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Dell Media Direct 2.0 ... Running on 9300/XPS M170 - Page 12

post #221 of 444
5/1/06 at 2:35pm
perfect0, copy the last line from that file and paste it at the bottom of the boot.ini in your main Windows installation. You might also want to adjust the timeout value to maybe 2 or 3, so that your computer will carry on booting normally after just 2 or 3 seconds if you don't choose the Media Direct option.
To make it look nicer, you could change the text "Microsoft Windows XP Embedded" to "Dell Media Direct" or whatever you like.


Narcotic71428, I know you have full access in explorer, but, as nobody else seems to have this problem with Media Direct, I just think that, if you have got to reinstall Windows anyway, it would make sense to do that first, just in case it is something to do with Windows.
Can you see your folders properly if you start Media Experience from your main Windows XP installation?
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post #222 of 444
5/1/06 at 2:59pm
thanks, tentonine. expecting that i would get that advice, i did what u adviced awhile ago. unfortunately, when i opt for the MD partition, nothing boots after that. did i miss step(s) to make it work? i followed your steps found on the manual install on page 8 of this thread. in reference to what i have on ptedit, should the MD partition still be at D7, or must it be 07 like the windows xp partition? if it's the latter, should i give it a drive letter like "x" as narcotic suggested (i followed his advice so i could get a peek at the MD boot.ini)? also, looking at the MD boot.ini, i realized that the rmbr command should have been "rmbr DELL 1 2" instead of "rmbr DELL 1 3" (the latter is based from the fact the ptedit shows the MD partition at 3. realizing this, i did a command again in the dellkit folder and typed "rmbr DELL 1 2".
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post #223 of 444
5/1/06 at 3:55pm
perfect0, the rmbr command only does something if you are on a 9300 or above and are starting Media Direct correctly...it is not needed if you are just adding Media Direct to the boot.ini menu. It doesn't matter at all whether the drive is D7 or 07 - choose which you want depending on whether you want it to be accessible from Windows XP or not.
When you opt for the Media Direct partition and nothing happens, is there an error message or just a blank screen?
What does your boot.ini look like now?
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post #224 of 444
5/1/06 at 4:08pm
thanks for your reply, tentonine.
here is my windows xp boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=6
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Embedded" /fastdetect /KERNEL=NTOSBOOT.EXE /maxmem=256

here is my MD boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Embedded" /fastdetect /KERNEL=NTOSBOOT.EXE /maxmem=256

currently, my MD partition is at D7

there is no error message and it is just a blank screen when i opt for the MD option when my laptop starts up
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post #225 of 444
5/1/06 at 4:18pm
I'd try changing the Partition type from D7 to 07 [Zero Seven]...

If it changes back to D7 after a reboot, that means you still have the Dell boot code and you need to get rid of it....

Mark
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post #226 of 444
5/1/06 at 4:20pm
thanks for the advice, mark, i did that, too, with no positive result
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post #227 of 444
5/1/06 at 4:21pm
Quote:
i did that, too, with no positive result<!-- / message -->
So... did it change back to D7????

Mark
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post #228 of 444
5/1/06 at 4:27pm
it remains at 07 after reboot, still with no action happening when I opt for the MD option at boot, just blank screen...
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post #229 of 444
5/1/06 at 5:45pm
I just examined your ptedit again and the partition number for XP embedded should be 3 instead of 2.
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post #230 of 444
5/1/06 at 5:51pm
thanks, when i change the boot option to 3, i get an error, a missing hal.dll file when opting for the MD partition at the startup options
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post #231 of 444
5/1/06 at 5:52pm
also, the boot.ini file of MD has a 2 and not a 3
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post #232 of 444
5/1/06 at 6:01pm
The way I understand the 'counting' method used in the boot.ini It will skip empty slots and slots that are extended partitions. That would put the MD partition at '2'

So.... What's the 'status' of the drive letter for the MD partition????

I take it that it is 'X'????

Got to wonder why the MediaDirect partition is not 'picking' up the rest of the boot sequence????

Mark
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post #233 of 444
5/1/06 at 6:08pm
The status is "None"...is this what it should be?
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post #234 of 444
5/1/06 at 6:09pm
The simplest solution may just be to do a new minimal Windows installation -it accomplishes the same thing. It is possible that the Media Direct install may not even include chipset or AGP drivers for your laptop.
By the way, the lack of a drive letter does not matter. I added my Media Direct to my boot.ini even though it is still set to type D7 (with no drive letter).
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post #235 of 444
5/1/06 at 6:20pm
i think i've given up, i'll just delete that partition and reclaim that space...thanks to all anyway who gave their opinions
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post #236 of 444
5/1/06 at 10:17pm
Quote:
It is possible that the Media Direct install may not even include chipset or AGP drivers for your laptop.
Hadn't thought of that.... you're probably right!!!

Can run into problems the other way around too.... 'old' MD Reinstall utility... 'new' chipset. I experienced that one personally as I tried using the DH371 CD [which btw has only one XPEI.exe file at ~222MB].

perfect0..... I don't remember the steps you went thru exactly. Did you ever actually run the Reinstallation utility, or did you stick with extracting the files???? If you ran the utility, you may still have Dell boot code which could 'complicate' things down the road...

Mark
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post #237 of 444
5/1/06 at 10:29pm
Mark,
what consequences ("complicate" things down the road") are there in running the reinstallation cd? I no longer remember if I did run the utility. I've already deleted the MD partition and reclaimed it to my other partitions.
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post #238 of 444
5/1/06 at 11:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by perfect0
Mark,
what consequences ("complicate" things down the road") are there in running the reinstallation cd? I no longer remember if I did run the utility. I've already deleted the MD partition and reclaimed it to my other partitions.
The Dell boot code [if it's still there] will continue to 'check' your Partition Table during every boot to the hard drive. During those checks, it may mess with a partition's 'type' [e.g. change the type from 07 to D7] or change your 'active' partition.

To 'see' what you've presently got....

What you'll need....

From Symantec download this file

Double-click the file to extract the zip file. Put MBRUtil.exe in the root "C" directory of your hard drive.

I'd make it a point to delete the WipeTrk.exe and Wipetrkd.exe files as those are highly dangerous utilities to have laying around. If you accidentally run them, they will cause VERY serious problems. So delete them now while you remember.

From Windows; Start Menu; Run; Type c:\mbrutil /sh=track0 followed by the 'Enter' key

That's c:\mbrutil space /sh=track0

Now in your root directory you should see the track0 file

Open that up with Notepad and take a look....

Mine with the Dell Boot Code from a MediaDirect Reinstallation looks like this....

Quote:
ú1ÀŽØŽÀ¾ |¿ ~ŽÐ‰ôû¹ ó¤ê~ ½¾ˆf ˆfˆf ˆf0ú°yæpäqû$uŠF$<uЈF$Å ÆF €ëÅ ÆF €ŠF<×u,ЈF¸¹ º€ » ~Í´B²€¾~f‹^f‰•~Írê | ëþ | mñmñ € þÿÿ? l> Áÿþÿÿ«>Ï" Áÿ×þÿÿÓ,÷6, Uª
Microsoft Boot Code will look like this.......

Quote:
3ÀŽÐ¼ |ûPPü¾|¿PW¹åó¤Ë½¾±8n |uƒÅâôÍ‹õƒÆIt8,tö*µ´‹ð¬< tü» ´ÍëòˆNèF s*þF€~t€~t*¶uÒ€FƒFƒV
è! s*¶ë¼>þ}Uªt€~ tÈ*·ë©‹üW‹õË¿ ŠV ´Ír#ŠÁ$?˜ŠÞŠüC÷ã‹Ñ†Ö±ÒîB÷â9V
w#r9Fs¸» |‹N‹V ÍsQOtN2äŠV ÍëäŠV `»ªU´AÍr6ûUªu0öÁt+a`j j ÿv
ÿvj h |jj´B‹ôÍaasOt2äŠV ÍëÖaùÃInvalid partition table Error loading operating system Missing operating system ,Dcmñmñ þÿÿ? l>€ Áÿþÿÿ«>Ï" Uª
Compare with what you've got....

vr

Mark
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post #239 of 444
5/1/06 at 11:42pm

track0

Mark, this is what I've got...
Let me know if this is good or not.

Quote:
ú1ÀŽØŽÀ¾ |¿ ~ŽÐ‰ôû¹ ó¤ê~ ½¾ˆf ˆfˆf ˆf0ú°yæpäqû$uŠF$<uЈF$Å ÆF €ëÅ ÆF €ŠF<×u,ЈF¸¹ º€ » ~Í´B²€¾~f‹^f‰•~Írê | ëþ | íÁíÁ € þÿÿ? ½Žr ÁÿþÿÿüŽrE2 Uª
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post #240 of 444
5/1/06 at 11:47pm
I will try again maybe tomorrow to unpack the exe files on the MD reinstallation CD to a partition and see if I can run it as an option when I power ON my laptop. I think that when I did run the reinstallation utility even when I had already unpacked the exe files, that messed up the MD partition. I will unpack the exe files, then not do the other steps for a manual installation (like the rmbr command and the fixboot I guess), and then see if MD can start as an option to Windows XP.
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