• Tag Archives Dell

  • Digital Archaeology: Dell XPS M1210

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The Dell XPS M1210 is an ultraportable laptop that was released in 2006. It used the i945GM chipset and supported a wide range of CPUs including Pentium M, Core Duo and Core 2 Duo models. There were also at least two motherboard variants, one supporting just the built-in Intel graphics of the i945GM chipset and the other supporting a GeForce Go 7600.

    This particular model has a Core Duo CPU and the Intel graphics. Some highlights include:

    • CPU: Core Duo T2400 @ 1.86 GHz
    • Graphics: Intel i945GM
    • RAM: 3 GB DDR2
    • Screen: 12.1″ @ 1280 x 800

    For more complete specs, check out the reports generated by HWiNFO and CPU-Z.

    Having the lower-end Intel graphics may sound like a disadvantage but the fact of the matter is that if it had the GeForce graphics option it probably wouldn’t be working now. This laptop was made in that era when solder was transitioning away from lead and apparently they hadn’t quite got it right yet. The GeForce chip ran hot and the expanding and contracting due to the heating and cooling of the chip would inevitably crack the solder joints leading to a non-functional system. This happened with numerous laptop models at the time. One common temporary fix was to remove the motherboard and place it in the oven to re-melt the solder joints. However, if that trick worked at all, it was usually only a temporary fix.

    This is definitely small laptop so if you are looking for something ultra portable and easy to carry around then this would have been a pretty good choice. Personally, I tend to like my laptops to be closer to the desktop replacement end of the sccale. However, for its time, the XPS M1210 didn’t really skimp on much other than size. In terms of size, it reminds be a bit of the ~12-inch Power PC based PowerBooks that were around a few years before this laptop would have been though this one is probably a bit thicker. The keyboard even has the same sort of chrome finish.

    The Core Duo T2400 is kind of limiting in that it is a 32-bit CPU. I’m currently running Windows XP which is what it would have shipped with though the sticker says “Vista Capable”. It should also run a 32-bit version of Linux reasonably well too. If you really wanted to, you can upgrade the CPU pretty significantly, all the way up to a Core 2 Duo T7600. That’s a pretty huge upgrade not only because of the significant increase in clock speed ( 2.33 GHz vs. 1.86 GHz) but because you are actually upgrading from a 32-bit CPU to a 64-bit CPU. However, because of chipset limitations, you still can’t go past 4 GB of memory.

    When I think of the XPS line I usually think of reasonably capable gaming systems. This laptop is definitely not one of those. The lack of a dedicated GPU make it pretty useless for popular games of the time. You could of course play older (generally much older) games. In the case, the XPS designation is really more of a style thing.

    32-bit have lost most software support. There is no longer a 32-bit version of Windows that is still maintained (at lest at the consumer level). There are still 32-bit Linux distributions but only a couple. This is a relatively high-end 32-bit system so it is probably an ideal candidate for Linux. As I mentioned above, I am currently running Windows XP but I plan to install a 32-bit version of Debian (or maybe Mint) in a dual boot configuration.

    However, my favorite app to run on any hardware is BOINC and at least for now, Windows XP can still run a usable version of BOINC an participate in a few projects. So far, this laptop has processed work for Einstein@home, Asteroids@home, and World Community Grid. You can see how it is doing overall at FreeDC.


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  • Digital Archaeology: Dell XPS Gen2 (2)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The XPS Gen2 is a fairly high end gaming laptop from Dell that was introduced in February 2005. High end in this case means a 2 GHz Pentium M CPU, 2 GB of RAM and an nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra. The nicest aspect from my point of view is the beautiful 4:3 (ok, really 16:10) aspect high resolution screen with a 1920×1200 resolution. Specs include:

    • CPU: Intel Pentium M 720 @ 2 GHz (Dothan)
    • GPU: nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra (NV41M)
    • RAM: 2 GB DDR2-266
    • Screen: 17-inch @ 1920×1200

    For more complete hardware information, see the output of HardInfo, HWiNFO, CPU-Z, and HWiNFO.

