Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

To the person having the CI.dll issue - I also experiened this for months and you may find my posts earlier on in this thread.

Ended up changing the RAM twice (failed memtest) and finally the motherboard. And doing a re-install of the OS twice.

Eventually, I decided either the hardware was screwed or Intel's storage matrix was screwed. Put my computer from IRRT to ATA mode in the bios and everything worked fine since.

 

From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc160980.aspx:

Code Integrity
Code Integrity (CI) protects Windows Vista by verifying that system binaries haven’t been tampered with by malicious code and by ensuring that there are no unsigned drivers running in kernel mode on the system. CI starts as Windows starts up. The boot loader checks the integrity of the kernel, the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), and the boot-start drivers. After these binaries have been verified, the system starts and the memory manager calls CI to verify any binaries that are loaded into the kernel’s memory space. The binaries are verified by looking up their signatures in the system catalogs. Aside from the kernel memory space, CI verifies binaries loaded into a protected process and system installed dynamic libraries that implement core cryptographic functions.

Someone suggested ci.dll was ok, but CI.dll was malicious. Might be worth comparing ci.dll on a virgin install to the same file on a failing install.

"Code Integrity (CI) protects Windows Vista by verifying that system binaries haven’t been tampered with by malicious code and by ensuring that there are no unsigned drivers running in kernel mode on the system." This process doesn't sound like it should crash... unless something odd or malicious is involved. If you can't detect malicious, you could eliminate it by installing only known non-malicious code to at least prove a good install and perhaps narrow down the suspect code. As for odd... do you have any odd/legacy/unsigned code installed? Old VPN clients? Something you require related to Vista Enterprise?

GK

 

Hey folks, I am writing for the first time as an OWNER of an E6400.

My first impressions so far:

- Brilliant build quality. This seems like it's really made to LAST !
- The looks are plain, not many LEDs or colors to look at. That's a plus for me.
- I haven't tested it doing any real work yet, but it certainly looks powerful. After boot, there are around 2.5 GB of the total 4 GB free (actually 3.5 because of 32-bit). I tried running Guild Wars with the stock GPU drivers and I can max every setting (including AA) at 1440x900. The game has solid 30 FPS even in a complex battle. This means that this GPU is powerful enough for me (I know I won't run Fallout 3 at max settings, but no problem there).

One question: as mentioned, I'm using the stock GPU drivers from the CD. I tried installing the GPU drivers from laptopvideo2go.com but they refuse to install, no doubt because the "Dell customized version of GPU" thingie. But some people here said they installed the newer drivers. Can anyone tell me how to do that and how to ensure I can go back if those new drivers don't work well? Also, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the new driver vs. the stock driver?

Some remarks about issues mentioned here:
- I ordered my system with Vista Home Basic because I have a retail version of Vista Ultimate (won it in a contest). I immediately uninstalled WV Basic and after installing Ultimate, I had the high HDD activity and sound-stuttering issues mentioned here. I installed SP1 and, IIRC, the issue got slightly better but was still present. Upon installing Intel Matrix Storage Manager the issue completely disappeared. The HDD activity is very low on idle (one brief flash of the LED every now and then, not periodic), and sound is perfect (albeit not much bass on the laptop's speakers, that was expected and is not an issue).
At the risk of repeating suggestions that were already made, I re-suggest everyone with this issue to install the Intel Matrix Manager from Dell's website.

- Dell's software is definitely NOT bloated. Dell's ControlPoint uses up around 20 MB of RAM on my system, and boot time is not much longer after I installed it (I actually can't see a difference, but I didn't measure it rigorously). I didn't install the Security Manager or the Connection Manager. What are the advantages of these two modules?
On a side note, MAJOR KUDOS for Dell for making this software modular, so you only install what you want. Definitely not bloatware.

So, as a final remark: for me, this is a perfect laptop. Great performance, solid build, stable drivers, decent gaming capability, lots of ports, and so on. Will post more when I get to test it more thoroughly (probably on the weekend).

 

>>- Brilliant build quality. This seems like it's really made to LAST !

Agreed, good quality.

>>The looks are plain, not many LEDs or colors to look at. That's a plus for me.

Agreed, clean and tidy design.

>>I tried running Guild Wars with the stock GPU drivers

Which video, Intel or nVidia?

I've had a few instances of the video being reset to something big like VGA upon startup. Restart clears it. I have DPI at 120.

