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Dell XPS & Vista - ball ache!!
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| Reno |
Hi,
Just wanted to check if there are any Dell XPS Core2 Duo users out there using Vista (Ultimate) and what their experiences are like?
My brand new Dell arrived yesterday bought specifically to handle my resource needs in Cubase and I have had endless problems. I'm using my PCI M-Audio 2496 audio card which does now have Vista drivers.
I've already had to rebuild - thank god the minute I switched it on I did a full image backup!!
Firstly Cubase SX3 kept crashing. Cubase 4 was even worse but then couldn't get that to run on my old pc with Vista. Ok my Cubase 4 is pirate copy but then thank god actually otherwise I could have wasted cash!! Eventually did restore and have managed to get Cubase SX3 reasonably stable but dreading the use of many VST's.
Last night I did a Windows update and installed Windows critical updates plus a recommended Dell update. This morning pc didn't come back up. Had to restore from restore point again.
What a pile of !! My old Dell standard P4 booted up quicker and was more stable. This pc is quad core plus is running RAID0 so should fly!! Ok games work great but then thats the graphics card.
I'm wondering if the chipset on this motherboard is a bit crap but I've never had issues with Dell in the past. Don't want to go to XP as just bought bloody Vista ultimate so would be a waste. SP1 coming out mid March.
Dell XPS users - be warned!! |
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| Ray_Chappell |
| I just ordered a new PC tonight... XP though. Hell with Vista. Sorry about your experience though - that sucks. |
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| Fledz |
I use the Dell XPS (brilliant laptop btw ;)) but the Vista upgrade discs have been sitting there for almost a year. Gonna stick with XP for a while.
Have you taken a day to uninstall half the junk that comes with the system, and also made a different hardware profile for just music production? I HIGHLY recommend it. |
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| Reno |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fledz
Have you taken a day to uninstall half the junk that comes with the system, and also made a different hardware profile for just music production? I HIGHLY recommend it. |
This is a desktop. No haven't uninstalled anything. Thing is besides software that interacts with direct with the hardware layer (i.e. stuff that requires drivers which I need & probably anti-virus) the other apps shouldn't really make a difference. I've been doing MSI packaging for 3 years so I'm quite knowledgable when it comes to that type of thing.
Haven't thought of creating a seperate hardware profile though but like I say, not sure what I'd remove. Suggestions? I need my NICS and audio card.
I seem to have it quite stable now though using Cubase SX3. Don't recommend Cubase 4 on Vista. My only issue now is every now and then the sound will do a cd type skip. I think its a sync clock thing. My guess is the MAudio 2496 doesn't like the hardware. I may run it through the Virus audio card and see what happens. I can get away with it for now though.
cheers |
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| Reno |
| Good news!! I found that if I get the audio cd type stutter during the mix down recording it doesn't harm the recording!! Thank god. |
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| Fledz |
I disabled everything that isn't necessary in the music production profile. Network card, dvd drive, advanced graphics etc.
I'll see if I can grab a screenshot of it all. |
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| Magnus |
| Remove Vista and put XP on your XPS, simple as that. There is no advantage or reason currently to using Vista for production purposes. You will save yourself a million headaches by using XP. Do you want to be bedazzled by pretty buttons and Aero's transparancy and Dream Scene, or do you want to make music? |
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| Reno |
| quote: | Originally posted by Magnus
Do you want to be bedazzled by pretty buttons and Aero's transparancy and Dream Scene, or do you want to make music? |
Phew this is a tough one!! I like being bedazzled!!
No music production is definitely priority so my last resourt will be to revert back to XP. Its the principal of it - having just purchased new hardware and a Vista ultimate license. Plus if I want to RAID0 the drives I'm going to have to install a floppy drive so I can install the driver during setup. Mission!!
However I will go back to XP if I don't sort my issues. I seem to resolve one problem then hit another one. It really irritates me that MS release such an unstable platform but SP1 is out mid March.
Who would ever have thought people would advise to go back to MS' older platform!! |
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| MERiDiAN5i2 |
a) Ditch Vista
b) Ditch the RAID0. If one drive fails, the whole RAID0 is toast. Unless you have a server-class disk controller, you are using what people often call "fake raid" -- mostly software based.
c) Disable (in BIOS) the onboard audio.
d) Install a clean (non-dell) copy of Windows XP. Install the drivers for the chipset and onboard components. Do not install the drivers for the onboard audio.
e) Avoid all OEM "value added" software
f) Disable all unnecessary Windows services
g) Use HijackThis to ensure only the absolutely neccessary startup items run
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/....php#hijackthis
There is a guide around here regarding optimizing your PC for music production. follow it.
The Dell XPS's are a scam; they pretty much use the same components as other (lower-priced) offerings; however they tend to come with higher-end peripherals (fancy video cards, etc) and a flashy case.
