Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge, Part 2

when i'm using the dell E6400 on it's own w/o a port replicator, then i decide to hook it up to the port replicator, nothing happens. the laptop monitor is still active and the two displays hooked up to the port replicator are still in standby. however i can see that the keyboard and mouse hooked to the replicator lights up. How do I get the machine out of this state? If i completely shut down my machine and then hook it up to the replicator, everything works as expected. is there a way to fix this?

this is a nuisance as my work requires me to carry my notebook from meeting to meeting and it takes way too long for me to have to reboot every time, thanks to corporate bloatware!

 

BIOS A28 is out.

Fixes/Enhancements
------------------
1. Enhance slice battery display message.
2. Enhance Security Token.

 

Do you have the Intel or Nvidia GPU. If you have the Nvidia GPU, everything should auto-detect and everything setup properly on your 2 monitors as soon as you close the screen lid (assuming you don't use laptop screen).

If that is the case, have a look at Nvidia.com for the latest Geforce drivers for Windows 7/Vista. If you have XP... well... have fun! Can't say I didn't warned people about using a legacy OS on modern (2006+) hardware.

If you have the Intel solution.. Intel never had a good grasp on multi-monitor setups.

If you do have the latest Nvidia GPU drivers, modern OS, then do Fn+F8 to switch between display mods. If you have Windows 7, you can do Win+P on any keyboard on the system to switch between monitors.

 

I think Dell is very conservative to keep the fan activities as low as possible to maximize battery life. My fan is quite inactive during normal load and it starts to work under heavy load. Is there any software to control fan and its speed?

 

Windows 7 and Vista has the option to pick if you want the fan to be "Active" or "Passive". See Windows 7/Vista Power Options.
The laptop is not really warm, in reality. I encountered system FAR FAR hotter at idle state. This laptop is considered fairly cool operation (for a system of this performance). I think the problem is that the laptop base is in metal AND used as a extended heat sink. So it FEELS warmer, but the system is quiet cool. While most hot system, have their internal components actually burning hot.

 

how do i turn off the auto brightness permanently? i turned off the sensor in the bios but it keep coming back when i restart or come back from hibernation. I have the us FN+right arrow all the time. annoying.

 

Strange, it doesn't do that on my side.
If I turn it off, it's off. I forgot, but i think I installed Dell Control Point of the E6410 laptop, as Dell seamed to stop updating the drivers of the E6400. Same laptop really, so that is why it works. I don't have Dell graphic card drivers though. I use the Nvidia ones (for my Nvidia GPU, obviously).

 

Do you have the latest BIOS?
I think it was fixed in one of the previous versions.

 

unfortunately it's XP. and upgrading to windows 7 is not really an option as it's a company machine. the workaround i have right now is to peek open the notebook and go into the display and manually set the display to show my external LCD monitors. works for now i guess till i find a better solution.

 

That is why you should complain, on how a company in 2011, still uses a 2001 Operating System.
Put pressure on them to upgrade. Do that with several people, and you'll get a proper, properly secure (and not an OS with more security holes and a Swiss cheese), power saving (reduces electrical bill), faster, more flexible, more productive feature, OS.