XPS 14 UltraBook Owners Lounge

I'm guessing the error was caused by the Rapid Start Technology not being able to access a hibernation partition. You had the mSATA set to use all of its space for the Intel Rapid Storage. By the sounds of it now, it's all fixed.

Hibernate is fine, that's what the Intel Rapid Start is using to boot up the machine so quickly anyway.

 

I use Hibernate a couple of times a day, maybe 2-3 times max really (Packing up between class and work, etc). I'll have to test out how fast the shut down - cold boot load times are, and if they are close in time than I'll be more than happy to use that.

My confusion was if there was any such thing as a real Shut Down, as others have said that it really is just a hibernate mode. So it leaves me to ask, is there a difference?

 

I did just think that myself. I'm guessing as long as the Intel Rapid Start Technology is set on, then shutting down is pretty much doing exactly the same thing as hibernating.

My view of the mSATA drive is that it's there to be used. If you're just hibernating a couple of times a day like me as well, then I don't really think it's an issue. Just carry on using the laptop that way.

 

carrying on! Thank you again for the help! And my extra warranty will keep me a little sane about the drives I hope.

 

It's really set up properly straight out of the box. If you're talking about installing a fresh copy of Windows, or going from Win 7 to 8, then it's nothing to worry about. The laptop will function enough to get you online as soon as Windows is installed. The drivers are all on the Dell site if you enter your service tag, its just a matter of downloading them (apart from the Intel Centrino Bluetooth driver - it affects my wifi performance, so I suggest skipping that one).

The only thing is getting the Intel Rapid Start and Storage working correctly, which I have documented in a previous post here.

 

So.. how really bad is the wifi issues?

Would you still recommend this laptop a good buy?

 

I must have missed your post..... Just what I was looking for.

Thank You

 

I'd say the wifi issue is only as bad as the situations you intend to use the laptop in. If you operate a lot of the time with a minimal strength signal, then you might have some problems. I seem to have corrected my issues for the most part, however I don't often operate with a minimal strength signal.

If you're buying from the Dell outlet with a significant discount, then I think the laptop is well priced for what you are getting. Full price, maybe not so much.

You have to ask yourself what the main contributing factors are to your particular purchase decision, for example, if screen quality is your top priority then you definitely want to look at alternatives.

 

Hi all, first great forum and lots of good info!

I recently picked up a xps14 from bestbuy. The model is 8182slv Dell - Ultrabook 14" Laptop - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive + 32GB Solid State Drive - Silver - XPS14-8182SLV - Best Buy

Anyways I am having trouble with the wifi, so I called dell and tech support remotely logged into my PC. And nothing worked then I power cycled my router and I had wifi. Router is downstairs, two hours later while working in my office upstairs no more wifi! My wife's 14z dell works fine and so does my 6 year old toshiba laptop.

Dell updated all the driver, I tried all the setting on dells site too and still nothing.

Any tips or should I just return this??

 

I was gonna grab one off of ebay for low $800ish, but the screen trumps wifi issues. Whats up with the screen quality

I think i'm just gonna grab an Ivy Bridge Envy 15 and be done with my search. I really wanted a thin sexy laptop with a HDD and Msata combo

 

Anyone here think this is an issue with Windows8? I read somewhere on reddit that others with W8 are having wifi signal issues.

 

Has anyone bought this pc from best buy? I am going to return this and get the same one, but I can't imagine every 14xps that left the factory has issues. Are there any success stories on the pc? I see my local best buy just marked it down to $730 too.

I hate to return this but willing to to try any suggestion accept sticking a dongle on the side of this gorgeous machine.

 

I doubt it's Windows 8, otherwise there would be tons of complaints for all manufacturers, and this issue has been ongoing since launch under Win 7. I'm running a clean install of Win 8 and it's performing much better than out of the box Win 7.

Are you saying you're getting random disconnects, or that it disconnects entirely and will not reconnect at all until you restart the laptop? Or you can't connect to your wifi network now whatsoever?

 

I have experienced some of the WiFi issues with my XPS14 that I received back in October. The interesting thing, is that my 5GHz speeds were actually pretty decent at all times, its just the 2.4GHz that was pretty bad and when traveling, that's what is most important. Long story short, I called Dell support and got them to replace my Intel 6235 with a Killer-N 1202. I installed myself btw. My 2.4GHz speeds are better and the connection is a lot more consistent and stable. The 5GHz side performs almost the same as the Intel card, which is fine. Overall, I am now somewhat happy with the 2.4GHz performance.

Oh yeah, my router is a Netgear WNDR 4500.

