Help: Dell MediaDirect V3 - in a Dual Boot Configuration

I have a new XPS M1710 laptop.

It now comes loaded with Vista instead of XP and I had some issues with it (could not find drivers for some of the printers I need on a daily basis at work).

I wanted to dual boot Vista and XP and that works fine: There is a great article that shows you how at:
http://apcmag.com/5023/dual_booting_xp_with_vista

Problem is media direct no longer works, I recreated the 2GB partition but the re-install disk does not reconize it anymore.

I have looked and found very little on Version 3 of Media Direct was wondering if anyone has any ideas on getting MediaDirect v3 to work it a dual boot senerio.

It was working fine until I loaded vista in a new partition after I loaded XP. I deleted all partitions except for the dell utility partition before installing XP and Vista on separtely created partitions.

I did the following:

1. Delete all Partitions on the drive except the dell utility
2. Use the Direct Media Install Disk to recreate the partition it needs
3. Installed XP
4. MediaDirect working OK as it should
5. Shrunk the XP Partition and created a Vista Parition with the free space
6. Install Vista...MediaDirect Gone
7. Recreate MediaDirect Partition 2GB, Logical NTFS and it wont reconize it on the reinstall.

 

I use dual boot as well for about the same reason you did. When you log on to Vista go to administrative tools and then go to disk management and tell me what partitions are shown in the disk 0. Form what you are saying there should be 3 partitions. I for media direct, one for Vista and one for XP. They wont say Vista or XP though. I named each on with a diff name so I know which one is which.

 

Yes Vista Drivers are not there yet, it should be ok to go with full time once all the manufactures get on board with it.

Actually I have 5 Partitions: Shown in Vista

1. EISA Configuration (I believe this is the dell diagnostics utilty partation that accessed via F12..this still works)
2. Widows Vista
3. Widows XP
4. Data - I added this strickly to Share Data between the two operating systems. That way I dont lose the data should I need to reformat the operating drive.
5. MEDIADIRECT - the one I created - not hidden and its NTFS -2GB - Not reconized by the MediaDirect reinstallion software when you run it from windows.

Thanks,

 

Repair the MediaDirect using the Repair Utility. I have done something similar to what you are trying to archived. However, I have MediaDirect 2 instead though. This what I have done to get XP, Vista, and MD2 working properly.

My partition setup is the following:
C: XP
D: Vista
E: Data
MediaDirect 2.0

Note- Back Up important file
1. Used the XP installation disc to wipeout everything on my HDD
2. Create three partition (you can leave some unpartition space if you want)
3. Go to Start-My Computer-Right Clicked-manage-Select Disk Management
4. Delete the two extra partition and the unpartition will combine into an "unallocated space" instead of "free space"

Note - You can install you drivers if you want

5. Create a partition for Vista
6. Create a partition for Data leaving 1.4 Gb unallocated
7. Install Vista first so its boot manager will overwrite XP's
8. Install MediaDirect 2.0 - This will write Dell's boot code into XP while maintaining Vista's boot manager.

I do not know how much different would 3.0 would be but this is how i gotten MD2 to function properly.

 

Thanks FFZero,

Thats basically what I did, it works great up to the point of reinstalling MediaDirect...when I put the disk in Version 3 wants to delete all partitions on the Hard Drive and create its own set..This is of course is not what I want to happen

I think that might be the difference with Version 3, does not seem to be a way to tell it to install on the parition you tell it to.

Going to take a fresh stab at it tommorow...

 

You cannot really repair with Version 3. Here is your best option:

1. Format the drive by running the MD3 Disc at boot.
2. Tell it you want 2 partitions for data.
3. Boot your Vista DVD.
4. Erase the Dell Diag. Partition
5. Make a partition for Vista, XP, eronious data, and LEAVE THE MD partition ALONE.
6. Install XP and Vista to their partitions.

I don't know how you have 5 partitions, you are only allowed 4 primary. Unless you have the data on a logical extension.

