M6600 Owners Thread

That was my concern, do you have IPS? I have a feeling nvidia cant do it aswell with IPS.

Was thinking to widi so I get a monitor close to bed for night use ~~

 

Yes, WiDi is an Intel technology that makes use of some special support from the Intel GPU. You can't use the Intel GPU if you have the IPS screen so I doubt WiDi will work.

 

If you remove dGPU, M6600 will start on iGPU. Maybe then you will be able to use WiDi.

BTW. That's because of missing Switchable Graphics in M6600 Bios.

Intel HD/ Intel Widi: We have it, we paid for it, but we can't use it!

 

Oh well, not that it's a commodity anyway. A long enough HDMI cable can output the same display quality as the WiDi, if not better, and without a delay in the graphics. I've seen some videos of WiDi in action, and a little bit of lag takes place in the TV monitors when mirroring the screens.

 

A. The AMD GPU does not offer switchable graphics in the M6600 so there is no way to tap into the Intel HD3000 core. This is an AMD limitation.

B. It is the NVidia GPU that facilitates the Optimus video switching and its management; not the Intel chipset.

C. The primary reason the NVidia Optimus feature is not enabled on IPS based systems is the fact that the display panel is 10bit and the Intel HD3000 cannot handle that via the eDP in the M6600. Therefore, the NVidia GPU hardware is active 100% of the time.

Regardless, if using a recent Intel WiFi card and a TV that is connected to your network, you can stream media directly to your TV from your laptop using the Windows Media Player "Send To" function just above the playlist field on the right side of the dashboard screen.


Scott-

 

1. I'm evaluating Windows 8 on my M6600 w/touchscreen. I've resolved all issues except the Broadcom USH w/swipe sensor. Is there a driver available for that? If not, is there one for the FIPS and will the FIPS fit where the current one is? The Broadcom fingerprint reader is more trouble than it's worth anyway.

2. I have the FirePro M8900 and abysmal battery life. I'm thinking that something that leverages the HD3000 might make a huge difference. What do you think? I don't know if one of the newer AMDs do or if I should buy a used 4000M off eBay, or maybe there is something newer, better, cheaper, more efficient now. I integrate business processes, work with RDBMSes, develop apps, monitor and adjust microwave links, surveys, manage IT, etc. AC is not always convenient even though available. I'm seldom doing anything graphical anymore, but Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are always on, and the screen brightness is usually up there. What do you think would be a good move?

 

1. See: Fingerprint driver for Windows 8 on Latitude E6520? - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community
Replacing the fingerprint reader requires replacing the entire palmrest and touchpad, I believe.

2. To use the HD3000, you must have an NVIDIA card. You'll also need a new heatsink if you switch the graphics card to NVIDIA. Graphics switching is not supported with AMD cards on the M6600... Though you can physically remove the AMD GPU and the machine will then boot up using the Intel GPU only. As for which card to get, just whatever fits your budget --- and low-end is fine if you don't do graphics-heavy work. The current models are the Quadro K-series used in the M6700 (K3000M, K4000M, K5000M). You can also use GeForce GPUs.

 

Perfect! That's exactly what I needed. That thread is all over the map, but I was able to determine the only two steps required. Everything works perfectly now.

The three trouble areas are the touch screen, touch pad, and fingerprint reader. Here's what I've done to successfully make the transition:
Before the upgrade:
1. Upgrade to the latest of everything, ESPECIALLY FIRMWARE!. All of the firmware installers work in Windows 7 but not Windows 8. I visited Dell first, and then went to Intel and ran their driver checker there. It found a newer one for my wireless that Dell didn't have yet. I tried the driver scanner hawked by HWinfo64, but when I tracked down the recommendations, I found out they were bogus for some reason, so I just went down the hardware in Device Manager. I have a touch screen, so I had to get the latest beta stuff from the N-Trig site. http://www.n-trig.com/Content.aspx?Page=Downloads_Drivers

2. Remove what the upgrade wizard says is incompatible or has to be removed for the upgrade. In the movies they show letting the upgrade wizard remove it but in the real world you always end up with at least something that requires a reboot, which nixes your upgrade.

After the upgrade:
1. TouchPad:
Windows 8 won't use the Dell touchpad drivers, and sees it as a generic mouse so it won't even show up in device manager. This also means you can't have it turn off when you plug in a mouse and gestures don't work. You need to download and install the Alps Touchpad driver available from Gateway :
http://global-download.gateway.com/...&Step3=NV76R&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=GATEWAY&SC=PA_6G Once installed, you will have hundreds of mouse and point options you didn't have before, and gestures will work. Then calibrate the Touch pad

2. Fingerprint Reader
- Windows 8 requires uninstalling the Dell fingerprint software and you end up with a warning in Device Manager for Broadcom USH driver. That's what you want. Installing involves only three steps:
1. Install Dell ControlVault Windows Biometric Framework Integrated which for Windows 7 64bit has the name: DELL_CONTROLVAULT-WINDOWS-BI_A00_R308326.exe http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/driverdetails?driverid=R308326
2. Install Fingerprint application: http://sdrv.ms/TLGCEc
3. Reboot
4. After it boots up, and before you log in, you will see a link about setting up the fingerprint reader. Click it and set up your finger prints.

Caveat:: You must use the newly installed Digital Persona software to manage your fingerprints. The FMA, Finger Print Management Application available under "Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Biometric Devices" does not work under Windows 8. Not having an update for this application may be the only obstacle preventing Dell from providing Windows 8 support for this device.

Those insights will be useful to me.

Thanks!

 

Hey guys, not sure if this was answered already but I don't think I'd have the time to wade through the hundreds of pages. I just bought a Dell U2913WM 29" monitor. The native resolution is 2560x1080p. At first I tried connecting it display port to display port, but the laptop would not detect anything. I then tried DVI (monitor) to laptop (HDMI) and it works however I'm stuck on max res of 1920x1080, slider doesn't go higher. I've installed the driver for the U2913 and updated bios to A12. Still same problems. Anybody have any clue why the displayport won't work and/or why I can't go any higher than 1920x1080?

 

I don't know why the DisplayPort won't work but I can tell you that you'll have to get it working to get the resolution to go above 1920x1080. The highest you can send over DVI is 1920x1200, for higher you have to use dual-link DVI or DisplayPort.