Inspiron E1505 driver installation problem

Hello,

I got my Inspiron E1505 last week and saw how much unnecessary programs came with the laptop. So I decided to do a fresh install with my Windows XP Pro over Dell's Home Edition. I deleted all 4 partitions in the process, and got a clean OS system.

Everything was all fine and dandy until I can't get the drivers installed on my unknown devices. I have the Drivers and Utilities CD from Dell, but none of them will install. The application on the CD gives a selection of models... MXC051, Inspiron ME051, Inspiron 710m. I know the E1505 is also known as the 6400, but none of these models come close to mine. I tried using some of their drivers but none of them will install. Did I get the wrong driver CD? Or am I doing something wrong on the very confusing application? My unknown devices include 3 base system devices, network controller, PCI device, and 2 video controllers. Has anyone encountered this problem before?

And I've read the post about installing a fresh copy of Windows XP. I'm doing everything right on there until the part about installing the drivers. Can somebody help?

Thanks!
David

 

Did you read the sticky at the top explaining how to properly reformat? You were not suppose to delete all the partitions.

 

No, that isn't the correct disc. I haven't figured this out yet, but dell recently starting sending the drivers disc with different numbers, and the E1505/6400 is MM061.

Anyways, since I'm guessing you have internet access on a different computer, you can go to support.dell.com , click on drivers & downloads, and download the drivers that match your system. These are better than the discs because these are more current.

If you aren't sure what drivers you need, check out the format sticky. I've listed all of the main categories in there and tell you which drivers are mandatory.

 

Thank you so much, Southern Girl. I now have all my drivers installed perfectly. Dell really did send me the wrong driver CD, and from reading other posts, this doesn't seem like an isolated incident. I'll give them a call about this, plus I need to get the Power DVD and Sonic softwares.

One more question about the drivers... I got cold feet when asked if I want to continue for upgrading BIOS from A06 to A08. You have it listed in red and required. How critical is it to flash the BIOS to current version? If it's necessary, then I'll update it, but I just want to make sure first. Again, thank you for all your help.

 

Flashing the BIOS is very easy and very user friendly with dell. The thing to remember is to let it complete the flashing and not to interrupt it at all. If I remember right it will reboot.

There is a bit of contraversy on whether to update the BIOS at the moment. Dell has it labelled as urgerent, but I haven't seen any reason to update it yet. There is also a possibility that updating the BIOS to latest release will effect your system if you plan on updating to Merom later on.

For right now, if you don't have any problems, I wouldn't worry about flashing it. Your BIOS stays in tact when you are formatting, but sometimes, users have some major problems and flashing it ususally works. In this case, I would go with the old saying "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it".

 

I just did a fresh install of Windows XP Home on my Inspiron 6400 and I'm confused about drivers as well. It looks like I also have the wrong drivers CD (Inspiron ME051 instead of Inspiron 6400). I installed a few drivers from that CD, and some others it wouldn't let me install. Is it a bad thing that I installed drivers from that CD? For example, I downloaded the Intel Mobile Chipset from the CD, should I re-download it from the Dell website?

When I go to my Device Manager, I don't have any yellow question marks anymore, but I didn't download all the available drivers. I'm not sure if I should download any more drivers? For example, under Audio Drivers, I have three choices:

• Creative Labs Integrated Audigy invitation
• Creative Labs Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio
• SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio

I've only installed the third option so far because I remember seeing the word Sigmatel in my system before I formatted Windows. Should I download the other two?

Anyway, a lot of the items have more than one choice, and I don't know which ones to install; I haven't installed anything from some of them.

 

The best thing to do is go to support.dell.com and download the drivers from. If you aren't sure about what drivers you need to download, check out the format guide. I have a post dedicated to driver issues and give details about which drivers are required.

As for the audio drivers, sigmatel is the only one required. If you purchased Sound Blaster with your laptop, then you need the second option. If you didn't purchase Sound Blaster but want it, you'll need the first option (you will have to pay for the software eventually).

 

Ahh...it seems I did not see all the other posts until I registered, and I only ran across the original post from Googling my own problem. Anyway, the ME051 disc is correct (although I have not the slightest idea why), and even though others seem to go against you deleting your partitions, I did the same. The only thing it contradicts is Norton Ghost, but if you routinely back up your information, it doesn't matter.

My theory on Norton Ghost backing up all of your information onto the same drive is just a waste of space because, if the hard drive fails, your dependency on that other partition was a false sense of security. Multiple drives FTW!

~Tym

P.S. -- Dell also did not customize that disc specifically for your PC, so make sure that if you upgraded any parts (like I upped my video card) that you keep track of that information for any future formatting or the like so you don't have to search for what type of card you have to know what drivers to get.

 

Please help!

I contacted Dell Tech Support yesterday for a problem which probably could have been corrected at the C prompt (hal.dll missing or corrupt). After being instructed I was holding the correct disks, I reformatted my Inspiron E1505 to fix this issue (I shouldn't have had to do this, and lost data). Unfortunately, they didn't listen to what I said when I described the disks, or didn't care, and they had me reformat with the disks left over from my Latitude D500. It turns out, they did not SEND reformatting disks with the Inspiron, I eventually found a flyer that came with the computer saying the drivers disk was NOT included. Apparently, Dell's new theory is to use Ghost, or go online if you have driver issues. The irony, of course, is that if you have a Blue Screen of Death or other boot issue, YOU CAN'T GET ONLINE. :: headwall::

As a result, my computer can no longer "see" things like my wireless card, Modem, etc. Repeated calls to Dell have made the problem worse, not better. I have the original windows disks, should I just wipe the system AGAIN and reinstall? I have the communications drivers on a jump drive (got them off dell.com). I figure if I install the windows that came with the computer, then add the communications drivers, if nothing else I can do remote help for the rest of it; right now I can't even get online since the "brain" doesn't match the computer's "body."

I hate Dell, this all could have been avoided if ANYONE in their tech support department had listened to me. Anyone looking for dark amusement, I posted the latest round of "Chat" on my blog: http://bridgetjonesesq.livejournal.com/32797.html . I don't know if I was talking to a computer, or if they literally don't read ANY of what I wrote.

Since apparently they've stopped shipping driver disks, why don't they have a clear list ANYWHERE on their site that says "E1505, download these or your computer won't work?"


Any help would be appreciated.

 

Amber,
I have been reading your info on notebook forum about the Dell E1505 notebook. Thanks to you I have this thing up and running (almost). I can’t get on the internet. My Ethernet card is installed and says it’s working properly but the icon on the taskbar says network cable is unplugged. I have a fresh install of Windows XP Pro (reformatted the hard drive) and after I went through your list of “required” drivers I noticed that I hadn’t downloaded you “Flash Bios Required” When I downloaded it I get the message that it needs the battery to be 10% capacity before I can install this. Also, in the Device manager under “other devices” it lists three “base system” drivers that are not installed. I don’t know what these are but hopefully they will get my internet going. Is there a way around installing the flash bios without having to buy a new battery? The cord is plugged in all the time but the battery is so weak that it shows only 2% charge. My lan is the
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller. That was the only one I saw in the drivers list for the E1505. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Paxman

 

hope you get this