From your description, it looks like something is running in the background that is accessing the HDD and CPU. Look at all the processes in task manager and what pattern of CPU usage is.
What applications are running while this happens? Does this happen when you don't have anything running? Have you tried disabling all startup programs?
Unfortunately, during these freezes, I cannot open the task manager at all. Perhaps if I leave it running in the background I'll be able to ALT-TAB swith to it during the freeze.
My Vista installation is relatively fresh, I have the following applications running:
NOD32 64 bit version
SuperAntiSpyware Professional (I have had "freeze" problems before installing it anyway)
Nokia PC Suite
TrueCrypt
plus Eraser, which does not run in the background but adds some itens to Explorer's context menus
I've noticed the freeze after installing a new program, or after puting load on the system. I'll try a minimal session, without any startup programs, and see if I can spot a culprit.
This seemed to only happen to me after replacing my original hard drive (250GB Seagate) with my current hard drive. But like the OP, I can confirm there are no issues with this new drive (ran multiple tests and S.M.A.R.T. reports OK); everything else is perfect.
What I've found is this:
It occurs with Manufacturer, Dell and Windows Default Drivers (With that I conclude that it's not a driver issue)
Likewise, this problem is present on a clean install of Windows 7 64-Bit (No Programs or Drivers installed)
It only happens once every cold boot and begins after the OS is finished loading (or roughly around that time)
It lasts for a minute or so, and during the time, the entire computer is unresponsive EXCLUDING the mouse and music apparently can still play
The hard drive light is on the whole time, with no apparent hard drive seeking, writing or reading
There is nothing in the performance log of Windows about this
I'm not sure where the problem lies (though there's a good chance it could be the BIOS), but I am quite confident that this is not a software issue (unless it's a direct problem with windows itself). I do hope this issue will not be ignored because of the fact we are not using the Dell provided hard drives (Seagate).
There are several other M1340 "freeze" hdd light on issues on the Dell Community board here. Some go back as far as January 2009 when this laptop came out. Clearly there are many potentially interrelated issues. I am not going to dispute the solutions or attempts at solutions posted here. Dell tech support clearly is not aware of the potential interrelationships that may cause this to occur. This is a complex, up to date machine and there are driver updates coming out every month for the various parts of this machine. Just check the downloads for the M1340 and you will see many updates for the various systems.
My experience is that if you let the machine stay the freeze goes away after 2-10 minutes, ALWAYS. You never have to restart, but if you are impatient you'll never see the machine revive to a normal mode. But it does happen -- just try it next time it freezes with the HDD light on.
I believe this solution below posted by fairly experienced users may point to the real answer to MANY of these problems. It is not hardware, after all, for many of you. Including me! This problem with the M1340 freezing has to do with the updated drivers distributed as part of the nVidia chipset MCP79 release provided by Dell. The SATA driver that runs the motherboards hard drive controller was updated to a much later version and it seems "ROLLING BACK" that driver using the Driver control panel makes the freezing problem disappear. So, a newer driver RECOMMENDED by Dell to solve many problems is causing some if not all of the freezing problems.
The SATA (Serial ATA) IDE driver installed by update package R235161 is version
11.1.0.30
This appears to be the newest version, but alas it breaks the hard drive controller in a very very wicked way. And it appears to have caused many a mother boards to be replaced and many nerves to be frayed.
1.
If you go into the Device Manager by right clicking on your computer a and selecting "Properties". Choose Device Manager and look for the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Open that up and select the NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller.
2. Right click on that item and select properties.
3. Check the Driver tab for the driver version. If it is 11.1.0.30 or newer you need to roll back the driver.
4. Click Roll back driver.
Your driver version should go back to
10.3.0.42
or even older.
You should see your freezing, HDD light goes on problems go away.
Here's the screen shot of the properties of the driver. Note that I've rolledback and now the roll back button is "inactive". That's ok.
Dell, I urge you to look at this problem closely and fix it asap. You are not only losing valuable tech support hours, but also valuable customers. Simply READ the support forms and search the problems you seek and browse the WHOLE internet, not just your community website.
I will report if my problems return but so far in a few hours of operation, no problems with freezing. And no uninstalls or motherboard fixes. Dell you're sending me a new hard drive to replace my current one, and asking me to install the hard drive myself (no joke) and reinstall Vista. Well I am not going to do that, sorry, I have better uses for my time. I am shocked that you asked me to install my own HD in a laptop that I paid a 3 yr extended warranty for. Anwyays, we'll see what happens.
