XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

Clean installed windows 8 pro and the drivers from dell do not contain maxx pro, only 3.

this has always been the case, pro is included with the stock image and that's it, Dell don't seem to give a toss. (iirc)

 

Yep, me. But it is not only the Dell driver, any Realtek driver are bad in my case. Mic gain is almost none (i.e. unless you're screaming into the device, it won't catch anything), and the maxxaudio3 enhancements just make the sound REALLY bad.

 

I too was annoyed about losing MaxxAudio Pro and getting 3.0 instead, so I set out to get it back. I've now managed to get MaxxAudio Pro working on Windows 10 (and Windows 8.1). Please test and let me know - it is working perfectly for me so far.

Follow these steps:
1. Download and extract the audio driver from my dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ahoxt5cm35y9lxd/9530_MaxxAudioPRO.zip?dl=1
2. Stop Windows Update replacing the driver. To do this, open search and type Change device installation settings. Once opened, select No, let me choose and then Never install driver software from Windows Update.
3. Uninstall the current driver. Open Device Manager, expand Sound video and game controllers then right click Realtek High Definition Audio and click Uninstall. Make sure to check the box to delete the driver software.
4. Reboot your computer
5. Open Device Manager again and right-click the sound card (it'll probably be listed now as High Definition Audio Device) then click Update device driver software. Choose Browse my computer for driver software and point to the folder where you extracted the driver in step 1.
6. Once it has finished installing, reboot and enjoy MaxxAudio Pro

 

That's amazing, but may you say something about the procedure that you have used to extract Maxxaudio Pro?
From what you say it seems incompatible with new Realtek drivers is this correct?

 

Worked like a charm. Thanks L33. And I can confirm that the difference with MaxxAudio Pro is huge. This is what I call sound now. But yes, how did you exactly extract them?

 

Thank you very much! This solved all the audio problems I had, also for the microphone! Would be interesting to know a bit more on how you retrieved it, even tho I supposed you just extracted the win8 driver from the backup?

Moreover, does anybody know if you get a notification when a new driver is available, when you stop the automatic installation? Would still be nice to know and be able to decide if to install new drivers for other devices...

 

This is interesting. My problem was the reverse. The drivers from the Dell site broke Max Audio Pro. Uninstalling them, and then letting Windows Update install the drivers fixed it like magic. The only issue I have now is a couple of minor microphone issues. 1) Switching users (without logging out / a.k.a. Fast user switching) breaks the microphone. Not sure why. 2) Also, microphone levels seem to be different across applications. Cortana hears me fine (even across the room). Sound Recorder records me great. But, I've heard complaints from others talking to me on Skype and the Microphone assistant in control panel says it can't hear me. :-/ (yes, I've tried with Hey Cortana setting on and off).

 

I found the same folder (Maxxaudio Pro) shared by L33 in my system the path is:

C:\Drivers\audio\R0R12\Vista64

 

Dell is sending me my sixth system replacement.

On a different note on my desktop which I upgraded from 7 to 10 - last night I reverted back to 7.
Too much buggy behavior for now - especially how 10 would randomly close windows/apps for no reason.
I cant trust win10.

When Dell sends me my replacement 9530 I will keep it at win8.1 until 10 gets through a few bug update cycles.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

 

MaxxAudio Pro, 3.0, Dolby, DTS, SRS and all the other 'enhancement' suites are included with every version of the Realtek drivers (hence they're >300MB). Which one gets installed and activated is based on your audio device's hardware ID. Realtek or the OEM control this through the inf file. It is more than likely possible to change which is activated, but it would result in an unsigned driver (you'd have to disable driver signing enforcement).

The version I posted is extracted from the recovery files posted on XPS-15 wiki. I extracted the multipart wim files from the CD ISOs, merged and mounted the restore image using DISM, then extracted the driver package. The driver is original, I haven't changed anything (as this would result in an unsigned driver).

 

PSA. Avoid Bios A09. Do not update to it. Slowed my machine a lot, even video stuttered. Downgrading back to A08 brought everything back to normal.

 

No issue for me on A09 with Windows 8.1.

 

On Win 8.1 as well. Are you using Dell or synaptics touchpad drivers?

 

Dell touchpad drivers.
Sometime ago I have tried Synaptics drivers, but even if I have disabled Windows check for unsigned drivers to allow installation, I have no seen any evidence that Synaptics drivers were in use, in fact device manager showed me that Microsoft drivers were in use for touchpad.

 

I'm using the synaptics. Think you need to install them with admin privileges (right click install as admin) or boot into safe mode and install..I've forgotten. The A09 bios mentions some fix regarding touchpad so thought that may be the problem though it may even be some other driver that was causing the problem.

So I guess warning to those using non Dell drivers considering A09 bios.

 

I did a clean install of win 10 from by factory reset back to 8.1 and upgrade and I have no bugs at all. No problem with A09 either. I guess some of you are just out of luck.

 

so once maxx audio pro is installed you can allow driver updates and it will stay as pro?

 

No it goes back to MaxxAudio 3. I tried it.

