Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

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Charles

 

Anything I can do to help. yldouright.

Just wanted to add...
My M4400 currently has two 125 GB SSD's... One serving as "primary boot" from the optical bay's HDD caddy.
In the near future.,
I will see what's involved getting these SSD's replaced by a couple of Seagate 500 GB Hybrid SSD/HDD 7.5 mm Drives for backup preparedness.
I will say if your like myself., Super-fast boot ups become irrelevant if your applying lengthy boot passwords for system bios, and Admin access, at start up.

Nevertheless...
I find utilizing Primary/Optical boot scenario is a strong fail-safe as the M4400 gets performance upgrades, with max component demands in mind from CPU/GPU.,

That is...
Until one gets comfortably aware of the M4400's GPU overheating threshold under a load..
Like for instance.,
Streaming HD1080p+ off Youtube... Your best efforts in keeping the system's cooling hardware clean and efficient, will serve you well. I've developed an intuitive sense with my M4400's ability to perform by simply keeping a list of recorded conditions when BSD's have occurred in the past.
If you haven't already,
With anti-virus "ON..." Download a version to "hardware monitor" and install.

Whenever placing heavier demands on the GPU. Observe and record the ambient (room temp) temperature if, and when, a BSD occurs. Now... Wait 5 min. and reboot.
At this point..
If you can cool the room in any way.. Do so. An open door, window, a small isolating fan near the air intake zone of your 4400's resting spot. Nothing annoying... Just some effort to move the air is very effect. Even if it's indirect air flow.
I should say at this point. If it's generally warmer in your area like mine in Calif, your going to have a wider spectrum from to high and low ambient temps.
That being said., Because I don't want to obsess with temp awareness every time I check an email or web browse, In keep a cooling pad on at all times the M4400 is on. The one I'm using is an old relic from the past, 98.' It was a garage sale find and charts a noticeable improvement on overall cooling.

When cool is vital.. Like when I decide to pullout some old game title like Combat Flight Simulator, I'll also have to grab plan B and C for cooling solutions.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...F8&qid=1461650199&sr=1-7&keywords=cooling+pad

http://www.amazon.com/Nihao®-Portable-Adjustable-Extracting-Cooling/dp/B01AWD9HOY/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1461650450&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=laptop+exstration+fans

These links are just examples.... My personal picks can be shared upon request.BUYER BEWARE on the cheaper extractor fans. They are hands-down.. the best way to cool a laptop but., Must be able to accommodate the M4400's vents and have some reliability in quality rating.

I can go on and on about this.

Ambient room at night, with a window open enough the make ambient temps drop to 68 degrees or lower is an optimal operating condition when your having the M4400 do normal to moderate the work of denser file media, in general.
When it's too warm outdoors, dictating unwanted symptoms compared to cooler days... This is when preventing any potentially tragic surprises from the unforeseen O.S. or hardware hick-up, comes to mind. Namely the commonly experienced, "System Crash," brought on by the GPU's inherent propensity to overheat, producing the ol' "in your face" Blue Screen Event.
This is where my overall point is emphasized...
The primary Drive's O.S. is always there to resume a normal boot up, in the event the optical has a fragmentation event in it's boot record.
The idea that two HDD's, SSD's or Hybrids, serving as primary /secondary boot sources is sound advice.

If you haven't read the entire thread's content starting from...
Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge Part 1.
You may find it informative. I did this with "note pad" on my desktop. You can create your own reference notes and sources to all comments with cut and paste.

I have plans for my M4400's PCMCIA Express Card bus but maybe this link below can expand your options.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=computers&field-keywords=mSATA+SSD+to+Express+Card&rh=n:541966,k:mSATA+SSD+to+Express+Card

The M4400 is still a decent machine and yes, It's way out gunned with today's high end alternatives. It wasn't meant to gamer but it can run some games.. Up thru 2008.
The HDMI is still useful for many... And life goes on without USB3.

That said., It is what it is...
Have some fun with some tech we still have a say about..
Good luck, yldouright.

