Superclean Install - 9 Hours On A 6 Cell Battery

Since the write up will take a while, here's what you need to fix your spike issues on the Dell 1397. It's an as yet unreleased version of the driver from Dell, version 5.10.79.7. All the other drivers I've tried that fix the DPC spike come with an annoying side effect where your wifi light blinks like crazy. This is the only one I've found where the spikes are fixed and the wifi light stays a solid color. Enjoy:

http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R212337.EXE

 

I tried to install the driver you link to. First I uninstalled my dell wireless 1397. Then I installed the installer you linked to.

The installer seemed to hang for a long time. It also seems to be some kind of a broadcom network driver? Don't we have the dell wireless 1397 card?

At any rate I tried to install it. But I waited for about 30 minutes but it just hung. So I restarted the pc. But no wireless is present.

Are you sure this is the same driver your using?

P.S. I am running Vista business x64

 

Yes this is the exact version of the driver that I'm using, but I've only tested this on Windows 7 32 bit edition. See my screenshot below. However, the fact that it stalled for 30 minutes on your machine is a bit disconcerting. Usually if it's not 64 bit compatible it will give an immediate error message. This could be pointing to something other than the driver causing that 30 minute hang.

The Dell 1397 is merely a rebadged Broadcom 4312 chip, so any broadcom driver that supports that chip will also work on the Dell 1397. The generic driver I use for my Macbook and that worked with the 64 bit edition of Windows 7 was the 5.10.38.26 version you can find at the link below. Since it's generic, your wifi light will constantly turn off and on when data is sent/received.

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14644

 

Ok I tried it again. The installer seems to work fine. The only thing that is a little odd is after it is all done, the installer icon just sits in the task bar like it is still running. All I did was log off and then back on and the installer icon goes away. Probably because this is on Vista 64 bit.

One thing that through me off a little at first is there is no UI except for the Vista network connections folder. I went in there and connected to my router using my key and it's all good

My dell 1397 driver latency spikes are gone now. Very nice.

Thanks for sharing your research and I look forward to your entire configuration when you are all done.

 

Glad it worked out. I guess Dell needs to clean up the installer a bit to work better on x64 setups.

 

I think I've now hit the limit of what this machine can do without venturing into more exotic techniques like downclocking the CPU or changing the voltage levels. I'm done with the experimenting for now and need to complete the write up. I was able to get the power draw to under 6 watts, which pushes the battery life close to a maximum of 9.5 hours with a 6 cell. Imagine this with a 9 cell or with the optional battery dock. We are talking a complete working day of battery life with the 9 cell and over 24 hours of battery life with the dock.

 

That Rightmark cpu utility looks good. Too bad Vista 64 ultimate won't let me install unsigned drivers. I HATE this about vista 64! It's stopped me doing a lot because of this unsigned driver crap!

 

You can disable it, if I am not mistaken.
Open the "cmd" as Administrator, then type in:
bcdedit /set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS, then hit ENTER. I THINK you need to restart your computer to apply the change.

 

Thanks for your reply

I've tried that a lot, but it never works I'm definately on an admin CMD, and it says operation completed successfully when i do that, but I can't disable it

 

Did you try executing the same way:
Bcdedit.exe /set nointegritychecks ON
if no help, you try this:
http://aadhu.com/2008/05/15/turn-off-driver-signing-in-vista-64-bit/comment-page-1/