Dell MediaDirect 3.5 will not exit.

Thanks PriceD. Just as a matter of interest, has Vista worked okay for you on the XPS? I'd give it a try if it sorted the Media Direct problem.

Also, when installing MD, there's an option of allowing the program to create its own sized partitions and an option where you can specify the size of the MD partition. Does it matter which one of these you go for?

In my case it worked perfectly with Vista.  I can't remember if I used the default size or chose my own size however either should work fine, just make sure you create a large enough size.  Do you still have warrenty on this box?

I still have the warrenty as the machine was purchased in June. I have been onto Dell support numerous times, even sending back the machine (which was returned in the same state). An engineer called yesterday to replace the motherboard, graphics card and battery (in relation to a different problem with the screen displaying yellow where it should display white).

Never once did they suggest that MD 3.5 might not work with XP properly, but it was at the back of miy mind. I'll give it a reinstall today and report back with the result.

The reason I asked about the warrenty is that there may be an additional step you need to take to make the MD work.  If that does happen, just give Dell a call and they will help with this.  Hope this helped you.

I did ask them about what I'd need to do if I was to reinstall and they confirmed that was it a case of booting with the MD CD, partition install, then OS install and finally MD install in Windows. It seems they did it that way with the factory settings. Fingers crossed for the Vista try!

I installed Vista and am having the exact same problem. Obviously it's not preventing me from using the computer normally but it is annoying.

Are you able to give Dell a call as they may be able to fix that issue as you Vista on the box now.

I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they come up with. Originally, they suggested re-installing the MD through Windows but I'm getting an error after 10%. Will report findings back here.

I contacted Dell and they got me to do exactly the same thing that I had already done myself. Used the MediaDirect 3.5 to create a partition, install the OS then complete the MD installation in Windows. I'm still having the same problem so they are sending me a copy of MediaDirect 4.0 which doesn't use a partition.

I'm wondering if there's an advantage to installing a verion of MD at all. From what I can see, if MD4.0 works, it boots into Visa then opens the programme rather than allowing you to work pre-boot.

There are many specific steps that you need to follow when there are problems with  Media Direct, and if something goes wrong, the OS needs to be reinstalled. You can  follow these steps:

1. Boot from the media direct disc and choose the option you prefer (1st option  makes 2 partitions, one for media direct and the rest for the OS; and 2nd option  makes a partition for media direct and gives you the option to create more than one partition with the rest of the space)

2. Boot from Windows disc and proceed with Windows installation in the partition that was created for it.

3. After Windows installation is done, is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you install the drivers in the correct order, because the media direct application requires that  audio and video driver are present. Remember to restart the system between each  driver installation to avoid registry corruption. The order is:

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/downloads/en/driver_install_order?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~lt=print

Please, don't forget to ask me if you have doubts about the drivers installation order, this is very important. Remember that some of the drivers depend on the configuration you chose when you bought the computer, if you´d like, you can provide me with the details about your system.

4. After drivers have been installed, you can put Media direct disc again and  install the application. If the application is not correctly installed in Windows, you will have problems when booting to Media direct using the button, this is probably why you were not able to exit.

***IF THE APPLICATION GIVES AN ERROR DURING THE INSTALLATION, YOU CAN FOLLOW THESE STEPS: you have to browse the Media direct disc (in windows explorer for example) and look for a Folder, I don´t remember the name exactly, it goes about DellFix/Toolfix or something like this, inside that folder, there is an .exe file, you have to execute that file and you should be able to install the application correctly in Windows.

5. After the application is installed, you have to restart the system. Then you can shut down system and test if the media direct partition works fine.

Hello GeekTechLab,

Thanks for your reply. So far, I have been installing drivers AFTER the MD Windows installation so I will give your method a try.