Once you do all of this, your MBR will likely be messed up. Boot into your Vista disc and tell it to repair itself. It should fix all the issues. It did with mine

So what you want is this:

P1: Vista
P2: XP
P3: Data
P4: Logical Drive that MD3 makes

NOTE: Md3 will only install to a partition it creates, not to an NTFS partition you leave open for it. 2 would do that, but 3 is a lot more picky.

 

Yes I have some logical Drives...

1. EISA Configuration 47MB Fat (Dell put that one there) = PRIMARY
2. WINXP = PRIMARY (Drive C: in XP and Drive D in Vista)

Then I have these extended

1. VISTA =LOGICAL (Drive D: in XP and Drive C: in Vista)
2. Data = LOGICAL (Drive E in both XP and Vista)
3. MEDIADIRECT = Logical (2GB Fat32 that I created -Drive G in both XP and Vista)

I would hate to have to reformat and reinstall it all over again....I did that once already and somehow got the MD deleted on the install of Vista....probably my fault..i was tired and frustrated with the installed vista at the time.

Perhaps I will just live without media direct...any way I look at it, it looks problematic in a dual boot situation. I also don't like the idea of deleting the diagnostic partition..If I could only fit another drive in the lappy I would be all set

Thanks for all the help guys...If I get it working, I will post a how-to and hopefully it will save someone else from many hours of frustration.

 

Is there a way to do this without losing the dell diagnostics and restore partitions?

 

anybody get this to work? since only 4 primary partitions are allowed, is there a way to put the data partition on an extended or logical partition? i think the MD3 partition, the dell utility partition (which I think is necessary for MD3 to work properly), and XP and Vista all need to be primary partitions?

 

You can look for the post in my signature to find some helpful info of installing MD along with Windows Vista/XP.... But MD is a very stupid software IMHO.... It was working all fine for two reinstalls of Windows.... The third time I did a Windows reinstall it stopped working..... Really very stupid indeed..... Now I have only Vista, XP and OpenSuse.... The MD button also boots the Vista boot menu only for me now.... I have removed the MD partition from my disk and have added it to Linux partition....

 

thanks for the reply ash hi fi zone. i'm actually curious to see what MD can do because I got the blu-ray player/burner and plan to hook it up to my HDTV and watch movies. As such, I am thinking I might get some utility from the MD program so I am at least wanting to give it a try. I want to also give Vista a "try", but I am not yet ready to give up my XP for which I have all these programs including video editing programs that vista doesn't support. i'm guessing there's a way to get this to work, and if I do everything right, there shouldn't be any need to reinstall windows more than once. i definitely will wipe out my hard drive and partition using the MD boot disk since i don't even have my new PC yet -- but i am hoping that by doing all the research up front and understanding what exactly needs to be done, I can get it right the first time. the key might be either using Gparted to perhaps create a logical partition within my main vista partition to install XP on (this will not mess up the MD partition which requires a certain sequence and number of partitions it is looking for). Otherwise, I could install XP on the "data" partition created when I run the MD setup, but then what do I use for my data partition that XP and Vista will share?

 

joining thread.

 

The MD software is not so good IMO.... Dont take this badly but I am saying this out of my experience with it.... It is nothing but a Windows XP which always hibernates when turned off and resumes back to the previous state when turned on.... No big hassles here.... And yes that windows xp is a stripped down version and so less drivers and services get loaded during bootup..... So what I can actually suggest you is you install a customized version of XP and bring it also into Vista's boot menu and do whatever you would actually want to do from MD there instead..... Tweak it as optimum as possible to suite for fast booting.....

The reason MD is a PITA is if it needs to be installed using the MD preparation tool you need to wipe the whole hard disk..... Dont know who in DELL came up with such a design for MD installation.....

There are also couple of threads on mapping the md BUTTON to do boot some desired partition.... Those might be of some useful info to you I guess....

 

Well, using MD and dual boot can be done, but with a compromise usually.

