Zepto Znote 6625WD - BIOS z15N015

Just uploaded the new BIOS for 6625WD today.
This BIOS is for 6625WD ONLY.

ftp://ftp.zepto.dk/Znote6625WD/BIOS/6625_z15N015.iso

Changelog contains:

 

Let's hope this will please the 6625WD users so the BIOS team can move to the 6x24W BIOS.

John

 

A kingdom for an empty disc!

 

I'll wait 'till other people have tested it.

 

Just installed it, and the DPC latency did go down... almost always in the green area now!

 

This seems to be good BIOS. I think that fan control is a bit better now, but I haven't had problems with it earlier.

 

thanks...nice release date lol..april fools day

will try it out soon

 

Thanks I guess 6625 issues are now gone, with this BIOS the notebook is now perfect.

I'm glad I was able to beta test and help developing the new BIOS. I hope people will be satisfied with the new BIOS

 

still not as well as i hoped in terms of dcp latency and no way near what Rene's screenshot showed


(problem with my unit??)


* fan control is better i think..still need to test further (wrong fan turns on even during lightweight stuff like looking at pics/browsing web)

* dvd drive still missing in vista..still have to set ide device to none in bios for it to show up

* not as mny brightness levels as 004 BIOS

* cpu idle % is fine now, at 0-7 %


perhaps i have a problem with my unit and need to send it in ?? still under warranty and i have broken my hand so not using it as often

 

- Latency issue fixed
- Fan is now kicking in at 68c

 

fans start for me at 58 degrees Celsius and dont stop till temp goes down to 52..

sometimes they start at 52 and wont shut till 45

this is messed up..

 

What are Vista 64bit users using to check their CPU temps? I tried RMClock, but it didn't seem to work...and I want to work out if my fans are working as they should be!

 

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

download 64 bit version from left pane

you will have to expand the core two duo tree in the app to see the temp

 

Blackbird, we've tested both XP and Vista on both the Inventec based and the Compal based machines with latest BIOS'es and both look the same now. Vista is basically worse with a few spikes into the lowest yellow on our test machines, but it seems to be down to the OS and drivers now. There's nothing more we can do BIOS-wise now. One thing to remember is that we've done all the testing with the drivers from our FTP.

 

i also tried with all drivers from your ftp

could it be a fault with my system..since i have had problems since i had gotten it?

send it to you guys perhaps??

 

Hmmm i wonder what you use for mahines over at zepto's or is it just us getting crap when buying.. hmmm harsh words perhaps but after installing 015 well i get even wors dpc latency.. around 1000 and more spikes then with 004 the cpu idle is better than 011 but still 004 is better there aswell same goes with the screen control only thing that is just as good is the fan control buth then again i never had any probbs with that nor with 004 or with 011 but the rest.. hmm i'm not even close to the values you get at zeptos test machine.

So confusing...

Ps. If there are anyone out there that can reproduce zeptos dpc latency values no higher than 500 (all green atleast) please let me know.

 

Well I can confirm that I have improved from 4000 microseconds plus accross the board to all greens bar the occasional yellow every 15 seconds or so...this is when I am not running any other programmes. If not idling, i find I get more inconsistant timings but all in all a marked improvment. CPU idling at 0-7% as promised (down from 10%-15% before) and I think the fans are quieter in general (i.e. not always on) but the tradeoff is that the surface of laptop is much warmer to the touch...

 

Rene,

Could you help me in building an RMA case, as you know the types of problems I have.

Thanks

 

And my latest scores... system at idle...

 

crazy ey...

 

I'm happy there's an improvement, but I'll hold judgement until I've had a chance
to use the system a few days under the new BIOS. I only 'just' installed it a
couple of hours ago. I admit though, at this point I'm jaded.

QUICK UPDATE: On a whim I thought I'd play a game. For the first time
ever while playing, the entire system shut down unexpectantly and without
warning. Probably not BIOS, but it's an awful coincidence.