Again, this may fix your problem with the freezing HDD light on the Studio XPS M1340. I hope it does.
Well, seeing as it's really NVIDIA's driver, Dell isn't likely to do much about it. We can only hope that Dell will pursue this issue and bring NVIDIA to fixing it.
I believe the issue was also posted on NVIDIA's forums, though it didn't get much attention.
I do believe that since Dell posted the drivers as part of their chipset update, they ought to take responsibility for getting in touch with nVidia for fixing them. I would think their agreement between the 2 would coordinate something like this, as they fix issues in tandem all the time together. Thing is, nVidia on their own probably is ok with these drivers, but in coordination with the specific hard disk in use (a Western Digital 320gb 7200 rpm disk in my case) and maybe the BIOS settings and who else knows what else the problem occurs. This is a Dell configuration thus they need to raise the red flag.
We shall see. This laptop is on the Microsoft store for $749 already, nearly half the price I bought it for just 3 months ago. Ouch.
I have revision 11.1.0.30 for my Nvidia nForce Serial ATA Controller driver that came with the computer so I couldn't roll back to an older revision. I couldn't find anything on Nvidia website or anywhere. Any idea where I could find this driver to test it out?
I am not giving Dell any more money to roll back the software revision they installed that doesn't work.
The chipset on the M1340 Dell is actually the nVidia 730i chipset (not the MCP79 as I mentioned previously)-- here's a few driver locations -- I cannot verify whetherthese are exactly the ones I am using but they look right:
I had this problem in November when I got mine. Our service person came out and replaced the mobo, and it hasn't had the problem since then. I believe the BIOS is newer on the newer mobo, though, so it might be solvable with a BIOS update, too?
Well allright then! So what version of motherboard did you get as a replacement AND what BIOS are you using -- would be good to validate this information because I'd like to ensure I have the correct motherboard too and BIOS. I know I upgaded my BIOS recently as well, but the problem still occured. I got my Studio XPS 13 in September 2009.
Another long thread comes to no conclusions either. I can tell you this though -- with the A07 BIOS and whatever chipset I have my HDD light on freezing problem is gone for good. I have not seen it since I rolled back my drivers. So I don't really think the motherboard's are that bad, but rather the software for the motherboard chipset has buggy eSATA controller drivers. That's my final conclusion. There may be other problems but the HDD problem I had is gone, hopefully for good.
I'm using BIOS A11. No idea what version motherboard. The one that comes with A11 pre-installed? :-)
I also changed hard disks from a dinosaur to a Corsair 128 GB SSD before I had the motherboard changed, but I saw it lock up with that disk too (although less often) on the old motherboard.
I am running the latest of everything, BIOS, Firmware, nVidia display adapter driver, EXCEPT I rolled back the MPC79 chipset drivers (all 4 of them) using the R202284.EXE ZIP file (contains the 4.69 A00 verson) found in the DRIVERS and UTILITIES DVD that came with my system. (copied the ZIP file to my hard disk and just executed, overwriting/overinstalling the latest, greatest MCP79 chipset update with no apparent problems).
As noted by alex and others, this rolls back the nVidia nForce serial ATA controller driver to 10.3.0.42, which in version 11.x.... may have been the source of the freezing, hard disk light on problems.
Thanks to RiZuan, educocar, and Alex for showing me the way to fix this problem! At last! After months of frustration with Dell Technical Support who are totally clueless.
XpertRaf
6 Posts
0
December 8th, 2009 11:00
What is your system configuration (e.g. hard disk, processor, memory, etc.)?
paulomario77
3 Posts
0
December 8th, 2009 14:00
XpertRaf
6 Posts
0
December 9th, 2009 11:00
From your description, it looks like something is running in the background that is accessing the HDD and CPU. Look at all the processes in task manager and what pattern of CPU usage is.
What applications are running while this happens? Does this happen when you don't have anything running? Have you tried disabling all startup programs?
paulomario77
3 Posts
0
December 9th, 2009 13:00
Unfortunately, during these freezes, I cannot open the task manager at all. Perhaps if I leave it running in the background I'll be able to ALT-TAB swith to it during the freeze.
My Vista installation is relatively fresh, I have the following applications running:
I've noticed the freeze after installing a new program, or after puting load on the system. I'll try a minimal session, without any startup programs, and see if I can spot a culprit.
DemonicHawk
2 Posts
0
December 9th, 2009 13:00
I have this EXACT SAME problem!