Usually you can only have 4 primary partitions, but remember, MD3 is on a logical usually (made first, but not the first partition-usually at the "end" of the drive unless you have a HPA) as well as MD2 versions messed around with the partition codes to hide and unhide certain partitions to only ever HAVE 4 showing up at once (you can hide as many as you want, by the way- like you can have 10 primary partitions, if 6 are hidden).

How to DO it?
*chuckle*

----Wipe any HPA's off the drive (unless you're really a tweakhead like I have been, and like editing them- NOT)
----DL something like Cyberlink's POWERCINEMA 5 (same app and at least same company as MD- this is who makes the interface one "sees" in MD -by the way, MD3,3+ "requires" version 4.7, so that's the one if you can find it or get it- it's probably on the install drivers DVD or somewhere buried- or even on the ghost images in the DSR partition- unless you already hard-core low-level reformatted (the OS reformats won't remove this as I recall- but I don't use VISTA because "BB4win" or "bblite" -Open Source- works just as well and has no problems, is free and works in XP to give all the same functions)... and you can set it up with Linux OR vista too, so you have all the same GUI interface and OS is irrelevant... *Wink*)
---Install the OS's...


If you MUST use MD, MD2 is a major pain without the installation CD. MD3 can be installed a bit easier. BOTH REQUIRE to be installed BEFORE the rest of anything else- so tricks must be done to do CUSTOM installs- or at least after you install MD and the OS, you have to ADD the other partitions in or blow away one you don't need too much (like the DE one- dell utilities, at the beginning)... and then REPAIR the MD installation again.

Can you do what you're trying to do without reinstalling the OS?
Probably not (yes, but you can't change the partition info and it WILL wipe the MBR so how much time you got to edit these back? It won't REALLY wipe the actual data off the drive, it's still there, so it's "fixable" if you know where and how to find it- the above tutorial links as I recall might have some help in this area)

Soooo

Bust out those install disks and make some coffee!

LOL!

I highly recommend that the end users stay clear from MD without the installation disks. Dell has somehow managed, either through negligence or ignorance (doubtful the latter- this stuff is too complicated and hard to do to "wing it" -it's got to be intentional, though possibly an unintended side-consequence)...to make REINSTALLING MD a PAIN and a CHORE, especially if the END USER buys a new HD from a 2ndary non-dell source (ah HAH!)... and does it on their own.

Don't GHOST the drives (NEVER EVER EVER- if you ghost, use ghost2003 and ONLY ghost partitions to images, NEVER The whole drives!!!)
don't reinstall anything using GHOSTs of anything BUT the OS partition
don't KEEP the HPA unless you need it -if you don't know what this is, forget I mentioned it. If you use MD2 don't mess with it. If you use MD3 and you HAVE an HPA and don't mind wasting 2gb, leave it- if not, wipe it off with something like "HDAT2" (the best HPA editor I've found so far). Don't know what I'm talking about? Skip it... *chuckle*
don't expect to have MD functioning correctly using the MD button if you've done something funky (non-dell stock) and custom to the OS -partitions/drives! Dell actually set things up to try and make sure they have business it seems, so you're fighting to reclaim control of resources you bought but that dell actively set up to control without telling you about it- and masking it all as "necessary things" to the end user (you can DL apps that do the same thing as MD, and without all this crud or HD problems- even from the same company- Cyberlink!)
don't expect to have an easy solution while KEEPING MD and the DSR or DE or HPA partitions.

One thing that might help is- if you still have the original set up somewhere (did you copy the DSR image files from the IMG folder in the original setup?)
is to put the second OS on the MD partition (you CAN resize it, and then fix the MD button-press function to start MD, giving you boot-using-the-MD-button to the 2nd OS).

Can you then keep the MD in your current situation? Only if you have MD3- which will and does install on a logical partition -or if you're willing to invest a lot of time, effort and learning something you will probably NEVER use again (HPA editing, partition disk editing, etc.) just to have this program.

*chuckle*

seems like a pain?
all these different opinions and solutions?
YEAH!

lol!