 

After years of sterling service my M4400 appears to have developed a fault. The screen has suddenly dimmed with a pronounced purple/blue tint.
If I use an lcd test screen image, I can see all of the graduated colours correctly, just with a tint, which implies it's not a problem with the LCD or ribbon cable!
If I connect it to an external monitor, it all looks normal.
The machine has a WUXGA panel with an RGB-LED backlight, and I'm wondering if it's possible for the Green LED in the backlight to have stopped working!
If so - any way of testing this, or controlling the brightness of each LED independently?
Also if it is faulty, what part is the most likely candidate that would require replacement?

I'm loathed to retire this machine yet, as it's the last of the Dell Precisions with 1920x1200 screens, and has a keyboard with proper cursor, home and end keys!

Thanks - Rufus.

 

Hello Rufus.
As you can see.. This thread still has a purpose for M4400 Owner's.
This is why I try to respond as an "intermediate" source of feedback.
I've only had my M44000 for about a year to date.

Sorry to hear you've got a troubleshooting task ahead but it sounds like your aware of the overall picture and better off then some.
Since the day I got my used M4400., I started with F5'ing the internal screen to a bigger external monitor just for general use as a desktop screen.

I figured it would help preserve the life of the WUXGA screen while I use the M4400 in a stationary location 85%+ of the time of it's operation. It can also reduce the system's heat load a bit. And of course... You can use a big external monitor for preferred viewing, etc.

Please if you can, Rufus.... Share what you find regarding your adventures in solutions to this repair issue. It may help those down the road.
I can say with some confidence., We M4400 Owners feed off the right information for developments like these.

Sorry I can't add more to the troubleshooting process accept for the following...

Ebay has used and salvaged Dell M4400's, parts, components, upgrades, etc.
Personally speaking...
I've been wanting to get a complete backup replacement M4400 for just parts, etc. I think your issue with the screen / system board is worth the expense and trouble to
rebuild if disassembly is not a headache.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...Dell+M4400.TRS0&_nkw=dell+m4400&_sacat=175672

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precis...214437?hash=item281999fea5:g:dIoAAOSwoudW8bCE

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precis...f8bdbd&pid=100010&rk=3&rkt=19&sd=172228214437
Links above are just examples..

Check E Bay now and then for the favorable choice

......................

If you already haven't gone to a Dell's Support Site...
Dell Support is good for ONE thing free... lol.. They have a complete archive of their system manuals.

http://en.community.dell.com/?~ck=mn

Type in manuals in the search box, etc.


In my case... I downloaded all M4400 and/or M4200 documentation. (M4200 is the same spec as M4400)
There., You'll find a complete disassembly charts, and a instructions/procedures section, within the manuals themselves.

Dell may have you register your machine as the "new owner" if you got the system used. They'll have you scan your system if your using it at the time with a diagnostic, which ID's your unit against the original configuration.. No worries.
Just check the box when they confirm your intentions of use. "fair use compliance" yada yada.

Overall., They provide you with a "current state" report and your rights to OEM OS on system components, including any changes to the system, post original sales date.

My personal opinion would have you avoid free offers for a Win10 upgrade at all costs.

You'll also be welcomed to visit and access all Dell Support Forums and Q & A feedback.

Please know.. You're on one, if not, the best Dell M4400 Precision Workstation threads around. Drop in now and then to keep it alive.

Good Luck, Rufus

 

Just a quick update to my M4400 screen issue. I didn't have any luck finding a low cost RGB screen in the UK, and was considering purchasing a new machine from Dell Outlet. Reading the M7510 owner's thread in preparation, I chanced upon a posting by a current M6500 owner with a similar backlight, who described an identical issue.

Their solution was to disconnect the battery and power supply, then hold down the power button for 10 seconds to clear any residual power. This they needed to do every few weeks during the life of the laptop!

I gave it a go, and I can happily report that my RGB LED backlight is displaying normal colours once more. It's now been two weeks, without reoccurence.

In other news I have also ordered a M7510, so might bring my M4400 home for a peaceful retirement!

