XPS 630i BIOS 1.0.8

Chris,

Thanks for your response.  Here's a list of "always on" and "sometimes plugged in/sometimes on" devices,

Always On

• Canon PIXMA MP830 MultiFunction Printer using Canon driver v.1.10 for Vista-32
• Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 6000 v.2.0 using IntelliType Pro 6.1 for Vista-32
• Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 v.1.0 using IntelliPoint 6.1 for Vista-32
• Dell OEM eHome Remote RC6 and Transceiver OVU4003/00 using Vista-32 SP1 native drivers
• Dell 19 in 1 Card Reader with Bluetooth using Dell OEM driver R152648 and R159108

Sometimes Plugged In/Sometimes On

• AcomData 509 Series USB 2.0 Hard Drive Enclosure HDEXXU2E3 with Western Digital 250GB PATA HDD WD2500JBRTL using Vista-32 SP1 native drivers
• Lexar JumpDrive Secure USB 2.0 2GB Portable Flash Drive JDSE2GB -00-500 Rev. D using Vista-32 SP1 native drivers
• Western Digital My Passport Essential USB 2.0 320GB 2.5" Portable HDD WD3200ME-00 5108A using Vista-32 SP1 native drivers
• Motorola Razr V3cm Phone via Bluetooth connection using Motorola Phone Tools 5.07a for Vista-32

Please note that for devices "sometimes plugged in/sometimes on", I did not have these devices either connected nor powered on during the BIOS update procedure nor had I connected them or powered them on after successfully udating the BIOS to 1.0.8.

Again, thank you for your help on this.

Regards,

ZZaR

My Systems,

Dell Precision WorkStation 650

Dual Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz H/T 512 Kb L2 Cache 533 MHz FSB - Intel E7505 chipset - 2048 Mb DDR SDRAM PC2100U ECC - Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS PCI audio card - Broadcom V.92 data fax PCI modem card - BFG Tech GeForce 7600 GS OC 512 Mb DDR2 AGP video card - LG GSA4163B DVDRAM fv A106 - LG GSAH22L DVDRAM fv 1.01 - Western Digital WDC WD2500JBRTL UATA100 250 Gb 7200 rpm HDD x 2 - LG Flatron Wide L226WTX LCD flat panel display - Dell A425 speaker system - Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 OEM Edition

Dell XPS 630i Red

Intel Core2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz 1333FSB - nVIDIA 650i SLI chipset - 3072 Mb DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz - Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI audio card - nVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512 Mb DDR2 PCIx-16 900 MHz video card - LG GH20LS10 DVDRAM fv FL01 - PLDS DVD+RW DH-16A6S fv YD11 - Hitachi HDT725032VLA SATA2 320 Gb HDD x 2 RAID 0 - Dell 2408WFP LCD flat panel display - Dell A425 speaker system - Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 Dell OEM Edition

I found the problem.  It is an incompatibility with my LG SATA DVD Rewriter GH20LS10.  This is an aftermarket drive that did not come with my 630i.  I have re-flashed to BIOS v.1.0.8 and I noticed in system setup, under IDE/SATA Configuration the drive was not listed.  I had it connected to SATA-3 and it simply said "None".  I replaced the SATA cable with another known good cable to no avail.  Running auto-detection did not detect it.  Under BIOS v.1.0.5, the drive was correctly listed in system setup and there were no problems with booting.

I do think that there is something within BIOS v.1.0.8 that was causing the conflict which resulted in the drive not being properly recognized.  This would explain the longer boot times as I believe the BIOS was attempting to detect the drive, tried to complete auto-configuration, and then failed which resulted in the drive not being listed within system setup.  The funny part is with BIOS v.1.0.8, when I did manage to logon to Vista, I checked My Computer including Device Manager and the drive was listed.  I attempted a couple of DVD data burns under BIOS v.1.0.8 using RW media and the burns completed successfully.   I have since removed the drive from device manager, shut down, physically unplugged the drive from SATA port 3 including the power connector, and now my 630i posts and boots as it did with BIOS v.1.0.5.

The drive was using the latest firmware v.FL01 and unfortunately there are no new available firmware updates from LG at the moment.  I thought about flashing the drive back to firmware v.FL00 but that seems like a backwards step so I abandoned that idea.

I used the drive mainly for it's LightScribe feature.  I could accept the longer boot times and continue to use the drive "as is" but the temporary freezing during the post and boot screens is simply too anoying.  I realize now that maybe I should have bought an external USB 2.0 DVD rewriter with LightScribe which I think is going to be my next move.  Thank you everybody.

Regards,

ZZaR

My Systems,

Dell Precision WorkStation 650

Dual Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz H/T 512 Kb L2 Cache 533 MHz FSB - Intel E7505 chipset - 2048 Mb DDR SDRAM PC2100U ECC - Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS PCI audio card - Broadcom V.92 data fax PCI modem card - BFG Tech GeForce 7600 GS OC 512 Mb DDR2 AGP video card - LG GSA4163B DVDRAM fv A106 - LG GSAH22L DVDRAM fv 1.01 - Western Digital WDC WD2500JBRTL UATA100 250 Gb 7200 rpm HDD x 2 - LG Flatron Wide L226WTX LCD flat panel display - Dell A425 speaker system - Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 OEM Edition

Dell XPS 630i Red

Intel Core2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz 1333FSB - nVIDIA 650i SLI chipset - 3072 Mb DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz - Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI audio card - nVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512 Mb DDR2 PCIx-16 900 MHz video card - LG GH20LS10 DVDRAM fv FL01 - PLDS DVD+RW DH-16A6S fv YD11 - Hitachi HDT725032VLA SATA2 320 Gb HDD x 2 RAID 0 - Dell 2408WFP LCD flat panel display - Dell A425 speaker system - Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 Dell OEM Edition