How much time you have to research and learn how to do hard drive editing?
Post that and we can tell you what you can do with the time you're willing to spend on it.
*grin*

 

Hey Guys, is MD really worth it? I always have vista sleep and with instant on I dont see why not.

I just wanted to ask why is it worth all this hassle before I get elbow deep in it so i can setup my dual boot.

 

hi tangograndma and firebretha -- thanks guys for chiming in on this. Since tangograndma has gotten into so much detail, I will go ahead and mention my specific situation
(1) I just bought a Dell M1530 laptop and it actually hasn't even gotten here yet, so I am doing all the preliminary research hoping to save time when I actually get around to doing the installs
(2) it will be the latest version of MD, md 3.3 or later, and I will have the installation disk
(3) From the very beginning I was planning on wiping my hard drive completely clean; i.e. reformatting and re-partitioning using the MD installation / setup / boot disk because in some of the other threads people mentioned that you MUSt setup MD in this way in order for it to work at all
(4) When I use the MD installation disk to repartition my HD I am going to select option 2, which will create one partition for the OS and one "data" partition. Plus, my understanding is that the MD install disk automatically creates the MD partition plus the Dell Utility partition as well.
(5) Somewhere I read that in order for MD to work correctly (using the MD button or whatnot) you needed to keep the Dell Utility partition, and I have no problem with doing this. I will not, however, keep the restore partition as I don't think I will need this.
(6) Elsewhere I read that the proper sequence in a NON DUAL BOOT situation is to install MD, then install Vista (or XP), then after the OS is loaded and drivers are installed to finish / finalize the MD installation from within the OS.
(7) In my case, if I do a dual boot, should I install Vista or XP first?
(8) If I use the "data" partition to install the other OS, will this mess up MD? Since I will still be using the partitions as they were setup by the MD installation process, I would think not. But then, how do I go about setting up a true "data' partition?
(9) Let me say that I have NO experience with MD and might not even want to use it (which it sounds like will save me A LOT of hassle). The reason I thought it might be useful to me is that I have a high-end HDTV and would like to watch blu ray movies in 1080p but haven't yet invested in a standalone blu ray player, but my new laptop comes with a blu ray and has an HDMI output so I was planning on connecting to my TV and watching movies. I hear that Vista runs quite slow, so I thought I might benefit from booting directly into MD for the purpose of watching movies and not doing any "end user computing." Maybe this isn't the case.
(10) The XP that I am planning on using is for my main computing tasks. This will include email, internet, MS Office, video editing, video capture, DVD authoring, printing, networking, Tivo Server, basically everything. You might wonder why even bother with Vista? Well, I've got to make the switch sometime, right? I have no problem with taking it slow -- I am just not ready to go full bore and invest in the new softwares required, but I'm not "anti-vista" per say just yet. I'm curious to see how it runs on my PC which I purchased with a 7200rpm 200GB hard drive and 3GB of memory, and I hear Aero is quite cool.
(11) I have NO IDEA what an HPA is. I am NOT planning on using Ghost as I'm not worried about the integrity of the original setup I get from Dell since there won't be any data on there yet. I am NOT OPPOSED TO USING GPARTED to do any additional partitioning because I hear Vista's version sucks. And, if I have any MBR issues, there is a linux-based "gag" that sounds like it might be cool, should I need to go this route.
(12) My plan of action for now: (a) wipe HD clean using MD 3.3 installation boot disk and install MD with option "2". (b) install XP on the operating system partition and install all the needed drivers. I have a slipstreamed XP SP2 installation disk w/ SATA support so I think I'm okay there. Sounds like MD 3.3 will work with Vista or XP, so my plan is to attempt to "finalize" the installation of MD from within XP and at this point everything should be working perfectly (i.e. MD button boots into MD, power button boots up Win XP normally). (c) I will have a blank data partition that I will attempt to install Vista on. But first -- should i use Gparted to partition this partion into two partitions -- an extended or logical partition? This is where I get lost. What do I need to do from here?
(13) can you clarify what using PowerCinema would do? What's it for? And what is "DSR" "DE" and "HPA" partitions? Is DSR the recovery partition? Is DE the utility partition?
(14) Does MD have anything to do with the MBR? Somebody mentioned there is a utility program that you can run and tell the system which partition (1 2 3 or 4) resides MD and the OS... maybe this needs to be fiddled with in a dual-boot environment?
(15) FINALLY -- I am not opposed to attempting to install XP on the MD partition -- but how? I thought the MD partition was hidden and not accessible? How would one make it bootable and wouldn't I lose the whole purpose of MD by doing this?

