Studio 15 media sensitive button problem

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19247625.aspx?PageIndex=1

Problems have been identified in Studio 1535/1537 as well as 1735/1737 which is four different systems and 4 different BIOS...looking like a hardware issue folks..


http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19247625/19450575.aspx#19450575

 

I've had my Studio 17 for about a month now, and I'm not seeing this issue.

 

It seems to be particular to the Studio 15.

 

Hmmm, I wonder if the more-compact innards of the Studio 15 make this issue appear more?

 

I hope not. My Studio 1536 never had these issues with a 64-bit OS, it really does seem partial to the 1535 model.

 

Maybe that's got something to do with why they made the 1537 in the first place.

I mean, look at the XPS M1530. It's still using the old Santa Rosa platform, same as the Studio 1535. Maybe Dell wouldn't have bothered upgrading the Studio 15 to the Montevina platform (1537) if there was nothing wrong with it. The XPS has been around longer, and there's still no Montevina version of it.

 

Hi,

I have received my dell studio 15 a couple of weeks back and wanted to check that since there is no fool-proof solution to this annoying problem, can i return the laptop to dell and get a refund? I had a sony before and never had any problems with it.


Many Thanks,
Puneet

 

So far, this last replacement media panel has been behaving very well. Since it was replaced a few weeks ago, I have not had the eject button stick once. There's a good chance it won't affect you, and if it does, Dell will replace the panel for you.

You can still return the laptop if it's within 21 days of you receiving it. There may or may not be a 15% restocking fee, depending on your reason for returning.

 

My eject button is sticking EVERYTIME i switch on my laptop now! it's so frustrating, it used to be only once or twice. i've had it for just over a month now, don't think i could do anything. Maybe demand a new 1555 with the same specs? haha

 

Shut everything down, remove the battery and unplug AC power, and hold the power button for 30 seconds or so. That should keep it from happening, at least temporarily.

 

I've not tried that yet, but i don't see how we should have to, dell should fix their flaws instead of throwing out new models and forgetting about them.

I managed to look past it when it would only happen a couple times a day, but every boot is ridiculous.

And i hate phoning dell and everytime i get someone that can't speak proper english, so i have to repeat myself constantly or even literally spell it out for them, it doesn't help being scottish!

 

So, I've had my 1537 for less than a week and I've already stumbled upon this problem. -_- Oh what fun.

 

Haha, welcome to the club. Have Dell send you a replacement media hinge cover if you're comfortable installing it yourself, otherwise ask them to send a technician to do it. It may fix yours.

 

I received my fourth hinge cover last Friday (original + 1st one Dell sent + one at depot + 2nd one Dell sent). Same problem with media keys not working for 10 or so minutes at cold startup or extended sleep period.

My senior tech person who was supposed to be with me until the problem
is solved seemed to hand it over to his partner.

I'm getting a call tonight from the new guy. Last night I was out when he called and he wanted me to be in front of the laptop. I don't know why.

I also emailed Dells unresolved issues demanding a refund (link below). Received a reply that they will get back to me within 4 business days.

https://support.dell.com/support/to...nding_issues?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1

 

So, I contacted Dell and after trying a software "solution" of theirs they sent a technician to change the hinge. I tried shutting down and booting up and there was no issue this time. Though, only time will tell if it worked. I have a a feeling that time is probably tomorrow. -_-

Morning Update: Yep, I left it off all night and sure enough it did it again. The eject button is mocking me right now. >:|

 

After four days of waiting for dell to pick up my studio 15, they finally gave up on getting the courier out. Using the dell chat i was instructed to upgrade BIOS to A08, which obv doesnt work. They then took control of the laptop and decided to downgrade the BIOS to A02 which seems to have fixed the issue of the media buttons jamming and also a problem that i had of the DVD drive not completely pulling the disc in. Hopefully it will stay like this.

A02 BIOS:

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...eid=R198092&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=273837

 

Anyone know the big differences between A08 and A02? Apart from the obvious fixing of the media panel.

Stephenmahood can you write back if the media panel freezes again.

 

Yea, media panel freezed again, the fingerprint reader stopped working, the bluetooth stopped working, the speakers started to click and the cd drive still doesnt work. Getting dell out to tuesday to replace cd drive media panel speakers and motherboard for the fingerprint reader

 

For those still waiting on BIOS fix:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=316579

Just on 1537 and nothing regarding media touchpanel....

 

Dell finally came out and repalced motherboard, DVD Drive, Media Button Panel and Speakers everything seems to be working fine at the minute. The speakers are also much better than the older ones

 

Bios update does not fix eject freeze, what a surprise.

 

My multimedia buttons freeze at random times, after a few restarts I may gain the control of them. What should I do? This started happening after I sent it to get my defective DVD-RW replaced. They told me that they also have replaced the multimedia buttons.

