XPS 630 HDD LED blinking all the time

My XPS came in the other day and I have done some testing, here are the FACTORY specs first:

XPS 630i

Vista 32 Premium

BIOS 1.0.5

1 HD 500 GB

4 GB 800 RAM

Intel Core 2 Duo 3.00 GHz

Nvidia GeForce 9800 GX2

I changed the colors around on the system and didn't seem to have any issue, even after reboot. The fans run pretty darn quiet I must say.

The HD light doesn't blink that much. But just so you know, I turned off Windows Restore (I use Acronis Backup instead), disabled Windows Defender and have no AntiVirus Software running.

So, I've had it up and running for about 24hrs now, rebooted it several times. So far so good. 

BTW

If your looking for some good tweaks, check out www.blackviper.com

Dell procedure to reinstall driver

TY DaveT50. You da Man, and wish me luck.

Got any ideas with dealing with a failed install of dell drivers that don't show up at all in "add/remove" programs for winxp?

Sean

shbdcamping1,

Try Revo Uninstaller it shows more programs than the regular add/remove program.

Lonewolf_NW08,

Thnx, there's one i have never heard of before. I'll give it a try. I'll post back if it works. If not, I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

Sean

Dell tech support isn't the only avenue I'm pursuing to try and get Dell to fix these issues and you're welcome.:smileyvery-happy:

Not sure if this might help but have you tried the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility?  Another program you probably already have but just in case you don't check out Driver Sweeper to remove old driver crud.

     I have the same cpu fan speed error problem. Dell replaced my CPU fan/cooler and both cage fans. It made no difference. My system is extremely unstable. My system fans are not ramping for increased temps and processor demands. The curves do not evoke fan evidenced by my CPU/GPU temperatures under load. It randomly crashes with "hardware failure" messages and halts the system. I also have a problem with my DVD drive when ESA performance portion drivers are installed on my system. Yet the drive functions fine with Nvidea performance uninstalled. I spent today resetting all my drivers from a current resource CD/DVD that I had Dell send me. The problem with the dvd drive (and it extends to Virtual drives as well) is back as I reinstalled the Dell ESA software. The versions seem current with what is up on Dell driver site. This did not seem to make any difference, however, not all of the drivers asked to uninstall anything, especially the one Nvidea file that is only needed on XP systems. I don't know if it was there at delivery. I was running XP SP3 so before i left for work I started uninstalling and will finish that in the morning.

     I have run Dells diagnostics with only the 3700:011b cpu fan fault. I have run Prime95 for 20 hours with no errors so I believe the CPU and memory are fine. I installed Dell's new desktop support program and ran the Diags with that. Again the result was again no defects. Will kick the tires with XP SP2 tommorrow and arrange a New replacement box with Customer Support if there is no resolution.

    As I bought this one SLI MOBO for future expansion but found that X16 is not available for single card, I'll have them change my replacement to the Ultra MOBO and and see what a better single graphics card with change to total order cost to. I am going to make the arguement for the better GPU for my hundreds of hours of failed tech support trying to get my brand new 630i to be able to game. I believe my Box has a larger problem than ESA and 650i chipset problems. I simply do not have the technical equipment to do a proper Autopsy (failure analysis).

     Thanks to all who have tried to assist me in my struggles.

Sean

     I have never been able to boot from a USB hard drive with my Old Dim8200 HDD in a usb enclosure, no matter what I have done in Bios settiongs. Even after updating to the latest 1.0.5 Bios. there is nothing wrong with the Old HDD as i have run diagnostics on the drive with numerous software utilities either. I'll post back if the fix happens but I doubtit will. I have tried every Dell Tech support suggestion to include those that just wasted my time because they were afraid to say they did not know. I had asked on several incident communications to have my problems ecscalated. I have checked my account and there are no open issues listed for my machine. I no longer trust Dell's promise that they can do anything to fix my problems. One last effort and the Lemon is going home to Dell.

NoPumpGas,

Are your core temps okay? The reason I ask is that the "other end" of the 100% fan issue is that the fans stay at idle speed-- unless they are manually set higher (and what that "higher" is, is a guess as the values keyed into the control panel are (randomly?) altered after the change is applied). Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones.

Oh... am I starting to get worried.. I have a Dell 630 on its way to me and geez I hope it doe snot have all these dramas wrong with it...

Getting a

630 Quad Q9300

4 Gig Ram

Vista Ultimate

24in Ultra Sharp

500g HDD

512mb Nvidia Geforce 8800GT

Hope all is right !!!

Wish me luck !!

easy to get concerned reading this thread.

apart from blinking light and light fx issues - which dont affect performance - mine has been fine. im sure thats the case for the majority. dell xps support has also been good in my experience.