Vista 64-bit on XPS M1330

Hi trebuin. You have mentioned in the above post some free drivers to improve the sound quality. Can you please post some more information about them? I have tried the SRS Audio Sandbox but didn't managed to get it installed.

 

Also I would like to know if they are software enhancements only or work on the hardware level.

 

That's the version I used, 174.74 from laptopvideo2go, and I tried most of their other driver versions in the 174 series as well Did you install that driver prior to SP1? What was your BIOS version before that? Maybe there is a hardware revision difference between yours and mine.

I will try XFastTest later tonight, thanks Sesshomaru.

 

Sorry, you need to install the 64 bit srs. Link is located in the faq:
http://www.srs-store.com/store-plugins/mall/support_sas.asp
and the direct link is here:
http://downloads.srs-store.com/SRS_Audio_Sandbox_64.exe

Give that a try as it gives you a lot more control over the Realtek HD Audio Manager. I'll hunt down those when my M1330's MoBo is replaced.

 

SRS is software only. RealTek is hardware, though like I said, you have about the same control as EAX.

 

I just tried installing the 174.31 from laptopvideotogo. Here is what I experience:

174.74 - supposed OEM compatibility, but in fact needed modded .inf. Driver installs with modded .inf but windows cannot initialize the driver after reboot (code 39 error)

174.31 - supposed OEM compatibility, and does install with the default .inf provided. Driver date is 2/28/2008, newer than the driver date that Windows Update found for me, which was 10/4/2007. However all of the adapter information came out screwy; and the memory settings, which are unchangeable, are all wrong. Furthermore the geForce control panel is inaccessible.

All other versions I have tried, 174.93, 174.90, etc, behave like 174.74.

I tried performing the auto update after I got the 174.74 installed, and the driver reverted back to the 10/4/2007 version. How come our experiences in updating this driver are so different?

I did notice something about the memory settings after the 174.31 that may be more telling, but I am not sure if I can draw the right conclusions. The total available graphics memory after 174.31 was reportedly 256, with no dedicated video memory, system video memory, or shared system memory. 256 I believe is the default onboard memory size for 8400M GS, but it really should be dedicated memory. This seems to imply that 174.31 is sort of behaving like 174.74, in that it looks compatible but is in fact not.

thoughts?

thanks,


(I will do more testing)

 

I got a problem, my dvd rom does not accept any disk. It just spits them out 2 seconds after it goes in the slot loading drive. Any suggestions, I have tried a few things and dell is sending me a COFFIN (aka xbox360 box) to send in my laptop to get repaired.

Anything would help at the moment as I don't want to send it in.

 

It could be a faulty optical drive... That's a user replaceable part, though, so you don;t need to send the laptop in...

@Pappy: Have you uninstalled the older drivers, rebooted to the default VGA driver from windows, and then installed the newer drivers? That is the correct procedure for updating video drivers...

Also, how much RAM do you have? Since the onboard video memory is 128MB for the 8400M GS, and 128 MB is shared(if you have 1 GB of system RAM). If you have 2GB or more, then upto 512MB is shared.

 

apparently I lose the balance of my warranty if I install it myself. I have no problem doing it myself as its very easy, but the CRS said the warranty is void after installing it or some BS.

I am thinking of just calling them back and getting them to ship me the parts.

Thoughts?

Btw I am running vista x64 thus i posted in this thread do to possible driver issues with the dvd rom people might know about or something.

 

Which optical drive are you using? As in which manufacturer.. I know for sure that there are no issues with the Matshu****a one, since I am using it... And I have been on x64 for almost a year now.

As for the warranty, that's bull. I change all replacement parts myself.. and no tech support has questioned me yet. I started doin it after the first time a technician came to change the Lid. I was left with 3 screws, and a wobbly media panel . After that, I simply ask them not to send a tech, and they are cool about it...

 

It happens to be the Mat****a dvd rom, it just keeps ejecting every disk i throw at it. Soooo Annoying!

 

I think it is a faulty ODD.. I have one of those go bad.. It read CDs/DVDs just fine, but kept giving me coasters if i burned something... Had it replaced. and it's fine now..

 

cool, btw how do you open this laptop? i am usually a desktop guy.

 

Hey, thanks for the response. Yeah, I turned off, UAC, removed the old drivers, booted up VGA mode, then installed 174.31, unmodded since it supposedly offers native support.