 

After changing to win8 the connection got better in overral. However I have a very strange issue regarding the hibernation.

Recently I followed all the steps to get the storage and start intel technologies working and then hibernated the computer, but when i turn it on again the computer just stayed in the dell logo.

After trying different methods i was unable to get it working and i had to reinstall windows 8, anyone has experienced the same? because i'm planning to tell dell support, Althought in my country the process is slow and inefficent, so if someone has an anwser it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hey Vebs07 it won't connect to any network. It shows the networks are there but won't let me connect.

 

Weird you should write this just now, I had a very similar thing happen this morning. I hibernated laptop last night and when I went to use it today, it wouldn't boot into Windows at all. I kept getting the message "Media Check [fail]" and "Unable to find boot device". Drove me crazy for a few hours, I couldn't understand what was wrong.

I had Windows 8 on USB, managed to boot into the setup screen and got to the command prompt. DISKPART was not showing my drives at all. I went through pages of Google suggestions and nothing was working, I eventually decided I was going to have to try and reinstall Windows.

When I was upgrading to Windows 8 previously, I needed the Intel Smart Response SATA driver from the Dell site on USB for Windows to be able to recognise the drives before I could install. I went through the same process again. After pointing the Windows setup to the drivers, and installing them. Windows setup was able to see the drives. I thought I'd double check one last time before doing a reinstall, so I rebooted at this point and Windows booted up just fine!

Looks like somehow the SATA drivers got corrupted or deleted, I've no idea how as I hadn't installed anything new or done anything out of the ordinary the day before.

That seems very weird, I'd imagine its some kind of software issue rather than a hardware problem. Have you downloaded and reinstalled the wireless driver from the Dell site?

 

Sorry to say but I am so glad that I am not the only one facing the Media Check [fail] issue. I'm currently discussing it in a thread here. http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...1-windows-8-fails-start-check-media-fail.html

It started recently correct? Let's put our heads together, what drivers etc did we recently install? I'll start, BIOS A13. I'll share what else I know about this issue. I'll just quote what I posted in the thread.

"Almost every time I restart my computer the OS (windows 8) fails to load. Instead I am greeted with this message "Check Media: Fail". I cannot boot into windows period when it does this. Through some fiddling I've come to realize that if I attempt to do a repair the error message that I get is "The hard drive is locked" or something to that effect. If I attempt to do a clean install, it will not detect any HDD, when I move to load the HDD driver from a USB the HDD then shows up. When I cancel this and click exit to Windows 8, the system loads as normal and everything seems fine. My drivers are up to date, I have formatted the drive and restored from a system image but the same error still arises if I shut down again.

Additional info:
The system uses a standard HDD being used in tandem with a SSD through Intel Rapid Storage Technology
BIOS Mode is set to UEFI
Secure Boot is enabled


Summary:
Windows 8 fails to load as if there is no OS detected
If I load the HDD driver the system then functions as normal
It appears as though the HDD driver is somehow being overwritten with each reboot

What I did was clear out the SSD caching and re-enable it (I disabled the SSD acceleration, uninstalled and re installed intel rapid storage. It has crashed during sleep and forced me into a full restart one time since then but I have not had the other error where the OS does not load yet."

 

Sorry for my english...

I had to reinstall windows and use it to try what you said about the centrino bluetooth driver (...and yes the connection gets better) but I didnt got the Media check message the first time just dell's logo,

However, this morning i was playing when a BSOD appeared, apparently the problem was in IAStore.sys, when it restarted i got the media check message, i changed the sata mode to ACHI and start my computer(i know it would fail) after that i changed back to IRST and voilà

I'm also glad that this is an issue that has not only happened to me. I can say i made a clean windows install with dell drivers( except intel widi, bluetooth and others i dont need)

Also a thing i have hated of win8 is the fact that you cannot start in safe mode unless you have access to msconfig....

 

Very strange we're all suddenly having a similar kind of issue! I haven't installed any new drivers in weeks, the only thing that has possibly been changing is via Windows updates. I didn't notice whether there were new updates ready to install before the problem happened last night. In fact I just checked and there hasn't been any Windows updates installed since the 25th.

I've restarted, hibernated and shut down quite a few times today to test, since I fixed the problem by reloading the drivers. It hasn't happened since.

 

Yes it's strange. My problems started around the 25th too. The BIOS, Intel Graphics, Intel Rapid Storage were the only possibly related drivers released by Dell this month. Nvidia also released a few video drivers. I don't know what was going on but I was adamant to avoid a full re install but the problem hasn't come back yet. I maintain good backups so I'm not too worried, I'd just rather avoid the effort.

 

Vebs07 thank you for your time, I will give you the exact rundown since I have a 4 hour wait at the airport



I will give you the run down.

Jan 26th I bought the PC from best buy and set it up like any other Win8 Pc I have, one thing that was weird was it failed to connect to my network during setup. I didn't think anything of it at that point.

After Win8 setup was done I tried to connect and it didn't work at all, even when I was in the living room 5 feet away from the router, I even tried to connect to my hotspot on the cell phone and it also would say limited connectivity, after 5 to 10 mins or trying to connect to a network. Usually in the past I would just turn off wifi and power cycle my router and nothing!

Get Dell on the phone and informed the tech and I hard wired in so he could remote in. Uninstalled all driver and re installed all the Intel drivers.

Still the issue existed, the dell tech was convinced I was typing in the wrong password for my own network...

Then he tried to connect to a unsecured network that someone else has in my building, and that also said limited

Then the Dell techs last resort was to power cycle the router. It worked!!!

For the next 2 hours everything worked fine, I went on Ninite and installed all the plug ins along with ClassicShell.

Installed Kaspersky via web download and even updated that.

 

I had updated drivers for both BIOS and Intel Graphics before reinstalling windows ( jan 27) to have rapid storage and start installed, so it's not that drivers.
And of course before the installation of Rapid storage and start the computer worked flawlessly.

 

As you've not had it long, at this point I'd be tempted to backup your important files and restore the system to factory settings, then try again. I'd also leave out the anti virus software for a while to see if any problems happen, just to try and rule out any conflict from that.

 

So possibly the Intel Rapid Storage driver then? I can't pin point it. I haven't had the error since. This morning my computer crashed while it was sleeping and the log for it showed iastor.sys as the driver responsible. That's related to Intel Rapid Storage. My reasoning is that something changed in the last update that causes the system to crash just before it enters Hibernate mode after being put to sleep.

 

Do you guys think Dell will upgrade the panel to 1080 when they upgrade the 13's panel? The XPS 14 just seems like an all around nicer notebook outside of that small factor.

 

Can anyone test their dell for headphone jack problems?

Every time I plug mine in, I get this pop up but can't click anything because it is off center, and the audio comes out of the main speakers and not the headphones -



If I unplug and go to the dell audio program, it doesn't have an option but as soon as I plug in, this happens.

Now if I go into Task Manager and end the sound manager (realtech), my headphones will work fine but the quality sure isn't the same.

 

You should uninstall the program, reboot and install again, mine works perfect

(in spanish)

 

It's weird, I restarted the program and it worked fine. If it does it again I will go through the process of clean installing it.

 

Hi Goliath,

Yes I've been having wifi issues on windows 8. In the month I've had the laptop, I've had about 7-8 disconnects. What happens is it shows I have wifi signal with full bars (10 ft away from router) but it really disconnects. Then I basically have to disable the adapter several times and re-enable and then connect to my router again. 7-8 times in one month is rather excessive but at least it doesn't happen every 10 mins.

 

I am also having some problems:

- XPS was ramdonly freenzing while using it. Doing most mundane things. I uninstalled Intel Rapid Storage and it seemed to solve the problem.

- As I normally use my computer with external mouse and keyboard,, I tried to use it with an external trackpad, Logitech T650, and it also seemed to be freezing Windows, so now I'm not using it as well.

PROBLEM UNSOLVED:

- with and without Intel Rapid Start, with and without anything plugged to my USBs, XPS has problems entering sleep mode. Sometimes it enters OK, sometimes, when I close the lid, nothing happens and when I try to wake it up screen stays blank (dark) although XPS keyboard lights up. Only solution is to power down and restart...

Anyone? Should I re-install Windows and NEVER install Rapid Start? Is this the problem? May it be related to my hardware (hard disks)? My OS and Hibernation partition are on the SSD.

PS: anyone knows why whenever Dell releases several new drivers, it is always impossible to download them for a few days, it says the file to download is not found? It is happening now with yesterday's several new drivers.

Thanks

 

Too early. Got a big freeze today... Was writing in Word, Calendar notified me of something and then...BANG. It is definitely freezing much less than when I had Rapid Storage, but maybe Rapid Storage corrupted something even uninstalled? Fact is before I installed Rapid Storage around Jan 24th, I believe I was not experiencing these issues. Although I was travelling, so I was not using the XPS as much as I am now at home, nor was it connected to as many peripherals...

I don't know. Any help?

BTW, using Windows 8, 64bit.

 

I don't know why that happens but I do know how to bypass it. When you're about to download the file check the URL string and you'll see something like "isUS=false". Change only false to true then hit enter. After that you'll be able to download.

 

Brilliant! Thanks

 

Weird thing is Drivers seem to be older drivers in new package with new dates... (nothing to do with your method of circumveting download issues)

 

Yea, I noticed it while installing. They packaged them up in something different but the drivers themselves aren't actually from yesterday.

 

I believe only real updates are QuickSet and NVGuard...

 

Strange, i also had problems today (since my last post nothing happened), playing Civilizations V i was saving the game and closing the lid and bump i realized it freezed, it is strange as i played the same version of the game two weeks ago before installin IRST and ISRT. Downloading new drivers to see if problem is resolved.

 

The issue is very annoying, I've done at least 4 clean installs in the last two days and even then it still happens. If it happens again I'll be contacting Dell and extracting my moneys worth from my warranty. They'll have to send someone out or give me a new hard drive....something.

 

Quick question, local Electronic store runs a bargain on the base config XPS 14. About 600 US. Half the price on what Dell charges for the machine in norway.

I have a XPS M1330 with a 128mb gforce 8400m on it, that is a old dedicated card. Will the Dedicated Intel HD 4000 on the XPS outperform that old trusty bugger.



XPS 14 base spec :

I5, 3317U
4 gb ram
500 gb 5400rpm HD+ 32gb ssd

 

Yes HD4000 should be roughly 3 times faster than ATI 8400M. It will never be a gaming card but decent enough to play old classics at least.

And yes I did also order one, will serve as a nice alternative to my large inspiron 17R SE The price is just too good to pass, and stock says 5+ only now, gonna run out of stock in few hrs I bet.

The only drawback I found so far is the glossy screen, I'd prefer matte - and an better screen wouldn't hurt either, the black levels and contrast is quite poor according to notebookcheck.net

Update: Appears to be sold out and not available at their webpage anymore.
Too late suc.......

 

That's weird, I'm in Win 8 and have never had those problems ...
my installation is a fresh one though. I always do a clean install when i get a new machine so .... maybe that's it...

 

Currently about to purchse an XPS 14 and was wondering whether there is anything in particular that's a deal breaker about it.

Specs:
3rd Gen Intel® Core™ i5-3337U processor (3M Cache, up to 2.7 GHz)
Windows® 7 Professional SP1 64bit
14.0" (35.6cm) HD+ (900p) True Life Infinity Display
8GB DDR3 1600MHz (8GBx1)
500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with 32GB mSATA
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 630M with 1GB GDDR5 VRAM
Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 (a/b/g/n 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) + Bluetooth 4.0

Cost: $1380 (Australian pricing)

Will mostly be using it for general web browsing, light gaming and occasional graphic design related work. It will be hooked up to my monitor when I'm home, so the display doesn't bother me all that much.

 

Hi guys, I am just curious, are the RAM and HDD for the xps 14 user replaceable/upgradable? If so, is it easy? Also, how much RAM is it able to support and how many RAM slots does it have? Thanks in advance!

 

I don't know the RAM, but the HDD is easily replaceable. You just need a regular small Phillips screw AND a Torx T5 screw.

 

Regarding the FREEZES, someone more knowledgeable may help:

Is it possible that it is related to the dreaded XPS's Intel n-6235 WiFi? Last night XPS froze when I started uTorrent!!! Awful, never happened like this in my life with other computers. Two times in a row!

First time it took a few minutes so I could not detect precisely it was uTorrent. But after reboot, besides startup programs which opened OK, only program I started was uTorrent and right away XPS Froze. I rebooted once more, then turned internal Wifi OFF and plugged a USB wireless adapter. Started uTorrent, and it was OK until this morning.

I remember specifically another freeze that happened when I was clicking in a link in Chrome. Thus my speculation on Wifi adapter.

May be a clue to others who are suffering freezes. Did this occur to anyone else?

 

What about changing the 32gb mSATA drive? Can that be replaced with an ssd too and using the same screws?

 

You need another mSata. I put a 256GB, seems to work great (if it is not the cause of my freezes which it does not look like).

 

Yes, and also with uTorrent, sometimes i leaved my computer for 10 min or so and when i returned it was frozen, running experiments i found out it was utorrent but sometimes it happened also while downloading files from chrome.

 

hello I bought I bought the xps 14 with 32gb ssd
and trying to setup rapid storage technology
I have the rapid start on functioning
and I enable the rapid storage
all this on clean install
but when I enable acceleration
I get the drive could not be accelerated
and it tells me is on but
when I go to accelerated tab
it tells me accelerated device none
any idea any one how to fix this ?