A06 bios XPS M1330 decrease in battery life?

Has anybody else noticed that they have had a decrease in battery life with bios A06?
My computer shipped with A05 and i ran some tests then and i was able to get approx 3 hours 30 it was a few minutes short of that using power saving mode and brightness set at 5/8 doing pretty much continuous wifi web browsing i also disabled bluetooth. I also have Aero enabled I also have the 8400GS card and the rest of my computers specs are in my sig.

Now this week i am conducting tests with A06 and i have noticed that my battery time is slightly less than it used to be. Now testing under the same conditions as above i am managing approximately 3 hours 15 minutes.

I also ran a test last night and i put the brightness all the way down to 2/3 and i was web surfing with wifi enabled and i was pretty continuous with the surfing and i got 3 hours 20. I was using power saver mode and all the same settings as above except for the fact that i lowered the brightness.
Now bearing in mind that i was able to get around 3 hours 30 minutes at greater brightness surely i should be getting better if i set the brightness down to 2/3. I should be able to pull of about 3 hours 45 plus in these conditions.

They have listed A02 Bios listed on the UK Dell website I may try that but I would prefer to use A05 does anyone know where I can download it from? Also is it safe for me to use another version of a Bios other than a UK one? Are there any Dell websites that it available for download. If and when I download it i will test my battery life again and post back the results.
Has anybody else noticed the same thing as me?

 

Ive posted previously somewhere that i got similar results from the 9cell when I upgraded to A06. Others have had instances where there is no diff however.

 

I have made a few posts regarding this issue, i had my replacement with A06 already and indeed noticed a decrease in battery life compared to A05... however the whine has also decreased so between the 6 and the 9 cell batteries im happy with the change

 

Check the battery wear level via Notebook Hardware Control (It isn't 100% reliable, but it's something).

According to the NHC, my 9cell's wear is 25% already, and I'm thinking it's bit too much for a month old system.

 

Wasn't there talk of Dell altering the use of Intel's C3/C4 lower states because the theory is the whine occurs when the processor(s) shift into said states?

This would suggest that A06 prevents the CPU(s) from reaching such low states and thus, the reason behind the extra battery usage...

[edit] This thread has touched upon the topic.

 

To be specific here
is the original source of solution to CPU whine

 

Thx for the link

I had to rip this quote from the thread:

"The noise effects some people more than others. We are aware of
this. However, it is within the 15-20 KHz noise limit."

So, theoretically, if your thrity-something but your dog starts to howel everytime your processor(s) switches states, then you know you you've got the cpu whine too, lol

Btw, it's a bit ironic that the engineers that select the components for the motherboard etc. are almost all probably in the thirty-something class & wouldn't have heard the whine when they approved product samples for mass production...

 

I have contacted Dell and i have asked them if they can mail me the A05 bios.
One thing i noticed though i updated to Vista U last week and it seemed to affect the ability for me to turn of my bluetooth adapter via my desktop. To turn of my BT I had go and disable it in my control panel.
Despite me doing this though i noticed that my bluetooth symbol was showing up and was still lit blue. I didn't know why it was doing this when i disabled it in the control panel.

I have though today installed my bluetooth software again and from my desktop now it allows me to turn of the BT adapter. Now i can turn of the adapter and it no longer lights up.
Maybe my BT was on during my recent tests?
I will test again soon and see what happens.
Achilles i will check by battery hard ware thanks for your help.

Thank you all for your help.

 

I tend to leave my bluetooth on, but crucially I turn 'automatic discovery' off. This way, my devices (headphones and mobile phone) can connect to the notebook as and when I want them to with minimal fuss, and the chip in the computer isn't scanning for devices every 5, 10 or 15 minutes, saving my battery.

It's a 'win-win' kind of thing.

 

I just installed RMClock (v2.30.1 20070922) and admittingly, it's a bit overwhelming... & I'm also not sure how much I can trust this utility as it states that I have a Conroe (E1/6FA) while CPUID shows the correct name of Merom (E1/6FA)


But it lists the following Processor "Enhanced Low Power States"*:

• _nhanced Halt State (C1E)
• xEnhanced Stop Grant State (C2E)
• _Enhanced Deep Sleep State (C3E)
• xEnhanced Deeper Sleep State (C4E)
• xHard Enhanced Deeper Sleep State (HARD C4E)

Those with an "x" are checked - but I don't know if these are actual system values, or RMClock defaults.

If that wasn't complicated enough, seems that the chipset has it's own power states...

• _Enter C4 or C3 command
• xEnable CPUSLP# in C3/C4
  [*]xEnable CPUSLP# in S1
  [*]_Enable C4 in S1-M
• xEnable Popdown mode
• xEnable Popup mode
• _Disable C4 mode
• xEnable C5 and C6 modes
• xEnable Slow-C4 exit

The grey entries above are greyed-out in RMClock, those with an "x" are checked.



*Hmm, sounds like some of the states I found myself in while attending "sun-tan U"... :SLEEP:

 

I checked my battery life again and i got 3 hours 30 minutes this time on the same settings [which was 2-3 brightness, wifi on with basically continous web browsing and a bit of word processing] as i tested my computer on last night when i got 3 hours 20 minutes.
I think maybe in these last few days that my bluetooth was disabled partially but maybe not fully. The results are more or less as good as i was getting at a higher brightness level with the A05 bios so i think that the A06 bios may have something to do with that. Maybe it has reduced my battery life by 10-15 minutes on estimate.

I have never had a whine problem so the updates did nothing for me except maybe shorten my battery life a bit.

Still though that time is not to shabby for having a dedicated card. If i disabled wifi i would get even more battery life.

I am still going to persue getting the A05 bios.
I also am going to remove my battery to stop it degrading.