I then rebooted the machine but it started a blue screen instead of my desktop, though when I used ctrl-alt-delete and manually started the task manager, everything is fine. I checked the display settings and saw it is able to recognize the video card as 8400M GS, but the memory settings are still not what they should be and the nVidia control panel is also missing.

I have 2 GB of Ram. None of it is being used by the card. Running the performance test just to make sure it wasn't a display error, windows reported that my 3d graphics performance was only 1.9. It had been 4.7 previously.

I am.. almost ready to throw in the towel here

 

Get a hold of the service manual.. It explains the procedure a lot better than I can...

Here's one link, although the one i am referring to is a 78.7 MB zip file.. I'll see if i can find the link, otherwise i'll upload it...


@Pappy.. I don't know how you managed to install using an unmodded inf. Nvidia doesn't support the mobile chipsets at all.

Still, I'd say give it another go.. Totally uninstall the display drivers, Reboot, not into VGA mode, but normally, check which driver the Display adapter is using..(It should be by Microsoft), then install the Xfastest drivers..(I think the latest are 174.90). Or install the latest from laptopvideo2go.com, which are WHQL certified..(something in the 169.xx series, i think)... Don't give up so easily..

 

Thanks for the link. I did managed to get it installed but it crashes every time. All I get is the check configuration screen, where it complains about 5.1 settings, I change that and after refresh it's OK. When I click close it crashes. After that, when I start the control panel for SRS, after the evaluation nag screen, it crashes with this error in the Event Viewer:
Faulting application SRSSSC.exe, version 2.3.4.0, time stamp 0x4817b0cb, faulting module SRSSSC.exe, version 2.3.4.0, time stamp 0x4817b0cb, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x0000000000025812, process id 0x26c, application start time 0x01c8c16f00a11c30

Also there is no sound at all with the SRS driver. The normal driver works normally.

 

I added another link to information in regards to obtaining 64-bit Vista directly through Dell. This should solve the problem for those who can't get the disk through Microsoft or "other means."

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=Tech_Talk_XPS&message.id=60095#M60095

 

Thanks, you are a big help!

 

Sesshomaru:

The display was standard VGA when I started each of the installations

I tried 167.57, which was supposedly published by Dell, and so there was no modded inf. I tried the modded inf for 174.74 as well. I also tried 174.70 from xfastest, which complained that I don't have the correct hardware for that setup.

None of these worked. You said xfastest's driver worked for you? But reading the notes included, 8400M GS wasn't even included.

Update:
Well... I am speechless. I just tried 174.93 again just because I was bored, and this time it worked. Weird... very weird. I can't explain it.

Looking back, maybe it is my UAC settings. I had previously not turned off UAC, so when I did uninstall driver, maybe it didn't really uninstall all of the components. I had did not tried 174.93 again after I turned off UAC.

 

Good to hear your drivers finally worked... Mine worked the first time, although I have always had UAC turned off, so in case that was creating the conflict, I wouldn't know...
BTW, mine was 174.74, not .70...

 

After more testing, I have decided to go back to 156.69, the driver provided by nVidia through SP1. Here is why:

1. According to Vista's own testing, 174.93 doesn't offer any performance increase over 156.69

2. 174.93 causes a flash during boot up and which in turn slows the boot process down by about 2~4 seconds. I already have TMM disabled.

3. 174.93 rouses from sleep slower than 156.69. In fact windows complained about this, saying that nvidia device caused it to recover more slowly from sleep by about 0.69 seconds

4. Strangely, 174.93 causes my laptop to be unable to enter sleep mode. When I press the power switch or close the lid, the normal sleep mode process will happen, but in the end of it, right before the blue tooth is turned off, everything else starts up again. I can even hear the noisy DVD drive during this. After trying to adjust the bluetooth power settings to no avail, I switched back to 156.69 just to test, and it resolved the issue.

5. There is another bit of bluetooth annoyance. With 174.93, my dell bt travel mouse would sometimes (unpredictably) not connect to the M1330 when it wakes from sleep. I have not noticed this happening with the 156.69 both with the power plug connected and disconnected.

I would warn those who'd want to upgrade the 64 bit driver: I think the driver supplied through windows update is quite good, and it doesn't break anything. If you experience any of the above symptoms, you might want to consider going back to 156.69.

 

A software related question. Does anyone have adobe flash player working on vista x64? I have an M1330, with Vista x64 working beautifully, thanks to this forum, but haven't had any success installing Adobe Flash Player on the x64 firefox. I think it could be because of UAC, and have looked at quite a few posts on the web to solve it, but none of the recipes (for e.g. Executing Flash_Util*.exe from SysWOW64 directory) worked for me.

