XPS 14 UltraBook Owners Lounge

Does anyone know how to enable double tap = right click? I been trying to figure out how. And for some reason I could not install synaptic driver from their website. It wouldnt let me, so Im stuck with Dell synaptic but its a mess. Hate it so much

 

Has anyone experienced the issue pictured below? It doesn't happen very often and it stops if I close and open again the laptop lid.



I used my laptop for at least a month with the factory-installed OS and drivers and didn't have a single problem with the screen or video card. After I updated to the latest Nvidia drivers (after being prompted by Nvidia's update utility) I started seeing some minor artifacts occasionally (not like what you see in the picture). After that I went back to the factory-installed drivers and didn't experience the issue again.. Some time ago a new Nvidia driver was released and offered by Nvidia update. After some time without any problems, the same insignificant artifacts I previously saw started appearing. But when the screen went crazy as you can see in the pictures above, I started getting worried. I've ran all Dell diagnostics but they didn't find anything wrong. I hope it's only a driver problem instead of a hardware one.

My system specs:
Model: Dell XPS 14 L421X
CPU: Intel i5-3317U.
OS: Windows 8 Pro initially, later upgraded to Windows 8 Pro with Media Center.
Video drivers: Intel 9.17.10.2857, Nvidia 314.07.
RAM: 4 GB

 

Got something similar a couple of times when logging in, but restarted (or as I use 2 monitors switched monitors with ALT+P, I don't remember) and all was good, so I'm not minding it. I use the same NVidia drivers 314.07.

 

So I've had my XPS14 for a few weeks now. Initially it had a dead pixel which resulted in a replacement screen being installed. Annoying but I was happy with the service. However i'm now still having two pretty significant problems. Before I get back onto Dell support I thought i'd check if anyone else has managed to find a fix to these issues.

1) Wifi. Now, I know lots of people have had wifi issues with this model. I've found that sitting in my bedroom ~5 meters from the router results in constant dropped connections, low bars and terrible/inconsistent speeds. If I lift it up off my lap and angle it towards the lounge room where the router is, my speed test will instantly increase from <1MB to 18-20MB. Has there been any definitive fix for this yet? I've seen lots of theories and possible solutions but nothing concrete except for an external dongle. Has anyone had results with a different wifi card? Different drivers? I initially contacted Dell support about this but one day it was bad and the next it was fine so I kind of left it. Their first response was to install some non-Dell drivers.

2) System stutter when gaming/watching videos. Basically the sound and image will stutter momentarily every 30 seconds or so when watching movies or gaming. Feels like a sound issue as it does it whether the intel or nvidia card are being used, and sound stutter is most pronounced (video stutter is only just noticeable, but does result in videos getting out of sync). Is this a driver issue that can be fixed by simply tracking down some generic drivers?

I am running a Windows 8 clean install on UEFI with A13.

Appreciate the help if anyone can provide it. Otherwise i'll be back onto Dell to find a solution.

[edit] I just realised there are updated wifi drivers on the Dell site dated 19/03/13...will give them a try and report back.

 

1) I was skeptical, but Dell replacing the WiFi card for another one (same 6235) did it for me. It',s been good for more than a week. Solid, good download, no hangs etc... Just say your card is broken, they will replace it.

2) Don't have this.

 

Is there anyway you can do a stress load on it, or something that could reproduce the past issues?

 

Hey Vebs07, sorry I should have updated this sooner, I ended up exchanging it for another one and no issue. Works amazing and it got marked down to $599.99 so a killer deal as well.

Also I am still debating to keep this pc, me and the wife just upgraded to Macbooks too. But for $599, it makes a great second PC.

 

If I understand what u asked, I loaded all the programs that had caused problems before, at the same time (chrome and firefox reloading, torrents, downloading stuff in the background, opening several program in a row...), and no issue. That said, I was having problems without even doing anything special. Now, so far, no issue at all. I trust now it is solved, thus I will not even update Wifi driver anymore, will let things as they are. Just to be on the safe side.