I cannot check my HW battery profile right now as i have been testing it and it needs to properly charge.

It would be cool though if Dell could come out with a higher capacity 6 cell battery. I know that some companies do offer higher capacity and standard 6 cell batteries.

It is interesting to read that other people experienced the same thing also.

 

If you or anyone gets the A05 bios, please post a link to it here

Thanks!

 

Did you guys check the battery wear level via Notebook Hardware Control?

Give it a try, it's a wonderful free software.

Let me know what your 9Cell's wear level is. I'm kinda worried about my 25% wear level after only a month of usage.

Link:

http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc.htm#anchor_download

Make sure to use Dell version - Bugfix version!!!

 

Hey,

first off, thx for the tip - the app looks pretty cool Secondly, my 9-cell shows only 2% wear and I've been using mine for exactly one month, but I only run it on battery twice a week on average.

I guess you need to tell us how often you use the battery and you need someone with similar usage habits to answer your question... .

 

I just downloaded that hardware control program. I have the 6 cell battery.

This is what it shows..
-Voltage-12477 mV
-capacity-57720 mWh
-Full capacity-57433mwh
-Sanyo
-Wear level 0%

I have just seen this post-
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2483645&postcount=4
I wish that i read it before i upgraded my bios to A06.
Maybe somebody has it saved somewhere?

 

It's a nice program. I use it instead of quickset.

Chattin w/ Dell right now though. Battery isn't under warranty so it's best to take care of it when the system is fairly new.

Dell is sending a replacement battery.

I use the system on battery 3-4 times a week, but still, 25% is a bit too much.

I've owned Sony 11" before this one for my office, and even after 3 years of usage, the wear level was 0%, and was holding great battery life as if it was new.

I also have M90 which wear level is only 7% after 8 month of usage.

 

Weird that they offer BIOS A02 for download under "other versions" and not A05.

 

Got the brand new 9cell very next day I requested. Impressed how fast they shipped it.

I just hope this one doesn't wear out as fast as my first one.

 

I am testing the battery today with the A05 bios with 2/3 brightness with wifi on and bluetooth of doing pretty continous web browsing in power saver mode. I don't have anything else disabled. I didn't even start at 100% charge this time i started at 96% per cent charge.

I got 3 hours 30 minutes with the A06 bios using those settings and right now [with the A05 bios] i have been online for 3 hours and i still have 1 hours 20 minutes on the clock. I cannot wait for the battery to run out.

The A05 bios seems to be a lot better for battery life. I will edit in the final result.

I got 3 hours 58 minutes (i might as well call that 4 hours seeing as though i did not start with a 100% charge) with the A05 bios compared to 3 hours 30 minutes with the a A06 bios using exactly the same settings. My battery went out at about 6% with 10 minutes showing on the clock.

 

Wow, that's a 13% increase in power... not too shaby!

I take it that you had BT off and 2/3 brightness is most likely level 6/8?

The reason I'm asking is that I probably didn't get much more than 4.5hrs out of my 9-cell the other day, but that wasn't really under any rigid test conditions and I had BT on, 6/8 brightness, Aero+transparency, side-bar with like 10 gadgets (lol), etc.

But prove, you did, that A06 is hog-city!!!

 

Yep i had Bluetooth turned of. These LED screens do help to conserve the battery a bit if you lower brightness. If i completely turned brightness down to 0 and just put the light on lol i could get even more battery life.
I didn't disable Aero i always have it set to let Windows do what is best for my computer but i don't disable it ever. I also never have side bar on either or any other gadgets.
Now if i was just doing word processing alone and i disabled wifi i could get around 4 hours 30 minutes or maybe even more i don't know for sure i have never tested it in that manner.


Btw, this new 250GB HD has just started clicking just like the other one but i don't mind so much anymore lol as i got an upgraded drive lol.


Edited to add:
Planet Vikram has kindly uploaded the A05 bios that i sent them here so that people can download it now.
This is the link
http://www.esnips.com/doc/470a050e-e600-4459-a1c8-9c25721db644/M1330A05

 

I had the A05 BIOS in my first motherboard, but it was replaced due to a somewhat faulty display circuitry. The replacement motherboard came with A02, but I've already upgraded to A06. I wonder if A02 is also as good as A05? Is there any way to downgrade to A05?

 

Does anyone know where I can download the A05 Bios from?

 

Hi a link to where you can download it from was posted in this thread in post #21.

 

Hey Rach,
are you still using A05 or have you given A07 (or even A09, for that matter) a try? If so, any differences in battery life?

cheers 8^)

 

Hi traveller sorry to read about your screen troubles with your computer.

On topic
I stuck with the A05 bios and i haven't tried anything after A06. For me now if something is not broke i won't try fixing it where the Bios is concerned.

 

I hear ya, but I guess my new mobo will be delivered with anything but A05.

So I'll tell you what, if it's A07 (or A09), I'll perform a similar test as you did with A05 & A06 (i.e. surfing, no gadgets, BT off, etc.) and report back. Thankfully, I still have A05 lying around somewhere...

p.s. oh and, thx for your condolences

 

I've actually been using A05 for quite a while before A09 came out, then I decided to try A09. So far I haven't felt any difference in battery life, but that could be just me.

 

Well, it's good to know there's no blaringly obvious difference, but the difference between A05 and A06 was maybe 20-25mins. You think you can "feel" that..?

 

Nope, my refurbed A04 mobo came with A06. But, before I go back to A05, I'm going to give A09 a run. Someday when the prces come waaay down, I'd like to put a Penryn in and I'll need A09.

Sepaking of A05, there must be something realy-really wrong with it if it's the only version that Dell refuses to stock on their ftp site... (thx to praneeth for the link).

 

Along with A08 they must be to good for our M1330