 

I upgraded my M4400 from Windows 7 to Windows 10, and I'm very pleased with the result. The increase in speed is even more than a big upgrade in processor speed, I think. Under heavy load, Windows 7 was dropping my VPN connection and lagging. Windows 10 is simply not under heavy load, even if I start all the same programs. CPU graph shows it was cruising at 50-70% and spiking up to 100% fairly often under Windows 7, now cruising at 10-30% and rarely peaking over 50% under Windows 10.

I did a clean install, and I'm using whatever driver Windows 10 installed for my NVidia 770 (9.18.13.4192, which I guess is 341.92.) I have gotten one bluescreen and one or two other crashes in two months. I'm not getting complete crash log information for some reason, but the bluescreen pointed to VIDEO_SCHEDULER_INTERNAL_ERROR. So, maybe I need to use that old Dell NVidia driver that we found avoided blue screens for Windows 7. One or two crashes a month is almost acceptable. However, I get some additional freezes just before the login prompt and some black screens upon login.

I have a Q9200 @ 2.40 GHz, but you guys shouldn't be obsessing over this particular CPU, which is rare, because it was not sold to consumers. Go for a QX9300. Either way, you'll need quality thermal paste and maybe a cooling pad. I'm not overclocking at present, because it has all the performance I need.

Bluetooth: For the Bluetooth 370 minicard, I used the Lenovo Broadcom 4.0 drivers. Now this is important: you also need to go into the device manager and turn off power saving on bluetooth (or it will randomly drop connections.) To get rid of annoying "Configuring bluetooth services" messages, disable the bluetooth tray icon in startups. (Windows still adds its own icon, but with no popups.) I plan to try the particular Dell driver version someone mentioned earlier in this thread, because I have a Bluetooth 4.1 device that won't work under Win 10 (but I didn't try it under Win 7 except with another computer.)

Touchpad: for full functionality (scrolling, etc.), use the Dell driver (R298882), probably must use compatibility mode.

OSD: Things like screen brightness and volume do have OSD's from Windows 10. However, some things like Fn-Right for keyboard lighting work but have no OSD without installing Dell software. I'm running almost 100% Dell free (just the Touchpad driver, I think), and I prefer to keep it that way.

USH: I have a "!" warning in device manager. I don't have any of the optional security hardware, so I don't care.

Echo Indigo DJ (PCMCIA): This rare card was popular in this thread, so I'll mention it. Under Windows 10, it works in compatibility mode, but kills wi-fi and bluetooth. So, RIP Echo Indigo DJ.

System Restore: It's turned off by default in Windows 10. It would be wise to turn it on, especially when tinkering with finicky drivers.

Corrupt file: For me, sfc /scannow found the following corrupt file...

C:\Windows\winsxs\wow64_microsoft-windows-r..xwddmdriver-wow64-c_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.10586.0_none_3dae054b56911c22\opencl.dll

... What is going on here is that Windows 10 installs the NVidia driver and then frigging overwrites one of the files, opencl.dll. NVidia can't fix this, only Microsoft, which doesn't care. To fix it, I used SFCFix at: http://appuals.com/repair-corrupt-opencl-dll-in-windows-10/ (I don't think it truly restored the NVidia file, but at least it reports no corruption.)

Overall, the Windows 10 clean install was easy, and it's like I have a new computer.

 

Hey!
Your back with an update, Maiklas3000
I see you've started a new member account or your score info was cleared for some reason...
What ever the case.,
Just wanted to say., Thanks for those earlier posts you shared pages back on this thread about your experiment with the M4400's cooling issues and of course, maxing out the M440's CPU with a QX9300.
Those posts of yours inspired my own investigation into finding anyway to keep the GPU at "chill-mode" while doing some heavy load benchmark
sessions with GPUZ, etc.

I've been away from the above subject for a while now, mostly due to life's various distractions and priorities.
And frankly., I haven't been to excited with the idea that Win 10 is for the better. The M4400 itself is not meant for touch screen apps and the Win 10 experience under
Direct X 12 drivers. So why push it on my 32bit Win 7 OS?
Especially if myself., The Customer, is happy without Win 10.