 

Have them replace the media buttons again, seeing as that's probably what messed them up in the first place.

 

I will, Mastershroom. Another 2 weeks without my laptop.

 

Just have them send you the media panel to replace yourself, so you don't have to ship your system in to the service depot.

 

I posted my laptop on a buy/sell forum here in Colombia, I shall not tolerate this any longer!

 

Lol. Join the club.

 

did you sell yours too?

 

^Yep, that's how he got the Inspiron 1420 in his sig.

I'm holding on to mine, though. It's been a good machine aside from the eject issues. Besides, maybe if it keeps being a pain in the butt long enough, Dell will compensate me with awesome freebies like they did for rafucho.

 

Problem still hasnt occurred since dell replaced the motherboard, dvd drive, media bar, and speakers

 

Well hopefully they fix that issue soon so I can go back. For the time being I need something stable as coincidentally I have gotten a lot of requests to burn DVDs.

 

Afternoon guys, sorry for the long silence...

I'm just going to run through the things i've done since my last post.

Ok, So in an attempt to make the credit card method work better (ie stop the eject sticking ever rather than just reduce it), i cut a longer piece of credit card a n tried that... the problem got worse.

I called dell, they updated me to bios A08 (from A06) - no improvement, took about an hour on the phone.

Called them again they downgraded to A02 and said if that didn't work they'd send out a media panel (hinge cover). No improvement

I upgraded the Bios back to A08 myself and did firstly a clean HDD format and OS install from CDs. That lasted a few hours before I got fed up looking for drivers for an unknown device. So I didn't get chance to see if the install from CD fixed the problem. I then recovered the Factory Image from the recovery partition. That worked nice and smooth. Although speakers went quite again (just uninstall the driver, use windows default driver to make them work properly. This will kill the on screen display for touch button... reinstall quickset to make them work again.)

I called a 3rd time they said they'd send a technician with a hinge cover and a optical drive. I asked if I could just do it myself, they said the DVD drive was complicated.

They said tech support would call in the morning to arrange a time, I agreed any time after 2pm on Friday 29-05-09. I get a call at 8:30 am on Friday asking if I'm available because I was the first call of the day. Obviously I wasn't (at work) the guy called tech support and rearranged for Monday 01-06-09 (they can visit up to 8pm if you ask) The guy came today 01-06-09 with media panel and BlueRayDrive.

The hinge cover is easy but I'm glad I didn't try to fit the BlueRayDrive myself. The techie knew exactly what he was doing, where every screw and clip was etc, he worked like a machine. I am a production engineer and I was impressed! Back cover came off, hinge cover, keyboard taken out wires unclipped from the back and fed out the front, screen removed, various bits of trim and shielding removed... It took him half an hour to do both the cover and the drive.

I left the laptop turned off for 2 hours then turned it on. It seems ok. Still an eject sound when it starts and the sequence of lights at start up, but no sticky eject light. Also if you leave a cd in when you restart, it doesn't make the eject sound or eject . I'll post again in a couple of days, let you know how it goes.

In the mean time, keep badgering dell and make them work for our hard earned!

Have fun kids!

D

I'm starting to get good at handling customer care people, phone is off being fixed 3rd time under warranty (nokia 6500 slide 13months old), car been fixed 4th time under warranty (Suzuki Swift 11 months old), laptop being fixed under warranty (Dell Studio 1537 5 months old).

And no I haven't abused any of them at all!

 

so is the only long term solution is to get it replaced?

 

I don't think that Dell has a real "long term solution" to the problem, but if you complain to them, they probably will send you a new media panel/replace it for you.

 

This issue only started appearing to me a few weeks after purchasing my 1537. I don't seem to experience it when I put the laptop to sleep, which I do most of the time instead of fully turning it off. Anyway, my question is this: Do the chat techs seem to be aware of the issue to the point where they won't make me jump through 8000 hoops/diagnostics before they agree to send me a new media panel... or will they only send it after I've done 8000 pointless things that will clearly not fix the issue?

Since it does not bug me that much, if I have to do a full dumb diagnostic before they'll send me the panel, I'll probably just continue to ignore it. But if they seem aware of the issue to the point where I can say hey send me a new panel, and they say OK, then I'll call them up or jump on chat

Like today, my DSL went down for a bit. I ran the diagnostics on the modem before calling AT&T, and the modem could not reach/ping the ATM. When I called AT&T, he ran a diagnostic on my line, and also was not able to reach the ATM. YET, I still had to REBOOT MY COMPUTER before he could do the next step in his script... even though CLEARLY it was an issue at the ATM. Ahh, okay, I'll stop before I get on a tech support rant here

Ciao
--Eric

 

well yesterday after being on the phone with many "techs" and after reinstalling every driver and program involved in the optical drive(for some reason they dont believe me when i say my drive works fine) and the media panel. And after finally flashing my bios, they said call tomorrow and say if it fixed it for not. So i guess i get to call today and tell them it doesnt work

 

I've been living with the frequent random disc ejects after a cold boot. It is a LOT better than before, where it would max out the audio without my consent.

