Dell XPS 15 R2 - L502x - Owners Lounge

Err, I got question...
Last time, someone got problem on application cannot be maximized fully, how to solve it? (The one where you maximize application and at the top screen, it left like a small bar)

 

It was Dell's Data Safe (or Alienware's Respawn) bloatware toaster.exe file. Disabling or uninstalling fixed the issue.

 

How to disable it? Can it be disabled thru MSCONFIG?

 

My 750GB is a Scorpio Black, which is surprising since 750GB Scorpio Black is quite expensive compared to other 7200 RPM drives.

 

wow. I thought I got a decent deal on a decent laptop. Yours blows everything away. Very envious!


Didn't know dell had a game to get money off lol. And they wouldn't let me combine the 3% off for DPA and my 100 dollar off coupon.

 

hi there owners of L502 ^^we RuLe :/
i bought mine 3 days ago ^^ Dell XPS L502x!! it's awesome now got some questions!
mine didn't had any antenna or coaxial cable,is that ok?!
it has a Avermedia 7231 Tv Tuner , is it DVB or analog?! or both?!
which program i must use to watch analog channels?! or DVB channels?!
how can i search for channels?! i found a program called PROGDVB , is that ok to use? can i connect a LNB(dish) with a coaxial cable to this laptop to watch DVB channels? i heard that LNB has electricity so it can harm laptop , is that true?
and how can i find out my battery is 6cell or 9 cell?
which parts can be upgraded?
LoveZ

 

Hey folks!

Does anyone know what make and technical details are for the SSD in the XP 15 L502?

Thanks!

 

My XPS 15 R2 is having a problem with screen saver mode locking up. When it locks up my mouse icon is stuck in hour glass mode.

I am using an external monitor hooked up via HDMI and using laptop display as extended display. This setup and has been working great until the last week to ten days.

I really do not want to have to wipe laptop and start again.

Any ideas?

 

Does anyone know if there are or are any planned 540m optimus drivers coming out? Im trying to fiddle with GTA4 enb mods; however, whenever I install the d3d9.dll file to try and get them to run, optimus fails and chooses the intel over the 540m. I've tried everything from selecting the nvidia as the default gpu and manually adding the gta4.exe to the preferred 540m choice. Even adding the -norestrictions target isnt working...argh my GTA4 runs like a slideshow!
Will Nvidia ever just add support for disabling optimus and allowing for manual selection!??!

 

Just install these drivers

v280.19 Windows 7/Vista 64bit | NVIDIA Desktop / OEM Mobile - LaptopVideo2Go Forums

 

This one allows for manual global switching? (ie not the crappy application by application control panel)

 

I just received my xps l502x, the 1080p screen is just a million times better than the 720p I had before, it's just too good!! And I like the keyboard too!!

 

Yeah, it worked out well for my team. I had to fight...I had to call and get the DPA discount applied with the 15% off discount.

I called again to play the "Dell game" and get $50 off to keep the laptop...this required asking to return it, Dell offering me $35 to keep it, then asking for $50 to keep it and having a manager approve this amount.

I call one final time and returned the in-home portion of the warranty (meaning if I have an issue I'll have to mail it to Dell, on my own dime, but repair and h/w costs will still be covered) for another $55.

It was a long road, but it paid off. I really want to play with it, but my job has been killing me the last week. I've only gotten to use it for a combined 3 hours maybe. I'm still trying to nail down a solid OC on the graphics card.

Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to actually use it!

 

hi guys...i just signed up on this as i just received my xps 15 l502x-1024els last week from amazon...ive already encountered some issues though ...first it had trouble hibernating and sleeping - screen would shut off but everything would stay on (i had to manually shut it down several times)...after installing pretty much every driver and update and flashing the bios (part of a driver update) it finally started working again...after reading some reviews of the product ive noticed people experiencing troubles with the fan/heat too....my fan randomly starts getting high/loud even when the laptop is just on idle and i DEF feel hot air coming from the vent after light use, is this normal? how can i fix this? (sorry i cant read all 180+ pages)

ANY help would greatly be appreciated, THANKs!