 

Adobe doesn't make a 64 bit version of its flash player yet.. Works fine on the 32 bit versions of both IE and firefox...

 

Has anyone able to get ik8fangui and rmclock to work with vista x64?

Thanks

 

RMClock works with astiv.exe as the driver loader. Haven't tried using IK8 yet through it.

 

RMClock has a signed dll. I got it in this forum somewhere. Haven't tried i8kfan

EDIT:

It’s actually a signed RTCore64.sys driver check the RMclock for 64bit users section in the first post.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824

 

Any one besides me having problems with the latest version of SRS audio sandbox. I know a few people here use it, and version 1.9.0.2 won't even start on x64 for me, SRS hasn't responded to my email either.

 

(Sorry for interrupting the nVidia talk)

Ok, Here is XPS M1330 Config

Core 2 Duo, 2.4 Ghz, T8300
4 GB RAM
Fingerprint Reader
(Currently Vista Ultimate 32bit running fine)

Ok, here's what my problem is. I wanted to format my laptop from scratch inorder to install Dell MEDIA Direct again since i screwed up the MBR while reinstalling Windows.

I doubt, if i should install Vista 32 bit or Vista 64 bit. I'm pretty much intrested in the 64 bit, but i fear that i might lose software and harware compatibilty. I use my laptop at school, seminars and such stuff. Usually, i need to connect 100 year older hardware to my 21st century lappy. I doubt wheather those will work with 64bit. What else consequences will i have to face installing 64bit? But i'm prtty much intrested in 64 bit, but this is the only thing holding me back. Could anyone advice me on this matter?
Thanks in advance,
Benna

 

SRS can be a little tricky at times. You need to go into SRS options and then select the host device for it to control. I would tell you what it is, but Dell still has not gotten to fixing my m1330's burnt video card. Let me know how that works.

 

I totally understand as I still run into that problem. If the hardware is still supported, I would shoot them an email in regards to the manufactures not advancing. Last time this happened was when windows ramped up on 3.10 and the 386 chip memory expansion. It's as silly as them telling you that they only want their hardware to work on DOS.

Anyhow, your options:
1) Multiboot Vista 64 and I'd recommend XP. You should be able to actually boot to XP via that media direct button if you look it up.
2) You can use VMware or equivalent to emulate XP. Trial this first with your hardware as there are still compatibility issues.
3) Say with Vista 32 or XP.

Those are pretty much your big choices. If #2 works, that's what I would do, but if your software is pretty processor intensive (CAD for example), go with #1.

 

Yes, me too. First time no sound was heard and after several uninstalls and installs I gave up.

 

That's not the issue at all, the control panel won't even start up without causing a crash and me getting "SRS Audio Sandbox has stopped working" or whatever Vista says. I know how to set it to Speaker/HP to get sound, I used it fine under 32-bit.

 

Hello everyone, I'd like to begin by saying that I'm sorry if this bothers anyone.

I installed Windows Vista x64 yesterday and finished getting all of the drivers and such. I installed the OS with AHCI and flash caching enabled, and upon it's initial HDD boot the system blue screened. I didn't catch the error because it was always too quick for me, but after reading this post I edited the BIOS and switched from ACHI to ATA.

Everything has ran smoothly since then, however I would like to switch back to AHCI mode.

I have booted the system from the Vista installation disc and installed the drivers that came with the Intel Matrix Storage Manager file, but this hasn't really helped.

I would appreciate any help, and would prefer not to reformat my computer once again as I spent a while trying to sort out a few problems yesterday that came alongside the reformat, but if it's necessary then I'll try it.

I have only just recently purchased this XPS M1330 system, I'm not sure if you will need to know the processor or anything, so if you do it has an Intel Centrino T9300 (I think). and the 320GB HDD. I'm not sure what brand of HDD is shipped with these systems though.

Thank you all for your time.

 

For those with the soundblaster issues; I stumbled across this link for a beta version that says it supports 64-bit systems...

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5555.html

My system is still being built, so I cannot test it myself, but I am collecting the drivers currently and would LOVE to know if this works..

-----------------------

On an unrelated note, I read some people were having problems with Intel's latest AHCI release. Can anyone confirm this? Should I used the archived version instead?

Thanks.