I wish Dell would fix their attitude about these issues. They will eventually turn into another GM/Chrysler/Ford by ignoring customers.

 

Their version of fixing the problem was releasing a new model. BAH!

 

Hey, it worked, didn't it? You never hear of a Studio 1555 with sticky eject button issues.

 

Woo Hooooooo!!!

Success!!!!

So in my post yesterday I said Dell came and replaced the optical drive and the media panel. I haven't had a dodgy eject yet! The laptop has been off for 3 hours then 8 hours then another 8 hours and it was perfect every time!

So what did I have to do to get dell to play? I hear you ask.

Upgrade from Bios B06 to A08
Downgrade to A02
(I chose to upgrade back to A08 and reinstall everything I didn't tell them)
Reseat the media panel
then they sent out a technician who replaced the media panel and optical drive.

My best tip is do what they say. Then when you phone back to tell them it didn't work, tell them the reference number from your previous phone calls so they can look up what has been done. Tell them "the last guy said he would send a media panel and optical drive if this didn't work".

Better still, reply to the email they send you after the first call and tell them it's still broken. Then the same guy will call you back and he will know where he left off.

It's so nice having buttons that work nicely! If you don't fix it, I tell you it'll really start to bother you the day your warranty runs out!

I'll post again in a few days just to confirm that it is a permanent fix.

Now all go and badger dell!!!!!!

D

 

Haha. Yes, that's true.

 

Well guys, this will hopefully be my last post.

The laptop has been off for 18hrs and the 4 hrs today. Both times it started with no random ejects or anything! Woo!

So the solution seems to be to get Dell to replace the optical drive and the media panel / hinge cover.

I'll keep reading this thread for a while to see how you all get on if you want to ask questions.

Good look and get badgering dell!

D

 

For those who are still having this problem, this might help.

Problem: Media Control Buttons Disfunction on Dell Studio 1535/1536/1537

Description: Media control buttons on Dell Studio 1535/1536/1537 systems may report intermittent disfunction issues.

The typical failures may include:
1. Media control buttons automatically light on.
2. Optical disk automatically ejected.
3. Some media control buttons have no response.

Solution:
Update firmware for system hinge cover.

Create a bootable CD:

NOTE: Please make sure you have CD imaging software installed in your system, which can create a bootable CD based on ISO image format.

1. Download the firmware installation file FM7_X0D.ISO, and save it in your system.
2. Run the CD imaging software to create a bootable CD based on this FM7_X0D.ISO file.

Take Roxio Creator as an example for the procedure.

1. Insert a blank writable CD in your system.
2. Open Roxio Creator.
3. Click File menu.
4. Go to New Project / Copy / Burn Disc Image to Disc.
5. Click Browse.
6. Add this FM7_X0D.ISO file from the location you saved.
7. Click button to continue, till complete the CD creation.

Flash firmware:
NOTE: Please make sure A/C power is being used while updating the firmware.

1. Insert this CD in your system.
2. Reboot the system, and enter one-time boot menu by pressing F12.
3. Boot from the CD drive.
4. The CD will autorun and update the firmware.
5. Once completed, screen will show pass and Flash Successful.
6. Shut down the system.
7. Remove A/C power cable and battery.
8. Replug in A/C power cable and battery to continue normal operation.

NOTE: Please make sure to remove A/C power and battery once firmware update completed.

Download Link: http://csmicfool.com/files/FW7_X0D.ISO
Credit: krypebud from Dell Community
Source: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19125998/19494905.aspx#19494905

Just to let you all know that this isn't a BIOS update. Personally, I have already run the update. So far so good. There is no harm in giving a try.

 

This would be amazing if it is a long term fix, i read through the dell thread, and i'm wondering why dell doesn't have it on their support site, and why did they only provide the file to one person...

I'm a bit weary to try it.

 

A few people at Dell Community reported that it fixes the problem. I ran the update too. No problems so far. Actually, I seldom face this eject problem. It only happens occasionally when my laptop is powered up from standby.

 

Interesting. I will give that a try. I have always suspected a firmware issue of some sort, I didn't know the media panel was programmable by the user.

 

I don't think the media panel has a firmware. Probably the firmware is for the hardware that controls the media panel.

metroplex: Kindly tell us whether it's working or not after flashing. Thanks.

 

Wow. FINALLY a possible fix!!! Will try when I get home in 2 months

+Rep.

 

I'm going to try it, nothing to lose since my media panel sticks every boot without fail!

Thanks for letting us know ps89

 

No problem. Hope that this solves the main problem that has plagued the Studio line for a long time.