MediaDirect 2.0 Overview

I assume by deleted partitions you mean you deleted all Dell partitions and reinstalled XP? Your entries in the partition table leave one question open. The 07 partition (NTFS) is apparently your XP. Is that in the first line of the partition table or in the second?

You need to be more specific in what you mean by messed up. You cannot boot into XP? Your MD is not working, but you can boot into XP?

 

Question: Can I watch tv with mediadirect through the usb tv tuner?

 

I just used MarkMck's steps to fix my media direct issue.
I had erased all the partitions on my e1505 (i should have read this forumn before wiping my computer.. oh well)
so I first did the long procedure.. fixing the partiation table using ptedit32.exe
and then runinng media direct repair utility version A03.exe..

furtunately.. after running the utitliy i was able to access media direct, and everything seemed to be working fine.
That was untill i tried boot up my computer to the main os.
now i get the error

Windows couldn not start because the following file is missing or currupt:
"Windows root"\system32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

In an attemp to fix this issue i ran the windows mce installation cd again in repair mode.. went to thhe system32 directory, and foudn that the file does exist

so i thought either hal.dll is currupt or "windows root" is pointing to the wrong thing.

i did a little search and was able to download a copy of hal.dll and replaced my existing hal.dll with the downloaded one in repair mode.

this did not fix the issue.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

 

Which partition do you have Windows on? I had a similar problem when the MediaDirect repair utility changed the partition type of my Windows install from 07 to DE.

 

When I wiped my computer I deleted all visible partitions ( including the dell utility partition) and created one partition on which I installed my os.
No other partitions exists except for the 8 Mb unpartioned space.. which I guess is unavoidable...

 

Do you know of a way to view and/or change the partition type without going in Windows?
How did you resolve your problem.. when you ran into it?

Thanks

 

I had the same problem and MarkMcK helped helped me out. and this is how I fixed it. your boot.ini is pointing to the wrong partition (reason below). depending on where it is pointing right now, add an additional line so that it looks like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

this will give you the option to boot from partition 1 or 2. I am sure one of the two will work for you. You need to boot from a boot disk to edit the boot.ini file. I used erd commander (there are many other ways to edit the boot.ini). Why you get the hal error: when you install windows and move the entries in the partition table one up, the boot.ini will point to the wrong entry for windows. Once you find the correct one you can delete the obsolete line in the boot.ini.

there are several programs on the ultimate bootcd:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
that will allow you to edit the boot.ini

good luck

 

I just reformatted this laptop and erased all partitions except the 40 mb partition. I repaired MD2 using the repair utility. Everything seemed to be OK but I could not find the files in my computer. Before I reformatted my computer, I can find and play my music files using the update button in MD2 and now nothing happens. I really do not know what went wrong. I'm using XP Pro. Could somebody help me please.

 

I used Linux. Any bootable live CD will work. I like Ubuntu Live or Knoppix.

fdisk /dev/sda

p (print table, IIRC)

t (change partition ID)

7 (windows)

w (write table)

From some other posts though it sounds like this might not be your problem.

 

the type change happened to me too. changing that however did not help. The only thing that helped was making the first line in the partition table empty and move up the one that was in there (Mark's instructions). The only problem I got with DE was that every partition program I tried would not be able to read the partition table and returned error messages. This certainly should be changed back to 07, but the problem molebhai encounters sounds more like a problem with boot.ini.

hope molebhai will try both as I think that will resolve the problem

 

That seems to be a frequent occurrence. Why this happens is not understood. The system partition [C] is in the 'correct' location as far as MediaDirect is concerned so that shouldn't be an issue. I have thought that maybe the system partition has some file or registry entry that is lacking when a Windows reinstall is performed. Somebody that still has a Dell-delivered system partition will have to look around for us....

Mark

 

What i did to get media direct working again on my M1710, was so easy.