For example, the XPS1210 laptop uses the same motherboard as the Latitude D420, but offers discreet video (as an option), a faster hard drive, and a slightly brighter flat panel display... and of course, the fancy case. The Inspiron E1705 uses the same board as the similar 17" XPS laptop (i forget the number), but the XPS has a fancy onboard video card. The desktops are the same way. When it comes to production, you're better off dumping the money for the fancy case and video card into more ram, a faster processor or a sweet firewire sound interface :)
It's not like Dell offers a single decent audio solution anyways, unless you consider the latest overpriced creative labs card a decent solution... ugh. |
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| Reno |
| quote: | Originally posted by MERiDiAN5i2
a) Ditch Vista
b) Ditch the RAID0. If one drive fails, the whole RAID0 is toast. Unless you have a server-class disk controller, you are using what people often call "fake raid" -- mostly software based.
c) Disable (in BIOS) the onboard audio.
d) Install a clean (non-dell) copy of Windows XP. Install the drivers for the chipset and onboard components. Do not install the drivers for the onboard audio.
e) Avoid all OEM "value added" software
f) Disable all unnecessary Windows services
g) Use HijackThis to ensure only the absolutely neccessary startup items run
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/....php#hijackthis
There is a guide around here regarding optimizing your PC for music production. follow it.
The Dell XPS's are a scam; they pretty much use the same components as other (lower-priced) offerings; however they tend to come with higher-end peripherals (fancy video cards, etc) and a flashy case.
For example, the XPS1210 laptop uses the same motherboard as the Latitude D420, but offers discreet video (as an option), a faster hard drive, and a slightly brighter flat panel display... and of course, the fancy case. The Inspiron E1705 uses the same board as the similar 17" XPS laptop (i forget the number), but the XPS has a fancy onboard video card. The desktops are the same way. When it comes to production, you're better off dumping the money for the fancy case and video card into more ram, a faster processor or a sweet firewire sound interface :)
It's not like Dell offers a single decent audio solution anyways, unless you consider the latest overpriced creative labs card a decent solution... ugh. |
Thanks for your comments. Don't necessarily agree with everything you said but you have noted some interesting points.
I'm well aware of the risks of RAID0 and there is nothing software about RAID0. It is managed entirely by the onboard RAID contoller which yes, is not "server" category but I'm more interested in performance and I backup regularly using robocopy scripts & scheduled tasks. RAID0 is not there for redundancy it is purely for performance. If you've ever booted up the same spec pc side by side with XP, one using RAID0 you will be surprised by how much quicker the OS runs.
I have disabled the onboard audio card & also disabled and removed my PCI Netgear wirless card (its quite old now) - that stopped the audio skipping. I think it was polling for a wireless network. what a load of crap!!
I will have a look at which services I can disable. Again though my point is that this is a beast of a pc, shouldn't need to disable services but nonetheless won't harm to try. I will check out HijackThis. Never heard of that before and sounds quite interesting.
As for going back to XP, well I'm pretty certain if I did that I wouldn't have to do any of the above as everything would just work!! Anyhow I have things quite stable with Cubase SX3 now on Vista so will stick with it for a while and see how it goes. I figure I have to make the jump at some point. I can't believe Microsoft have changed the whole audio architecture in Vista to supposedly give more control to the apps!! What a joke.
As for XPS being a farse, I wasn't expecting some fancy motherboard in the pc so it doesn't surprise me that the motherboard is the same model as other Dells. My theory is although Dell may not be the best hardware, vendors are still more likely to test their peripherals on Dells, HPs etc. simply because they are mass produced and therefore its in their interest.
Anyway I think the underlying factor here is that MS have released an unfinished product in Vista so hopefully SP1 will resolve some of the issues.
ciao |
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| Magnus |
On a side note... If the time comes when you do need to go to XP and need to use a driver disk during setup for your RAID controller (hitting F6), just use a USB floppy drive. They are dirt cheap. I just built a computer a few months back myself and didn't have a floppy so a USB floppy was a cheap and easy solution.
As for RAID, it depends on what you are doing. I'm using a RAID 0 setup now myself but the machine is only for gaming, period. I could care less if the raid fails, all I'll lose is installed games I have on DVDs. I have a seperate system for internet browsing and email, and then a seperate system for audio production. I believe in keeping all of these seperate if you have the resources to do so. In my case, I might as well go RAID 0 on my gaming rig since the impact of a disk failure means nothing to me. The performance gain of RAID 0 certainly isn't hurting anything. |
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| Fledz |
I just wanted to point out that if you do have a Dell-XP that everyone seems to be so scared off, you don't need to go out and buy a "proper XP", whatever the that means.
If you email Dell and ask for a full XP disk, they will send you the actual XP disk to do a clean install, instead of using the recovery one you get with the XPS. All it will cost you is postage and handling, the disk is free of charge. |
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