Latitude E6510 Owner's Lounge

A03 installed okay for me, 1394 was working before and after for me.

My replacement arrives tomorrow. They screwed up my order and forgot the backlit keyboard, but apparently a whole new system had to be built to get the backlit keyboard. Anyway, hope nothing is wrong with the ports on the new one.

 

Also, I've been getting random bluescreens when using TrueCrypt. Not sure if it's related to the fact that I'm running 64-bit (was running 32-bit previously without problems).

 

You can use Windows 7 embedded encryption system. When you'll first use it, Windows will pop-up a notification which, when clicked, will open a wizard, in requesting and helping you in backuping the encryption certificate, so that if you re-install Windows you can decrypt your files.

A strong account log-in password is recommended as well.
When you re-install Windows, make sure the the account user name and password is the same as well. Importing the certificate is not enough.

Tutorial: Encrypt Files on Your Hard Drive in Windows Vista/Seven [How To] | Windows 7 Security | Windows Tools, Help & Guides

 

Definitely a lot of missing stuff. I tried defaulting the BIOS, but that did not affect it. I think I'd tried it before. Either way, I did end up getting the system to "recognize" a new unknown device. Whether that's the firewire controller is still up for debate. I did so by going to the Dell support site and just started downloading and installing what was listed for my machine regardless of date. Maybe not the most informed strategy, but my thinking was "What the hell. Nothing else is working. May as well give it a go."

I got through the first 7 listed in "Applications" before rebooting. After the reboot, an unknown device appeared in Device Manager. (See the first screenshot.)

I then tried to update the driver by selecting an 1394 OHCI compliant driver. Windows warned me that it couldn't verify that it was compatible with my hardware by I pressed forward and: BSOD! Yeah.

However, upon the reboot, the device listed itself as a 1394 host bus controller in Device Manager. (See the second screenshot.) Whether that's because it's what it really is or just because I tried a 1394 driver, I'm not sure; but I suspect the latter. In any case, I tried several of the other 1394 drivers, including the legacy one and a Ricoh driver (because the Dell diagnostic utility listed it as a Ricoh 1394 controller). In every case, BSOD. Sweet.

So, that's where I'm at. A glimmer of hope without reinstalling Windows, which some other folks I've discussed this with agree should not be necessary--not that they've been able to give me the solution. Any more thoughts?

 

This is completely different than Truecrypt. Win7 has bitlocker which would be comparable to truecrypt, however I have found that truecrypt is easier to deal with.

 

GoodBytes, thanks for the info, but I'm mainly using TrueCrypt for encrypted file containers and external drives, not for the system drive.

 

Just got my new system with the internal backlit keyboard. ESD was 6/23, arrived via overnight on 6/3.

The keyboard is definitely different, besides the backlighting. Less "clacking" and much quieter. I think I prefer the backlit vs the non-backlit keyboard.

 

So, in further continuation of my IEEE 1394 problem, can anyone tell me:

1. Which driver is installed for your IEEE 1394 Host Bus Controller; and

2. If possible, where that driver is located on your system.

Much appreciated!

 

When you don't have a tpm, bitlocker can be a pain. This is why I went with a Latitude.

TrueCypt is okay, but it slowed my Inspiron to a crawl... it was horrendous. I went back to bitlocker, even though I had to use a flash drive to boot.

After playing with a tpm equipted laptop, I decided to go that route.

 

Huh. Looks like I'm back another step so the above doesn't apply. The "unknown device" turns out to have been Dell's accelerometer, which I'm patching now.

So, I'm still at the point of having the pre-boot diagnostics tell me that the IEEE 1394 controller is working fine, but Device Manager doesn't list it. Still hoping against hope that I don't have to do a fresh Windows install.

Incidentally, Dell support kicked me over to their software group who then tried to charge me $100+ for support. Nopes.