All i needed was the dell diagnostic cds, boot from that, and then just type the command, and then repair...easy as that

 

some of us have more complicated scenarios, e.g. several different operating systems. A repair can screw up the partition table and will certainly make media direct work again, however other operating systems may not work anymore.
good to hear you got this fixed with just the dell repair.

 

interesting


all i did was delete the larger partion (not the 47MB one)

thanks though

 

you would think it takes the library from the c partition, but apparently that is not the case. so, yes there must be an extra link between media direct and the library that dell created for that purpose. It's rather annoying to update the library by browsing to the files, especially if you have a large one. currently the only option for me to get my song library into media direct. would be cool to find out what exactly that is.

 

my mediadirect on E1405 can only recognize video files but mp3 files...it's driving me crazy. any idea why MD can't recognize my audio files?

 

Hi Mark,

I'm the owner of a new Inspiron 640m (equivalent to the e1405).

I didn't know anything about MediaDirect until I accidentally booted the system with that button the other day. By this time I had wiped the disk and installed Linux on my own partitioning setup. It presented a MediaDirect splash screen then presented my GRUB boot menu as usual.

I was curious, googled for MediaDirect, and eventually ended up here. I'm a Linux user/developer and it's really encouraging to see Dell shipping Linux solutions on these computers.

I had a quick attempt at getting MediaDirect up and running: I used the repair CD, but it didn't work (system wouldn't boot after running the repair). I tried the commands manually and md2fixer.exe told me MediaDirect is not present on the laptop.

It may be right - I appear to have said 'no' to the 2 media-related options on the order form.

The other possibility is that I have wiped the HPA, but I think that is very unlikely given that Linux's SATA drivers do not execute the ATA SET MAX command like the IDE drivers do, so the HPA is theoretically inaccessible to the O/S.

Anyway, it's a really neat idea, and I'm considering whacking up a quick fully-open Linux distribution as a replacement for MediaDirect (wouldn't be too much work, just booting and running MythTV would be a good start). Installing my own version into the HPA seems impractical, so I'd have to go for the 1308mb-partition approach like people who have replaced disks have to.

You have detailed some of the decisions which the boot code makes when deciding to boot the HPA-MediaDirect (active partitions and whatnot) but I have not found much information about the other boot method (the 1308mb visible partition approach). Do you have any information on how the boot code decides which partition to boot in this scenario? Presumably it does a little more than boot a partition sized approximately 1308mb.

Thanks!
Daniel Drake

 

I disassembled the MBR which mbrfixer.exe installed. Didn't find any clues, much to my surprise. I wonder if the mediadirect key patches the copy of the MBR kept in memory...

If anyone wants the disassembly, let me know.

 

Hey Daniel,

I've been corresponding with Dan Goodell wrt MediaDirect boot code and he has the best handle on how it operates. The HPA version is much more complex than the one used for the MediaDirect partition.

The 'partition' version is very simple in that it simply changes the partition type and active flag in the Partition Table to/from the system and MediaDirect partitions.

hth

Mark

 

Oh ok, so (in the case of the visible partition) the MediaDirect button actually modifies the partition table before running the MBR code? The MBR would then boot the active partition, which would be MediaDirect.

That would make some sense, but still leaves me with two questions:

1. Why do Dell replace the MBR with their own boot code? Their own code is very standard, doesn't do anything special: it simply looks for one active partition, and loads the boot sector of that partition into the appropriate place in memory.
(this was the main element of surprise after I completed disassembly of the MBR which mbrfixer.exe wrote...)

2. When the system is powered on by the MediaDirect button, it needs to make a decision about which partition to mark active. How does it know which one holds MediaDirect?

Thanks.

 

Hope that makes some sense....

Cheers

Mark

 

I'm still not clear why they need their own MBR code -- the MBR functionality it implements is very standard, it simply finds an active partition and boots it. How does that differ from the MBR code you'd find on a normal system?

Anyway, the idea about the bit in the BIOS is interesting. Do we know the location of this bit? Which area of memory is it kept in?

