BRAND NEW XPS 420 WITH CONTINUAL PROBLEMS

Darrell,

Thanks for reading my post #1, and for your reply as well.  I'm in complete agreeance with you in that I simply was dealt a bad apple, and that once its fixed I'm sure I will enjoy it as well.  In regards to that 21 days to return it; there is an exception to that rule which I fall into which is  if you have an open Case Number, which was initially opened before the end of the 21 days period, from what I've been told so far it basically suspends time, until that case number is closed and the problems resolved.  Hopefully I won't have to get another system as I do like my XPS 420.  I just want one that works like a new computer should.  Thanks for the encouragement though.  Take care

Gary Stankaitis

Gowanda, NY

Hello GaryS9955 and welcome to the forum,

Sorry to read about your problems, I have two XPS 420's and for this past year they have been both trouble free and the workhorses of my life, I tuly depend on them to work all day everyday, and I go off and leave mine runing while I am working elsewhere in the office, they go to sleep and wake right back up when I touch the mouse.

I recognize that you have been in touch with Tech Support and have done all the things that I would have told you to do.  And I do not want to sound pushy here, but you do have a 21 day window to return the unit without any issue.  Once that 21 day period is over, you can not return the unit for a refund. 

If you are not getting your issue resolved with Tech Support, please contact Unresolved Issues, you will find them listed on your Dell account page online, there is a form you will need to fill out and submit and they will tell you what Dell is willing to do to fix the problem.

My first 630i last year I sent back.  They asked me if I wanted a refund and I said no I want a 630i, the second one works wonderfully, sometimes a unit will just not work, thats life, not worth getting upset over.

Best wishes for getting this resolved, either with Tech Support or with Unresolved Issues, once you get the unit up and running I am sure you will love it,

Darrell WV

Is the connection you are losing wireless or wired?  My parents own a 420 and got a wireless card so we woulnd't have to run a cable to their modem (which is in the basement on another PC) but it would not stay connected.  Constantly losing the connection.  It was something to do with the drivers being incorrect for the card which said it was a certain type but wasn't(can't remember exactly but there were numerous threads on it).  We had to run a cable. 

Fortunately it's worked flawlessly since.  If it's a wired connection and you are losing connectivity then it could be the ethernet connection, the cable, the modem, the router (if applicable). 

As for the black screen, it sounds like whatever Dell did they messed it up more by messing with it rather than just leaving well enough alone. 

One thing I would do is that since they reset everything back to day one I would run it and make sure to install all the Windows updates that would have been deleted.  I think you do, but make sure your drivers are current.  It's worth a shot.

Eskymi,

Thanks for the info and feedback.  It's something I'll definitely throw out towards Tech support if this continues.  Yes I am all wireless with the exception of my printer.  Yes I am on the automatic windows update schedule so hopefully that will resolve the drivers problem if that's what the problem is. That word FLAWLESSLY sounds like a dream to me.  Can't wait to get there (ha ha).  I think what's going to happen is Dell sending a tech out to me cause it's just continual; one thing after the other.  Great advice and feedback though.  Thanks so much.  This is my 4th Dell in a line that goes back to 1994 I believe, and all of them put together don't come close in regards to the problems I've had over the past three weeks.  It's not really putting a bad taste in my mouth as I know the type of products Dell is capable of making.  I suppose it just bils down to I want it fixed and I want it fixed now (ha ha) Lack of patience.  I'm sure I'll get there, but thanks for reading and responding to my poast.

Gary Stankaitis

Gowanda, NY

Gary,

I feel your pain.  I, too, recently purchased a XPS 420 with 32-bit Vista and have had internet connection problems.  My connection constantly drops every 4 or 5 mins.  It's driving me nuts.  I have a cable modem for internet and the cable company has come to my house and checked the connection and concluded that there was no problem on their end.  Actually, we had a couple other computers connected to this same modem and never had this connection problem.

I've called tech support, but was less than satisfied with the assistance I received.  Perhaps, I should pursue that avenue again.

I've seached this site for solutions, but none that I have tried have worked.  My internet connection is wired.

I have an XPS 420, Intel Core2 processorQ6600(2.4Ghz 1066FSB)w/QuadCore Tech.

I would also welcome any help I could get.

Suggestion for the internet dropping problem,,, if wireless try changing the channel. Sometimes other electronic gadgets can cause the wireless connection to drop (cordless phones). Had similar issue on my laptop and changing teh channel worked fine.

A number of issues can cause the BSOD. Incompatible hardware, bad hardware, drivers, programs,...etc.. What message do you get when you get the BSOD ?

Hello All, I have had 3 XPS420 systems in the past year and had issues with all of them.

I managed to get the last one to work only after considerable effort on my part as Dell doesn't want to admit some of these systems has problems.

The first two systems, I had to re-install the OS and all the applications just to get the system to a state of usability.

