Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

ToadDodger,

The memory test is passing now. Thanks much for the RTFM reminder .
It had to pair A&D and pair B&C.

Sincerely,
Tim

 

I'm having trouble locating these NVIDIA drivers on NVIDIA's website. I would rather get it directly from the official source instead of this other 3rd party you linked to (LaptopVideo2Go.com). On NVIDIA's website downloads, I can't even find the Quadro FX 3700M listed on the "Quadro FX Mobile Series" section. Dell only has the older version 7.15.11.7653.

 

I just tried to download and install NVIDIA's nTune software because I heard that it has nice tempature monitoring capabilities for the CPU and GPU.
However, when I tried to install it, I got an error saying that the software requires an NVIDIA nForce2 or nForce3 motherboard to operate, and then aborted the installation. I have an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M.
Does anyone know if NVIDIA makes some other similar utility that would be compatible with my video card? If not, could anyone reccomend a good CPU & GPU temp monitoring tool? Windows Sidebar app or bottom tray icons would be preferable, so I can leave them running all the time.

 

I use Everest for cpu+gpu monitoring. I use it in conjunction with a vista sidebar app that supports everest to show the temps. Another monitoring tool that shows gpu temps is Rivatuner(as bottom tray icon/ingame osd/temp graphs) but not sure if it supports sidebars.

 

What is burst rate,in HD Tune??

 

Thanks. I'll rephrase what I said then: I believe the Sigmatels on my M1730/M90/M6300 are better than the one on my M6400 (driver issues notwithstanding)

 

NVidia doesn't give support to the mobile carts. The support has to be done by the notebook manufacturer, that's why there are so many different versions. Not every notebook manufacturer uses every new version. Fortunately there's a site like laptopvideo2go where you get the newest versions. You don't need no moddyfied inf or some workarounds to install the drivers. They original inf supports the Quadro FX 2700/3700!
On the NVidia site you'll find no mobile drivers and for Dell it will take some time until they offer a new driver version (after they got some complains about 176.53 and after they tested a new version).

 

Earlier today my machine's low battery lights started flashing even though the battery was fully charged. I removed the battery and they stopped flashing. The battery said it was fully charged. When I reinstalled the battery it continued flashing. I've since removed and reinsterted it again and it has syopped flashing. Does this sound like a dodgy interconnect?

EDIT: It started happening again about 5 mins after the battery was plugged in. The computer wasn't moved in that time. Perhaps it is happening when the battery is full? If I remove the power lead the machine shuts off though....

 

If this machine behaves like the rest of the dell laptops (no reason to think otherwise) the battery light always flashes during the last 5 minutes or so of the battery reaching a full charge. This behavior is perfectly normal. Only if the light flashes orange / red is there a possible issue. While it is charging up to the last 5 minutes or so -- the battery light is constantly on. Once fully charged - the battery light is off.

 

Correct (at least according to the Dell Tech guy I spoke with when I received a bad battery), except I think the 5 minutes is actually the last 5% (maybe 10%) of the charge cycle. If the charge light flashes blue then orange, then there is a problem with the battery and it has been disabled. From my experience, it will not charge or run off the battery if the lights are flashing blue and orange.

Over time (even when plugged in), the battery will discharge. When the charger is enabled, it will top off the battery once the charge falls to a certain level (95%?). I think this maybe what the original poster was seeing. You can disable this feature using the FN-F2 key. That will disable charging until the power is disconnected from the machine (not just a reboot or shutdown).

I really like the charging setup on this laptop. The only thing that I have found lacking is documentation (i.e. user's manual) on the system. Service manual is great, but it does not document stuff like the battery charging sequence.