 

testing this on my 2.2ghz xp sp2, built in November.
At idle, latencies are around 50-60 micro seconds. When loading programs which usually cause a few moments of drag the latency will spike >1ms - not a problem. I have had two almighty spikes of 4.5ms, which are a problem since my external Focusrite soundcard does not respond well to these. They were however when I was pushing the computer to produce such a fault (in an audio program, Ableton Live, which is the environment in which I want the low latencies). On a quick preliminary look it seems like I can effectively run my soundcard at lower latencies without glitching, which is certainly positive.

I will spend some time with my audio programs tomorrow and see how well everything works over a more prolonged period of time. Don't want to say anything now and tempt fate...

 

Installed BIOS and one thing I noticed is that the fan control is really improved, it's not always-on anymore!

 

say, anyone tried updating with USB pen drive?

seems like an awful waste burning cdr every time bios upgrade comes round from the corner..

Update: After BIOS upgrade picture..

 

I also wondered... unfortunately I had no CD-RW, so I had to use my last CD-R for it. A CD-RW could at least be used for other stuff afterwards.
Is there even a way to boot from USB via F10 (this seems to be some special Zepto boot menu) ?

I think this is also some kind of security feature that prevents you from:
- copying incomplete or altered (By virus) files
- Having other files on the medium which may interfere with bios update
- incompatible file systems

Otherwise I'm always a bit concerned if the CD I use is free of errors... so using a self-burned CD on the other hand for BIOS updates is again risky somehow because of the physical damage that may happen to the disk after burning it or the CD-quality you choose.

 

I would hope that the BIOS update program has error checking built into itself and the BIOS update file to eliminate the risk of data corruption (which has been around since the days of the floppy disk).

We previously debated whether or not there was increased risk of using a rewritable CD for the BIOS update. I don't think there was a conclusion - its over to user preference.

I was also wondering about using a bootable flash drive. I think the BIOS supports that option but the other problem is formatting / writing a flash drive so it is bootable. Here's a guide if someone wants to try.

John

 

I used a dvd + rw for the upgrade this time, wondering if perhaps there was some corruption (hence my problems and bsod)

I wish they would provide a md5 for each bios, so that we can compare.

Going to burn at slowest speed onto non rewritable CD and install bios again (is there some special technique to install bios or should i install as usual)

 

To update BIOS from a USB-memory is no problem at all. We do it all the time in house.
You just need to make a bootable USB device with a DOS environment on. There's a good program called "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" that does this.
Then you just open the .iso file with WinRAR or similar, and drag the files into a folder on the USB-drive.

 

There's no special technique to flash the BIOS.

However, the new BIOS comes with its own set of default settings so you need to work through and change anything to match your installation. For example, emable AHCI and then Turbo Memory.

John

 

just re flashed the bios after burning to cd-r using method on zepto ftp

DCP with default BIOS settings (dvd drive doesnt show up in the OS)




DCP with modified BIOS settings (changed IDE detection for dvd drive to NONE from AUTO, this is needed for drive to show up in OS)





Fan also seems to come on more often and less consistent with what temps causes it to come on using modified BIOS settings

Enabling ahci causes bsod upon boot followed by a restart ..all the time

 

Are you suggesting there is a correlation between making the ODD visible and increased latency?

You don't need AHCI unless you want to use Turbo Memory, so only re-enable AHCI if you used it previously. Otherwise Windows won't have the right storage driver loaded and you get the BSOD.

John

 

the dcp latency before and after seem to show such a correlation..

 

I installed my windows ultimate with AHCI disabled..

then I did this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976/en-gb
in registry, enabled AHCI from BIOS then it booted in fine.

I only turned AHCI on to enable NCQ. Though I have no way to tell if it's enabled or not

 

ok this is really pissing me off


i leave my laptop untouched in idle state and fans come on and off...stay on longer than they stay off

this is it, ive had enough...of this laptop goes to Denmark

 

Let me know how you get on with the service, blackbird.

 

yep, il log it all.

first i need to get rene to help me out with the rma case since he has read all my posts and is aware of what problems i have...

 

blackbird, i will have to have you contact the international support about this. I doubt the machine it defective though. I have nothing to do with the international support anymore and have no clue about how its handled.