That is a more interesting possibility for me (thinking from the standpoint of developing a MediaDirect replacement): If this bit is accessible from a bootloader, I could modify grub to read it and make a decision based on its value. That would be ideal because it potentially avoids the annoyance where partition 1 must be inactive, partition 2 must be system partition.

Thanks for the hint about partition types, I'll try it out.

 

It not only has to find the active partition, it also needs to change the active partition if the MediaDirect button has been pushed.

The Dell boot code seems to check for the status of the bit in section 7E2C thru 7E38. That is based on info from Dan Goodell as I'm not an assembly language kinda-guy...

Mark

 

First of all, kudos to Mark for the most comprehensive MediaDirect thread anywhere on the inet! I've been following these posts for a month or so (since we first corresponded via email) but until now haven't found a reason to add anything. Hope I can provide some insight for dsd-Daniel here.

"Why do Dell replace the MBR with their own boot code? Their own code is very standard, doesn't do anything special: it simply looks for one active partition, and loads the boot sector of that partition into the appropriate place in memory. (this was the main element of surprise after I completed disassembly of the MBR which mbrfixer.exe wrote...)"

I think the key here is that the replacement MBR dsd ended up with is in fact a non-MD MBR, so he has been misled by his disassembly of the code. Mark has previously detailed the problem when the first descriptor in the partition table is 'active', and I suspect this is the situation dsd created for himself when he wiped the disk and reinstalled. Running mbrfixer.exe afterward installed a MBR incapable of booting any of the special Dell partitions (DellRestore, HPA MD, or non-HPA MD), so subsequently disassembling the MBR code will, naturally, not reveal how those partitions are supposed to boot.

FTR, I don't have a system with MD installed on it, but based on the MBRs Mark has sent me, I can tell you the following. Bear in mind, dsd, that you're not looking at a true Dell MBR. Here's how a true Dell MBR is supposed to work:

DellRestore: custom MBR looks over partition table for a partition of type 'DB'. If found, change 'DB' to '0C', make that partition 'active', then continue with typical boot process (i.e., pass control to the 'active' partition).

non-HPA MediaDirect: custom MBR looks over partition table for a partition of type 'D7'. If found, changes 'D7' to '07' and makes it 'active', then continue with typical boot process.

HPA MediaDirect: custom MBR (i.e., LBA Sector 0) looks for extra boot code in LBA Sector 3. If found, runs that code. The extra LBA3 code has within it a "fifth" partition table entry representing the hidden HPA partition. Through an orchestration of GETMAX/SETMAX commands and on-the-fly rewrite of the partition table, the MBR exposes the HPA and boots the partition within it.

(Dsd, I can send you disassemblies of the various Dell MBRs if you want to examine them in more detail. See my webpage at www.goodells.net/dellrestore for email addr therein.)

Lastly, let me add that IMHO the "first partition active" problem is an idiosyncracy caused because in the Dell scheme of things, the first partition is supposed to be their own DellUtility partition, and that's only supposed to be active in the initial "out-of-box" period when the new user faces the initial Dell EULA screens (embedded in the DellUtility partition). If the Dell MBR sees the first partition active, I suspect the Dell programmers are assuming the user has not agreed to the EULA yet, so insist on booting the first partition instead of MediaDirect. Note this is consistent with the evidence others have reported, wherein running mbrfixer.exe has changed the first partition to type 'DE', which in Dell-speak is the code for a DellUtility partition. That's why others have reported you should leave the DellUtility partition intact. (Or, per Mark's innovative workaround, move the active partition from slot 1 to any other slot in the partition table.)



Dan Goodell

 

Thanks for the informative replies. It is reassuring to know that the "should we boot MediaDirect" decision is done in the MBR (since this approach can easily be reimplemented in GRUB or similar).

