**Dell XPS 17 (L702x) - DO NOT FLASH to BIOS A14 - (Updated 1/5 - see post 1)**

OK, did a quick dig around and I found these Beta drivers released yesterday that work without any problems.

nVidia GeForce Verde 290.53 Notebook Driver - Win7 64bit BETA

Link found here:

NVIDIA DRIVERS 290.53 BETA

 

Does it work with A14?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...90-53-beta-released-installs-perfectly-2.html that should answer your question

 

To confirm, yes no problems at all.

This is on a brand new XPS 17 (L702x) Laptop that I received yesterday. It arrived with the A14 BIOS installed already.

There are people starting to report this driver as working fully without any problems in other threads now.

Looks like it was the nVidia drivers after all and not faulty motherboards or bad BIOS files by Dell.

That must annoy you a bit after the hard work you've put into this.

 

The way I see it, it is not the drivers, but possibly the BIOS changes the way Windows reads the Hardware ID, since that is how the driver identifies the card. so if nVidia is including more Hardware IDs in the driver INF file, the new one might've been included and is now recongnized as a nVidia card.

 

I'm pleased to report the latest beta driver worked perfectly. Credit goes to Nvidia of course.

 

Holy cow! the BETA version actually works. Yeah! Thanks for all your help.

 

Well, I have got a sneeky feeling that all of the beta versions WILL work anyway... it is the stable release versions that will be, and have been, the problem.

Until Dell have provided a method to be able to update ALL drivers to the latest STABLE releases, and flash the BIOS for future updated versions, then as far as I am concerned the problem is NOT solved...

My 21 days is running out soon. I need to know if I am going to be stuck with this or whether this problem will eventually be fully fixed.

 

The easiest way to find out is to try installing any of the previous betas - they're all available for download from nVidia's site. If it fails, then I guess the problem is fixed for the current version and future ones.

 

Well I'm running the 285.62 beta drivers atm, so previous betas (atleast that far) do work... Going to go to 290.53 soon.

 

What are the changes in BIOS Revision A14, Bill? I just flashed it onto my laptop, and I'd like to know. Thanks!

 

Bill,
I wondered if this has anything to do with my replacement LG screen flickering. Someone from the M6600 thread said that the newest BIO has corrected the flickering issue with his LG screen.

 

As far as the BETA version goes, none of them would install for me until they release the newest one.

 

Damn ... GF116 revision of the GT555m

Software issues aside, you lucky people! Wouldn't mind having some of that extra performance for nothing

 

This tutorial solved my problems.
I have an XPS L702X, I still have 2 issues.

1. The 2 USB ports on the back are not working yet. In my device manager I see USB controller with a yellow "!"

2. My wifi is not working. In my device manager I still have network controller and unknown device with a yellow "!", could someone please tell me which drivers I'm missing?


Kind regards,

Simon

 

I suggest you take these issues to the general L702x thread ( link), so that we can focus on the A14 BIOS and nVidia driver issue in this one

 

What exactly is the difference between A12 and A14? I'm running A12 and don't really see any reason to go to 14 unless there's some big fix.

 

http://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Ordina...truction-performance-nvidia-sujet_64347_1.htm

aye, shows the performance difference (it's in french but still!)

 

So I'm looking for the GF116 chip in mine then, hopefully? If it's brand new it should be the new one, am I correct in that? Or is it not a revision, just a random chance?

 

FYI, the bios A14 (now dated 12/28/2011) has been posted again in dell's download page. I don't know if it's the same A14 as earlier. Dell is not being serious with this.

 

looks like all the new ones come with the gf116 chip, unless they use old stock then you'll likely get that one

it IS a new revision of the card, primarily meant to reduce power consumption (and, in the future will be rebranded as the GT 630M) but there is a pretty decent performance increase from the looks of things, it's basically on par with a GTX560M

 

Ah fantastic, I would assume it's the GF116 then as it was only built about 2 weeks ago.

 

Lets just wait for Bill's comment on that, since he's the one, who had it taken off in the first place.

 

Except for the fans that keep spinning up when web surfing the temps go ove 55 C to kick up the fan I am having no problems with this laptop that I got on September 3rd 2011 with A12 so I will not be updating to A14 or every update it at all. I am always nervous updating the BIOS and I don't see why you have to if everything is working. On my mothers Dell Insperion desktop I never updated the BIOS and it still runs rock solid.

 

How does one determine if we have the GF116 revision of the GT 555M?

Also, if there was a performance increase, wouldn't the Windows Experience Index reflect that?

 

Download GPU-Z and check. It should denote the chip on there

 

Ordered mine on the 11th December received on the 15th and mine has the GF166, windows performance score for graphics is 6.9 with Geforce 290.53 beta driver.

 

Had some issues - came with factory A14, wouldn't install any drivers, went to website A14, still won't install:

Intel HD, Intel Centrino Wireless, nVidia (beta driver), QuickSet (or any other Dell software)

Any solutions kicking around?

 

Just fyi - I can't install nVidia drivers without having installed the Intel one according to my system.

GPU-Z records the GF116 chip.

 

I've just done so and I'm pleased to report I have the GF116 revision.

 

I'm told that if you install A14 from the website or had it installed from the factory, they are identical. I'm also told that the links I provided, including Quickset, will install with either identical version of A14. I'm not aware of any issues with any specific drivers. If you are still having problems, you might want to contact tech support in your region.

 

I will never install A14. I don't want a nightmare of a situation if I try to update my drivers and I can't. Like I said before unless the BIOS suppose to fix a problem that you have you DON'T need to update it if everything is working fine. My mothers Dell Insperion desktop that she got in November 2010 I never even looked if there was a BIOS update. I would not want to brick her ONLY computer and everything is working fine.

