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XPS: Trouble in "paradise".... - Page 6

post #101 of 279
3/10/04 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeLLSpiRE
I don't htink it was the actual reformating, it might be that you guys forogt to reinstall a program that controls the fans and what not. Did you guys make an image of the HD before u reformatted so you could restore it ?
No that's not it, i have the problem with my XPS, and i didn't format.
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post #102 of 279
3/10/04 at 4:44pm
what about the Video drivers? some posts mentioned using some external drivers. Is this a common thread? I am using the Dell drivers, from their web site, Rev A00.
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post #103 of 279
3/10/04 at 4:46pm
Thread Starter 
OK i'm off the phone with Marc from dell's call center in Idaho. He asked that I send him the output of driverquery.exe, which I did. I'm also going to forward him the URL for this thread so he can get a better idea of what might be going on here.

Marc@Dell seems to be a "geek like us", so it sounds like he'll get us the right answers. He's been in contact with the Inspiron XPS engineering staff and is working on getting some kind of answer for this. I gave him all my contact info so he can get in touch with me anytime.

Hang in there, guys. I think we'll get to the bottom of this one way or another.
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post #104 of 279
3/10/04 at 4:46pm

Factory Drivers

I'm using the factory shipped drivers, that came installed on the notebook
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post #105 of 279
3/10/04 at 4:50pm
I did "update" my drivers with the ones on the web site. I think they are the same, but the rev letters didn't match (6 vs. 7), so i updated. They still don't match, but I think the rev on the file is different than the drivers rev. [Which is stupid, but then clarity is not a common characteristic in PC land.]
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post #106 of 279
3/10/04 at 4:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hammermd
I wonder if it's because you and Nixxed did not reformat?
I reformatted...
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post #107 of 279
3/10/04 at 4:58pm
Have you guys gone into the bios and checked for anything in there? I have gone through bios and changed settings already... though I don't remember if I specifically changed anything that had to do with fans...
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post #108 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheNiXXeD
Have you guys gone into the bios and checked for anything in there? I have gone through bios and changed settings already... though I don't remember if I specifically changed anything that had to do with fans...
I poked through LOOKING for fan options in the bios, but nothing is in there.

UPDATE: I spoke to Marc at Dell again. He has one of the XPS engineers contacting me at 5:30PM EST today. He actually requested to speak with me about the problem.

Looks like they're taking this problem seriously.

More to come!
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post #109 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hammermd
Yes, but the wind coming from my vents is so paltry (at least when at idle) that it seems as though the fans are SUCKING instead of BLOWING...I know this sounds rather like a retarded French whore instead of a fan setup, but you know what I mean...

can you tell which way yer fans are pointed?
I put a tissue against it, it appears to be sucking in on the right side (hard to tell), but definately blowing out on the left
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post #110 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sage182
I resemble that remark

Not an XPS owner - not really a deskbook kinda guy - I took delivery of an 8600 today that I haven't even seen yet (damn work!). My genuine sympathies are with you on this XPS issue tho.
Thanks, maybe I misjudged you a little from the initial post. Sorry. Actually, I'm hoping I am one of the exceptions, as I have not had the problem yet. I should know more today, as I am going to try to tax the $3#!+ out of the system.

Good luck with the 8600!
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post #111 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheNiXXeD
I just posted about my lack of heat issues... and actually, most of this time I've been at work... with my laptop on 24/7 practically... But I do play a lot of games on it... haven't had a single issue yet, but I don't play Sof2 or bf1942... so I can't comment on those specific games... I am using the drivers dell provided for the video card, though, and I can't speak for others... it's quite humorous, someone at my work is running an insecure wireless network (no password or key to get in)... I wanna try using it, but I don't know if I should haha... it's probably another tenant in the building... I wonder if this other tenant's internet has any firewall... maybe I can get past my firewall THAT way... hmmmmmm
TheNixxed.
What do your fans do. Run all the time, or just partial??
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post #112 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl
So far it's been a problem for me with both BF1942 and 3dmark03 (no other 3d apps loaded).

What settings are you using for PowerPlay? If it's set to "balanced" when plugged in, you're running slow - but you won't generate heat. If you run at max performance (slider all the way to the right for when the unit's plugged in), that's when you might see the problem.
I never reinstalled Powerplay on mine, what does this do, regulate the system seting, light, fans, etc????
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post #113 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:37pm
Thread Starter 
Lurkingjayhawk... Easiest way to do it is to...errr...well... "register" 3dmark03 by any means necessary.... then:

1. Under "tests" click select,
2. Turn off everything except "Game Tests" and "GT4 - Mother nature," by far the most stressful and varied test, then click OK
3. Under "Settings", click "Change"
4. Crank the res up to 1920x1200, leave AA alone, turn texture filtering to Anisotropic and an anisotropy level of 16. Under "repeat and loop", "loop all selected tests". click OK.