Indeed, I had just realised that mbrfixer.exe must be something more than a simple mbr-zapper. After experimenting with a partition with type D7, I noticed that mbrfixer did absolutely nothing when a partition with type D7 is present. When I change the partition type back to something normal, mbrfixer proceeds as normal, rewriting that misleading "generic" MBR. I have started disassembling mbrfixer.exe but hopefully won't have to complete that...

It sounds like I'm really close to the answer I'm looking for, which is how to detect which button was used to power up the system at MBR level. I'll be emailing you for those extra disassemblies shortly. Thanks!

 

"I have started disassembling mbrfixer.exe but hopefully won't have to complete that..."

I think that would be a major project! As near as I can tell, mbrfixer.exe specifically looks for the DellRestore (DB), non-HPA mediaDirect (D7), and HPA-MediaDirect partitions, then custom-tailors a MBR to fit whatever it finds.

I started to look at mbrfixer.exe, but I don't have a decent exe debugger. Once I saw it was PKLite-compressed, I decided it wasn't worth the effort. (I imagine that's why Dell decided to compress it in the first place.)

 

Avoiding pklite was the easy part. mbrfixer.exe is 16kb uncompressed, so yes, quite large. I used dos debug to find the entry point then udis86.sourceforge.net to disassemble.

 

I'm trying to use the MediaDirect Reinstallation CD, but the setup is hanging at 10% & then an error screen pops up.

I currently have 3 partitions + 2GB of unpartitioned space at the end of the HD. Anybody know what's going on?

 

Can you post a screen grab of Windows Disk Management??? Might help sort out your problem

Mark

 

Here it is:

 

What it looks like to me is that you created an extended partition and within the extended partition created the D and F logical partitions. You'll note that you have ' Free Space' and not ' Unallocated' space.

When you made the extended partition you let it occupy all the unallocated space.

hth

Mark

 

I actually created the C & D partitions in the Windows Installation interface, & then I created partiton E in Windows after the installation was finished. So where do I go from here? Would I just delete the other 2 partitions & create a new one? How would I keep it from becoming another extended partition?

 

Assuming you first back up any data you have on the partitions, you can use Disk Management to delete all the partitions [except C].

Note: If after you delete the two partitions you still see a green "Free space" area depicted, be sure to right-click and delete that partition as well.

Then in the 'new' unllocated space you'll create two primary partitions sized so that you leave about 1500MB Unallocated. When you're done you should see the three primary partitions and then a graphic entry for the Unallocated space.

Just right click on the Disk Management graphic display and it will lead you from there.

hth

Mark

 

'Long' Repair Using R121517 MediaDirect_Repair A05

Note: These steps are for the newer Rev A05 version of MediaDirect Repair. If for some reason you have the 'old' Rev A03, you should read this post.

These steps are needed if you deleted the Dell Utility [~40MB] partition during Windows Reinstallation....

A. Overview: In addition to re-writing the Dell Boot code to the hard drive, you must also get the hard drive Partition Table into a MediaDirect 'friendly' configuration. The Dell boot code is very particular about the configuration of the Partition Table and will not run properly if certain changes are made.

WARNING.... The following guide is based on the assumption you deleted all partitions during the Windows reinstallation. Even though these steps are fairly tolerant of multiple partitions, it may or may not work. If your computer is in some other configuration, you're own your own... I would recommend that you get whatever partition changes you plan on performing done before doing your MediaDirect 'work'.

B. What you'll need....

• Head.zip
• PTEDIT32.zip
• VFD_Folders.exe

C. Creating a 'Backup' [The steps in this section are 'optional', but not a bad idea]

1. Extract the head.zip file and put MBRUtil.exe in the root "C" directory of your hard drive. [Delete the WipeTrk.exe and Wipetrkd.exe files as those are VERY dangerous utilities to have laying around. If you accidentally run them, they WILL cause serious problems.]

