Dell Precision M50 - Quadro4 700 GoGL

[Hube]

Folks,

Great site. I've been reading around all day to try and work out what I'm doing to upgrade my laptop (Dell Precision M50 after the Dell folks came and replaced my Motherboard and screwed up my machine...).

I can get old drivers to install and work (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&SystemID=WRK_NBK_PNT_P4_M50&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=4031&typecnt=3&vercnt=5&releaseid=R54126)

(version 4201)... but the docking station doesn't work.

I read the forums in quite some detail and decided to try driver 6765.exe.

6765.exe

I then modified the inf file according to the instruction in this post:

6686

paying particular attention to the addition of the edid override.

I then replaced the nv4_disp.inf in the 6765.exe package with the modified inf file and installed the software using the setup.exe and choosing the appropriate video driver from the installation script (nvida Quadro4 700 GoGl (Dell Mobile)).

The driver installation called for a reboot which I did.

On reboot the screen is black with the 0.25 color band that I've read in many other posts.

Before doing all this I used DriveCleaner (with a reboot):

http://www.drivercleaner.net/

The modification to the inf file was without line return.

Can anybody help steer me in the right direction I'm really stuck with this (=desperate, tired, hungry and depressed!)

Thanks,

Hube

[Bill]

You need to flash back to the I8200 BIOS, if that is what you had before, also the only way to get your current docking station to work again. (if its the Inspiron port replicator)

You will need to get the floppy version, and when it fails cause of your laptop being a M50, in the command prompt type the file name then add /jabil to the end, or /forceit /forcetype

As for the drivers, you need to always install it using the device manager.

And before you flash your BIOS back, uninstall your graphics card drivers.

Can you please clarify what laptop you actually have and which docking station you are trying to use, and what screen you have if you can find that out?

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=756

That will tell you/us some system info.

I mentioned the telling us what laptop you have because the I8200, Latitude C840, and the M50 are all the same but with different BIOSes, and support for different docking stations. (I have the M50 BIOS on my 8200, which I actually flashed using the latest Latitude C840 BIOS, which recognized it as an M50 cause of the Quadro)

Currently I am running the 77.77 driver, it and the INF are in my sig. (run fine except for TV out)

I guess you will still need to modify the INF though.

Maybe an INF with Dell settings will fix your problem go check out John's INF.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=6972

You'll still need some sort of EDID fix with that though.

Hope that atleast some of this information was usefull.

Bill

[Hube]

Bill,

Thanks for taking a look at my post. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can (it's been a long day!).

The Video BIOS version has not been upgraded as far as I know, the current version is 4.28.20.25.13. The machine is an M50 (stock) with the A12 Bios (not video bios). I'm not sure what the docking station version is, it's the one that dell supplied with the machine (probably Inspiron).

By device manager you mean Right click on My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> Display Adapters (Right Click) -> Properties -> Driver -> Update Driver? (I then get to the "Have Disk" option and locate the modified inf file).

I used the NERD_1.044 but it failed (see attached image to this post).

I tried the 77.77 driver earlier today but ran in to the same 0.25" strip problem! I can certainly give it another go.

I will try John's inf also. Does this mean I need to install either the 71.89 or 77.77 drivers again before doing the inf? I'm a little confused if the exe has to be first installed before adding the inf (via the Device Manager) or whether I can just use the inf (where do the associated dll's come from???) without using setup.exe, OR unpack the exe (7777.exe for example), stick a modified inf in the location where the files are unpacked and then install (this is contrary to what we talk about above!?).

Hope I'm making sense???

Thanks, Hube

[Hube]

and here is the screen shot I mentioned from NERD...

[Hube]

Ok, tried the 77.77 drivers. If I just try via the Device Manager to install the inf posted in John's post (with the edid mod) I get an error (don't recall what it was). If I try to just the 77.77 drivers (without the inf copied to the extracted directory) then I get a message saying that no appropriate hardware can be found so in the end I am forced to modify the inf in John's post:

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=6972

with the edid (no carriage returns):

HKR,, OverrideEdidFlags0, %REG_BINARY%, 3A,C4,00,03,00,00,FF,FF,04,00,00,00,00,7F,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,00,4c,a3,55,32,00

00,00,00,00,0d,01,03,80,1e,17,78,0a,ad,75,96,57,52,89,27,23,50,54,00,00,00,01,01

01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,48,3f,40,30,62,b0,32,40,40,80,6e,11,30

e4,10,00,00,19,00,00,00,0f,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,19,af,02,32,00,00,00,00,fe

00,4d,31,36,33,35,02,31,35,30,55,32,0a,20,00,00,00,fe,00,e6,d6,c0,a9,8a,67,43,00

02,0a,20,20,20,00,38

and place it inside the directory where the 7777.exe files are extracted.

I do the install and get the same 0.25" strip.

