Does Dell whitelist equipment in BIOS?

I have Latitude D630 which I am looking a replacement for among Latitude/Precision or Lenovo's T/X/W series. I noticed that Lenovo makes it difficult to install WWAN, WLAN that you've bought elsewhere by whitelisting approved equipment in BIOS. There are no such restrictions in D630. However, did Dell start to use whitelist in E6X20 or MX600?

 

Bringing this back from the dead because I'd like to know too. I'm sick of Lenovo's BS and a Latitude is my prime candidate for my next laptop...

 

No. They do not. As long as it fits in the slot, it should work fine... provided you have the antenna cables.

 

I've been told(currently trying to verify this) that with the 6410/6420's and similar models then you have to a specific card as well. If its not the card then its something else. Here's a link.

 

That would be a new one on me. I've personally never had an issue junior. Also, that seems to be a driver issue... not a whitelist, per se. The hardware itself works, and the BIOS recognized it fine.

 

I can confirm that you can pick up any wireless card and put it in a Latitude machines. I regularly buy upgrade WLAN cards from various sources and have never had an issue. The issue with the WWAN cards is in the installer - I believe it's because of FCC and other validation maybe, but the installer for a given card (5530, 5540, 5550 etc) will only run on a laptop from the generation that the card is designed for.

You can, however, get the drivers off a machine that already has it installed and use these to install ANY generation of card into any latitude. There is no hardware lock or restriction. I use the latest HSPA+ 5550 cards in Latitude D630 laptops.

Dave

 

same, i always been able to go to what ever site the wirless card was used on and at worst extract the drivers manually and install them.