    At 17-inches, this is a very large laptop. It also features Alienware like lighting effects. There are three lighting zones that can be set via the Dell QuickSet app. Even without the app, there are a variety of preset colors in the BIOS that can be configured. The zones include the speakers (front), fans (rear base), and back panel (XPS logos on the back of the LCD). However, there is unfortunately no keyboard backlighting. In any case, it definitely stands out in a sea of generic looking laptops.

    The Pentium M seems to have been used less in gaming laptops than other CPU choices of the time (mainly the Pentium 4 or Pentium 4-M). I’m not sure why. The Pentium M was faster on a MHz per MHz basis. I suppose at the time the fastest Pentium 4s (especially if we are talking desktop versions) were a bit faster than the fastest Pentium Ms but not by that much and at the cost of a whole lot more power usage. I think the Pentium M was a better choice for a laptop, even for a gaming laptop. In fact, the XPS Gen2 was the successor to the original XPS which was Pentium 4 based. The XPS Gen2 was originally available with an option of only two different processors. Either the 2.13 GHz Pentium M or the 2 GHz Pentium M (which is what this one has). Both included the nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra.

    The nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra was essentially the same as a regular GeForce Go 6800, just clocked higher. At its release it was probably the fastest laptop GPU available. It definitely makes this laptop great for some old school (circa 2003-2008) gaming.

    So far, the above is almost exactly what I wrote for another laptop because this one is (nearly) identical. The difference is that the last one appeared to be an early engineering sample whereas this one seems to be a normal production model. The previous one had a BIOS revision of ‘X2’ and this one has an ‘A05’ BIOS. The debugging menu that appeared in the ‘X2’ BIOS is, as expected, missing from the ‘A05’ BIOS.

    The odd quirk of the engineering sample model where I had to use a utility to get the processor to run at full speed is gone as well. Presumably it has something to do with the early revision BIOS. However, I also started off using Linux on this laptop while I was running Windows XP on the other one. I was using Linux Mint Debian Edition because it is one of the few distributions that still support 32-bit CPUs. However, it was pretty sluggis so I ended up switching this one to Windows XP also.

    I originally thought it was possible that the slow processor speed of the engineering sample might have been related to thermal issues though this proved not to be the case. Ironically, this laptop seems to suffer from some kind of thermal issue. Or at least stability issues. After it has been on for 20 minutes to a couple of hours under full load it just freezes. However, this does not seem to correlate to CPU or GPU temperature. At least according to the sensors, the CPU temp did not exceed around 70 degrees Celsius or so which is well below where it should start causing issues. The bottom of the laptop did get very hot to the touch though. I put this laptop on one of those cooling pads…a cheap one with only one relatively low RPM fan, and that increased stability greatly. However, it would still eventually freeze after several hours under full load.

    In an effor to get thing more stable, I downloaded a program called Notebook Hardware Control that allows you to control voltage and CPU multiplier among other things. Dropping the voltage did reduce temperatures more to the point where CPU temps were maxing out at just below 60 degrees Celsius under full load. However, this only improved stability slightly. Things would still freeze up after several hours under full load…typically four to eight hours. Finally, I decided to drop the CPU frequency by reducing the multiplier. I dropped it one notch to a multiplier of 14 instead of 15 resulting in a frequency of 1.86 GHz instead of the stock 2 GHz. This did not seem to reduce CPU temp any further but it increased stability further. It went a day and a half under full load before locking up. Finally, I tried reseating the RAM and swapping slots while I was at it. There are two slots, each with a 1 GB stick. After swapping the RAM around the laptop would no longer boot. So I removed the stick in slot 1 and moved the one in slot 2 back to slot 1 and it booted up (albeit with only 1GB now). Running at full speed (2 GHz) it has now been stable under full load for more than three days. I’m calling it fixed. Either the stick of RAM is bad or the memory slot is bad (probably the RAM but I’ll have to find another DDR2 SODIMM to test with to be sure).