2. From Windows; Start Menu; Run; Enter mbrutil /sh=track0

That's mbrutil space /sh=track0

3. Now in your root directory you should see the track0 file; Copy this file to a location other than your laptop hard drive. This is your 'emergency' backup in case something goes 'bad'. If you did need to recover, you'd use the DOS utility, MBRUtilD.exe with the switch specified in the ReadMe.txt file contained in the original zip file.

D. Perform the 'Short Repair'

As per the instructions listed HERE complete the 'Short Repair'. When the Repair is complete remove the CD and reboot into Windows.

E. Modifying the Partition Table

1. Run the VFD_Folders.exe [which is a self-extracting archive]. Change the default path and extract the files to a folder of your choice [e.g. C:\Part_Chk]

2. Unzip the PTEdit32.zip file and place PtEdit32.exe in the C:\Part_Chk\VFD folder

3. Now simply double click on PtEdit32.exe and that should launch "PowerQuest Partition Table Editor"

You will see four rows numbered 1-4 and multiple columns.

The Partition Table should look something like this....

07......80......0.......1.......1.......1023....254.....63......63......21318192
00......00......0.......0.......0.......0.........0........0........0........0
00......00......0.......0.......0.......0.........0........0........0........0
00......00......0.......0.......0.......0.........0........0........0........0

4. Very carefully copy the values from row 1 to row 2. If you have other entries in the table, you'll need to shuffle them 'down' as needed to make room.

5. Double check your values in rows 1 & 2 and make sure they are IDENTICAL.

6. Now place zeros in all columns for row 1.

The Partition Table should look something like this....

00......00......0.......0.......0.......0.........0........0........0........0
07......80......0.......1.......1.......1023....254.....63......63......21318192
00......00......0.......0.......0.......0.........0........0........0........0
00......00......0.......0.......0.......0.........0........0........0........0

7. Save your changes and close the Editor window

8. You now have your Partition Table properly configured. MediaDirect expects Row 1 to NOT hold an active partition [ 80 in column two] and also expects your active system partition to be in Row 2. As we have no partition at all in Row 1 and we moved the active system partition to Row 2 we are 'compliant' from a MediaDirect point-of-view. As long as you follow those 'rules' you should be in good shape.


Caution: As was mentioned, the Partition Table configuration is critical to the correct function of MediaDirect. Any action, such as creating or deleting partitions with Windows Disk Management, will more than likely 'break' MediaDirect.

 

Well, I did what you said and got it to work. I left 1.5 GB of unallocated space & ran the reinstall disk. The reinstall utility actually only used up the last 1.4 GB of that space, so I was able to delete my E partition & recreate it, adding the remaining .1 GB to it. Thanks again!

 

With special 'Thanks' to tentonine and Pugsly from NBF.

MediaDirect 2.0 has a few attributes that are 'nice', but it can be a very troublesome feature to get/keep running and is not available on 'older' Dell laptops.

Here's an idea on a different implementation. It provides some flexibility in that the MediaDirect partition and its files/applications are readily accessible and it does not require any special Dell boot code. I'll admit I haven't really 'wrung' this out, so you're a bit on your own....

A. What you'll need....

• MediaDirect 2.0 Reinstallation CD
• PTEDIT32.zip [Windows Version]
• VFD_Folders.exe
• PTEDIT.zip [DOS Version]

Note: There are to my knowledge at least two version of the MediaDirect Reinstallation CD [RJ262 and DH371]. You'll want to get the version that corresponds to your hardware/chipset.

In comparing the two readme.txt files in the respective Program Files\Intel\INFInst folder...

DH371

* Product: Intel(R) Chipset Software Installation Utility
* Release: Production Version
* Version: 6.1.0.1008
* Target Chipset#: Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML
* Date: June 10, 2004

RJ262

* Product: Intel(R) Chipset Software Installation Utility
* Release: Production
* Version: 7.2.2.1006
* Target Chipset(s)#: 955X/XM/975X/945G/P/PL/GM/PM/GMS/940GML/E7230/E8501
* Date: October 13 2005

One identifying feature between the two versions is that DH371 has only a single XPEI.exe file in CD root directory whereas RJ262 has a XPEI1.exe and XPEI2.exe files. For my E1505 I needed to use RJ262. DH371 wouldn't work.
​

B. Create a DOS Boot Device

1. You'll need to create a CD or USB Flash drive which will allow you to boot to DOS. Place the DOS version of the Partition Table Editor [ptedit.exe] on the device.

