Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

Audio issue update

The IDT driver is rubbish! It distorts sounds, adds weird sounds and basically makes a nuisance of itself! So, out it went, back came the Windows HD audio driver. Seems to work well now.

Clearly, Dell haven't done enough testing before they launched the product. For a €1000+ product that's really not a consumer product for casual use, this is not the way to do things. It's quite possible someone from Dell is monitoring these disscussion boards. If they are, I hope they report back all the problems that have appeared here.

 

Does the Control Point application provide drivers for the docking station for the E6500? For the D820, there was a driver that added a button on the start menu for prepping the system to be undocked while it was still on, but haven't seen it for the E6500...

I know this is the thread for the E6400, but the E6500 owners lounge doesn't get nearly as much traffic and the two are practically the same except for the larger screen on the E6500.

 

I had the same problems on my M2400 with Vista Ultimate OS .I deleted the IDT audio driver, and used the regular Vista driver.However now I keep getting errrors on Windows Media Player saying check the audio driver ?? How can I reload the IDT driver ? Is ther a better player for use with Vista than Windows Media Player, it keeps locking up ?

Thanks

 

I use VLC player. Plays almost everything under the sun and is very reliable. But it doesn't have the polish of WMP. Also, check that you have the correct codecs installed.

 

I thought I should update my problems with the preboot authentication module. Dell finally gave in (after numerous emails back and forth blaming Vista x64) and replaced the mobo. It works faster than it ever did and flawlessly. I also no longer have the running fan while docked issue so I think my board was just bad out of the factory. Anyone having these issues should definately let Dell know that they need to replace the system board.

 

Yet another audio issue update.

The Windows HD audio driver didn't work as well as expected either! Only the integrated mic would work; an external mic connected through the mic port wouldn't.
So out went the driver. This time I let windows search for a driver online instead of using the Dell supplied one. The result is an IDT driver version 6.10.0.6033. I don't remember what version Dell supplies so I don't know if this one is older or newer. Anyway, the external microphone now works. I installed this just a few hours ago so it's too early to say if it'll work correctly.

 

We just bought 3 units of the Latitude E6400s N series (no OS). One is now installed with XP SP3 (x86), One Vista Ultimate x86 and mine Vista Ultimate x64.

Our specs are:
P8400 CPU 2.26 Ghz
1440x900 LED backlit display
4GB 800Mhz RAM
Nvidia NVS160M graphics
200GB 7200 rpm HDD
6 cell battery
Web cam, fingerprint sensor
5300 (3x3) wireless network option
DVD RW
Keyboard backlit
etc.

Mine running Vista x64 is freezing up randomly as reported by some of you here. I am running BIOS revA06, and installed all the Dell x64 vista drivers from the web site. A few days ago, I thought it had to do with the TPM 1.2 module and software, so I disabled it on the BIOS and stopped the service in Vista. However, the random hanging still persists. Sometimes I after a hard reboot, I cannot log back into Vista, and have to use a Vista System Restore (restore point). I am still undecided if I should return my unit for a replacement (its been less than 5 days) as it could be driver related instead of hardware. Booting up in Windows Safe Mode is stable, and all Dell Diagnostics passed. So I suspect its flaky Dell x64 Vista drivers which is causing the instability.

The Vista 32bit unit has the same speaker crackling and jerky sound reported by some of you. Initially the unit came with a DOA speaker, which was replaced by Dell, only to realize it wasnt the speaker but the motherboard, which was subsequently replaced as well. So that unit has a new MB and a new keyboard palm rest cover with the integrated speakers and touchpad installed. Bad QC from the factory.

The XP SP3 32bit unit has been stable.. for now.

I'd be interested if any of you managed to solve your E6400 + Vista x64 hangs/locking problems. Its been a very frustrating week for me so far.. sigh

 

Make sure you have the Intel Matrix Storage Manager installed. It sounds like that could cause some of the problems you are having.

Greg

 

No, I already did that. That's unrelated to the lockup issue.

 

im using vista business 64 bit, so far so good. no locking up issues with dell drivers. The only driver I did not install is audio. Using the vista's own audio drivers.