 

would be nice to find out what to do in the ini file to get pro back on a current release, I won't be using the initial driver as it is outdated.

 

No, this is why you must stop Windows Update automatically updating drivers or block the audio driver update.

True that the Pro driver is 'outdated' but that doesn't necessarily mean worse. I've noticed no problems with it at all, so to update to a newer version just because it is newer seems unnecessary.

 

Hi, I am looking to build a multi-monitor setup for my home office. For the sake of discussion, let's say I have no budget limit (within reason). My main use of the computer is that of an office (remote desktop, Outlook, Word and so on), but I play some games from time to time.

The XPS 15 2013 can drive via HDMI 1.4 a screen at 2560x1600 @ 60 Hz, and via DisplayPort 1.2 either 2 x 2560x1600 @ 60 Hz displays, or 1 x 4K @ 60 Hz display.

For office productivity, I think it is better to have 2 screens than a large one. On the other hand, for gaming it must be better to have a huge screen (even though with the GPU of the XPS I usually play games at 1600x900).

Maybe the ideal setup would be a big 4K screen via DisplayPort and a smaller 2560x1600 one via HDMI? On the other hand, I am not sure if my OCD would be happy with having an asymmetric setup. Maybe two medium/big ones at 2560x1600 via DisplayPort?

How do games behave with multiple screens? Do they span across the available screens for an immersive experience, or in most cases you will have to choose which screen to use?

And finally, what about the USB 3.0 docking stations? It's accepted that they are only good for office work, right? (i.e. I can expect 30 Hz at most, and maybe some graphic glitches with video or games?)

What are your setups and why? I know this has been discussed in the past, but I would like to hear some updated opinions on the matter.

 

Have you tried to install directly the old Realtek driver on Windows 10, instead of manual installation from that folder?

I have extracted the same folder that you shared for Maxxaudio Pro directly from old Realtek driver and I found a very similar folder even in new Realtek driver for Windows 10 (that according to the header is still compatible with Windows 7/8/8.1)

I know that now Windows Update on Windows 10 is completely automatic (now Pro version is needed to set Windows Update), but instead to block all drivers update is it possible to hide only update for Realtek driver?

Question for all the people that have installed Windows 10, have you installed even the Dell Quickset application?
Maybe this application could influence Maxxaudio Pro activation.

 

Was your computer out of warranty? Just wanted to see what happens if the BIOS upgrade bricks our computer that is out of warranty. Do they still do a system exchange? Thanks.

 

Mine is still under warranty until Sept 2016.
If there was no warranty then i am sure Dell would charge for all parts and labor to repair it.
When my warranty runs out I will most likely be selling it as the thought of it breaking and having to pay Dell even more money to fix this atrocious "premium" device would make me retch.

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I think you mean retch.


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Hello all,

I see that some of you have mentioned microphone problems after the upgrade to Windows 10 . . . I'm considering this upgrade but I rely heavily on Dragon dictation using the built-in laptop microphone . . . has anyone had any specific experience with regard to Dragon dictation working/not working after the Windows 10 upgrade?

Thanks
N123

 

I cannot help you specifically with that program, but I can tell you that I solved all my mic problems using the drivers with Maxxaudio Pro posted before.

 

I upgraded my XPS 15 to windows 10 today but it went awful. I get to the login screen and it flickers like crazy with the Fast Access message in the back ground that I can't click on or read. I can't get past this login page because of this.

Any ideas?

 

I don't actually have this laptop, but on my laptop, I have to go into device manager to enable the touchpad drivers.
After you install the unsigned drivers.

Find the touchpad in device manager, right click, update drivers.
Select browse, then let me pick from a list.
Uncheck the compatibility box, and then scroll down to synaptics and pick the touchpad driver.
It should prompt for a reboot and then on startup it should prompt you to go to settings.

This is how it works on my Sony laptop and my brothers Vizio laptop, so it will probably work here too.

 

Do you have to uninstall the any Sony customized drivers first? Whenever I uninstall the "Dell" branded Synaptics drivers in order to install the stock, unsigned, Synaptics ones, Windows eventually overwrites them with Dell drivers from Windows Update eventually. One issue I miss from the Synaptics drivers is Edge Swipe (which would ideally bring up Action Center and Task View).

 

I cannot get edge swipe to work in Windows 10 with the synaptics drivers. A swipe from the right brings up Cortana, and no other direction does anything.

Download this tool https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930.
You are going to want to uninstall all your touchpad drivers and then disconnect from the internet so nothing new installs.
Restart and do what you need to to set up the synaptics drivers.
Once they are all done, reconnect to the internet and immediate run the hide updates tool. This should let you hide the touchpad driver from windows update.

 

Anyone having problems with the 1560 wireless card? When I resume from sleep, sometimes the wireless is disconnected, and it sits there connecting indefinitely. Disabling/re-enabling the wireless does nothing. Only a reboot or a reinstall of the drivers fixes it. Using the latest Windows 10 drivers from the Dell website.

 

I really want edge swipe to work, three fingers was working fine until first restart, now down brings up settings, up brings up cortana and left and right do nothing. Really annoying.

