m1330 driver issues

I've been having some issues with drivers, so I figure maybe people could post here if they are too. I couldn't find any other thread that was about drivers in general... sorry if I missed it!

Anyway, I'm still trying to figure out three things after doing a clean install of Vista Ultimate.

1. How do you actually use the m1330 remote control whooey?
2. Where do you get the fingerprint scanner drivers? I don't see them on support.dell.com... and the driver cd is a piece of junk since all the drivers come in unlabelled self-extracting archive files.
3. This isn't really a driver issue but the touchpad drivers/software totally blows if this is true... they seem to have removed the ability to use the top of the touchpad for going back and forwards in your browser (in IE - don't think works in Firefox unless recently added) / explorer. I use this function ALL THE TIME on my old laptop with the older version of touchpad software, so I'm hoping I'm just missing the option somehow.

Anyone have any ideas for these? I really want to scan my thumb!!! lol

 

FYI for 3.. I uninstalled dell's bloat/featureless touchpad software and put Synaptics's actual software on. There are more options (like turning off that god-awful coasting feature) but there is still no way to enable backwards/forwards, despite there being a test area that shows the top region of the touchpad can sense motions... :/

Edit: Okay, I took a deep breath and "installed" the dell driver cd.. I have no clue why it wants to you install anything.. apparently it even wrote some filth to my registry. Oh well. Anyway, once you do that, it lists the names of what's-what. So if you go and browse the cd, navigate to zipfiles\r156915.exe, you'll find one of those extracting exes that gives you the driver and software for the fingerprint reader.

Oh yeah and don't try to scroll on your touchpad from within the driver cd program if you install it.. it seems to crash when you do that. lol

 

I didn't want to start another thread, so I'll just add this here..

Anybody having trouble with their webcam? When I go to the Dell webcam manager, I sometimes get an error "unable to start webcam" or something like that.. it even tells me to plug it in, which is pretty silly. Rebooting seems to fix it.

 

Probably bad camera, ask tech support for replacement... I have a similar problem with wifi, it dies for no particular reason, that is, it functions but loses connection with the antennas, and it's not a software issue (I've restored windows to factory settings). reboots fixes that but then the problem occurs again.

 

Doh.. was hoping to avoid tech support since I'm leaving the province in 17 days... :/

I also have been noticing a weird graphical problem in Civ IV. I'm not sure if this is drivers or something wrong with my graphics card but both my desktop and my laptop have the latest nvidia drivers (from nvidia and dell respectively)... it seems to be random and doesn't always look like that. Sometimes it looks totally fine even.

 

I've noticed a pattern here.. the crazy graphics seem to come and go when the fan is really going. So my guess is the graphics card goes nuts when it is getting really hot. So the question is, I guess, is my card defective or does nvidia just make crummy cards? Now that I think of it, I have seen my desktop (nvidia card) do this with Oblivion when there is a lot going on on the screen...

Anybody have any similar issues? And has anybody got their remote working? I don't know where to get the software for it...

 

Make a list of all problems and contact dell for repair or replacement Me thinks ur issues go beyond the drivers

 

How do you even turn the webcam on??? Do I have to be in a chat video program or something?

In my old system I could just click the button (M1210) and the camera started.

With this one there seems to be just the Dell webcam console and no software to turn it on or see yourself...Am I missing something?

 

use webcam center, not console to see yourself/record

 

You got me nw its there for the amusement of all!!!!

When i first received the system I never checked out the webcam so....when i deleted everything i went to Dell and figured their 70mb download was all the software....

So after I wrote that, I went and looked at the disk and laughed my butt off....Its installed and working great.

Actually, my .3Mb picture by far supercedes that of my 1210...Im rather impressed with its clarity.

 

Gonna have to wait until I'm settled in B.C. for that I guess. I really don't believe in extended warranties but I'm tempted to call them up and see if I can still get it.. although, I am a believer in just buying a cooler new thing and putting the hundreds of dollars for an extended warranty towards that instead.. lol.

Anyway, my webcam actually has been working flawlessly lately.. I'm still thinking it's just unstable Windows or unstable Dell software or some combination of the two. Although, the graphics thing is troubling. I'll see how it handles Bioshock tomorrow.

 

GL with the move. BTW, did u try clean reinstall?

 

stick the DELL Drivers and Utilites disc and run AUTORUN, don't explore the CD yourself, Dell made an autorun program that features a list of drivers that you should have (with a check next to it)

 

The disk does nothing more than install the resource ; it doesnt automatically install the needed drivers.

The supported hardware is supposed to be all checked off but, at least in my case, there was no check by the fingerprin reader so I went through a period wondering what a biometric coprocessor was as it had a big exclamation mark beside it in my devices.

You need to have a healthy mix of the disk, separate supplied disks such as camera manager, and the updated drivers in Dell support

 

Wait, you would actually do Bioshock the disservice of playing it on a laptop, and on a 13" screen also?

aieee!

Bioshock deserves a 109" plasma!

 

flamenko (or anyone else), did you ever get your little remote control thinger working? I haven't found any software for it. Yeah, I had to hunt around for the stupid biometric coprocessor thing to. That was pretty annoying. lol

BadMrFrosty, yeah it sucks but I'm going to the other side of the country for only eight months and don't feel like shipping my 40 inch LCD TV + desktop and various accessories, etc.

Edit: Oh yeah and does anybody know if you can get nvidia drivers to work for dell laptops? I remember my old laptops always said that I didn't have an nvidia card even though I did. I guess it's modified for Dell somehow. I just hate when a new game comes out and I've gotta wait for Dell to come out with outdated drivers a few months later.