My Specs (for Studio XPS 13) :
This seemed to only happen to me after replacing my original hard drive (250GB Seagate) with my current hard drive. But like the OP, I can confirm there are no issues with this new drive (ran multiple tests and S.M.A.R.T. reports OK); everything else is perfect.
What I've found is this:
I'm not sure where the problem lies (though there's a good chance it could be the BIOS), but I am quite confident that this is not a software issue (unless it's a direct problem with windows itself). I do hope this issue will not be ignored because of the fact we are not using the Dell provided hard drives (Seagate).
alexsirota
11 Posts
2
December 27th, 2009 18:00
There are several other M1340 "freeze" hdd light on issues on the Dell Community board here. Some go back as far as January 2009 when this laptop came out. Clearly there are many potentially interrelated issues. I am not going to dispute the solutions or attempts at solutions posted here. Dell tech support clearly is not aware of the potential interrelationships that may cause this to occur. This is a complex, up to date machine and there are driver updates coming out every month for the various parts of this machine. Just check the downloads for the M1340 and you will see many updates for the various systems.
My experience is that if you let the machine stay the freeze goes away after 2-10 minutes, ALWAYS. You never have to restart, but if you are impatient you'll never see the machine revive to a normal mode. But it does happen -- just try it next time it freezes with the HDD light on.
I believe this solution below posted by fairly experienced users may point to the real answer to MANY of these problems. It is not hardware, after all, for many of you. Including me! This problem with the M1340 freezing has to do with the updated drivers distributed as part of the nVidia chipset MCP79 release provided by Dell. The SATA driver that runs the motherboards hard drive controller was updated to a much later version and it seems "ROLLING BACK" that driver using the Driver control panel makes the freezing problem disappear. So, a newer driver RECOMMENDED by Dell to solve many problems is causing some if not all of the freezing problems.
Here are the threads detailing the potential fix:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=441537
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5501104
The SATA (Serial ATA) IDE driver installed by update package R235161 is version
11.1.0.30
This appears to be the newest version, but alas it breaks the hard drive controller in a very very wicked way. And it appears to have caused many a mother boards to be replaced and many nerves to be frayed.
1.
If you go into the Device Manager by right clicking on your computer a and selecting "Properties". Choose Device Manager and look for the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Open that up and select the NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller.
2. Right click on that item and select properties.
3. Check the Driver tab for the driver version. If it is 11.1.0.30 or newer you need to roll back the driver.
4. Click Roll back driver.
Your driver version should go back to
10.3.0.42
or even older.
You should see your freezing, HDD light goes on problems go away.
Here's the screen shot of the properties of the driver. Note that I've rolledback and now the roll back button is "inactive". That's ok.
Dell, I urge you to look at this problem closely and fix it asap. You are not only losing valuable tech support hours, but also valuable customers. Simply READ the support forms and search the problems you seek and browse the WHOLE internet, not just your community website.
I will report if my problems return but so far in a few hours of operation, no problems with freezing. And no uninstalls or motherboard fixes. Dell you're sending me a new hard drive to replace my current one, and asking me to install the hard drive myself (no joke) and reinstall Vista. Well I am not going to do that, sorry, I have better uses for my time. I am shocked that you asked me to install my own HD in a laptop that I paid a 3 yr extended warranty for. Anwyays, we'll see what happens.
Again, this may fix your problem with the freezing HDD light on the Studio XPS M1340. I hope it does.
DemonicHawk
2 Posts
0
December 27th, 2009 20:00
Well, seeing as it's really NVIDIA's driver, Dell isn't likely to do much about it. We can only hope that Dell will pursue this issue and bring NVIDIA to fixing it.
I believe the issue was also posted on NVIDIA's forums, though it didn't get much attention.
alexsirota
11 Posts
0
December 27th, 2009 22:00
I do believe that since Dell posted the drivers as part of their chipset update, they ought to take responsibility for getting in touch with nVidia for fixing them. I would think their agreement between the 2 would coordinate something like this, as they fix issues in tandem all the time together. Thing is, nVidia on their own probably is ok with these drivers, but in coordination with the specific hard disk in use (a Western Digital 320gb 7200 rpm disk in my case) and maybe the BIOS settings and who else knows what else the problem occurs. This is a Dell configuration thus they need to raise the red flag.
We shall see. This laptop is on the Microsoft store for $749 already, nearly half the price I bought it for just 3 months ago. Ouch.
gte991d
7 Posts
0
December 28th, 2009 18:00
I have revision 11.1.0.30 for my Nvidia nForce Serial ATA Controller driver that came with the computer so I couldn't roll back to an older revision. I couldn't find anything on Nvidia website or anywhere. Any idea where I could find this driver to test it out?
