!!HELP NEEDED!! drivers installation on m4400

Hi everyone!

I already started a thread about my PCMCIA card not functioning correctly, it disabled my Wireless card and i have to remove the PCMCIA and reboot to get it too function again. I suspect it might have something to do with the order in which i installed all the drivers. There is a "help" page on the Dell website http://support.dell.com/support/top...&component=-1&lang=-1&doclang=en&toggle=false

click "Installing Drivers in the right order"

Thing is that this help file doesn't use the same names for categories as they do on the actual driver page so it's a bit confusing at times. I didn't do a fresh OS install but tried to reinstall all the drivers in this order to solve the cardbus problem.

Here's what i've done. Actual category names of the Driver Page are in blue....names of categories in the "Help" page are written after them


System Utilities...or System and Configuration Utilies?
Dell - utility....system software
Dell - Utility....recommended Vista Power Management Settings

Chipset
Intel - Driver...Mobile chipset
Ricoh - Driver....R5C847

Video
nVidia - Driver....Quadro FX 770M

Network
Intel - Driver....825xx Gigabit Platform LAN Network Device
Intel - Diagnostics Utility....825xx Gigabit Platform LAN Network Device
Intel - Application....825xx Gigabit Platform LAN Network Device
(I don't have the bluetooth module or the minicards mentioned on the site)

Audio
IDT - Driver....92HDxxx HD Audio

Communication
No modem in my laptop

Network
Intel(R) WiFi Link 5300

Input Device Drivers...or Mouse & Keyboards?
Dell - Driver....Touchpad/pointing Stick

Then the tutorial just say install all other devices so...here's how i continued.

SATA Drives
Intel - Driver...Matrix Storage Manager. Downloaded and i just get a folder with files, no installer or anything...what to do with these?
Intel - Application....Matrix Storage Manager

System Management
Dell - Application....OpenManage Client Instrumentation

Diagnostics
Dell - Diagnostics Utility....32 Bit Diagnostics (GUI version)

After that i installed everything from the Applications category but somehow the Dell "ControlPoint Connection Manager" Doesn't install.
In the tutorial the PCMCIA card is specifically mentioned to be located in the "Security" category....surprise, surprise...that category doesn't exist!! Could it have to do with the Dell "ControlPoint Security Manager"?
I didn't install that because i didn't want to have the fingerprint reader enabled. Doesn't seem to have anything to do with the PCMCIA card but it's the only part in the driver page where security is even mentioned so, am i wrong?

Please help me out here.....if this list is correct (after your feedback)i'm thinking of doing one last fresh OS install

thx people!

 

Not sure I can help with the other wave of issues you're facing, but yes that order is correct.

 

Thx bud. I did try a fresh install in the meantime and installing the drvers as we speak. Fingers crossed and otherwise i'll let the tech-guy figure it out.

Found out that i'm really going to need the external soundcard because the sound is completely awful on external speakers!! Read about another model sounding bad (or was that the m4400 with XP) but this is terrible

I really hope i can get all this working cause i really, really dont want to have to return it and start looking for another option

 

I believe you're talking about the E6400-6500 which was experiencing some issues with the sound but installing the Intel Matrix Storage Manager fixed it up. Also, I didn't install the finger print system with this latest reformat. It slowed down my system bootup by 15-17 seconds and took 7-10 swipes for it to understand my finger. Terrible.

You don't have to return it. The M4400 has some of the best technical support I've ever experienced from a company in my life. Business models get "pro-support". Let me let you in on a little secret.

http://support.dell.com/support/top...t/chat/en/hardware_chat?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Try it, it works.

 

im surprised you find the fingerprint reader inaccurate. Personally, i was really happy with it. It recognises my swipe the first time, virtually every time

 

@ RAM

Yeah i know, support is great up until now but somehow i doubt they'll be able to fix the pcmcia issue...don't know why really. Just seems like a serious problem.
With the sound thing...i did install the matrix app and it's not that the sounds has pops and crackles it just lacks any bass. But i found some settings in the sound menu too boost the bass...i'll let you know if that works.
Anyway, tech-support is stoppin by today with 2 new screens for me too choose from so yeah, great supoport indeed
I'm not using the fingerprint reader either, changed too much in startup. I just want to get one screen, swipe and be done with it. If it makes startup longer it's pointless for me.

Thx for the link!! Is that meant too be used globally?

 

Im not sure how you expect bass from tiny 0.5" speakers...

And how did you get them to send you two new screens? Thats great support indeed.

And what did you mean by globally? Im in the US so Im not sure if they have it internationally, you can try.

 

If you are using Vista, just uninstall the sound driver in the device manager, then search for plug and play devices to install the standard Vista sound driver. It is much better than the IDT one.

Greg

 

@ RAM

I was talking about having it hooked up too external speakers, sounded like everything below mids was just cut out. The bass boost did work though (in the soundchip menu) You already read about the rest in the owners lounge i guess?

@speedymods
not necessary, sound is good after configuring the setup, thx anyway