2. Here's a couple of resources if you need them...

Bay Wolf Flash Drive Info

Bart's Way Boot CD​

C. Create the Partition

Using Windows Disk Management create 1.5GB NTFS primary partition for MediaDirect with drive label ' X'. This partition can be positioned anywhere on the hard drive.​

D. Extract the Files

1. Insert the MediaDirect 2.0 Reinstallation CD. Press the ESC key to terminate the auto-run program.

2. Browse the root of the CD for the XPEI1.exe and XPEI2.exe files [If using DH371, you'll only see a single XPEI.exe file]

3. Double click on XPEI1.exe and monitor the hard drive activity light as the files are extracted to the X partition.

4. After approximately 20 seconds the hard drive activity light should extinquish. Double click on XPEI2.exe and again monitor the drive activity light. File extraction should take slightly over a minute. You can also watch the shaded highlight of the file name switch from grey to blue.​

E. Modifying the Boot.ini File

1. Run the VFD_Folders.exe [which is a self-extracting archive]. Change the default path and extract the files to a folder of your choice [e.g. C:\Part_Chk]

2. Unzip the PTEdit32.zip file and place PtEdit32.exe in the C:\Part_Chk\VFD folder

3. Now simply double click on PtEdit32.exe and that should launch "PowerQuest Partition Table Editor"

You will see four rows numbered 1-4 and multiple columns.

The Partition Table should look something like this....

07......80......0.........1.......1.......1019....254.....63......63.............16386237
07......00......1020....0.......1.......1023....254.....63......16386300....3068415
00......00......0.........0.......0.......0.........0........0........0...............0
00......00......0.........0.......0.......0.........0........0........0...............0​

4. Look thru your Partition Table and identify which row/slot lists the values for your system partition and MediaDirect ' X' partition. You'll need to do this based on 'Type' [look for NTFS partitions 07] and 'Sectors' [This equates to the size of the partition e.g. 3068415 = 1.5GB]

5. Find the boot.ini file in your C system and X MediaDirect partitions. It is a hidden file in the 'root' directory of the respective disk/volume.

IF the Partition Table is as specified in Step 3, modify both boot.ini files as follows....

XP....

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Dell MediaDirect" /fastdetect /KERNEL=NTOSBOOT.EXE /maxmem=256​

MediaDirect....

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Dell MediaDirect" /fastdetect /KERNEL=NTOSBOOT.EXE /maxmem=256​

Depending on how your Partition Table is configured, your entries may be different. The value in the boot.ini file is based on which slot you're trying to 'point' to in the table. BUT you must not 'count' any empty or extended partitions when you're trying to figure out what value to use.

A quick example...

For this Partition Table:

07......80......0.........1.......1.......1019....254.....63......63.............16386237
07......00......1020....0.......1.......1023....254.....63......16386300....4546395
0F......00......1023....0.......0.......1023....254.....63......20932695....11374020
07......00......1023....0.......0.......1023....254.....63......32306715....4546395​

• The partition listed in Row 1 in the boot.ini file would be identified with partition(1)
• The partition listed in Row 2 in the boot.ini file would be identified with partition(2)
• The partition listed in Row 4 in the boot.ini file would be identified with partition(3)

For a Partition Table like this...

07......80......0.........1.......1.......1019....254.....63......63.............16386237
00......00......0.........0.......0.......0.........0........0........0...............0
0F......00......1023....0.......0.......1023....254.....63......20932695....11374020
07......00......1023....0.......0.......1023....254.....63......32306715....4546395​

Row 1 -- partition( 1)
Row 4 -- partition( 2)​

F. MediaDirect Installation

1. At this point the MediaDirect baseline files are in the partition, but the Windows XP Embedded software has not been fully configured.

2. Using the Windows version of PTEdit set MediaDirect 'X' partition active; Change slot 1 'Boot' value from 80 to 00; Change slot 2 'Boot' value from 00 to 80

The Partition Table should look something like this....

07...... 00......0.........1.......1.......1019....254.....63......63.............16386237
07...... 80......1020....0.......1.......1023....254.....63......16386300....3068415
00......00......0.........0.......0.......0.........0........0........0...............0
00......00......0.........0.......0.......0.........0........0........0...............0​

3. From Windows restart, let computer boot to 'X' partition and allow it to complete MD installation; Black and White progress screen followed by Dell MediaDirect "Welcome" screen

4. Exit MediaDirect [When exiting the computer will Shutdown]​

G. Wrap Up

1. Use your boot device with ptedit.exe to restart your laptop

2. From DOS use ptedit to reset the active partition back to primary system partition [Basically... 'undo' step 2]

The Partition Table should look something like this....

07...... 80......0.........1.......1.......1019....254.....63......63.............16386237
07...... 00......1020....0.......1.......1023....254.....63......16386300....3068415
00......00......0.........0.......0.......0.........0........0........0...............0
00......00......0.........0.......0.......0.........0........0........0...............0​

3. Save your changes, reboot and use boot.ini menu to select desired action... Boot to XP; Boot to MediaDirect​

Your done....

 

The link to the ISO is dead. I don't suppose anyone has it or knows of another location? I deleted all the partitions on my E1505 and would to have MediaDirect back. I created the necessary partition and installed Dell QuickSet, I just need the installation files for MediaDirect.

Thanks

 

An alternative would be to 'fix' what you've already got [i.e. the MediaDirect files/apps in the HPA].

You can read thru this thread and look for the appropriate 'long repair' [depending on which version of the Repair utility you plan to use].

If you go that route, I'd recommend you get your partitions squared-away before you start fixing MediaDirect. You won't need any partition for the Repair [and btw you don't use a partition for a Reinstall either].

Mark

 

I don't have anything to fix. I deleted every partition on the drive when I got it. I just read through some of the other thread and I'll delete the partition I made for MediaDirect. I read somewhere else to format an NTFS partition before trying to install it, but I guess you need unallocated space instead. I eventually went into the support chat and Dell is sending me "every CD" for my system:

Windows XP MCE CD
Drivers CD
MediaDirect CD
PowerDVD CD
Sonic CD
Applications CD

The only discs that came with my E1505 were MCE and the drivers CD. And most of the drivers wouldn't install properly, I had to download them from Dell's website. So hopefully I'll have the MediaDirect CD in a few days and I can get it working.

 

Does anybody have a RJ262 Disk they could mail me, that I could return when I'm finished? I keep getting DH371 from Dell, and I'm at my wits end. PM me you have one. thanks.

 

Actually you do.... The MediaDirect files and apps are still 'intact' in a 'reserved' section of your hard drive which cannot be accessed via Windows or most other utilities.

Nothing says you can't do a reinstall if you like, but just so you know the 'original' files are still available....

Also, if you go the Reinstall route, just be sure you have a CD which will work for your E1505. The CD I first received [DH371] would not work. I subsequently used a RJ262 version.

hth

Mark

 

Have you tried requesting the disc specifically by the disc number (RJ262)?

 

I don't believe this is correct in my case. When I got the laptop, I popped in an XP Pro CD and used it to delete every partition on the hard drive. I recall deleting a partition that was around 1 gig, one aroung 3 gigs, and the main Windows partition. When it was done, there was nothing on the drive, it was completely blank. Windows installation CD's have the ability to delete any partition on a hard drive, even ones that the Windows OS can't understand. I did this because I wanted to remove all proprietary Dell software and start from scratch, only putting back on what I wanted. The mistake I made was assuming between the MCE CD and resource CD, I had everything I needed to accomplish this. As of right now, I have XP Pro SP2 installed along with all the drivers for the video, audio, chipset, modem, network (ethernet and wifi), touchpad, and card reader. After reading it was required for MediaDirect, I also reinstalled QuickSet. Like I said early, I created a partition for MediaDirect, which I will delete and leave as unallocated space for the install.

 

Yes, I tried that last week, but was still sent the DH371 Disk.

 

I'm with you there.... but the MediaDirect files, as delivered from Dell, are not on a partition.

What's going on is that the hard drive controller, in essence, 'fibs' about the hard drive geometry to whoever asks [Windows Reinstall DVD, Windows, partitioning software, etc etc]. The 'real' hard drive is bigger than reported out by the controller with the difference being accounted for by the 'reserved' area where the MediaDirect files are located [This is called the Host-protected Area of the hard drive].

The Dell boot code 'knows' about the HPA and is able to 'speak' to the hard drive controller to hide/unhide this area.

Just so you know what's going on 'under-the-hood'

Mark

 

OK, I see what you're saying. I think at this point I might as well just wait a day or two for the CD's from dell, assuming they send me the right one. Just so I'm clear on this, everything I've done so far should allow me to reinstall MediaDirect without problems, correct? I have one partition taking up all but about a gig of space. I'm going to use Partition Magic to reduce the size of my partition to make sure MediaDirect has enough room. I'll leave that unallocated and then if there's anything left over once it's done, I can add that space back to my main partition. At that point I should be good, right? Also, can you tell me how much space is being taken up by hidden MediaDirect files? I'm just curious how much space I'm losing because of them.

 

A word of caution if you plan on using BootMagic. It may 'hose up' the Dell boot code. I haven't checked yet, but I have a good idea that it might.

vr

Mark

 

Are you saying the hidden files are taking up about 1.4 gigs and then the new partition will take up another 1.4 gigs or so, so the whole thing will be using up around 3 gigs? I didn't realize there'd be that much space being eaten up by this thing. Is there any real advantage of using MediaDirect instead of booting into Windows and using whatever media player application besides saving on the boot time? Perhaps greater battery life since Windows doesn't need to be loaded and therefore it might use less processing power?

 

Not sure I'm getting you where you 'want' to go, but hth...

Mark

 

Let me just say, it does offer better battry life, but not by much if you kill unneeded processes and shut off wireless in Windows. It does boot quicker, unless you just hibernate Windows Xp -- in which case its about the same over all.

And, it does have some issues.

For instance: On a plane trip last week to Seattle (a 5 hr flight from Nashville) I brought the laptop to watch movies/listen to MP3's.

Raiders of the Lost Ark went without a hitch, as did the beginning of Romancing the Stone. I then decided to STOP the movie and listen to MP3's. Well, it couldn't "find" any of my MP3's -- kept displaying some weird message about unable to sync library. Eventually it froze.

Well, after being "frozen" for about ~5 minutes I did what any normal person would do, and powered it off manually by pressing the power button (as the Media Direct was unresponsive).

After power down, I tried to power back into MD and got a message about "Windows unable to boot, etc." So, in other words, MD was fried.

Well, Windows worked fine so on the return trip I used Windows to watch movies/listen to MP3's. When I got home, I ran the mediaDirect repair utility and all was good again.

Lesson learned: I'm keeping the MediaDirect repair CD in the case with the laptop. No telling when I'll need it. However, I may just use Windows to watch movies anyway.

As a side note regarding battery life: It seemed that in the whole scheme of things to be at the most about an extra 20 minutes through 1/2 the battery (on the 9 cell). Also, one benefit to Windows was the clock. I'd have liked to have a clock accessible in the MD implementation of the player.