New Dell XPS 8300 constantly Locking up.. help

Yeah... I think I am done. my 2nd hard reboot of the BIOS by re-seating the CMOS battery did not solve the problem this time. It is hanging on a regular basis again (less than an hour between lockups).

Good luck to the rest of you. I am asking for a different machine or a refund.

let me add that when my system locked up, RealPlayer was playing music and the music froze with some weird noise so possibly that happened when the other person was running iTunes.

Hi Ron, thanks for the suggestions. I'll pull the CMOS battery out and have it checked at a watch repair shop today. I have pulled that thing out so many times now it is becoming routine.

And yes, iTunes locked in a strange distorted static when the system froze those times I was listening to internet radio at the time. I wonder if Dell suspects the same thing as they asked what type of video card was in my system.

Zee, I have been working on this problem for almost two weeks now (I recevied the computer on May 25). How long is long enough? two weeks? three weeks? a month? 4 months? I know there is no answer. But I have to get on with the rest of my life. It takes time trouble shooting these issues and this machine is new. It shouldn't be having these problems right out of the box.

i might wait a few weeks before i request a different machine as hopefully they can get this fixed within a week or 2. hopefully a software update/bios upgrade can fix the issue rather than a hardware change.

true say agree with you but hopefully dell chris can get an answer to as asap and a timeframe to when this is to be fixed as it isn't acceptable for a brand new system to face these problems.

i was looking on dell uk website for a xps 9100 but they dont sell them anymore so i guess im stuck with this unless i go with HP or something.

You only have 21 days from Dell's invoice date (not date you actually received the system) to get them to take it back and give you a brand new replacement. So you should get going on that front immediately. Otherwise you'll have to troubleshooting this system. And you shouldn't have to waste your time troubleshooting a brand new system. You should contact Tech Support, and be polite but very insistent to make them take it back and give you a replacement

While you're arranging for the replacment, you can  try this. Download free Proces Explorer from Microsoft. It works like Task Manager, but way better. Launch PE and click Options>Always on top. Then click  the Process button above the list of processes to arrange them in alphabetical order. Look for DPC (Deferred Procedure Calls) on that list. Watch it for a few minutes to get a feel for the baseline level of DPCs. It's reported as % CPU time being used by each process in the CPU column.

Now reduce the size of the PE window and put it off in a corner of the screen where you can still see the DPC entry.  Launch iTunes or whatever else you think might cause it to freeze. Keep your eye on the DPC entry to see if it suddenly spikes when audio starts acting up or when you think it's about to freeze. If DPC spikes and the system freezes, my money says it's a bum video card.

Even a DPC spike of a few percent above the baseline may be tell-tale . Obviously, if DPCs don't spike, that doesn't rule out the video card... :emotion-5:

Ron

So I'm screwed: the invoice date is April 18. Well... maybe not. 21 days is tomorrow. Mind you, I sent in the email request to dell support last night that I wanted a new machine.

Today, I took the CMOS battery to a watch repair shop and they tested it. They reported that it basically has a full charge, so clearly this is not a problem with the battery. When I placed the battery back in the computer and started it up (after first going through settings) it spontaneously rebooted itself after only 5 minutes: no lockup, just a sudden shut down and restart.

Dell is exchanging my machine.

I just got off the phone with Dell Tech Support and they were VERY surprised that this was still an issue with my machine. In their words this desktop from Dell should be performing outstandingly and they could not understand why this is happening especially to a new machine with the components this particular one has. So they very rapidly initiated an exchange. I should be receiving a new xps 8300 within the next 7-10 days.

If nothing else, I must give kudos to the Dell Support Techs. They have treated my problem promptly and respectfully. Promptly in the sense that when I phone them they ran all the tests they could think of and then when they phoned back I thought the problem was resolved. Today they were surprised that the problem had returned after both refreshing the video driver and after rebooting the BIOS, not once but 4 times.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the next one they send me is a keeper.

Glad to hear that Dell stepped up and is replacing your system. :emotion-21:

Hope the new one works like a champ. Post back and let us know what happens after you've had a chance to test the new one.

Good luck!

Ron

aras,

There's one last thing i forgot mention in my previous posts because i thought it wasn't worth mentioning but maybe it is :

On my previous Dell (dimension 9200), i had a trouble with my card reader. The support told me to :

1) unplug the power cord

2) press the power switch (yes without electric power supply) and keep the button pressed for 2 minutes in order to drain out and reset the capacitors of the machine.

3) replug power and turn computer on.

The thing is that i don't remember if i did this before or after removing the CMOS battery.

Before sending back the machine, maybe you should try this.

Btw, my xps 8300 is still running ok. So far...

I received my XPS 8300 on Thursday, but did not assemble it until Friday.  I started setting things up according to their "Get started"..and then I used the PCmover software.  The system locked up several times.  I thought maybe it was the software, applications and documents that I ad transferred> I reversed the transfer, that didn't work.  SO I thought maybe everything did not uninstall.  I returned my desktop back to the factory setting.

It is still doing it...no rhyme or reason to when it does it.  It even has frozen up at the login window.

I checked my drivers and they are all up to date.

Not sure what is going on.  This is the 5th Dell I have purchased and I have never had any problem.

I also had found that their has been a recall on previous XPS systems, they released it.  But maybe there still is a problem on their end.

I haven't called DELL yet because I don't have the actual time to sit and work with a technician.

I take online classes, I really don't need the system locking up while I am taking an exam.

mach34 wrote:

  mach34

As this is a brand new desktop, it's best to contact Dell ASAP about these issues.

Bev.

aras,

any updates so far on the progress of your machine? Mine is due to arrive today and I am not looking forward to turning it on. I think I will just contact Dell after the second lock up, should it occur, and asked for a new machine or refund. My fingers are crossed that it doesn't lock up.

Can Dell or something else provide any new information about this issue? When will this be sorted?