I tried to use the Dell Recovery Restore Utility and got the same bad results.

This would not last very long before I had to do this all over again and again.

I finally changed the hard drive, installed 8 GBs of memory, installed Vista x64, and most of my issues went away.

The issue that remains it that Adobe Flash Player is not supported for x64, so I had to use the x86 version of Internet Explorer 7.

Now here is the issue. IE7 x86, will hang quite often when on the Internet and I have to perform a hard reboot.

When I use IE7 X64, I have no issues at all.

Just some thoughts.

Monday, 23 February 2009

New XPS 420 with may problems out of the box.  Had to argue with tech support for days before customer service agreed to RMA the system. Problem started with fan noise which increased each hour the system was running.  The replacement system has been working fine... then the Intel 82566DC network adapter developed a problem.  I'll honestly take credit for this problem because I tweaked the adapter packet size / transmit and receive buffers / default connection speed etc. - wanted more speed from our cable ISP.  

Downloading or reinstalling drivers from the Dell site as well as Intel failed to resolve the issue. Received error codes: [10 then 31 then 01 and a host of other data related to the actual driver environment]  - with Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit OS reporting it could not install the driver software.

Opened the 420 case and began troubleshooting from that point.  Found a Linksys 10 / 100 / 1000 PCI ethernet adapter located on PCI Bus 4, Device 5 to be the problem.  Device was an OEM component from Dell. Wasted far too much time trying to resolve the device issues described using a software solution [i.e. reinstalling drivers].  Without internet connectivity you obviously can't access the resources necessary to troubleshoot driver or other hardware problems.  And don't rush out to buy a backup system - I have two of them - that was an additional waste of time - because downloading drivers did not resolve the problem.

When Windows Vista determines driver files [either .inf /  .mof] or other segments are corrupted it is one big headache.  Registry keys can also become corrupted in the process.  The Dell driver reinstallation CD pointed to the Intel 82566 DC as the problem.

Drivers are software components that must fit neatly into the environment established by OS developers - and even if the component is on the Microsoft approved  HCL - that means nothing if a segment of the software code becomes corrupted. Enable / Disable / RollBack / Remove / Reseat / Reinstall - didn't t work in this situation.      

After further diagnostics [no help from Dell please] I replaced the Linksys PCI ethernet card with a Vista compatible Netgear Gigabit Ethernet PCI Adapter Model GA311NA - Price $24.00. Problem solved.   I hope this helps someone else - time is money - and there's not enough of either these days!!

Got a new XPS 630i (Vista 64bit) in December.  Out of the box I had internet connection problems.  It would drop, come back, drop, come back, etc.  I did not have this problem with my previous PC.  Also checked with my cable company and talked to tech support multiple times.  FINALLY, I got hold a someone at tech support who had seen my problem before.  They disabled just about everything in Startup in my msconfig.  (Left up all the Microsoft and McAfee items - I think that was all.)    He particularly focused on Dell Remote Access which he said he had seen issues with before.  I wasn't planning to use it so we just deleted it from the system.  Anyway, since these changes the internet has worked fine as far as connecting and staying connected.  Still having issues with IE shutting down - Firefox will do the same.  In fact, just about every program I have on the PC has this problem.  Wish I had known about the 21 day return policy but I honestly thought the issues I was having were tied to the internet up-and-down issues.  I still am not sure that my other issues were not caused by the internet problems because of bombed out updates to some of my programs.  I've had to reinstall, Quicken, McAfee (twice), and Firefox because of updates crashing due to the internet connectivity.  I'm also wondering if I could have some Windows Update problems because of the multiple times it tried to download an update before the connection stayed long enough for the download to actually finish.  Now my Task Manager is even corrupted.  Tech support is recommending a full reinstall of the OS as soon as I can backup my pictures, personal files, etc.  Sure hope this solves the problem.  This PC is quickly becoming a very expensive centerpiece for my desk.

Dear rklilly,

I know your pain all too well as I am still having the same problem with my XPS 420.  I feel as though I should own stock in Dell Tech Support with as much as I've been on the phone with them in addition to e-mailing them as well.  I'm about at the end of my rope and ready to jump above their heads to the next level but really don't know who or how.  Anyhow here's what they have done (since Dec 2008) to no avail for your own reference:

1) Reformatted my Hard Drive

2) Reconfigured OS files

3) Last time they took control via Dell remote and reset my XPS 420 back to it's original Factory Settings

Still having connection problems as my PC will lose it's connection with the internet at random (sometimes after an hour, sometimes after 5 hours) but always when I seem to be working on something of vital importance.  I'm literally at the point where if I knew the CEO's address I'd pay him a visit with my XPS (ha ha; only joking) but that the sense of where I'm at.   However I do wish you all the luck you need in keeping your issue(s) resolved as nobody should have to go what I've been through.

Gary P Stankaitis

Gowanda, NY