Stuck... will go back to the old stock dell drivers for now, more help would be much appreciated! I'm also documenting my steps so that other poor souls can follow in my footsteps and hopefully get this resolved...

Hube

[salzrat]

Hi Hube,

I hope I can save you some painful searching (I had the same problems).

The most likely explanation for your problem is that you have a Samsung SEC3255 screen. With this screen, no driver over 65.90 will work. There are no possible tweaks. You can install 65.90 or any earlier version.

However, in your case I see a bright side: as Dell recently came to your place, you still seem to be in warranty, and maybe we can get them to fix the issue. I cannot do that myself, because I have a C840 which I upgraded with a Quadro4, and I'm also out of warranty, so Dell won't speak to me.

Your video BIOS and System BIOS are both at the very latest level, btw.

So to make really sure, you'll need to answer a few questions:

- What screen do you have?

(I assume we are talking about a 15'' Ultrasharp UXGA panel here, correct? This you will find in the BIOS screen)

To find out the screen type, the foolproof way is to download "Rivatuner" from www.guru3d.com (it's in the most downloaded list), and look at the "Graphics subsystem diagnostic report". At the end of the list, you will find "Monitor EDID details". If the Model ID is "SEC3255", then welcome to the club.

The less foolproof way is to go to the system registry with regedit, and look at the entries in "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY". This entry lists all screens that have ever been installed in your system, but I don't know how to find out which is the current one. But if "SEC3255" is listed there, I'm almost 100% sure that you have this screen.

- Did you have the screen recently replaced?

Because I wonder that your problem only appeared now. Or did you only try to update your graphics drivers now?

- Are you still in warranty?

Ok, so if you have the SEC3255 screen and are still in warranty, then this is what you can do:

Install the 67.22 driver from Dell's website. Then call Dell and report the problem and see what they do.

I don't know how to best proceed from there. You might also tell them that the 42.xx driver that is on the website works, but maybe then they'll tell you that you should just use that driver. In this case you have to tell them that you purchased a graphics workstation, and that you need the 67.22 driver (which is official!) to make your graphics applications work (I'm not too sure which ones need the new driver, but I can probably dig that up).

Now they have two options:

- replace your screen for a Sharp (that's good for you and bad for everybody else with the same problem)

- bugger NVIDIA to fix the problem. That would be very cool for everybody with this problem! In case they show any incliniation toward this route, you can also tell them that someone you know with the same problem found out that the bug occurs first in the 65.91 driver and didn't occur up to the 65.90 driver.

So I hope that helped some, and I hope we can fix that issue!

[Guest Guest]

Thanks Salzrat.

I will see what can be done. I work for a graphics intensive sofware company so pursuading people that the drivers should work shouldn't be too hard :)

The however means the IT department! :)

I will read through your post more carefully and post some responses later on.

Thanks once again,

Hube

[Guest Guest]

Here are the monitor details from RivaTuner:

$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------

$ffffffffff Monitor EDID details

$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------

$0d00000000 EDID version : 1.3

$0d00000001 Manufacturer ID : SEC (EPSON)

$0d00000002 Model ID : 3255 (unknown)

$0d00000003 Manufactured on : 2002, week 0

$0d00000004 Serial number : 00000000

$0d00000005 Input signal : digital

$0d00000006 Screen size : 30 x 23 cm

Epson??? Thought ths should be Samsung!

[salzrat]

As far as I have heard, "SEC" stands for "Seiko Epson", which is the manufacturer of the "LCD Inverter", which I think is the PCB that's on the back of the screen, and the SEC3255 inverter is on all the Samsung screens (I think anyway it's the inverter giving the problems, not the screen itself).

So yes, it is the troublesome screen!

[Guest Guest]

It gets better... Been on a support call with Dell, they're sending a service technician (oh great!) with yet another Motherboard and Grapics card (it just got changed)... I begged them to also bring along a new LCD screen but the poor support guy couldn't do that. Anyway, they agreed to have the technician test with the latest drivers and docked/undocked! Not sure at which point I send them to their own forums which will in turn bring them here (like it did me!)...

Interestingly enough with the latest dell drivers (67.22) the docking station works but (at a low 1024x768 resolution) but as soon as I undock the computer I get the black screen with the 0.25" strip.

I was put through to the Americas Enterprise Services and in general the guy was very helpful. We should know more tomorrow as the technician is scheduled to come then:-) Pretty impressive turnaround, shame there is no LCD yet!

Will post as I learn more.

Hube

[Hube]

Technician came and went. With a new Motherboard and graphics driver installed the problem is still very much there (as we expected!). I have another call in to Dell to try and get this resolved... Will follow-up with more information.

Hube

[®®®]

Interesting. Keep us updated. :)

[Hube]

They ended up giving me the Sharp monitor which is great for me but not so good for everybody else. I am still chasing this up with Dell as there are other machines in my group that still have this problem. Sorry it took so long to post the status of this.