 12

And to preclude any confusion here... tentonine is referring to a potential solution for folks that have used the REINSTALLATION CD [say on a 9300 for example] and are having problems. It should not be used by someone [E1505/6400 E1705/9400] trying to REPAIR MediaDirect following a reinstallation of Windows.

It can be used for any system where the Media Direct partition is present but not booting correctly (if doesn't matter if this is following a reinstallation of Windows or not).

That is correct, but if you do not create a MediaDirect partition by using the MediaDirect REINSTALLATION CD and just perform a resinstall of Windows on a E1505/6400 E1705/9400 you should be using the REPAIR utility to get things right. On of the important functions of the REPAIR utility is to resinstall the necessary Dell boot code... rmbr won't do anything in that regard.

Basically... If you have a E1505/6400 E1705/9400 system and perform a reinstallation of Windows...

Leave the Dell Utility partition [~40MB] alone
Delete/leave the Dell Restore partition [~4.5GB] as you desire
Reinstall Windows to the same partition as the original system partition
Run the REPAIR utility

You should not be using the REINSTALLATION CD...

fwiw

Mark

I trust that you are right, so what does rmbr do? If rmbr does not update the Dell boot code (I presume you mean the mbr?) then what does when you install Media Direct rather than repair it?

Yes... I was referring to the boot code in the mbr.

btw The boot code is different depending on which action you perform Repair/Reinstall. The Repair boot code makes use of the MediaDirect application in the host-protected area. The Reinstallation boot code invokes the MediaDirect partition.

As to what updates the boot code during a Reinstall.... You got me.

My thoughts wrt rmbr and looking at the switches you can use... it may only change the 'pointers' in the Partition Table and not do anything wrt the boot code, but that's just a guess....

vr

Mark

HI to all, same problem here.

I have an Inspiron 9400 with Hitachi 100G drive (with HPA), and a Windows Xp Pro SP2. I read all topics but no lucky.

My problem is:

When i fix the MD partition (with media direct repair CD, downloaded from dell website) i cant boot up windows after fix.
When i reinstall windows i cant boot up Media direct again (via MediaDirect button). Please help me. I'm going crazy

Sounds like you have deleted the Dell Utility Partition. By doing that the Partition Table is changed and the Dell boot code is looking in the 'wrong' place.

Where do you stand wrt partitions at this point???

You may end up needing ptedit so you might as well get it now.

Post back and we'll go from there...

Mark

Hi Mark,

As I understand this, it doesn't matter what's on the second partition, ONLY that there be a second partition?!?

My E1505 with refurb HD has been sailing since the clean XP MCE install. Yes, I left the Dell Utility Partition.

I didn't even have to install WinDVD to play a DVD using MediaDirect. My old Inspiron is 4 days into eBay and gone on Sunday. Life is at last sweet.

Hermit

Well... not exactly. The info about where, how big, and what type partitions are on the hard drive is kept in a partition table. The table has room for four entries so you are limited to four primary partitions [This is a bit of a simplification on the 'real' story]. It's one of those 'things' that is transparent to the user.... until something [like MediaDirect] breaks due to changes in the table.

MediaDirect 2.0 is VERY picky about what is listed where in the Partition Table. If it gets out of whack, MediaDirect will not work.

As mentioned the Partition table has four 'slots' available to hold each partition's indentifying/defining characteristics [size, type, etc]. MediaDirect expects...

Slot 1 - It can be empty or hold a partition, but it CANNOT be an 'active' partition [such as a partition holding the operating system]

Slot 2 - It expects the operating system to be located here

Slot 3/4 - MediaDirect doesn't care...

When your laptop is delivered by Dell the MediaDirect partition 'rules' are satisfied. The Dell Utility partition is in Slot 1 and the OS in Slot 2 [and oh btw the Dell Restore partition is in Slot 3]. If during a Windows reinstall, you delete the Dell Utility partition and consolidate the space into one 'big' system partition the Partition Table would end up like this

Slot 1 - An Active partition with Windows OS

Slot 2/3/4/ empty [depending on what you did with the Restore partition]

As you can see this is a 'major' violation of the MediaDirect 'rules'. Even after running the MediaDirect 2.0 REPAIR utility, MediaDirect will still not work because the Partition Table is out of 'alignment'.