 

You know what they say: if it aint broke, dont fix it!

 

Bill, do you know what was in the A13 and A14 BIOS revisions at all as A13 has never been posted and A14 has no fixes section so we dont know what was changed in these revisions. I am suspecting that A14 is mainly to support the new revision of the GT555M chipset as it seems only systems with factory A14 have the new chipset and its this chipset that has been causing so much grief.

To confirm if the Web A14 is the same as the factory A14, could someone that has updated to ther web release please run msinfo32 and see if it reports "Dell Inc. A14, 11/11/2011"

Also, for people still having problems installing drivers on A14 systems, have you tried either manually entering your service tag on the drivers & downloads website or getting the website to detect it and then downloading and installing the drivers listed as files specific to your service tag:



All these drivers have installed sucessfully on my A14 system and i just installed a new SSD and completed another fresh install using these drivers with no problems at all.

 

OzTopher, I don't get it why are you hiding your service tag? There is nothing private about it.

And yes, I have flashed my laptop to A14 a week ago. Works like a charm.

 

Does it fix the problem with the fan speeding up when the temps jump to 55C. If not I am not flashing and not taking a chance of a bricked system.

 

Hiding my service tag is just force of habit i guess Over on the Dell Community forums, the mods regularly remove any service tags and other information that they deem to be confidential or personal so its just a habit i have formed from there.

 

Don't flash to A14 if you are using a USB Hub. I have a Belkin 4 port USB 2.0 Hub which has my gamepad, wireless mouse and printer plugged in. Everything worked fine until I flashed to A14 yes I know I was not going to but I could not help it. Anyway after the BIOS was updated to A14 I could not boot into the system anymore. It would power on with the fans loud and then just shut off. I thought great I just bricked my laptop.

Well after I unplugged the USB hub it booted fine. Also it booted fine if I hit F2 first and then booted it up but it did take longer. Also turning it on from hibernation it booted fine too. Well I unplugged the hub and flashed back to A12. Turned off the system. Plugged the hub back in and it booted up normal and faster without the fans blasting real loud too.

Does anyone else have this problem. Now I will be sticking with A12 forever.

 

I have no idea about the change log, but I will ask the team to revisit release notes and change logs.

I wouldn't post my svc tag anywhere. Anyone can take that service tag and get a lot of information from sources.

 

So true. There are no release notes. All I know is that it breaks more than it fixes if it fixes anything.

 

Hey there

I see A14 is a big fog and noone seems to see a lot about it (like changelog).

I upgraded from A12 (I believe) to A14 and now my pc won't boot. I press power, the pc power on, wait a bit with black screen but no fan noise, and shut himself down.

I can wake it up by pressing power button and keeping F12 pressed, then the pc boots, fan noise start, and goes to boot selection.

Any idea? My boot order is CD then Hard drive etc. I have a M4 crucial SSD btw.


I'm affraid of flashing again to either A14 or A12 flash, since last time I thought I lost my pc...




A Side question : someone talked about poor CMO quality screens. How can I see that? My shipping sheet shows : MOD,LCD,17.3HDF+,WLED,TLF,CMI


Thanks guys

 

tamere22 mine did nearly the same thing the same thing when updating to A14 but the fans would go fast then shut off. It did this when I had the USB hub hooked up. I also was able to boot by tapping F2 repeatedly to go into the BIOS setup and then get out of the BIOS and booted into windows.

If you have A14 on there then definitively flash it back to A12. It will say something like you should not flash to a old BIOS but do it anyway. A14 is complete rubbish and should be pulled again for good.

 

Ok flashed back, thanks for you advice it works


For the screen question, any idea ?

 

Glad it worked out. As for the screen question if you got a 1600 x 900 screen those are poorer quality. I got the 1080p screen and it is great. They will try to push those lower resolution screens but I would not get any laptop with at least a 1080p screen.

 

Okey I'm affraid it's a poor quality screen as windows says 1600x900 recommended resolution.

I already noticed it had poor viewing angles : I need to be facing exactly the screen to see good colors. Apart from that, I find it good.

You think I could ask for a replacement? I bought my laptop like 2 months ago :\


Btw what you guys think about sites selling replacment lcd online ? google

 

The nvidia beta drivers cause my gt555m to overheat, i've had the computer completely die several times since installing them. I contacted tech support who told me to revert to the old version of the nvidia drivers until bios 15 is released, which they said would be in the 2nd week of Jan.

They told me that when Bios 15 is installed, it will be possible to then run drivers direct from nvidia.

 

Bios 15 can come out. I am sticking with a12 for the life of this computer after the scare yesterday with it turning off when trying to turn it on.

 

Well even my 1080p screen does not have the best viewing angles. It is the nature of only including TN panels instead of the much better IPS panels like the MacBooks have. Still 1080p is great for a 17.3". Anything lower looks huge and bad. 1080p should be a standard in a screen that size.

 

Ok thanks for the tips. The quality is good for me, only viewing angles, so I'll stick with my screen.

Strange now when booting I have a full test blue screen everytime (checking cpu, ram, optical drive, etc). When it finished it reboots and then boots ok.

 

I just got my XPS 17 L702x about a week ago. Yesterday I updated the Nvidia driver on dell's website, and then had nothing but problems with Battlefield 3. It kept locking up. Tried to update to 285.23, but no luck with that. Then I found this thread, updated to 290.53 and Battlefield 3 now runs like buttah! Much thanks!