Precision M6600: Fan, Touchpad, USB MIDI

I just got a new Precision M6600 ("Essential" configuration but with 1600x900 display). So far, I discovered three problems. I wonder whether these are normal, or can be solved, or whether I got a lemon.

1. Fan

The fan seems to avoid intermediate spinning rates. It switches between off and high speed quite often. You can switch it on and off by running stressing software like Prime 95, but it also often kicks in when there is no apparent load.

I am not sure but I think one time I observed a constant intermediate spinning rate, and even Prime 95 could not force it to full speed. I have no idea what caused that different behaviour at that time.

2. Touchpad

Two-finger scoll is fine, pinch zoom is average. Defining areas for scrolling or zooming is bad. Sometimes, it will react, sometimes not.

EDIT: Point 3 is obsolete. Same problem on another machine. I leave it as reference only:

3. USB MIDI (you may want to skip this section if you are not familiar with music production on a computer)

I tested my Midisport 2x2 USB MIDI interface on a small consumer notebook (Sony VAIO) and the M6600. Both have Windows 7 SP1 64 Bit with the same Windows updates installed, and both have the same Midisport driver installed. On both I used Cubase 6.5 Trial 64 Bit to play and rerecord eight bars of repetitive 8th notes at 200BPM (connecting the Midisport output to the input). On the M6600, I tried both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, and various options in Cubase's device configuration.

The results on the M6600 were disastrous. Note-off events of some notes sometimes arrived later than note-on events off succeeding notes, thus choking some notes. On the Sony, that did not happen.

I exported the test data to a MIDI file. If I play that with Windows Media Player on the M6600, there is no problem.

 

Check this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...00-dell-11-13-51-0-intel-82579lm-drivers.html

 

Thanks, but I do not think it applies to my problems. DPC latency is fine.

 

It could be as simple as re-installing the driver. My UFX has had this symptom before (ya, random midi trigger & stuck note) & all I did was uninstall & reinstall + update firmware. Done!



Sent from my GT-N7000

 

Unfortunately, the reinstall did not help.

I found out it has something to do with the ASIO driver selected in Cubase. If I select no driver, MIDI out is much better, maybe even as good as played with Windows Media Player. Of course that is no solution...

 

If it's ASIO, then it has to do with your soundcard driver

Sent from my GT-N7000

 

I could reproduce the problem on another machine. I have edited my original post accordingly.