    There really isn’t much in the way of noticeable differences between the engineering sample and the production model. The most obvious difference was the fan noice. The fans on the engineering sample were fairly loud while these are fairly quiet, even at max speed. These top out at about 4,000 RPM but I’m not sure how fast the fans on the engineering sample were running. I just know they were quite a bit louder. I thought the loud fans on the engineering sample might have also been a BIOS issue with them always running at max speed or something but given that these don’t get nearly as loud I’m guessing they were different fans…possibly more powerful.

    Another obvious difference, as mentioned above, is the BIOS revision. This one is running version A05 which is the latest available while the engineering sample was running version X2 and also included a debugging menu (with not very interesting choices unfortunately). The dates on the two BIOS revisions aren’t all that different. The X2 BIOS is dated 12/02/2004 while the A05 BIOS is dated 09/28/2005. Comparing the output of HWiNFO on each machine, you can spot a few differences. At a glance, these were the ones I noticed (engineering sample listed first):

    Motherboard model:

    DELL 0EAQA5
    DELL 0F8460

    LCD brand:

    Phillips
    Samsung

    Optical Drive:

    TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-L532B
    SONY DVD+-RW DW-D56A

    Ethernet:

    Broadcom BCM5705M NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
    Broadcom BCM5705MA2 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet

    Wi-Fi:

    Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Network Adapter (DELL mPCI 3A Americas/Europe ZZA)
    Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Adapter (Dell mPCI 3A – MoW)

    Oddly, the engineering sample has a newer revision GPU (A3 vs. A1) and a newer manufacture date (2005 vs. 2004).

    The fact that they have different motherboard models is probably the most interesting but I can’t find any info on either nor are there any differences in HWiNFO that indicate that there are any real differences. For what it is worth there are of course different serial numbers. The production model has a two part serial number. The first part corresponds to the service tag and the second part is a longer alphanumeric string. The production model is missing the service tag portion. The second parts of the serial numbers look like:

    CN129614BN2060
    CN1296157L2762

    Like all the machines I run, I installed BOINC and attached to all of my usual projects (the ones that would work anyway). BOINC on Windows XP still works with a surprising number of projects. So far it has successfully completed work for Einstein@home, World Community Grid, and Asteroids@home. There are probably other projects I don’t participate in that would work also. You can see how this laptop is doing overall at FreeDC.


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Digital Archaeology: Dell XPS Gen2

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The XPS Gen2 is a fairly high end gaming laptop from Dell that was introduced in February of 2005. What was high end? In this case, it was a 2 GHz Pentium M, 2 GB of RAM and an nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra. The nicest aspect from my point of view is the beautiful 4:3 aspect high resolution screen with a 1920×1200. Specs include:

    • CPU: Intel Pentium M 720 @ 2 GHz (Dothan)
    • GPU: nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra (NV41M)
    • RAM: 2 GB DDR2-266
    • Screen: 17-inch @ 1920×1200
    • Optical Drive: TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-L532B

    For a more complete hardware inventory, see the output of HWiNFO or CPU-Z.

    As you can imagine, at 17-inches, this is a large laptop. It also features Alienware like lighting effects. There are three lighting zones that can be set via the Dell QuickSet app. Even without the app, there are a variety of preset colors in the BIOS that can be used. The zones include the speakers (front), fans (rear base), and back panel (XPS logos on the back of the LCD). However, there is no keyboard backlighting which would have looked nice AND been useful. In any case, it definitely stands out in a see of generic looking laptops.