 

hmmm, makes me wonder if I need to call dell.

 

I've been working with my XPS for almost two weeks now and so far it has been absolutely flawless.

Before I bought it I was concerned about its noise. Some reviews said it had horrible cooling while others said it was virtually silent. Well, luckily the latter opinion matches my own. I can crain a whole battery without the fan spinning up a single time and since I upgraded to an SSD there's no noise at all (apart from the keyboard of course) coming from the machine. Fantastic!

As I didn't completely believe the battery life claims I opted for a model that had no additional Nvidia GPU. I'm a big fan of their stuff and even though the XPS only has a single-channel RAM interface, the HD 4000 seemed to be a better choice when battery life was one of the most important factors.
I was very happy to see that the quoted battery life of up to 11 hours is realistic and can be achieved even while actually using the device (this includes Wi-Fi for me as well). A whole working day plus after hours and it's still running strong, something even my cell sometimes fails to achieve

The Wi-Fi issues many people seemed to have, both with the Intel and Atheros chip, are no issue for me either. I'm using the current 15.6.1 driver package and haven't seen a single hiccup with either one of my routers at home. I even did some file copying / streaming tests with my Asus N66U and came out with very stable results (while running at full bandwidth capacity).

The only issue I do actually have is the graphical errors that jtrh also has. They only occur once in a while after the machine has been sitting idle for a longer time, mostly with the lid closed.
I wanted to try the newest Intel driver set but failed to make the Dell brightness adjustment / UI work with it. Guess I should try again but luckily a reboot always fixes the issue.

 

Ordered a Dell XPS14 a couple of days ago from Best Buys. Only did that because with rewards and collected gift cards I had $800 in credit towards it. My questions are this. Does anybody know if the build for best buys is different then what I would get from Dell? Seeing people talking about the wifi issues and fan. Is this something I can sort of do a stress test with tho see if I'm going to have problems with it before my return period. One of the good things with best buys is I have 60 days to swap it out for something else if I want to and of coarse there is warranty if needed but I'd like to know right off if this thing is going to be worth the money and work. Took back the yoga 13 I got to get this because I though I wanted the small size and weight but I couldn't live with the small SSD and didn't want to spend the cash to add a second one, plus I really wanted a back-lite keyboard. Battery life was one of the biggest reasons I went with the dell. Now if it will just get here so I can see how it does work

 

Received my XPS 14 last week.. had a bit of problems with it so figured I'd sign up here and have a read through - some great answers!


First problem:
Touchpad scrolls to the bottom of the page occasionally when using two finger gestures.
I have updated the driver through Dell, but I'll try straight from Synaptics website and update if it works/doesn't work


Second problem:
WiFi issues - Should I just get straight on the phone to dell?


Just deleted my hibernate files in order to reclaim some of the storage on my 32gb SSD - So far I have all programs installing to D drive (500gb HDD) and the OS (and Word/Chrome) on the mSata 32gb SSD


I read somewhere about having to configure RAID or something - I haven't done this, should I?

 

If you go for the raid option you can't install anything on the SSD specifically. It'll be used as a cache, controlled by the Intel MCH. It'll have things installed to it but you won't be able to control what's on it exactly.

Talking about wireless issues -> what type of card are you using and which driver? I'm using the Intel Centrino 6235, Bluetooth disabled, with the most current drivers (15.6 I think) and haven't had a single issue so far.

 

I had this same exact problem when I installed the latest Dell drivers. While two finger scrolling down a page the cursor would jump to the bottom of the page. The fix is to adjust the sensitivity of the touch pad in the GUI. The default setting is in the middle of the slider bar and I had to move it most of the way to the left (less sensitive) Since I did that the touch pad has worked flawlessly....

 

Here is an excellent guide I followed and my XPS is running perfect. Read the following link and this will guide you through the proper way to configure the BIOS, RAID, 32GB SSD, etc.....

