A11 on Inspiron 1525 incompatible w/ Vista SP1?

Just a few points in case Dell is having a hard time putting themselves in the customer's shoes:

- This issue was reported months ago and it still isn't fixed.

- The thread is now 10 pages long.  It's not just one or two people.  There are also threads on MS's community forums.  Google for inspiron reboots sleep and eat your heart out.

- One of Dell's *customers* found the workaround and posted it.  If a customer hadn't found the workaround, I would still have no way to shut off my laptop other than holding the power button and killing Windows each time I shutdown (which is obviously a Bad Thing).

- I'm having the problem on my new Dell 1525.  I unpacked it, installed all of the Windows Updates and now I have the problem.  I haven't even installed anything on my machine yet.  Does Dell even do a cursory test of their configurations?

- Now Dell is asking for customer laptops?  Really?  You don't have any Inspirons laying around?  The problem isn't hard to reproduce.  Grab a brand new laptop, install Vista SP1, and close the lid.

I Would like to thank Bill for his prompt replies, though.  I just wish the rest of the company were as responsive.  Beauracracy doesn't facilitate even tolerable customer experiences.

I totally agree with cryptyk, I just got my computer from Best Buy last week, and I notice when I ask them computer to goto hibernate it will restart, and when i ask the computer to sleep, it would restart with error (stating that the computer wasn't shut down properly. Initially, i thought it's some configuration that I was playing causes these problem; i reimage the computer to factory install (Vista SP1, A11 Bios) hoping it would fix the problem, and it didn't. Then I install all new driver, windows update, Bios A13...etc None of them work. 

Finally, I google my problem and I found thousands of pages regarding this topic. I had 5 Think Pads and this is the first time I had a Dell, I am disappointed my new computer and how Dell  handle this problem.  If this is a known un-resolvable issue, the work around should be on their "Dell Support page" User should not have to pock around to solve DELL's issue.   

People who post on this forum is somewhat computer literate, I am sure most of the consumer would not know they need to update driver or install new patch once in a while, or in new factory machine. Imagine asking my mom and dad to play around with Device Manager?? Is a joke!  

The reason people buy Dell is not just pretty colorful case, is Dell's quality computer. This time, Dell is just creating a bad name for their product. People would say "Dell is not a reliable brand, my computer will not turn off", doesn’t matter if this is a third party driver  / chip, is inside a Dell Computer 

This is just my 2 cents 

PS: Bill this is not directed to you, is just how your company handle this situation is not helping the consumer and the company

Hi,

Dell has posted A13 bios updates. I should try that bios update.

The link is posted below:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R190929&SystemID=INS_PNT_PM_1525&servicetag=&os=WLH&osl=en&deviceid=15720&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=4&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=262238

My 1525 from Best Buy also has this trouble with not sleeping properly, rebooting instead.

I did the 'work around' to disable the power management of the wireless card.  However, I still find that the sleep button does not always work... by "work" I mean that the sleep button causes no action at all.  I am using the power button, since I have set that up to cause sleep instead of shut down.

 I came very close to trying to return this item to Best Buy but I decided to take a leap of faith that a fix would be coming.  I did take it to Best Buy for repair and they claimed to fix it but whatever solution they employed only worked for one boot cycle.  I wonder why they don't know about this work around?

Thanks, I just dropped it back to Bestbuy and passed the message about the problem. I am not sure if this is the case with all 1525 laptops or just selective one, I can see the model on Dell's web site, not interested in getting into this experement again. I have to go for  new laptop hunting again.

Me too totally agree with cryptyk's summary!

This thread was opened on 04-05-2008, Bill's first message on 04-11-2008, thus Dell should already know this issue since mid April. I bought my Inspiron 1525 at the beginning of May from Dell and discovered the bad surprise soon. At that moment, they might need some more time to solve the issue or to stop selling this machine, but now the situation seems not changed. How much time will they need?

In my country Dell tech support by email never answerd my request. The tech support by phone was playing music for more than 15 minutes before I gave up (the call is much more expensive than an ordinary phone call). Then I called the customer's care service, who answered more quickly, and the operator proposed to either call the tech support (to listen to their music for an undetermined duration) or to return the PC to Dell (because I was in the leagal period for returning the PC). Now I really regret not to return at that moment!

I'm having the same problem with my Inspiron rebooting when it should be going to sleep.  I was not able to get any help from Tech support from Dell, Best Buy, or Microsoft.  No one seemed to know what the problem was.  I exchanged my Inspiron for a new one this past weekend, but it's doing the same thing.  It was very validating to at least find out that others are having the same problem!

However, I have tried to use the fix that seems to be working for everyone else (having my system no longer put the wireless network card to sleep) and that has NOT fixed the problem for me!  My Inspiron STILL reboots when it should be going to sleep.  Is there anything else I should try??

I just got the 1525 last week and I am having the same problem, but for me it happens when I try to go into hibernate mode. (It might have happened with the sleep function too, but I can't remember.) Also the problem doesn't happen every time so is is frustratingly inconsistent. If I change a setting it seems like the problem is solved, but then it crops up again. I hope we get some real solution from Dell soon!

I haven't had time to read all the posts here (I will soon), but I want to ask if people are only having this problem with "sleep"? So hibernate works OK? Does the regular full shut down always turn off the computer successfully? Thanks.

Read the rest of the thread. There is a workaround that fixes the problem for almost everyone: disabling the system from managing the wireless card's power status. This prevents the system from turning off the wireless when the system goes to sleep or when the wireless network is not in use. The downside is decreased battery life, but sleep, hibernate, and shut down work.

srel,

Thanks, I did read through and I have unchecked the setting allowing windows to turn off the wireless card, and so far it seems to have worked. I wasn't keeping track but it seemed like the problem mostly occured when I tried to hibernate. I don't think I had any problems with sleep, at least with closing the cover. I do remember at least once the normal shut down failing (ie. it just restarted).

So, if I understand you correctly, if we turn off the wireless with the external switch before putting the laptop to sleep, then we won't have the battery being reduced?

The second part of this issue is that hibernation takes a very long time to complete. I haven't timed it but it still seems very long even after implementing the work-around. Could this be related to the problem? It seems like a regular full shut down is faster. I used to use an IBM thinkpad and hiberation on that was extremely quick (both on and off) so I was hoping this Dell would be able to have the same ability.