Dell Media Direct 3.5 Issues.

I'm on to my third XPS M1730 now because of various issues. My first 2 systems had no issues with Dell Media Direct 3.3. The third one came with 3.5. With the factory partitions/installation I had no issues.

What's happening now is whenever I try and load DMD it boots the program then hangs, displaying a blank window. I'm unable to kill the process nor am I able to shut down my laptop. I need to force a shutdown (holding down the power button for 5secs) to get the thing to power down. Same thing when I boot into DMD when the laptop is off. It boots into a blue screen (not BSOD) and sits there unable to load DMD. Again, I need to force a shutdown to continue.

I've tried numerous installs, using 2 partitions, multiple (custom) parititioning, and single partition, following the instructions to the letter in every case.

The only difference between this laptop/install and the one prior to it which worked with no issues is:

(1) Vista Beta SP1 vs. Vista SP1
(2) X7900 CPU vs. X9000 CPU (same bios however, both A06)
(3) DMD 3.3 vs. 3.5

I'm starting the think that SP1 is the culprit, although the DMD disk could have issues as well. I really can't see a CPU preventing DMD from launching.

Has anyone else experienced problems with Dell Media Direct 3.5? Any recommendations on how to fix this? I'm fresh out of ideas and XPS Tech Support is worthless on these matters.

 

There is a patch for 3.5. I don't know if it will help your problem or not.

Patch

You might try disabling PCMservice.exe in your services. That has been a problem for MediaDirect.

You could also check your registry to see if MediaDirect is disabled for some reason.

 

Awsome, thanks for the tips.

Some fresh ideas to try out, I was running dry.

Do you have a locatoin in the registry for this enable/disable bit for DMD?

I'll try the other 2 idea when I get home, see if that helps any.

 

If I remember correctly, it was under Local Machine>Software>Cyberlink>MediaDirect, but I don't remember the specific key.

 

I'll have to check it out.

Thanks again.

 

I found also that it shows the location in the registry, so if you re-partitioned, is the program in the same location?

You might check that, also. The only other idea would be to uninstall MediaDirect and use Ccleaner or another registry cleaner to completely remove it. Check the registry using the find function for any references to Cyberlink or MediaDirect and remove them. Reboot and re-install. Add the patch.

It is hard to figure things out online!

 

Are you sure the patch is required? It says it applies to version 3.0.

 

Maybe there is another patch besides the link that I posted, mine updated a patch automatically, after prompting me. If you could get the program to open. then you could click on updates to check it. However, you cannot get it to load.

I have version 3.5 and now its shows 3.5.3624, after updating a patch.

I have no idea whether it will fix your specific problem.

There have been many problems with MediaDirect. I am not even sure whether one could just get along without it. I hardly ever use it.

I am leaning towards your path being wrong since you partitioned, but that is just a guess.

 

If you uninstall, re-install it using the MediaDirect CD from the Windows folder on the CD.

 

Yeah I've tried that. (uninstall and reinstall)

I know what patch you're refferring too, it patched itself successfully on the factory install, but not on the new install since it's not properly loading.

Checked the registry, there's 3 enable registries, they're all set to enable.

Also tried killing the PCMService.exe process and running. It actually shows the dell media direct logo, but hangs again.

There's something really screwed up here. Anyone have more tips?

When I get some time I'll phone tech support and see what they have to say. Just too busy during the week to make a call. Hell, the only time I get to type on this forum is while I'm at work... ironically that's when my day actually slows down.

 

Have you done a clean install using the "Media Direct method?"

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=157838

Try this guide. It may solve your problem. The guide says Media Direct 3.3, but it should be the same with 3.5.

Good luck!

 

Yup, done the correct method, followed everything to the letter.

I installed 3.3 on the two previous laptops and it ran without issues.

There something different about 3.5, SP1 or this laptop then the 2 previous ones that's causing DMD to not load.

 

Hmm. I'm stumped.

Maybe you should try 3.3? Like you said, it may be a problem with 3.5, or your disc may be corrupted. I've had that happen to me with a Windows XP disc.

 

I may just have to try that.

 

Stump the chump! You win!

I got nothing left--other than scrap it. Use another media player.

 

hehe.



I'll post back in here once I speak to dell xps support. Just in case anyone else has a similar issue in the future.

 

Yeah, sounds good.

If they don't help give 3.3 a shot.

 

Well having spent a great deal more time trying to resolve this issue i have the following to say:

(1) Don't bother with XPS tech support or any dell tech support regarding this issue. I swear to god they have to me the most useless sacks of s$$$ i've ever seen. The only thing they managed to do was corrupt my partitions and continue to insist that I reinstall everything. I told them that "bootrec /fixmbr" can correct this issue, to which they responded nono, just go to geeksquad, have them backup your data then reinstall (I had data on my vista install that I needed).

Anyways....I've fixed my MBR and ignored all their advice and everything seems to be running perfectly.

(2)I believe I found the issue that was causing the crash. There's a service on delayed started called something like Media Center XXXX. Changing it from a delayed automatic startup to automatic startup seems to have prevented media direct from crashing my laptop.

I'll still need to do more testing to confirm this, but I'm fairly convinced this is the issue. I don't have my laptop with me currently so I can't give the exact service name. I'll try to come back on here to give an update.

edit: fixed typos

 

Thanks for the report-very interesting to know.

 

I have the same problem with Inspiron 1520. See a splash screen followed by a blank screen. I did the update as well. Also using Vista SP 1. I really don't have the time to re-partition and install all my software again. Just another non-working feature I guess.

 

Did you try re-installing MD? First uninstall MD. Then install it from the CD, power off the notebook and press the MD button to boot. If it still does not work, it seems the MD mbr cannot find the MD partition. Perhaps the SP1 changed the MBR. You may want to check whether you still have the MD partition intact and is in a primary partition. I have replaced Vista with XP, so your procedure may be different. If the MD primary partition is there, try to reset the boot order using the rmbr.exe on the MediaDirect CD under /DellKit. Check the primary partition number for your OS and for the MD. In a command prompt, run X:\Dellkit\rmbr DELL Y Z
where X is the drive letter for the optical drive, Y is the partition number for the OS and Z is the partition number for the MD (only count primary partitions). Basically it tells the computer to boot with Y by power button and boot to Z by the MD button.
Shut down and try again to power up using the MD button. If it still does not work, you may need to check the boot.ini in the MD partition. It is a little bit complicated. First, you need to use md3utils to map the MD partition to a drive letter that is available (e.g. W) in a command prompt.
X:\Dellkit\MD3UTILS /MAPMD3=W:
Now you can see the MD partition in Windows as W drive. Edit the boot.ini file in text editor. Check the [boot loader] and [operating systems] sessions to see if the default boot partition number are correct. In here, the number is counting the formatted primary partitions first and extended partition last. Correct the number in both sessions if necessary. Don't forget to unmap the drive afterward.
X:\Dellkit\MD3UTILS /UNMAPMD3=W:
Power down the notebook and try the MD button again.
If it still does not work after correcting the partition number, you may have to do a clean installation.

Good luck.

Disclaimer: Manipulating MediaDirect may lead to partition and data lost in certain situation. You are at your own risk and I am not responsible for any damage or data loss.

 

Hi! I dont understand how i can see the number of the primary part. I opened the boot.ini and guess what..i dont get it what number to edit. Sorry for writing in the forum but didnt see the PM. Please can you help me?