Even if you tried to 'fix' this by creating a new partition... It won't work because the partition you create will go into Slot 2, leaving Slot 1 in place. MediaDirect will still not be 'happy'.

Best solution to stay out of trouble is to leave the Dell Utility partition alone during Windows Reinstall. Partition Table will be 'good' and all you need to do is run the Dell MediaDirect 2.0 REPAIR utility, to get the Dell boot code resinstalled.

One other bit of info may preclude some confusion. The order of partitions in the Partition Table has NO relationship to how the partitions are arranged physically on the hard drive. So when you look at your hard drive using Windows Disk Management you may see an order that shows... Partition A, Partition B and rest unallocated space. The Partition Table could look like this....

Slot 1 - Empty
Slot 2 - Partition B
Slot 3 - Empty
Slot 4 - Partition A

So looking at the physical layout of the partitions won't answer the question as to how your partitions are arranged in the Partition Table. For that you will need something like ptedit which is a DOS utility.

Hope that helps explain things a little...

Mark

I'm pretty sure rmbr will be helpful to you...if, having run the repair utility, Media Direct still does not work correctly, you can use rmbr to tell it which partition to use (see my earlier post for instructions). According to MarkMcK, rmbr by itself when repairing Media Direct after a Windows reinstall will not work.
However, it can definitely be used to tell the computer what partition order you need if you already have the required boot code (from running the Media Direct repair utility).

Go to a command prompt in the dellkit folder in the reinstall CD and type

rmbr DELL 1 2

According to the rmbr help instructions, this tells the computer that partition 1 contains Windows and partition 2 contains Media Direct.
Of course, you need to verify using ptedit (as per MarkMcK's instructions) that these really are the correct partition numbers.

Thanks Mark,

Indeed it does. So, not only two partitions, but location, location, location!!!

I don't remember, Hermit's can't remember much anyway, the slot mataphor in your NBR mega MediaDirect thread. Sorry I gave you a bum steer on that. If there was ever a thread that deserved a sticky . . . Only moderators get stickies.

BTW, Its snowing . . . again!!! Yesterday it was 70.

Hermit

If I get a chance, I'll try to mess around with that... See what's up esp as it relates to the boot codes 'expectations'...

vr

Mark

Download MediaDirect 2.0 Reinstallation CD!

I got my MediaDirect working today after deleting all the partitions on my HD. I'm going to list everything I did and didn't do so that others might be able to figure out their own situation. Also, I created an ISO of the Reinstallation CD and compressed it to about 285MB so that people can download it from me.

Getting MediaDirect working...
Formatted and deleted partitions.
Primary partition created using all but 1514MB of HD (1308 didn't work - Dell is dumb).
Installed XP Pro, all drivers, utilities, etc...
Installed MediaDirect - no problems!
Notes:
- Left 1514MB of unallocated space - MediaDirect used 1.39GB with 236MB free and 78MB unallocated after install. (Reported through Windows)
- I paid no attention to partition order - didn't seem to make a difference! I suspect the order only matters when repairing MediaDirect, as the repair utility would likely try to return the MBR to settings from the factory and the reinstallation probably writes the MBR according to the current setup.
- During a call I made to their tech support to try and get the Reinstallation CD, one of Dell's (supposedly) Tech Support people told me I could not get MediaDirect since my system came with XP Home and I installed Pro. This is not true! (oh and again - Dell is dumb)
- Do NOT use MediaDirect Repair Utility if you're not sure that's what you should do as it rewrites the MBR and could stop your OS from loading (requiring you to format!).

Now for the MD2 download,
I set up a temporary FTP server so you guys could download it. PLEASE only download if you will redistribute on this site! I have a restricted amount of bandwidth so I will stop sharing the file after 4 or 5 people DL it! It is a WinZip Self-Extracting Installer. It will unzip some files, then launch a .BAT file I created to completely decompress it (only tested on XP). Not complicated at all.