    The Pentium M seems to less commonly be used in gaming laptops than other CPU choices of the time (mainly the Pentium 4 or Pentium 4-M). I’m not sure why. The Pentium M was faster on a MHz per MHz basis. I suppose at the time the fastest Pentium 4s (especially if we are talking desktop versions) were a bit faster than the fastest Pentium Ms but not by much and at the cost of a whole lot more power. Personally, I think the Pentium M was a better choice for a laptop, even for gaming. In fact, the XPS Gen2 appears to be the successor to the original XPS which was Pentium 4 based. The XPS Gen2 was originally available with an option of only two different processors. Either the 2.13 GHz Pentium M or the 2 GHz Pentium M (which is what this one has). Both included the nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra.

    The nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra was essentially the same as a regular GeForce Go 6800, just clocked higher. At its release it was probably the fastest laptop GPU available. It definitely makes this laptop great for some old school (circa 2003-2008) gaming.

    My particular unit has a couple of odd quirks. That may come down to the fact that this appears to have been an early engineering sample. At least there is a sticker on the bottom that says “This machine is for DELL internal use only. This machine has not been tested for compliance with FCC radio emission standards. This machine is not, and may not be offered for sale or lease, or sold, or leased.” Another indicator is the BIOS revision. Generally, Dell’s BIOS versions start with an ‘A’ (e.g. A2, A17, etc.). The BIOS version in this laptop is ‘X2’. It also features a ‘debugging’ menu to enable.

    There’s also an odd behavior that may or may not have something to do with the early (perhaps beta) BIOS version. When I first got this laptop it had no hard drive so I put one in and loaded it up with a fresh install of Windows XP SP3. I also installed official Dell drivers for the video, chipset, and everything else. However, for some reason, the CPU was running at an extremely slow speed. Something like 600 MHz on average. No matter what BIOS options I chose or what else I did, it was stuck at the lowest multiplier and even seemed to be throttling the bus speed. I thought it might be a thermal issue but this laptop seemed to be lightly used and there was almost no visible dust in the fans. Plus, the Pentium M is a fairly cool running processor so something would have to be pretty off to make it overheat. However, this laptop is pretty old so the thermal paste (or whatever they used) that’s on the heatsink probably isn’t in that great of a condition.

    Still, I doubted this was a thermal issue so I looked online to see what others have done with similar problems. I followed a couple of suggestions like loading BIOS defaults and disabling Speedstep but nothing changed the behavior. Then I tried downloading Throttlestop which is an app that can be used to manually control things like voltages and certain throttling and power saving options. However, it does not seem to support Pentium M processors. After some more searching I found an app called RightMark CPU Clock Utility. Though the options were a little confusing, after a few minutes I found that I could change a profile to use the maximum “P-state transition” (basically the multiplier) and then apply that profile. Now the processor was running at the expected 2 GHz. It’s been running this way for several days doing CPU intensive tasks so I think I can rule out thermal issues. It’s just that I need the app to make it do so.

    One last quirk (that I’ve noticed so far) is that the fans seem to run at full speed (or at least they are pretty loud). It did this even before I got the CPU speed to its normal rate so again I don’t think this actually has anything to do with thermals. I know there are utilities that let you control fan speed out there but I haven’t tried those yet. But for all I know, this is the norm for this laptop as I don’t have another to compare it to.

    I don’t know for certain that these oddities are caused by the apparently early BIOS version but I suspect it. I initially tried to upgrade the BIOS but it refused to update because the battery is non-functional. There is a force flag that you can use that is supposed to bypass that check but it does not work for some reason. Since I have a workaround for the problem anyway, I probably won’t try to update the BIOS. This ‘X2’ revision is probably fairly unique anyway so it’s nice to keep it to play around with.

    Once I got everything settled and working properly, I installed BOINC and attached to all of my usual projects (the ones that would work anyway). BOINC on Windows XP still works with a surprising number of projects. So far it has successfully completed work for Einstein@home, World Community Grid, and Asteroids@home. There are probably other projects I don’t participate in that would work also. You can see how this laptop is doing overall at FreeDC.


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged