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Dell Media Direct 2.0 ... Running on 9300/XPS M170 - Page 4

post #61 of 444
4/22/06 at 4:48pm
Another option instead of ERD Commander is to use Hiren's Boot CD v 8.0. All us crazy hackers use it. Highly recommended. oh yeah, and it's free.
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post #62 of 444
4/22/06 at 5:30pm
anybody know if this will work with the audigy 2 ZS card
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post #63 of 444
4/22/06 at 5:38pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by h0p3l355is4
I cannot get pass step 10. I modified the boot.ini and did all the copying and moving, but as soon as I exit ERD I get a bluescreen. Then I have to manually turn off my computer and pressed the play button. It does not ask me which OS to use. So I repeated steps 6 and saw that the boot.ini is back to its original. I am using Windows MCE 2005. My original boot.ini looks like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Embedded" /fastdetect /KERNAL=NTOSBOOT.EXE /maxmem=256

It looks completely different from your tutorial. Can someone help me? Thanks in advance.

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Embedded" /fastdetect /KERNAL=NTOSBOOT.EXE /maxmem=256
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP" /fastdetect /KERNAL=NTOSKRNL.EXE /maxmem=256

use these changes....
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post #64 of 444
4/22/06 at 5:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ray4jc
anybody know if this will work with the audigy 2 ZS card
I will be trying this today since I just got my Audigy 2 ZS from Bal
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post #65 of 444
4/22/06 at 5:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by thaddyusmaximus
Where do I put the drivers? The audio doesn't have an executable.

You should be able to go in to the control panel from explorer. From there you can choose System then go to the hardware tab. You should be able to install your drivers from there.
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post #66 of 444
4/22/06 at 5:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pugsly0014
I will be trying this today since I just got my Audigy 2 ZS from Bal
awesome keep us posted
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post #67 of 444
4/22/06 at 6:32pm

Trimmed XP ala Media Direct 2.0

I wonder if there is a gaming advantage to using a very trimmed down version of XP like that used in Media Direct 2.0. Turn my XPS G2 into an XBOX 360 of sorts. Most of the games on the 360 are also on PC and they play just fine on the XPS G2. I was thinking of swapping Media Direct for like Meedio or just a launcher.
Any thoughts.
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post #68 of 444
4/22/06 at 9:04pm
The Dell Media Direct loads so quickly because it puts the computer into hibernate every time you turn it off. This is why there is a 256mb limit - otherwise it would need a lot more disk space in order to save the rest of your RAM to disk.
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post #69 of 444
4/22/06 at 9:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tentonine
The Dell Media Direct loads so quickly because it puts the computer into hibernate every time you turn it off. This is why there is a 256mb limit - otherwise it would need a lot more disk space in order to save the rest of your RAM to disk.
I realized this when I changed the /MAXMEM to 512. I was getting a hiberfile error on start up. I was still able to run Dell Media Direct.

I was able to load the SoundBlaster Audige 2 drivers and it works thru the headset port. Since there is no tray to use Feature Mode select.

Also, with the SB drivers loaded, I am down to only 120MB of space and back to getting the hiberfile error.

Maybe I will try and use a partition magic boot floppy and resize the DMD partition.

None the less.. It's working with internal sound, or with the Audgie pluged in, I can use the headphones.
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post #70 of 444
4/22/06 at 10:08pm
To free up some more space, you could try turning the page file off (I don't know if this might cause other problems though) or limiting the RAM usage even further. There are also some other files that can be deleted - some are small, like regedit.exe (I expect you can find other files that are not in use - even explorer.exe can probably be deleted). The original sound drivers could also go. Obviously, looking for things like this won't make a huge difference, but it could help to get a few extra megabytes if you need it.
A suggestion about the soundblaster: I don't have one to look for myself, but might the tray options be accessible from the control panel or else in the form of another .exe file in the Creative folder? If not, maybe you could try to see if internal speaker playback through the audigy can be enabled via a registry setting.

By the way, thanks a lot for your guide on how to do this...very useful.
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post #71 of 444
4/22/06 at 10:11pm
Any chance we can get a ghosted partition of this? It may be the only chance I have to get this to work on my hard disk that already has multiple partitions
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post #72 of 444
4/22/06 at 10:19pm
After installing on my hard drive (with an additional partition), pressing the media direct button made the computer boot to the next partition after the OS partition (which had another version of Windows on it). Is this the problem you are having?
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post #73 of 444
4/22/06 at 10:40pm
anyone try it with the 6000?
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post #74 of 444
4/22/06 at 11:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pugsly0014
That might not be a bad idea.. I know it's a 1.3GB partition at the end of the drive. I believe it has about 800MB of space in-use.

I just don't know where I would stick a 800MB file for people get access to.
I think this is why bittorrent was created. I'd definately be down to seed for a week or so after downloading it, not that I have the fastest connection or anything.
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post #75 of 444
4/23/06 at 2:47am
I think Ghosting will actually take longer now that i've installed MD20 three times. Just imagine downloading a 1.5GB ghost image then ghosting the drive.

It really only takes about 30 to 45 minutes if you have all the resources. Like MD2.0 Disc. Drivers on CD. ERD Commander and Partition Magic.
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post #76 of 444
4/23/06 at 3:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pugsly0014
Yes... I have version 2 which is the seperate scaled down version of XP media center installed on a seperate partition.

It should work as long as you have the media buttons on the front of the laptop and the machine powers on when you press play when it's turned off.

Anybody got this working on a 9200. The machine does not power on using the play button for me...so I'm loathe to try.
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post #77 of 444
4/23/06 at 4:02am
partition magic wont let me shrink my drive by more than 63 mb when i have 6 gb free. does anyone know whats wrong?
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post #78 of 444
4/23/06 at 4:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGEE1212
thanks for all you've done so far but ive encountered some problems i need help with

.....i clicked the play button and i a screen pops up that says Dell Media Direct, i waited for awhile but nothing loaded. i figured after i make the changes with the partition, it would work. so i boot up into erd commander and boot into D:/. following ur instructions, i went to the boot.ini file in c:/ however you told zerowind "Thats the boot.ini from your live OS partition.......Then, when i went to program files,dell, there was no media direct folder, instead there was a media experience folder. however, i located the pcmservice file in that folder. i copied explorer to that folder and changed the names. after turning off my laptop, i pressed play but it gets stuck at the dell media direct screen as before. any solution?

I´m having the same issue, how did you solved it?
What can we use instead of ERD Commander?
What If I´m having two or more Partitions?

It should work on a XPS Gen2 shouldn´t it?

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post #79 of 444
4/23/06 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tentonine
After installing on my hard drive (with an additional partition), pressing the media direct button made the computer boot to the next partition after the OS partition (which had another version of Windows on it). Is this the problem you are having?
No, mine gives an error message during the install of Media Direct, just as the install is about to copy files. I wonder if I should re-download...
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post #80 of 444
4/23/06 at 12:38pm
Mine did that at first too. You need to have 1.3Gb free directly after your OS installation, even though it actually installs at the end of the drive.
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