I am not giving Dell any more money to roll back the software revision they installed that doesn't work.
alexsirota
11 Posts
0
December 29th, 2009 11:00
The chipset on the M1340 Dell is actually the nVidia 730i chipset (not the MCP79 as I mentioned previously)-- here's a few driver locations -- I cannot verify whetherthese are exactly the ones I am using but they look right:
From nVidia
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/20.08/20.08_nforce_winvista64_international_whql.exe
From DELL
ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/R215822.exe
CHECK TO MAKE SURE THE SATA DRIVER IS 10.3.0.42
Search http://drivers.softpedia.com/dyn-search.php on nvidia nforce 730i for the correct OS/bit architecture...
NVIDIA nForce Driver 20.08 WHQL Vista64 description
Windows Vista 64-bit Driver Versions:
Ethernet Driver (v67.86.2)
WHQLNAM (v.67.93)
Sata/IDE Driver (v10.3.0.42)
WHQLRAID Driver (v10.3.0.42)
WHQLRAIDTOOL (v10.3.0.42)
SM Bus (v4.69)
WHQLSMU (v1.61)
WHQLGPU Driver (v178.13)
WHQLAwyMode driver (v.6.0.6000.107)
WHQLInstaller (v6.14)
Supported products
nForce 790i Ultra SLI
nForce 790i SLI
nForce 780i SLI
nForce 750i SLI
nForce 730i, GeForce 9300, GeForce 9400
nForce 680i SLI
nForce 680i LT SLI
nForce 650i SLI
nForce 650i Ultra
nForce 630i/GeForce 7150
nForce 630i/GeForce 7100
nForce 630i
nForce 630a/GeForce 7050 PV
nForce 630a/GeForce 7025
nForce 610i/GeForce 7050
jwatte
6 Posts
0
January 11th, 2010 11:00
I had this problem in November when I got mine. Our service person came out and replaced the mobo, and it hasn't had the problem since then. I believe the BIOS is newer on the newer mobo, though, so it might be solvable with a BIOS update, too?
alexsirota
11 Posts
0
January 11th, 2010 13:00
Well allright then! So what version of motherboard did you get as a replacement AND what BIOS are you using -- would be good to validate this information because I'd like to ensure I have the correct motherboard too and BIOS. I know I upgaded my BIOS recently as well, but the problem still occured. I got my Studio XPS 13 in September 2009.
Alex
alexsirota
11 Posts
0
January 14th, 2010 09:00
I installed the BIOS update available that is supposed to go to BIOS A11. I don't think my laptop went to A11 though. According to the release notes:
"This BIOS is for B02 chipset"
Now how do I find out which chipset I have?
These topics have no responses :(
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19297631/19563808.aspx
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19294749.aspx
Another long thread comes to no conclusions either. I can tell you this though -- with the A07 BIOS and whatever chipset I have my HDD light on freezing problem is gone for good. I have not seen it since I rolled back my drivers. So I don't really think the motherboard's are that bad, but rather the software for the motherboard chipset has buggy eSATA controller drivers. That's my final conclusion. There may be other problems but the HDD problem I had is gone, hopefully for good.
jwatte
6 Posts
0
January 14th, 2010 09:00
I'm using BIOS A11. No idea what version motherboard. The one that comes with A11 pre-installed? :-)
I also changed hard disks from a dinosaur to a Corsair 128 GB SSD before I had the motherboard changed, but I saw it lock up with that disk too (although less often) on the old motherboard.
Jim Lewis
1 Rookie
•
19 Posts
0
January 15th, 2010 11:00
I am running the latest of everything, BIOS, Firmware, nVidia display adapter driver, EXCEPT I rolled back the MPC79 chipset drivers (all 4 of them) using the R202284.EXE ZIP file (contains the 4.69 A00 verson) found in the DRIVERS and UTILITIES DVD that came with my system. (copied the ZIP file to my hard disk and just executed, overwriting/overinstalling the latest, greatest MCP79 chipset update with no apparent problems).
As noted by alex and others, this rolls back the nVidia nForce serial ATA controller driver to 10.3.0.42, which in version 11.x.... may have been the source of the freezing, hard disk light on problems.
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19293320/19632896.aspx#19632896
Thanks to RiZuan, educocar, and Alex for showing me the way to fix this problem! At last! After months of frustration with Dell Technical Support who are totally clueless.
Jim Lewis
_______________________________
Use every part of the buffalo. - Brad Bird