 

You don't by chance have any processor monitoring software installed do you? Maybe something in the Windows Sidebar? I did, and it would cause the fan to kick on and off all of the time. As for the stand by issue, I'm not sure. I was having problems with random shut downs, as it turns out after some time on the phone with Dell, my ram was faulty. Oddly enough my memory diagnostic didn't pick that up, with fresh ram on the way from Dell, I stole my girlfriends laptop ram in the mean time. So far with the new ram installed I haven't encountered any shut down or stand by issues. If you have the spare ram sitting around, even if its less then what you have installed, try swapping it just for troubleshooting’s sake.

 

Anyone here play Minecraft on there L502x? It runs great for me, but every 5-10 minutes I get a random freeze up. Sometimes it just stalls and starts back up other times it crashes totally. I've set everything to run with the nVidia, Minecraft.exe and Java. I don't know, maybe it just doesn't play nice with Optimus.

 

Hello All,

I'm a little confused on our USB ports. The Renesas USB 3.0 software is part of our drivers so I suspect all of our ports are USB 3.0 ready. I know the eSATAp on the right side might not be.....wait, hold the phone!

When purchasing an external USB 3.0 drive I found most of them are USB interfaces but the plugs are the Micro-B version. This means they will not fit our laptop. It seems most of the external drives that have USB 3 SuperSpeed use these plugs..just stupid.


Anyway, I'm trying to figure out if I should get a USB 3.0 or a esta external hard drive. Not many have both interfaces are are very pricey. Samsung dropped their line of drives that had both ports.

Here's the Western Digital 2TB drive Cnet video review showing thia wierd USB plug and port...and the warning it's different:
Western Digital My Book 3.0 Review - Watch CNET's Video Review

 

How do I calibrate my 1080p screen? I have made a design in photoshop when I had the 720p screen and when I look at it now it hurts my eyes, reds are extremely vibrant.

 

What will this driver allow me to do?

 

Ok, I can see how you got confused how these ports are configured.

The end you are highlight is the end keyed for USB 3.0 devices (source), however the part on the other end (the one you connect to the laptop (destination)) is a standard full size usb port.

The purpose of this is prevent you from using a USB 2.0 or older rated standard cables as a medium between the the 3.0 device and your computer. This would guarantee backward support for those who still using 2.0 or older standard.

 

Yup.

It will run GTAIV on the nVidia GPU rather than the Intel. Also fixes Firefox not using gpu acceleration for flash videos.

 

I'm trying to install a backlit keyboard - the keyboard works, but the backlight part doesn't. I'm trying to choose between two potential explanations: (1) the backlight is busted (2) I'm not attaching the ribbon cable correctly.

In support of hypothesis 1, Dell Control Panel recognizes that I have a backlight (with my old keyboard I think the option was greyed out) and I'm able to move the setting for backlight off/dim/bright with Fn+F6.

In support of hypothesis 2, the ribbon cable for the backlight doesn't seem to stick in the connector. I have no problems attaching the ribbon cables for the keyboard itself, the touchpad, and the power cable. Tugging lightly on those three won't remove the cable, while the ribbon for the backlight always comes out. I assume this isn't how it's supposed to work, but the cable for the backlight is so much smaller than the other three, I can't be sure. Its size also makes it a nightmare to get into the connector...

Anyone have any ideas? Or at least can confirm that the backlight ribbon should "stick" inside the connector, so if I spend the next hour trying to get it in, I know I'm actually doing something useful?

 

just from my observations, I could be wrong. You want the brown connector facing up(?) so the leads seem to be facing up. The thicker one you want the leads facing down. If that is wrong try both facing down. Its been a while, forgive me

 

Judging by this picture of a teardown that Villosa did, the orientation is correct... also the ribbon arrived folded so that I would have to twist it 180 degrees to get it in the opposite orientation. I just can't get the ribbon to stick in the connector but I don't know whether it should or not.