 

---------------------------
Error
---------------------------
Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system. Please ensure that your product is properly installed before running this Setup program.

Setup will exit.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

That's the error it throws when trying to install. Unfortunatelly, still no solution

 

Is it just me or do download links from the dell drivers website run slow a lot of the time?

 

Someone wrote these instructions up, but here is the skeletal basics.

You do NOT need to reformat.

What you have to do is install the Intel Matrix Storage drivers (with a certain command line switch when you run the install to only copy the files).

Then you go into device manager and update the driver for your Hard Drive controller to the Intel one you just installed (I believe it's 82801 HBM, but you need to choose the right one or you won't be able to boot in either mode, so CHECK FIRST by searching these threads).

Then reboot, enter the BIOS, and change to SATA AHCI mode, and you should be all set.

 

Thanks for your help Samuel. I'll try it now. I'll reply if it all went okay

EDIT: Well that failed lol. I must have chosen the wrong driver. Nevermind, I'll install a fresh copy of Windows Vista tomorrow.

If I use the "USB Method" below, and install the right AHCI driver, is it right to assume that it should work fine and I wont have to switch to ATA mode at all?

Since I already have the files extracted to a USB drive, I would only have to follow the steps from the third step onwards right?

Thanks for your help

EDIT II: I have just reformatted and everything works perfectly. thanks again ^.^

 

If you are still able to boot into ATA mode, then there's an issue with the drivers on the USB not taking. The USB install seems to have a ton of quirks that makes it fail. Make sure you have the 64-bit drivers and not 32 bit. I would also recommend against forcing the ATA drivers to convert to AHCI as this make pose issues with future updates.

 

I ended up installing a fresh copy of windows whilst in AHCI mode, by installing the drivers mid installation. Everything seems to be working as well, if not better, than it was on the 32 bit installation. With the exception of the Sound Blaster Audigy software. I haven't been able to get that working yet.

 

That's the way I did it - works a charm. IMO the Audigy stuff is more work than it's worth, it uses additional CPU resources and personally I prefer as little 'tinkering' with the sound as possible. I recognise we're all different however.

Does anyone know if there are any dedicated monitor drivers for Vista x64? It's running as 'Generic PnP Monitor' which is fine, but I'm wondering if dedicated drivers might sort the screen tearing in some games. No idea which screen I have, other than it's LED-backlit.

 

Yeah, in all honesty I don't actually know what the software does. I had it installed when I was running 32bit but I only opened it once and closed it almost straight afterwards. I did buy it though and if it's only for that, I would like to find a way to install it. /lol

I thought the monitor was always going through the 'Generic PnP Monitor' drivers, even in the 32? It would be nice to get some specific drivers though - Sorry I don't know the model of the screen.

 

@ Shakey & Leet -->

Did you have a chance to try to the link I posted to the beta Audigy software? My system gets here in 3 days, and I want to know whether to bother trying to get it to work..

 

That link is a beta driver for a dedicated Audigy card, not the software-based Audigy stuff that comes included with the laptop. It really is just a software suite.

 

Hi there, this is a great thread. I've finally found time to upgrade my M1330 to 64-bit.

Everything has gone ver smoothly except the sound.

My laptop has the Sound Blaster Audigy card. In device manager under sound I have: SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC & SRS Audio Sandbox (WDM).

When playing a sound track the Sandbox displays the sound levels as if its playing correctly. But there is no sound from the speakers or headphones.

If anyone can offer any ideas I would be much appreciated.

 

My 1330 is back up and running with a new A01 motherboard. No GPU mod yet to cool it.

2 important settings for you to make sure are set correctly,
Right click your windows vol in the bottom right corner and select "playback devices." Make sure the SRS speakers are selected, NOT the speakers/headphones.

Next, in SRS under "Options" and then "preferences," select "speaker/hp"

Now make sure all your vol levels are correct and you should be good to go.

 

Has anyone in the UK had much success in getting 64-bit out of Dell?

 

looks like SRS got updated to 1.9.0.4 from 1.9.0.2, fixed the problem I was having with it crashing. All is well in x64 land.

 

Panel Version 1.7.0.0 and driver 1.6.6.0 is what I'm showing. I'm also showing no updates. what's the link to the version you're using?

Disreguard...found that I had an older version installed and that it does not check for updates at all.

 

I actually had the same problem with it not showing an update under 1.7.0.0

http://downloads.srs-store.com/SRS_Audio_Sandbox_64.exe