Help with Dell Support

Well, I just need help with direction as to where and how to propose for a replacement for my r1. I would like to point out that I am too young to get the info in my name so my mother always initiates the call, possibly killing my pressure on the reps. Here's the story:

Any who, I got my m11xR1 8 days prior to when the 263.08 driver came out and when I saw it, I decided to update like most r1 owners did, but I was one of those that were unsuccessful in getting it to work. Just decided to roll back to the factory driver since the word "REFORMAT" puts a chill down my spine , and decided to wait for it to be fixed or a new driver from dell. Sadly after reading posts on this forums I saw that it seems the r1 is discontinued and soon(or is) the r2 even will be. After seeing no update in the driver on the dell site, I decided to back up my data and reformat only to find that the driver still didn't work. So I went through 4 reps(kinda) and here are my results.

With Rep1 I booted up but driver seemed to function, so I thanked him none the less and that was the end of that. After, I rebooted about 30 times, and was only able to get the driver to start in and non loadable state once. Then I set my profile password and the driver refused to function.

Onto Rep2, he took control, used driver sweeper and did other stuff too fast for me to notice, and it seemed the driver installed fine. I thanked him, but after the call I was still worried, so I rebooted and the problem persisted.

Rep3 I told them what happened so far and they took a moment to find out that I had the r1 to tell me to put the graphics in discrete mode in which he did the same as Rep2. Before he could end the call, I asked if I could try switchable graphics and he agreed to wait only to see no display when switched to that. So the he installed the beta(197.12??) drivers from the dell site and told me these were the most up to date drivers. I knew he was only trying to get rid of me so I thanked him and ended the call.

By now I was rather annoyed so I pressed for a replacement on Rep4(politely though). I told them the problems, so they took 5-10 minutes to research the driver. He told me he found out it was very hit and miss with users and that I should use a previous driver or use one from Nvidia's site. I pointed out to him that by using Nvidia's I would have to use the m11x in discrete mode, which is why I was trying to get the one driver to work and I press for a replacement or something else of the sort. He tells me that since it is not hardware related that a replacement will do nothing and says I should wait for a new driver, roll back to the previous, or use an Nvidia driver(he almost sounded like he was at gunpoint). However after almost half a year of only a semi-faulty driver for a discontinued system being the only thing to update to while being able to keep my switchable graphics I am getting rather worried. So seeing this guy wouldn't budge, I thanked him and ended the call.

So after about 3-4 hours of getting nowhere with the costumer service from the 1-800-ALIENWARE number, can anyone help me with something I could do such as a different number or if I'll get more success from an online text chat? I also feel my age is making me appear as a pushover.

 

I just use it in discrete mode myself, I had issues switching the modes when I first got mine, and I decided I dont need more than 3.5 hours of batterylife (on discrete) and I wanted better FPS in my games so I got the nvidia driver, if its a big deal to you just do a clean install of windows and try it then (do it with a clean windows 7 SP1 disk, not the crap they give you) and see what happens. try it with the latest driver, and if it doesnt work call and complain and get a replacement. I'm getting a replacement for my unit and it sorta sucks because I'd be getting the R3 if I wouldnt have bought the refurb model. but thats life... anyways, if they dont help you ask to talk to their supervisor or whatnot, when I had extreme issues I got a number of a manager and her extension. you just have to push for it, and you will get one if they dont help you, or talk to a level 2 tech.

 

I could NOT get the 263 drivers to install unless I right clicked the installer and ran as admin. This was not needed on any other driver I have tried.

I've had lots of Nvidia based systems and have never had this particular issue. Cleaners, no cleaners, clean install or update, nothing worked until running as admin. Just for fun I installed a few times and if running as admin it no longer mattered how I installed. Give it a whirl.

Using the 263 currently with no problems. Watching TV and browsing on intel GPU. Tues morning for work I'll switch it back to Nvidia.

 

Alright, thanks. I'll try the admin install (which I think MIGHT have already tried previous times before) on my current state, and after an clean install of just windows 7 to see if I can get it to work. What's pressuring me to do this is because just before a two day power outage, I set my m11x to discrete with the latest Nvidia driver for better performance on recent titles, so I was out some extra hours. But pretty much what kept me off of getting an r2(not the price point) at the time were the amount of hours I could get on an r1(my previous laptop had dreadful battery life of mostly less than 4 hours on little usage). It just seems annoying to be told to wait for a fixed or new driver when to 263 were put up 5 months ago. But before I drag on any further , thanks, I'll try those and post my results.

EDIT: To update, I tried the admin install and it did provide the same problems for me and I decided to skip doing the clean windows 7 install. Any who, I got on with another rep who wanted to troubleshoot the problem and I grudgingly went along. To my surprise he decided to try a beta driver for the r1(275.33) but after having trouble he found out it currently doesn't support the switchable graphics. So now he is using me as a guinea pig to test the driver in discrete and to give him my results via email if I have any problems.

He is supposed to call back in a week after escalating the problem to level 2, 3, or supervisor if needed and respond with any progress on the situation, and for me to report any oddities with the driver. I will try out some games that will range from recent releases to dos, however I am not going to invest to much into the m11x currently in case it needs to be replaced. Just to get a little reassurance from other experiences, I'm not getting my leg pulled right(in reference to the driver)? Hopefully this is good news for r1 users maybe...?

 

OK, I just looked inside the folder the driver was extracted to and there are some optimus files in there so it definitely seems this driver is planned to be released eventually.

EDIT: And I just realized what I typed. The r1 doesn't use optimus, so what's the rep trying to do?

 

It is easy to confuse between models. The othe m11x systems use diff drivers

The 275 should work well but you cannot switch.

Do NOT give up. Supported drivers are, well, SUPPORTED

 

I dont believe it for a moment Dell is working on drivers for the R1, they made their money and are moving on. 275.33 is a old driver, its a nvidia one and its only going to work on discrete mode. take my advice, if it doesnt work, demand a replacement, dont waste time with tech support, I did this and all I did is in the end was replacing my unit.

 

Lol "old" driver. Dirty secret is new drivers do not always make improvement

I'm using 28x.x on an old agp card in xp. No real benefit since about ver 90.x

 

since they were released on June first, I call that dated and I think they are from sometime in the end of april (date of driver)

 

Yeah, I'll email the rep back about it being the incorrect driver and that I had the system lock-up on me once already(not sure if the driver caused it though). Afterwords I'll call the support number and keep pressuring until I get to a supervisor with out letting up hopefully(it feels like they're chasing me in circles ).

Thanks for the help and support, and hopefully everything will be taken care of soon. I'll post back results whenever the heck that may be

EDIT: Well after dealing with support today, they are having me send in the m11x on Wednesday to have the motherboard replaced and tested. After asking if(BIG IF HERE) the problem persists, would I get a new system rather than refurbished(long history of problems) and he told me it would definitely be refurbished. So, I suppose I'll come back whenever there is new info.