 

Thanks. ill try that. So I read somewhere that after changing the power settings to 99% instead of 100% the fan and heat issue would go away. It actually did so that issue is resolved (i think).....BUT now its not hibernating or sleeping again ughhh i guess ill see if the ram's faulty but regardless i guess im going to have to call dell

 

Wow if it works I'll love you forever XD. Btw how should I go about installing it? I have so far downloaded the patch and the inf modifed (what do I do with it). Steps please!

 

is this the newest drivers for the Nvidia? Sorry not comp savvy and I looked at their site and it said mine were up to date. thanks

 

It is a new version, but it is unsigned driver.

 

I just called dell about the audio jack (surprisingly, now the jack is working!), and they don't allow repair except if the jack doesn't produce sound. They also provide case number just in case need repair in the future.

Overall, the laptop is nice. USB 3.0 has shown no apparent problem yet (transferred about 70 gb of videos on WD Essential). Speaker is better than y550p (and probably X-mini II), and one nice addition, I can play both the internal speaker and external speaker at the same time (Using X-Fi, link it with X-Mini Speaker). Currently still tinkering and check for faults, hopefully no major fault occur...
And if wanted, I can do comparison between Lenovo Y550P and Dell XPS 15 if required ...

 

I just installed that driver and the problem is still happening. Whenever the d3d9.dll file isnt in gta4 it plays fine and shows my 2019mb of memory. Yet when the d3d9.dll is in, gta4 only shows my system having 59mb of memory which is stupid. Ive tried making every file that pertains to gta4 use the 540m (ex gta4.exe and launch gta4.exe) through the control panel yet still nothing....seriously optimus is great in concept, but bugging the crap out of me in reality.

 

This guy is mistaken. The driver linked doesn't allow manual switching

 

Are there any ways to bypass optimus and make it so you can do manual switching?

 

i have problem with GTA IV too! i can't change settings , i tried -norestrictions and i was able to change settings but still i have graphic lose! i can only see sea! no walls,people,cars...! the only way is to start the game and enter a level , then u change settings and everything works ok! i mean u gotta change settings after a level is loaded and u in game! does anyone know how to fix this issue!?

 

Hi All,

(61.124 Mbps) So where's all the speed we're supposed to get? I'm very disappointed. Here's actual results from using the rear USB 3.0 port, a USB SuperSpeed cable to a new Western Digital 3.0 hard drive. I cut and pasted the folders onto the new drive.

96.7 GB (19 folders, about 288 files)
27:00 Minutes total transfer time

99,020 MB / 1,620 secs = 61.124 Mbps

FYI: 1 Gigabyte = 1024 Megabytes

So where is all the speed they advertise? It's repeated over and over that USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps and 3.0 up to 5 Gbps. Any suggestions if I should troubleshoot or just rack this up to more gimmicks?

 

i found it! this is the fix for GTA IV on DELL XPS 502x , this will increase VGA resource usage for about 900 !!!!
try this ^^

1.Make a shortcut of LaunchGTAIV.exe and move it to your desktop.

2.Right click on the shortcut and click "properties"

3.Then add this to the "target" : "C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\LaunchGTAIV.exe" -norestrictions -nomemrestrict -availablevidmem 16 -percentvidmem 100

this blows the game graphix ^^ full resolution everything FULL! awesome...
ROCK**** SUX... :\

 

has any one tried this new driver with BFBC2? the previous one made my screen flicker like a beast and caused a massive glare "haze" in game. I tried to find a fix to no prevail though. Any one use it?

 

1 MB (Megabytes) != 1 Mb (Megabits)

It is

1 MB == 8 Mb

Just multiply by 8

Rogo, be a little consistent with your units.
It is got me confused, that Mb should been MB.

-------
Also, those advertised rates are gimmicks, well for an HDD.
I wonder how it would go if you use an SSD instead.

 

I'd like to know also. My 1920x1080p FHD screen shows reds super-saturated and vivid to the point where photos with red look cartoonish.

I've tried tweeking the Nivida control panel and the color calibrate, to no avail. I'm still searching the net for a solution. Maybe there is none?