 

hiya all!

When I try to install the new bios I allways get somthing like "unable to read file z15n015." I can't remember exactly what it was...

I've tried both a regular CD-r and a CD-rw with the same result. I'm using Nero to burn the image.

This happend to anyone else??

regards
Adam

 

well the fans are really annoying, and i want to have a dvd writer+burner put in instead of the dvd reader so for that i have to send the laptop in and while its their you can run some tests

nope.

use the method mentioned on the ftp to burn:

download iso again
download isorecorder
install isorecorder
open bios iso file with isorecorder and burn

 

Stupid me who didn't follow the instructions.... thank you that worked like a charm!!

The results are much better with the average staple at about 40 with every 16'th staple peaking at around 1000!

So, I'm cautiously possitive at this stage!
Thanks for the help!
Adam

 

glad to have helped, btw you on xp?

im going to try a few more things before sending laptop for rma

- clean dust (this sorted my stuttering and hopefully will sort the fan problem)
- install xp

 

the standby fix doesnt seem to work anymore, it only worked with the 004 bios for me

 

I too have had my first BSOD since the upgrade today..

Far from the usual Vista BSOD which would point to a file in the system, this time round it said "Hardware Malfunction, Please contact your hardware vendor"....

Let's hope it's not reoccuring..

I was listening to songs via Foobar2000, while playing warcraft 3 on this machine.

Fingers crossed...

 

Went back to XP (doesnt require messing with bios to get ODD visible) and here are the results for DCP



much better, all thats left is to hope the gfx doesnt stutter (fingers crossed)

 

Keeping our fingers crossed!

Yes, I'm also using XP.

My experience of the new BIOS is still possitive and the fans are much less active and therefore didn't result in flaming hot air spewing as before and the computer is a lot cooler ontop... However beneath (around the CPU i believe) it feels hotter than ever... But not totally sure about this though because the computer was allaround hot before!!

Another improvement (big improvement for me) is how it handles streaming content (svenskafans.com)! I had big problems watching streaming content and had to wait untill the buffering was finnished. I have 100mb/sek fiber so the connection wasn't the problem.

As of the new BIOS the problems are no longer!!

Thank you all for working hard and helping out us newbie (me)
Adam

 

any one know of a way to open and clean(dust) the laptop without voiding warranty??

 

Just do it carefully, and they won't even be able to notice it as far as I know. I did a couple of days ago.

Turn the laptop upside down, unscrew the largest piece, carefully lift it out. (You will need to apply some pressure, just don't over do it.) Unscrew both the screws that have a keyboard icon near them (One of the screws is under the lid you just opened, the other is left from that lid)
Turn the laptop keyboard side up, take a knife or thin piece of metal, carefully, without applying too much pressure, pry the keyboard out. Put the keyboard aside, and unscrew the metal plating on top of the GPU and CPU, you will need to move the plating around a bit if you don't detach your keyboard. I didn't, it is perfectly do able. Clean the dust out of the fan, and put the laptop back together.

If you still don't know how to do this, I'll try placing a guide here with pictures if you want.

 

Thanks mate, il manage .

 

Seems Z15N015 is a big improvement on my machine. The DPC is now a lot lower averaging at 20..50us on XP-32. Not as consistently low as other notebooks due to the strange spiking at ~1350us every now and again, but much better than before - so thanks for not ignoring the issue.

Vista-64 does not fare as well but still a lot better than Z15N011.

The bios is definitely not complete as we still need the problematic CDROM issue (set to none) sorted out and it would be great if the system "remembered" the last screen brightness set between boots/suspends.

Attached is a shot of what it generally looks like on XP-32.

 

After upgrading from 008 to 015 found that RMClock had to be re-configured- meaning I had the PC running smoothly with undervoltage at 1,0250 with the 008 bios. Now the lowest I can get is 1,0750 at x11 and consequently a raise in temp of 10 degrees when testing with Orthos.
Have used Blackbird's fine guide in configuring RMClock 2.35.
Anyone have a idea whats happened?