5. Click "Run 3dmark". From a cold machine you'll get several runs. From a "warm" machine (one that's been sitting at the desktop for a few minutes), you'll be lucky to get through 2 or 3. If you can run for hours, then you're a lucky man
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post #114 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by LurkingJayhawk
I never reinstalled Powerplay on mine, what does this do, regulate the system seting, light, fans, etc????
Powerplay is part of Dell's ATI driver for the XPS. You should use this one as all other driversets recognize the onboard 9700 as a 9600 (though the problem should still be there).

To get to powerplay, right-click the desktop, properties, settings tab, advanced - then you should see a "POWERPLAY(tm)" tab. The Active Setting should be "Optimal Performance" for this problem to show up.
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post #115 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hammermd
er...not exactly...I'd rather have the engineer call back and say, 'Man, you're an idiot...do you realize you have driver x installed instead of driver y? Pay more attention next time!' and then have the system work fine. The alternative is shipping the thing back and not seeing a replacement till next week...
I like your way of thinking, it matches mine. I would much rather be an idiot with a fixed machine than a genius with a broken one.
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post #116 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hammermd
Karl...that's actually GOOD news...the guy I talked to had never heard of such an issue...he actually tried to tell me to update the games with patches from the web...LOL! Hopefully, we're finally being funneled to the XPS Specialized tech support that consists of nothing but the QA engineers, who will instantaneously realize their screw up and the danger to the company it poses and fix it forthwith (meaning by Sunday).
hammermd, you were probably the one that put it in the queue
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post #117 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl
Lurkingjayhawk... Easiest way to do it is to...errr...well... "register" 3dmark03 by any means necessary.... then:

1. Under "tests" click select,
2. Turn off everything except "Game Tests" and "GT4 - Mother nature," by far the most stressful and varied test, then click OK
3. Under "Settings", click "Change"
4. Crank the res up to 1920x1200, leave AA alone, turn texture filtering to Anisotropic and an anisotropy level of 16. Under "repeat and loop", "loop all selected tests". click OK.

5. Click "Run 3dmark". From a cold machine you'll get several runs. From a "warm" machine (one that's been sitting at the desktop for a few minutes), you'll be lucky to get through 2 or 3. If you can run for hours, then you're a lucky man
I'll try this right away and let you know. Unless of course my computer blows up.
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post #118 of 279
3/10/04 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl
Powerplay is part of Dell's ATI driver for the XPS. You should use this one as all other driversets recognize the onboard 9700 as a 9600 (though the problem should still be there).

To get to powerplay, right-click the desktop, properties, settings tab, advanced - then you should see a "POWERPLAY(tm)" tab. The Active Setting should be "Optimal Performance" for this problem to show up.
Thanks, I never touched it obviously
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post #119 of 279
3/10/04 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl
UPDATE: I spoke to Marc at Dell again. He has one of the XPS engineers contacting me at 5:30PM EST today. He actually requested to speak with me about the problem.
LOL! Yeah, they're calling me right after they call you (@6pm Est)...I was just on the phone for like an hour with Gerald (a pretty cool support engineer), and he said several interesting things about the XPS. First, he doesn't believe it's a heat issue, because he personally played Max Payne 2 and other intense games for hours and hours before rollout, making sure everything was firm; furthermore, they built the housing with three huge fans and designed them only to work intermittently at low power on account of the fact that they are going to use the large size of the housing itself to dissipate the heat of processors up to 4.6GHz (which they've apparently simulated in the lab)!

I guess the graphics engineer and some other braintrust are going to conference call with us later and try and pinpoint the problem...I'm assuming there must be some sort of interaction effect at work, because the problem is not limited to one configuration (i.e. people who have original Dell system versus people who reformat, people who use 9700 mobility driver from Dell site versus people who mod the ATI drivers, & etc.) Anyhow, Gerald said they might want to have my unit back and just send me a new one, hinting that they might be willing to cross-ship...it's a moot point, though, as I'll be out of town Thursday-Friday...
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post #120 of 279
3/10/04 at 6:21pm
Okay, the ATI Catalyst 4.3 drivers were just released...I wonder if BF1942 is a good program to be testing the XPS with given that the following is stated in the release notes:

* Texture corruption is no longer seen when playing the game Battlefield 1942
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