>>Upon installing Intel Matrix Storage Manager the issue completely disappeared. The HDD activity is very low on idle (one brief flash of the LED every now and then, not periodic), and sound is perfect

Did you install both the driver and the app?

>>Dell's software is definitely NOT bloated. Dell's ControlPoint uses up around 20 MB of RAM on my system, and boot time is not much longer after I installed it (I actually can't see a difference, but I didn't measure it rigorously). I didn't install the Security Manager or the Connection Manager. What are the advantages of these two modules?

The DCP Connection Manager is a 373MB download... that's a lot of compressed code.

"Dell ControlPoint Connection Manager installs the listed driver versions and necessary software to support the following devices:

Broadcom Gigabit LAN, v10.85.0.0 (XP), v10.100.0.0 (Vista)
Intel 825xx Gigabit LAN, v9.50.14.2
Conexant HDA D330 MDC V.92 Modem, v7.68.00 (XP), v7.59.00 (Vista)
Dell Wireless WLAN 1397, Dell Wireless WLAN 1510, v4.170.77.3
Dell Wireless Mobile Broadband 5720 MiniCard, v1.0.22.1
Dell Wireless 5530 HSPA Mini-Card, v4.48.1.9001
*Intel Wireless LAN devices are not supported in this release."

This begs the question, then what are the individual device driver downloads for, when present?

The DCP Security Manager is a 140MB download.

The DCP Security Driver is 113MB.

"This driver installation package contains support for all M08 and D08 Latitude, Optiplex, and Precision systems with security devices. This pack will install on any supported platform and will correctly identify which security device drivers to install on that platform. The following devices are supported:

Broadcom Trusted Platform Module
Atmel Trusted Platform Module
STMicroelectronics Trusted Platform Module
Winbond Trusted Platform Module
O2Micro Smart Card Reader
Dell Smart Card Keyboard
UPEK TouchChip Fingerprint Reader
Authentec Fingerprint Reader
Broadcom Unified Security Hub
Vista Storage Driver Update (for ATAPI.SYS)"

So, maybe it's big but only installs a few items on the E6400, the Broadcom Unified Security Hub and ?. Also, does this mean that a new release may not have any updates for device(s) on the E6400?

>>So, as a final remark: for me, this is a perfect laptop.

No hot coffee port! DDR3 and Blu-Ray would be nice. And I wonder if that Intel Flash Module would speed things up?

GK

 

I'm quite disappointed by the Dell support. I phoned there today to see these issues addressed:
- the battery is loose
- the smart card reader is loose
- led-cover is bent up
I had to mail the technician pictures of the specific parts for his boss. Afterwards he phoned me and told me his boss said there won't be swapped anything and they won't send a technician, they can't do anything. Furthermore, he added that the problem regarding the battery had been forwarded to the production department (whatever that means).

So that's the next-day-service I paid for?
I guess I'll dissemble it myself and see what I can do..

 

That doesn't sound like Dell Support.

GK (in the US)

 

Seems they handle things differently in Europe.. dunno.

 

Actually service is good in Europe as well.
I had my LED screen replaced since the first one had a darker spot on it. Unfortunately the technician was quite a fool... didn't know how to open the chassis. However, in the end it worked^^

 

No no no, something is wrong with Dell.
It makes no sense because you can just order a new laptop and return to dell the current one, while you can under the law.
You have a 3 year warranty that covers part and labor.

Here is what you do. Always stay calm, it is critical that you do. It it critical that you stay polite too and understandable.
Start Dell chat session from Dell website (see under the support section, you have to dig a bit). From the chat session, explain your problem with great details (write them up before, if you must). See where it goes. It should work. Mentions things like "I believe I have a faulty laptop" "Comparing with my partner machine this issue is not there", "I have an abnormal issue", etc...

If it fails. Post an article at The Consumerist (http://consumerist.com/). This will start making things move at Dell. You will also get many advice from people on how to proceed, even e-mail Michael Dell. Remember, do NOT say stuff like "Fix it or I'll do this and that..." that is a direct failure and you'll lose.

However, if you complain on 1 things that is done by design then it all fail.
in your case, the battery loose is made on purpose. I NEVER touched a laptop with a bigger battery option where it hold tight. The main reason for this, is to allow you to insert the battery easily and not battle with it.

 

Hey i got the same thing, my LCD will be replaced today.