Get it here:
FTP://MediaDirect:download@24.201.203.182:21/MD2.exe (284MB Self-Extractor, contains 540MB ISO)
Redistribute!!!

Let me know if anyone has problems downloading.

RNGuy



Inspiron 9400, Duo Core 2.00Ghz, 2GB RAM, 80GB, GeForce Go 7800 256MB, Intel Pro Set Wireless 17" XGA, ...

I think folks that are getting the newer Dells with MediaDirect 2.0 need to understand that there are two ways to 'fix' MediaDirect after a Windows reinstallation.

The one described by RNGuy creates a MediaDirect partition on the hard drive and effectively 'ignores' the MediaDirect files/application on the hard drive's host-protected area [HPA]. As pointed out, this tack is performed by using the REINSTALLATION CD. You do NOT use the REPAIR utility during any of this!!!

The second method uses the REPAIR utility/CD and rewrites the Dell boot code to the computer. The reinstalled boot code uses the MediaDirect files in the HPA. Again, ONLY use the REPAIR utility.

In either case, the repair/reinstallation requires some very specific configurations wrt your hard drive partitions in order for them to work. [I will be more forthcoming here.... there are ways around these 'requirements', but in the hopes of keeping this post more 'focused' I'll pass on that for now....]

For the REINSTALLATION... As RNGuy pointed out, during the Windows reinstallation, you will need to leave 'room' for the MediaDirect partition to be subsequently created... that's the 1.5GB unallocated, unpartitioned, unused, unformated space AFTER the Windows partition.

For the REPAIR.... The simplest method for getting the hard drive 'right' is to NOT delete the Dell Utility [~40MB] partition during the Windows reinstallation. Deleting the Dell Restore [~4.5GB] partition is fine.

fwiw...

The REPAIR utility is made just for the situation most folks will have... a simple reinstallation of Windows over the older operating system while at the same time leaving everything else [e.g. Dell partitions] pretty much as they were ....

The REINSTALLATION utility is targeted at folks that replace their Dell-delivered hard drive with a new drive. As a new drive will not have the Dell MediaDirect files already loaded in the HPA, they needed a way for someone to restore the MediaDirect function by using partitions.

Hope some of that 'background' is useful...

Mark

I didn't realize MediaDirect was in an HPA - I just assumed it was contained in one of the partitions I deleted...

Anyone know how to remove the HPA without switching to Unix or Linux?

That's correct for the 'newer' Dells... E1505/6400, E1705/9400. Don't know about the XPS, et al families...

Mark

Yes, I deleted all partitions.

I have the dell utility partition in a norton ghost image, so I do not have problem in putting it again. The question is: before or after the windows partition?.

My hard disk have only 2 partitions, 1 primary physical allowing windows, and 2nd logical extended partition allowing personal files.

Which it is the correct order of the partitions?, taking into account the dell' s utility partition.

In the other case in which I not put the dell utility partition, ¿I Need ptedit to indicate in which sector should start?

Thanks in advance.

Just to be 'safe', I'd recommend you download PTEdit and report what you've got.... I think all you need is to make a few changes in the table and you're done... don't have to mess around with your image.

Mark

Well I was able to delete the HPA on my hard disk. If anyone else wants to, boot to DOS and run "PARemove.exe". I had some trouble finding a boot CD that would have my hard disk enabled. So I included an ISO that loads up DOS and enables the Hard Disk (which has PARemove.exe on it, as well). After running PARemove the HPA will appear as a regular partition in any Disk Management Utility.

ftp://HPA:Removal@24.201.203.182:21/PARemove.exe
ftp://HPA:Removal@24.201.203.182:21/BootCD.ISO (Boot CD w/ PARemove.exe, ISO format)

Oh and I removed the MediaDirect Reinstallation CD from my FTP because a few people have downloaded it and no one is sharing it. I don't have enough bandwidth for everyone to download it from me - sorry.

Well i tried your boot cd, as expected it says my hard drive does not support the hpa feature set. I didnt think media direct was installed on my lappy from the start as its never worked since i got it from dell. I did however download the media direct 2 iso from a thread in this forum and now its working fine.