 

Download this color profile: http://www.notebookcheck.net/uploads/tx_nbc2/dell_xps15_fhd_wled_spyder3.icm

Follow these instructions I found by don_vito84

1. Type colour management via Start/Search, "colour management" window will open
2. go to the tab advanced and click Change system defaults button in the bottom left corner (must have admin rights), "colour management defaults" window will open
3. now again go to advanced tab and untick the box "use windows display calibration"
4. now close that window and go back to the window mentioned in step2 ("colour management")and untick the same box there (same tab "advanced").
5. now go back to the first tab "devices" and tick the box "use my settings for this device", this will enable "Add" button. Make sure you have selected your monitor from the drop down list!
6. Your new profile should appear in the "Profiles associated with this device" list. Select your profile and click "set as default profile" button
7. Now you should be done.

Also make sure that your graphics driver is not "trying" to control colours. If you got nVidia then right click on the desktop and select NVIDIA control panel. Go to display --> adjust desktop colour settings and select "other applications control colour settings".

Please note that you may not see the EXTREME difference at the first place, especially if you are just messing around the desktop. If you want to see the difference it makes, then before you start loading your new profile, open up some photo in some colour managed software and as soon as you load your profile watch how the picture changes. In case when YOUR PROFILE HAS BEEN LOADED CORRECTLY and you still can't see any difference then that means you shouldn't bother calibrating your screen cause you simply don't need it.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions and good luck!

 

Theoretically USB3 is 10x faster than USB2. In the real world you're lucky if it's 2-3x faster. Especially with these portable hard drives, which are slow. I also have the WD Passport USB3 drive, which is one of the slowest portables.

I'm facing the same disappointment that you are. I was excited to get a laptop with USB3. I did a transfer and got right around 60MB/s speeds, same as you. I also did the same transfer plugged into the USB2 port and got about 35MB/s, so USB3 gave me less than a 2X speed increase. Not only are the speeds disappointing, but so far 2 of my USB devices won't work in the USB3 ports.

 

Many thanks! I'll give it a try.

 

Many thanks! I'll give it a try.

 

That is 61.124 MB/s not 61.12 Mb/s

You do realize that even the high end 15000 RPM Velociraptor only write at around 100 MB/s and Western Digital's best consumer drive the Caviar Black only writes at ~60 MB/s?

Also, you do realize that it is your hard drive that is bottlenecking your file copying right?

Most people wanting USB 3.0 get overly excited by its advertised speed but don't understand that fast peripherals are needed also. External hard-drives are way too slow.

 

Don't forget the source can also be the limiting factor as well.

 

Any modern hard drive should read faster (than write) than 60 MB/s sustained.

 

Been using the xps 15 (2630qm, fhd display, 8gb ram, nvidia 525m, 750gb hdd) for 5 days. The full-hd display is good (I wasn't blown away by it, but it's growing on me), the speakers are awesome, the backlit keyboard looks great and the laptop compares well to my 2-year old core i7 desktop in terms of everyday performance. Generally a solid performer at a great price.

 

I have the Seagate Hybrid drive in my machine, and it seems faster, however, I came from the 5400 stock drive that came in it so it's hard to tell without testing against another 7200 drive.

 

Well I did disclaim it can be a possible limiting factor.
His could possible go a bit faster if it wasn't an OS drive.

 

I had the same problem with the fan turning on and off, which was totally killing my battery life. I tried your advice to turn my processor monitoring desktop gadget and it worked. Except for the fact that the fan still randomly turns on for about ten seconds when doing a simple task such as opening Internet Explorer.

 

Well, that's just not true. You're confusing why the Velociraptor is a "fast" drive. The 10k (not 15k, only enterprise drives have that speed) speed improves access times significantly but transfer rates only a small amount. Since the data is much lower density, actual data transfer is slower than a normal high capacity 7200rpm consumer drive (which has high density platters).

And the WD Caviar Black, like pretty much all other modern HDDs, writes at substantially more than 60MB/s. The only situation in which it wouldn't (USB issues etc aside) is if it's being used for something else, as mentioned above, such as being an OS drive.