If I follow that exact order on the link you provided, should that be okay? I've been using the Driver Resources disc which indicates any hardware detected and I install the items with a tick beside them. The only additional thing I have to get is an nVidia video driver from the Dell support site. My system is:

Dell XPS M1730 Core 2 Duo T8300, 2.40 GHz, 800, 3 M.
4096MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM, 500GB HD.

I have a choice of XP Professional Service Pack 3 or Vista 32 Bit Business as the OS.

The application has only given an error so far after I try to install it after the initial installation in the OS. It always installs fine first time.

Hello,

Is very important to follow the order described in the previous link for the drivers installation.

The check beside the drivers in the resource CD does not mean that the hardware is present on the system, these discs are produced to be used on different Dell models, and the check means that the selected driver applies for all those Dell models, this is why not all the hardware will be marked.
 
Besides this, the Resource CD does not have the latest version of the drivers, drivers are often updated and new revisions are published in the Dell Support website (http://support.dell.com), is always recommended to download the latest versions because they usually fix bugs or errors found in previous versions.

Is very important for the Media Direct application
 to work properly, that the drivers are installed before and in the correct order. So probably this could be the main cause of the problems you've been having, the driver installation is very delicate.

I would recommend downloading the drivers from the Dell Website. Now they have a Download manager which is not so friendly user, if you´d like, I can give you the direct download link for your drivers, but I would need the following details, since the drivers depend on your configuration:

1. Which Wireless card you have, Intel or Dell? and which model is it?
2. Do you have Bluetooth card on your system?
3. Which Nvidia graphic card model you have on the system?
4. Are you going to install Windows XP or Windows Vista?

Let me know this information so I can provide you with those download links. Remember it's also very important to restart system after installing EACH driver, due to changes on the registry.

Remember to not install anything after the Windows installation is done, let's first have all the drivers ready, because the registry could be damaged if not done in the correct order and with the proper drivers, and we would have to start again.

I know that all these stuff sound complicated but they are not. If we follow the correct order the problem will be solved. =) Even if it´s hard to believe, most problems that appeared to be very complex, in the end, were resolved by doing a proper installation.

Hi again, the details are as follows:

1. Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card
2. Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3 Mbps) with Enhanced Data Rate
3. Dual SLI 512MB nVidia GeForce 9800GT graphics card
4. I'll be installing Vista (unless you recommend XP!)

Thanks a lot for the information! well,  now that you mention that you have nVidia GeForce 9800GT graphics card, as far as I know this video chipset does not support Media Direct functionality. This does not mean that you are won't be able to use it at all, it means that there is no guarantee that it will work 100% properly. You can confirm this information by contacting Dell, they should have it in their knowledgebase, however, you can still try to make this work if you'd like, but you have to keep this in mind.

If you decide to continue with the procedures, before doing anything, since you have done many reinstallations of the operating system I would also recommend that you do a debug of the hard drive, in order to clean the hard drive completely before the reinstallation, remember that this will delete all data from hard drive, so be sure to do a backup before doing this! you can find the instructions for this procedures in the following link:
http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/HardDrive.htm

You could install either Windows XP or Windows Vista, however, Windows XP is more stable and reliable. So I will provide the driver download links for both operating systems so you can install the one you prefer, you can also try both if you feel like experimenting a little bit more.

The drivers are:

For Windows Xp:
Dell Notebook System Software ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/utility/R181862.exe
Intel Mobile Chipset ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/R153997.exe
PCMCIA slot driver http://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/R161772.exe
nVidia Geforce 9800M GTX http://ftp.us.dell.com/video/NVIDIA_GEFORCE-9800M-GTX_A00_R206881.EXE
Ageia PhysX Processor http://ftp.us.dell.com/video/R161803.EXE
Broadcom 57XX Gigabit Integrated Controller http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R161008.EXE
Creative Labs Laptop Integrated Webcam http://ftp.us.dell.com/input/R160323.EXE
Dell Touchpad / Pointing Stick http://ftp.us.dell.com/input/R175658.exe
SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio http://ftp.us.dell.com/audio/R181712.exe
Intel (R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/Intel_multi-device_A13_R171131.exe
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR) http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R161378.exe
Dell Quickset http://ftp.us.dell.com/app/R180759.exe



