Dell HPA issues

Hey all.

I, like many of you, came here for information hoping to find someone who knew how to fix my at the time "broken" hard drive from my new XPS 1710.

I found a plethora of information on here, but as in many such things, I had to take from many different sources and threads to figure out how it all works as WELL as different web sites to learn and get the answers I needed.
I'll edit this post as I dig up the relavent threads on here and links elsewhere
(for starters, google " goodell" and read his posts on Dell stuff as well as DL his little DOS tools to fix broken things) as well as to respond to questions as I can. I will also make a tutorial on some options one not only how to edit the HPA (as demanded- pm me) or remove it but to regain some control over your system for the average user.

Who KNEW there would be so many issues or problems with this stuff?
But everything CAN be fixed and solved, so don't despair!

If you are experiencing problems with your Dell hard drive, and Dell isn't much help (the usual customer tech's actually don't know how to fix most of these things, unless they come here- lol!) come here and read the links; pm me if you need more info. I'm just an enduser with PC fixing experience for about 15 years, and had to not only brush up on old skills but learn a bunch of stuff I never would have had I not been thrown into some situations with my expensive laptop purchase. I'm a bit busy right now but I'll edit this to provide the BEST OF what I learned as well as links to tutorial threads on here as I can.

For now, some accronyms:

HD = hard drive
MD = media direct (if relevant, followed by a number to indicate the version)
DOS = old sourse of bootable code to get the user to a "prompt" screen- usually something on a black screen with white text typing. Geek stuff.
Partitions = parts of the same hard drive divided up by code. There are many kinds of partitions and formats, only a few are relevant here.
Code = the language of computers; there are many kinds of code and formats, only a few of which ar relevant here- and you don't need to learn code or become a geek to fix problems with your dell- thank heavens!
IMHO = In My Honest Opinion
LOL = Laughing (laughing on line/laughing out loud., etc)
Grrrr = an expression to get comfortable and familiar with; sounds like mad dog.

SOURCES of INFORMATION:

GOODELL -information on how Dell set up hard drives, esp. MD2. The source of PTEDIT and DSRFIX; two crucial tools for customizing or editing dell HD's for the end user (IMHO).

To begin:
1) First your laptop isn't as important, nor hardware, as the stuff Dell put on your system. The FIRST INDICATOR of how to deal with any HD issues is to be CLEAR on what you've got going on ON your particular hard drive. Like all manufacturers, as they learn they change things. Some things are standarized, but as with everything, only to a degree! As Dell learned and was overwhelmed by MD2 problems, they upgraded to a different solution, MD3, 3+... when and to which laptop models is as arbitrary as the few techs that were doing this work in the actual factory sites, depending on what part of the world the HD's were set up in as well! SO.... (I'll get to the HPA)

First question- Do you WANT to have MD (Media Direct) on your rig?

there's some simple arguments of why to take it off
1) in 4-6 months the average Dell power-laptop end-user will experience SUCH a dramatic decrease in battery life (I.E. your 3-hour battery will last 20 minutes maybe) that to be UNPLUGGED and USING media direct means you have to spend money on either
a) new battery -for another 6 months
b) repack (voiding the warranty on it) your current cells. This is easier than it sounds- it's a bit like changing flashlight batteries in a flashlight that has been glued closed- but with strange oversized industrial AA batteries.
c) you can install the SAME media-direct based app, that has just about everything MD has, on your regular system- for instance, CyberLink has their POWERCINEMA and POWERDVD for movies and media, and now firms like AHEAD has NEro8 which is a complete suite and does the same thing.

There are also better Multi-media apps out there. How attached are you to your MD app?

so decide- what if this takes you a week solid to fix? You want to do it still? Or would it be easier to do an hour or two of work, and have the same end result, pretty much... and maybe more space on the HD even?

2) Determine which situation you have like so- I.E. Do you have MD2 or MD3, 3+?

MD3 issues are easier solved than MD2.
It is highly advised, if dealing with MD2, to either get a MD3 installation disk FOR YOUR PARTICULAR MODEL of Dell, directly FROM Dell. If you're too cheap or can't get them to help you (go figure- but at least figure on paying shipping and DVD replication costs- like $10 total so they can get a profit?) then be PREPARED for some SEROUS work if you WANT to keep MD on your rig.

I'll skip ahead for a moment- back later to edit this- to say that if you've TRUNCATED your hard drive (HD) the BEST TOOL I've found so far, is
HDAT2.
you can get it here-
http://www.hdat2.com/

Burn it to a boot disk and load it. It might take a few tries to get the UNLOCKED disk to "take" the changes to the HPA- you might even just be better off REMOVING IT (it says don't change, but you can). Spend some time browsing the settings in the app from DOS before you go edit your HD.

ok I'll update this later.

tangograndma Notebook Geek

chelet Notebook Deity