Thanks all for your input! I am willing to spend time experimenting and am not worried about data loss. I enjoy this kindof stuff but it's very easy to get overwhelmed and I dont' want to do any damage to my equipment. Not to mention I will reach my limit at some point in time -- I do have two young kids so I do need to devote some time to them and my job. But I was planning on devoting several days to getting my new system up and functioning to my standards, should it be possible to do so I will find a way. I hope. Thanks guys

 

I have no experiance with MD,

But as far as dual booting xp/vista things go allot smoother if you install XP first, And then Vista.


So far I think I am just going to dump media direct.
This is my plan,

Get PC, delete all partitions.

create 2x partitions, 11.5g for Xp, the rest for vista.

Install XP,

Drink beer

Install Vista.

drink beer and sit around while everything then updates.

 

sounds like a good plan Firebretha. I actually received my XPS laptop M1530 today! Wasn't supposed to even ship till Jan 2nd. Nice. I have heard a lot of people saying MD isn't worth it, but I have heard a couple of people say they think it's neat. Given that i have all the installer CD's (Vista, XP, MD 3.3) and a separate PC with all my data on it (such that data loss isn't a concern), I don't mind experimenting. I was thinking of installing XP first as I read somewhere that when I get around to installing Vista, it will recognize XP and somehow not screw up the MBR. I also have been reading in these forums to use Gparted to do the partitioning, so I have downloaded the .iso boot image and my next step is to learn how that works. Then I will wipe the hard drive clean completely, use the MD install disks w/ option 2, install XP and see where that gets me. I think at that point I will finish the install of MD from within XP??? After that, I will attempt to install Vista on my one remaining partition (from MD 3.3 setup). After that, perhaps I can figure out how to split my Vista partition into an extended/logical partition for my data to be shared by Vista & XP. I think that's where GParted can also be used to do that. From there, it's a matter of seeing if MD still works. I have read that there is a program on the dell utilities (or maybe on the MD 3 disk) where you can get a command line and specify which partitions are the primary OS and the mediadirect partition. (Formerly rmbr command, but now it's something else). I'll play around and report back.

 

actually within Vista they have partition controls right in "my computer"

right click on the mycomputer Icon and then click "manage" then follow the common sense route and it will show you where you can modify the partitions.

 

Vista's partition manager comes no near to gparted or any paid ones like Acronis..... There are many limitations in the Vista's partition manager in shrinking partitions and non-windows partitions are not identified properly in it.... So better to go with gparted instead....

 

I currently have my machine to dual boot with MD3. But I started with the original Vista installation and just installed XP to a new partition. I deleted the the Restore partition (bit kept the space reserved) to make room for the fourth partition. I imaged off the Restore partition first (using True Image) so that I have it available in case I need it.

Everything seems to be working fine (Vista, XP & MD).

 

Mikla -- can you share a bit more about your partition structure? I want to do what you have done, but I have a question. Do you have a "shared" data drive too? I thought that MD, besides installing its own "logical" partition, also required the Dell Utility (a primary partition) to boot properly from the MD button. Adding vista and XP on their own primary partitions means you have 3 primary partitions + 1 logical. Even though I thought you get 4 primary partitions, apparently the extended/logical (for MD) is being treated as a primary because Gparted will not let me create anymore. So, how to get a fully functioning dual boot with MD button functionality and also having a shared data partition that both XP and Vista can use? (BTW, I haven't started yet, so I am not opposed to wiping the HDD clean and starting with the MD3 reinstallation DVD if that is what is necessary).