For Windows Vista 32-bit:
Dell Notebook System Software ftp.us.dell.com/utility/R156592.exe
Intel Mobile Chipset ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/R153997.exe
nVidia Geforce 9800M GTX ftp.us.dell.com/video/NVIDIA_GEFORCE-9800M-GTX_A00_R206873.EXE
Ageia PhysX Processor ftp.us.dell.com/video/R161803.EXE
Ricoh R5C833 ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/R161772.exe
Broadcom 57XX Gigabit Integrated Controller ftp.us.dell.com/network/R161008.EXE
Intel (R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN ftp.us.dell.com/network/Intel_multi-device_A05_R164259.exe
Creative Labs Laptop Integrated Webcam ftp.us.dell.com/input/R160323.EXE
SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio ftp.us.dell.com/audio/R171786.exe
Dell Touchpad / Pointing Stick ftp.us.dell.com/input/R175658.exe
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR) ftp.us.dell.com/network/R140135.exe
Dell QuickSet ftp.us.dell.com/app/R180762.exe

Remember to restart system after installing each driver. Also, previously I mentioned that after installing all drivers, if you had problems installing the Media Direct application, you could browse the CD, the correct name of the folder I mentioned is "Dellkit" and inside it has an executable file called Dellkit.exe, you need to do a right click and choose the option to run as an administrator.

If you can, before installing the Dell MediaDirect application, you can send me a screenshot of the Device Manager to make sure all drivers were correctly installed and that we are not missing anything =) remember to expand all trees. In order to get to device manager, you can do a right click on My Computer, then choose properties and go to the "Hardware" tab, there you can press a button that says "Device Manager". Let me know if you have any issue!

I'm just about to start, but have a question. Will I install the drivers in the order that you have listed?
Also, I tested running Dellkit.exe as Administrator (after Media Direct had been installed) and I still get an installation error.

Just a note. MD works in Windows pefectly and I can exit out of it there. It works pre-boot too. I just can't exit at that point.

Thanks again for your detailed suggestions.

Hello,

Yes, please proceed with the installation and use the driver order I provided, because this system has some specific drivers that are only for this system and that do not appear in the previous list from the link, which is more general.

About Dellkit, remember you should use this file after installing all drivers, and only if you get errors after the first attempt of installing the software normally.

Let me know how it goes!  Remember there is the issue about the incompatibility with the video card, but let's hope for the best!

Hello,

I forgot to mention that in order to do the DEBUG process on the hard drive (this is very important! because it will clean the HDD completely from old installations)  you have to follow the procedures listed here: http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/HardDrive.htm    But, there is something different that you need to do, you have to boot the system from the Resource CD and choose the option to Quit without any action, this will take you to the command prompt, just like you were booting from a Win98 boot disk.

I followed the Debug procedure. But I booted from a Windows98 SE disc which brought me to an A: prompt. I then ran the debug.exe from a flash drive I had plugged in. However, I was not able to do a format as the system seemed to label the flash drive as C.

I the booted up with the MD disc, made the partition and rebooted with Vista to install the OS on the proper C drive.

Do I need to start again and immediately boot up with the Resource CD?

I suggest you run the debug procedure once again, using the Resource CD, then choosing the option to quit without any action, it should take you the command promt, and the letter listed will be the one of your CDROM Drive, so you can type C: then press enter, and then when the prompt changes, you can begin the procedure.  After it is done, you should shut down the computer and then boot to the Media direct disc, partition the disk, and then install Windows. Let me know how it goes :)

No luck unfortunately. I followed the directions to a tee and still cannot exit out of MD. And to cap it all off, one of the LEDs has turned a flickery orange colour.

I'm attaching screenshots of the device manager. There were no exclamation marks.