 

It worked after an uninstall and reinstall of Dell's drivers, then I went to bed (laptop asleep), come back to it, and it's stopped working again. What on earth is going on?

 

Just wanted to provide an additional experience with the Windows 10 upgrade process for this laptop as I'm sure Microsoft is changing/updating things in the time since Windows 10 launched. I just did the traditional "in place" upgrade on 8/10/15 where I kept all my apps/files . . . the upgrade was a success with no problems and no need for tinkering/registry hacks/etc . . . the only "special" thing I did was change the audio driver to MaxxPro3 and use the Microsoft tool to prevent Windows update changing this driver as instructed per this very helpful thread (L33 #7600; heywhitmarsh #7628). the touchpad seems to work fine as far as two finger scrolling/basic functions although some of the edge swipes don't work as I'd suspect . . . but I hardly use the touchpad anyways so I'll just wait for Microsoft/Dell to issue some fix for this. I tried my major applications like photoshop, lightroom, steam for gaming, Dragon dictation, Slingbox and no problems. Overall pretty happy with this upgrade and it was pretty easy to do. I left my laptop on Bios A08 and didn't upgrade to the reportedly "Windows 10 optimized" A09 as I've had bios upgrades almost brick my laptop before and everything seems to be working on A08 without issue so far . . .

 

Still no one in here who tried it?

 

I just updated my XPS15 with the latest A09 BIOS, no problem here.

 

Just picked up a refurbed XPS15, mid tier with the 4k screen. I've just upgraded to win10 and everything seems fine. One thing I've not been able to check is whether 'splendid' colour mode is enabled or not. The toggle option doesn't appear in the mobility center (it wasn't there on win8.1 also). Any ideas how I go about finding it out? I'll be using the laptop mainly for photo editing so it will be good to know this is disabled.

 

Upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 Pro; everything seems to be relatively stable except I am getting the occasional VIDEO_SCHEDULER_INTERNAL_ERROR BSOD at various times. Anyone else having a similar experience and has successfully resolved the issue?

 

Does anyone know if BIOS A09 is required to run Windows 10. Still on A06, been reluctant to upgrade given all the issues people are having. Still waiting for Microsoft to give me the "OK" to upgrade.

 

I just got my new system exchange today.

The first thing I did was to upgrade the firmware from a08 to a09.

Brand new laptop... bricked.

Nothing else was running on this fresh new machine yet Dell's upgrade utility STILL froze just like it has in the past - complete with fans running at supersonic speed !

It boggles the mind how some people's machines go through the upgrade with no issues yet others have disastrous results.

Dell should make their firmware utility run from a usb stick instead of via an operating system to eliminate this kind of thing from happening.

This has got to be the most tempermental and fragile product I have ever seen.

Update your bios at your own risk, folks.


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Unless you are still under warranty. Then it's at Dell's risk.

 

Yes and what a scary proposition it would be - to dare update the bios if it was [not] under warranty !

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I have updated BIOS from A03 to A09 passing through every BIOS released by Dell and I'm still here.
I wonder if BIOS update issue only happens to the recent version of XPS.
Usually before to launch update software, I reboot the machine and I kill many programs that run in background and I disable antivirus, in my case Antivir by Avira, moreover I launch update utility with admin privilege.

 

About Maxxaudio Pro.

I have tried Realtek audio driver for Windows 10 supplied by Dell on Windows 8.1 and it works fine, but there isn't Maxxaudio Pro, you lose even the application on system tray that allow to set Maxxaudio options, but if you launch that application from installation folder you can see that you have only Maxxaudio 3, even the original driver supplied by Dell for Windows 8.1 does not have Maxxaudio Pro, another time you have only Maxxaudio 3 and you have to launch manually application to set options for Maxxaudio 3.
So Maxxaudio Pro is available only if you use the original setup made by Dell, or the extracted folder from the original installation, but if you use the extracted folder to install Maxxaudio Pro you lose the autostart of application that allow to set options of Maxxaudio Pro.

Maybe when someone will buy or will receive an XPS 15 with Windows 10 preinstalled we might have an updated version of Maxxaudio Pro, if he shares with us the original factory backup.

 

I have them, and I cannot find a way to constantly reproduce them. Sometimes they happen while watching a video on youtube, sometimes completely random. Once it happened while I was not doing anything with the pc. Annoying.

 

That's what i did also. Rebooted and killed any apps or processes that could interfere. It did not help though.

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the the calibrated color profile on notebookcheck website for the 4k screen here:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-Notebook-Review.138209.0.html

 

So are there any other issues with the XPS 15 on Windows 10 besides sound? Is battery life about the same as what it was on Windows 8.1? No bluetooth, wifi, video, etc. issues?

 

Hey, so I just did a clean install of windows 10. In this thread I read about windows automatically installing the drivers, and this worked with some of them. But Device manager shows 10 Unknown devices or so, and no touchpad driver has been installed. Do you have any idea why this is? Should I manually install the drivers provided by dell and disable windows auto install? And how can I check if the intel chipset, management engine and thermal framework drivers are installed?

Thanks a lot in advance!