Dell
Copyright (C) 2004, All Rights reserved.
www.dell.com
BIOS Release Notes
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Systems: Dell Latitude D500 Series
Version: A08
Build Date: 07/14/2004
The following updates were made to the A07 BIOS to create the A08 BIOS:
Issues Fixed:
1. Fixed issues where the system fails to boot to certain USB
storage devices or any USB storage when several such devices
are attached to the system.
2. Fixed issue seen after several Standby/Resume cycles in which an
external USB keyboard can no longer be used to enter a BIOS or
hard-disk drive password.
3. Fixed system hang seen when resuming from Standby if the user
notifies the operating system to eject an optical drive before
entering Standby, but the drive is never removed.
4. Fixed issue in which media bay devices may be reported incorrectly
in SMBIOS if the device is swapped while in Standby.
5. Fixed issue in which no audio is received from the analog audio
channel of a DVD-RW drive in the media bay.
6. Fixed possible system hang during POST when the Parallel Mode in
System Setup is configured to DISABLE.
7. Fixed problem where a reboot is required for a System Setup boot
order change to take effect. Now, if is pressed during POST
to enter System Setup, and a boot order change is made, the new
boot order will take effect upon exiting System Setup.
8. Fixed issue in which QuickSet may intermittently fail to detect
a hotkey press, such as the CD Eject hotkey.
9. Update to Pre-boot System Assessment to build 3012. This version
addresses problems when executing the hard-disk drive tests
without AC power attached.
Enhancements:
1. Added support for informed hot-undocking. The undock method can
be configured as either "Hot Undock" or "Warm Undock" using the
new "Undocking Method" field on page 5 of System Setup. The
system must be rebooted after changing this field.
Previously, the system would only allow warm-undocking. When
warm-undocking, the system enters Standby mode if the dock eject
button is pressed or the user commands the Operating System to
undock the computer from the Start Menu.
The new default behavior is Hot Undock. This allows the system
to stay powered on when undocking.
PLEASE NOTE: Regardless of how "Undocking Method" is configured,
the user must notify the system before undocking by either pressing
the dock eject button or commanding the OS to undock the computer
from the Start Menu.
2. Added support for DVD+/-RW drives to be displayed in System Setup
and SMBIOS correctly.
3. Added support for newer versions of the Intel Pentium M processor.
4. Added feature to allow the BIOS Admin password to unlock the
primary hard-disk drive password. For this feature to work, the
BIOS Admin password must be installed at the time the drive
password is created. Also, the BIOS Admin password will only
unlock the password for a drive that is installed in the specific
system on which the drive password is originally created.
The BIOS release has been validated on the following operating systems:
1. Microsoft Windows 2000 ACPI
2. Microsoft Windows XP
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