OLD, NEW AND DUPLICATE Drivers Now Listed With Release Date 3/8/12

Additionally, I'm running BIOS A11, yet there is A03 and A08 listed with release dates 3/8/12, while A03, A07 and A10 are listed as "other versions" but 3/8/12 release dates.....A11 is also listed as an "other version" with a release date of 10/17/11......something is WRONG.....

This could be a catastophy is someone installs some of this software based upon release date.....

You are right, it's a mess.

Looks like they did something on 3/8/2012. Files are improperly labeled and many are miss-linked.

Exactly!!

Ok, now I'm comfused. Mostly all of the driver now listed for my Area 51 ALX are now dated 3/8/12.

As you probably know, the files have always actually been stored on the ftp.dell.com server. What we normally use is just the interface.

It looks like they did some automated migration that copied the drivers files to some strange folder system (sometimes, putting only one file in each folder). Many files got miss-linked and the URL got written incorrectly to the database entry for the files. They also forgot to set the switch for the files to keep their original date-stamp.

Luckily, they only created copies of the files, so for now, the original files are still on the ftp server. However, it appears that the database that feeds the "front end website" that we use ... is permanetly populated with inaccurate data.

I obviously don't have access to what Dell is really doing (or has done) on the back-end ... this is some of my observations from a user standpoint.

This driver mess just seems to be getting worse, not better.  I would periodically check the site and based upon dates I could very quickly determine if something was new....now they seem to be continually updating  old drivers with new dates...a mess.  But, there are some that jsut do not apply...such as, there is a driver under audio listed on 3/28 for my Area 51 ALX titled Dell Utility R 222916 that under the description says  Utility for Elton to set soundcard as default audio.  it says it is an initial release...am I missing something here???? What is going on?  Everyone makes mistakes, but mistakes should be fixed not continued to be made worse...

Did you see this:

en.community.dell.com/.../20079382.aspx

In this case, while the Dell techs were generally wrong and misguided, they are also relying on the File Area (as they should). Problem is, they don't seem to know enough about each model to even spot a problem. Others think it's a trivial matter.

I have brought the problem to Dell's attention (both publicly and semi-privately). The only Dell employees that bothered to answer me ... in the end ... basically said "That's not my job or responsibility".

So, on Dell's part ... I am seeing a lack of expertise, lack of concern, and fear of causing waves.

The driver topic, as posted here by many others, is still a complete mess.  I find it funny that under the "all files" tab for my Area 51ALX model, randomly between 71 and 74 total  files are listed with no dates newer than 3/8.  Why the random # of files?  Why are BIOS files wrong?  Is is really this difficult to get this right...must be......