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-ultrabook-owners-lounge-132.html#post9007374

 

I'm using the Intel Centrino 6235 with the driver '15.4.1.1', when I look for an update it tells me it's already the most updated version?

I haven't tried disabling bluetooth either, i'll do that now! Thanks.

I didn't get around to trying this so I can't confirm it would have worked for me - but I went onto the main Synaptics website and downloaded their universal driver and that's completely sorted it!

Many thanks - I'll have a good read of that tonight

Is there a significant performance increase using Rapid Start over the normal SSD set up that I'm currently using? I'm happy to give it a go, but with deadlines in a week I'll have to wait until then!

 

FYI, Dell suggested I try the below drivers, and so far it seems to be a lot better, going to test it for a few days before I can be sure though.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=22548&lang=eng

 

Please keep us all updated as to how these WIFI drivers work out for you....

 

I had no luck with the graphics drivers from Intel directly (I wasn't able to change screen brightness anymore) but every other driver I tried worked out very well (chipset, RST, network).
Currently both Intel and Dell have a link to version 15.6 online (even though the Intel one is slightly newer):

Driver Details | Dell US (15.6.0.19)

Might even be the same version as they both came out the same day

If anyone knows the parts Dell changes within the graphics driver I'd they'd share this knowledge. I dug through the .inf file and the folders but the "missing" part didn't exactly jump at me.

 

I had the same issue with the brightness adjustment with the non-Dell Intel video drivers. The Nvidia drivers from Nvidia's website work (mostly) OK, though.

 

My machine is said to be Intel-only and, as far as I remember, I haven't seen the issue occur with any other manufacturer. With all the laptops I ever had, both AMD and Nvidia, it was never a problem to mod/install a "normal" driver and get away with it.
This Intel driver is the first one really that had reduced functionality.

 

I had the same issue with the latest Dell touchpad drivers, but now that I installed the recently-released Synaptics generic drivers the issue seems to be gone (filename: Synaptics_v16_3_15_1_C_XP32_Vista32_Win7-32_XP64_Vista64_Win7-64_Signed_Acme_Inc.zip).

That driver version also says it fixes some Windows kernel crashes caused by its SMBus driver. Of all the blue screens logged in Windows 8's Reliability Monitor, all but two involve the driver Smb_driver_Intel.sys, which is the Synaptics SMBus driver. I hope those fixes apply to my specific case.

Regarding the WiFi issues, I received this laptop in November 2012 and have never experienced serious wireless networking issues (connection dying all the time, extremely short range, etc.). The transfer speed is nothing to be proud, though.

 

hiho

digging up an issue that was mentioned earlier in this thread regarding recognising the msata drive in windows 7.

seems like the answer was to break the raid via ctrl+l when booting.

what really confused me was that i never saw this option, nor are there any raid options in the bios. it took me a little while to figure out but seems like the new bios A13 doesn't have these options.

the intel rst app doesn't let you break the raid, and there is no raid manager on boot, so how the heck can i remove the msata from the raid? incedentally i updated the intel app, now the app doesnt load, it just crashes, so things got worse

when the intel RST is enabled in the bios, i can see the drive in disk manager, but as soon as i boot to ahci then the drive is not visable anywhere.

any tips appreciated, cheers.


/update

cleared the raid, but really confused.

i upgraded the ram and the first time it booted i got the ctrl+l prompt at the bottom of the screen, before the dell logo. i've not seen the raid prompt since, but can now see the drive in windows at least.

 

Yep that's the same Synaptics driver that I have now - Completely 0 problems at all. Haven't had a blue screen at all so can't comment on that


I was going to go ahead and download the driver that Hardicue suggested ( http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=22548&lang=eng) but these are for Windows 8.

Haven't got time really to mess about as I have my final thesis due on Thursday, but after that I'll look around and see if I can find a Win7 update that cures this problem.

My current issue:

Connection will be fine using my Uni's WiFi network and then suddenly stop. Page loads will all fail, any games/applications I'm connected to (online) will disconnect. The WiFi status is 'No Internet Access' even when the internet is working fine.

After a while it will begin randomly working again.. No popups etc telling me anythings changed

Sometimes it doesn't automatically work so I have to completely restart the laptop which solves the problem, until it happens again!


None of this happens when connected via wire

 

What do you mean you upgraded the ram? what did you upgrade too? does anyone know if we can stuff 16GB in these?

 

It has a single RAM slot. 8GB is the maximum supported RAM. I'm not sure if a 16GB chip exists. If it does it would most likely be prohibitively expensive.

 

Thanks for the tip. didn't know that.

 

Did anyone have an issue with the fan?

Mine turns on way too often (I think) - Computer usage is currently at 54% and it sounds like an aircraft taking off..

Anyone have a similar issue?

 

I think my fan turns on around 50% too but it's not very noisy. This happens usually when I watch a video or something alike.
On the other hand I can use the system for normal work and empty a whole battery without hearing the fan even once. With the SSD I put in it's absolutely quiet and noiseless.

 

54% CPU usage would concern me and yeah my fan would be screaming at that kinda percentage. What are you running? I don't think Skyrim keeps it much above 54%!

I would hope just sitting there with browser and 10 tabs your CPU should be below 10% hopefully below 5%.

 

RAM at 54% would make more sense. If I'm doing nothing but running a browser and mail stuff CPU usage usually stays below 5%, maybe spikes when I open something new.

 

Currently have 5 tabs open and 2 java applets (Each applet is about 256MB max in memory, and are running all the time)


CPU usage is around 30-40%, each of the applets taking about 15-20% each and firefox a maximum of about 1-5%



Fan is on full throttle right now... Bottom of the laptop doesn't feel too hot, albeit a bit warm

Edit: The fan first starts off nice and silent, a really nice quiet humming noise - but then after a while it turns on what appears to be a secondary fan and it's uncomfortably loud (i'd be embarrassed if this happened in the quiet section of a library, for example)

 

What are the applets for if you mind me asking? If each is taking 15-20% each then you found the reason.

So if a laptop is running at 50% of its capacity one would expect its cooling capability to ALSO be at 50%. But we all know this isn't true especially with today's laptops. I would say 50% usage would get your fan close to 100%, occasionally coming down to 75% then back up.

Todays heatsinks are smaller to fit in the smaller laptops, and they combine their CPU and GPU cooling system in one. There is only one fan and heatsink.

Look at a cooling pad or try and do without one of those applets. Are the applets graphics intensive? Combining a graphics load with a CPU load would be cause the fan to max out sooner also.

Read the XPS 15 forum and their woes with overheating...

 

How common is this graphics issue? Are a lot of people experiencing this?

 

Is that the right link? I don't see any guide?

 

How much free space do you have left on the 32gb SSD? That seems pretty small to be running Win 8, even if you're putting apps on the D:\

 

I haven't seen the graphics problem return after I updated to the most current drivers from Dell's site.

There were some wireless problems on my side recently although I'm sure they only started to happen after the last round of Microsoft updates. The laptop connects to a wireless network just fine (other machines can use the internet without issues) but not the XPS. It usually took several reboots or a longer waiting time to use the network again. I don't have a clue yet what to think of this but I'll watch it closely.

 

Hey guys, just got my dell xps 14 ultrabook!!

Got 2 questions for you guys..

What is the easiest way of temporarily disabling the trackpad?

Also,, I cant seem to enable Intel smart caching..
it comes up with an error in the IRST app ( operation could not completed)
I have tried the fix which tells you to switch to AHCI mode and hit F8 and select "repair my drive" but on my unit F8 does nothing...

Thanks!!

 

Picked this up for $435 on the Dell Outlet. I'm thinking of two SSD upgrade options.

1: Replace the msata drive with larger capacity drive and use the 500gb drive for storage.
2: Replace the 500gb drive with an SSD and keep the standard msata.

I'm thinking option 1 makes more sense, but I'm looking for opinions.

Thanks.

 

I am considering one of these but could anyone please confirm if the XPS 14 suffers from the pixel grid screen issue like on the XPS 15?

 

I have been having this same battle for months now and I JUST bought the Crucial M500 on Newegg for $179. Newegg.com - Crucial M500 240GB SATA 2.5" 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) Internal Solid State Drive CT240M500SSD1

I was bent on going the mSATA route but the cost of the 128gb mSATA with the hit in speed compared to a 240gb 7mm and a possible problem with extended constant use of the mSATA as an OS drive made me change out the 500gb spinner.

Most go the Samsung 840 PRO route but I can't justify that cost +$200. Even at $180 its hard to pull the trigger but compared to over $100 for 128gb mSATA with a hit in write speeds and random speeds the extra $80 seems doable.

I have read a couple comments of people having to get the raid controller swapped out after months of using the mSATA as an OS drive after upgrading to an +128gb drive.

If you NEED hundreds of gb of media then yeah keep the 500gb drive. I have about 80gb used and don't plan on going much over 150gb. I will put the 500gb drive in my desktop and use as a media drive.

 

No pixel grid issues. Other issues maybe but not pixel grid. Other issues are: horrible viewing angles, over saturation in the colors due to a default screen setting, glare etc.

 

Download Touchfreeze to disable the trackpad when typing
Also check the Intel site for smart caching downloads :thumbsup:

 

Did you leave the msata in or did you take it out? If you left it in, what steps did you take to make it work after a fresh Windows install?

Thanks.

 

It hasn't come yet. When I said I JUST bought it, I literally just got off Newegg within 5 minutes of reading your post.

I will leave the mSATA in of course. I have installed windows a couple times on this machine already and its pretty easy to get the drive read as an AHCI drive when installing windows.

You first need the RAID driver on the USB drive you have windows on. In bios turn drive to AHCI instead of Intel Rapid Storage. Set boot to USB with USB stick inserted. Windows installer will come up with NO drives seen asking for RAID drivers. Install RAID drivers. BOTH 30gb(usable) mSATA and main drive should then show up. Wipe BOTH. Choose drive to install OS on. Of course I will choose my new 240gb SSD. In Windows I won't install RST or iRST and use the native diskmngmnt to control drives.

That should be the nuts of the procedure I have done a couple times already. Of course I may be missing something and is not definitive, just something a wack-job has posted on the internet!

Edit: I always keep one eye on parts prices. If I see an mSATA come down in price in the 128gb range and I have space issues I will pick one up. I see no reason to not use the mSATA drive as a primary programs and files drive. Even 30gb should hold 90% of everything I need.

 

So the RAID has to be setup if I want to use the msata as the boot drive and the spinner as the data drive?

 

No, if you are set up in RAID the mSATA is a cache drive (and the bios drive setting set to Intel Rapid Storage Technology). To get windows to SEE the drives when installing windows from USB the RAID driver must be installed. Both drives go through the RAID controller because its a piece of hardware. You need to install the RAID controller drivers if you want me to be more specific but there should be only one driver then the iRST program.

Just because you have the drivers installed doesn't mean you are in RAID. It requires a little more admittedly some I still don't understand. One reason I am getting away from the whole RST thing and installing the entire OS on an SSD.

 

Is it possible to add in GeForce 630m card to one that comes with just the standard intel graphics? I just impulse bought one of the cheap refurbs that were on sale but would love to throw in discrete graphics if at all possible...

 

Ok, thanks for the info. I can't decide between a bigger msata and use the spinner, or get a bigger standard ssd.

 

Check out the manual: Dell XPS 14 (L421x) Repair Manuals | DIY Installation Videos & Service Guides