Right now., It seems that the "MS Update" is using critical protocol to install KB update files containing Win 10 bloatware, disguised as needed PC health updates.
Doing so is creating performance and storage capacity issues for many. Especially for customers with smaller HD capacity. That's just the beginning.

It seems that., "A System's Health in Bondage," is a persuasive angle for forcing the user to "Drink the Kool-Aid" and upgrade., Clinging to the promise that a healthier and faster O.S. will be, once again. Just as it ran fine, before the bloatware linked" Win 10 files started taking residence in hidden form, throughout the effected machine's O.S. in the first place.

And now..
With every HD out there that's running a Windows O.S., These drives must deal with a connection to internet services to support constant monitoring for approved access. This is for a host of legitimate reasons. Why this makes way for illegitimate access on these drives through it's trusted support base is criminal.
Were all naked to windows, "Priority Access," making the vulnerability concern to any deceptive actions through it's authorized creator, an unprecedented reality..

Exposure by forced KB files rewriting changes and access features, right out of the user's hands is effectively undermining all trusts for Windows.. And their hidden agenda for future client privilege policies, World Wide.

I assume your aware of the aggressive push with MS's telemetry updates and Win 10 bloatware. Being force-fed on the non-consenting windows customer has made this change a very real one.
There's a thread on this site that tells it all about these issues.

Getting the masses aware of what's being slipped into their Hard Drives without prior authorization is... Well., "Slipping away."

Enough of that for now.
If you plan on checking-in, now and then... You'll have my attention, Maiklas3000.

Welcome back.to NBR

 

Hi,
I´m trying to start my fingerprint reader in win 10, but I still didn´t succeed (m4400).
Win10 doesn´t let me instal Dell ControlVault Driver properly (the version you recommend above). I tried also different versions (older as well as newer) but everytime some problem appears. Do you have any experience with this issue? Instalation of Dell ControilVault Utility doesn´t work as well but I supposed, that this is just because it needs to instal Dell ControlVault Driver first.

 

Hi,
I ´m dealing with question if switching from dual core to quad on my m4400 is meaningful step, thus I would appreciate your experiences on this issue.

After replacing T9600 by Q9100 I was quite disappointed. System boot took same time and most of simple daily office-work operations even a little bit slowed down. it seems to me, that only noticeable advantage of q9100 appears during work with photos or videos, even an opening large excel files took more time than with T9600. Finally I decided go back to T9600.
Now I´m considering upgrade again (yes, I really like this machine). Naturally I would go with QX9300 as a most powerful possibility but because of my previous experience with q9100 I have serious doubts if T9900 or X9100 wouldn't be more effective option. Can you please share your experiences on this issue with me? Was it just my specific case or does higher clock speed of dual core push advantages of quad down in most ordinary operations (despite the smaller cache capacity 6M of dual core vs 12M of quad)?

 

Vorval, upgrading from T9600 to Q9100 was probably not wise. A lot of tasks get run on one core, and the T9600 is 2.8 GHz, whereas the Q9100 is 2.26 GHz. I went from a P8700 (dual 2.53 GHz) to Q9200 (quad 2.4 GHz) and the quad core more than made up for the slight drop in GHz. It was a big boost for me. The QX9300 is 2.53 GHz, compared to your current 2.8 GHz. I'm guessing you would see no difference in speed except when video editing (or other multicore tasks), and then the QX9300 would shine.

The QX9300 draws a lot more power and generates a lot more heat than the T9600. You'll probably need a cooling pad, and even then it might not be stable. The Q9100 draws the same amount of power as the QX9300, so the heat might be comparable.

The cache is twice as big on the QX9300 compared to the T9600, but what's important is the cache per processor, and that's the same.

You've got a delta price of about $75 (sell the T9600 for $30, buy the QX9300 for $105), plus more cooling concerns/costs, and it might be that the only upside for you is when video editing.