gbarrett
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Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
I just got a Dell Vostro 1700 for music production at my work. It has a built-in firewire port. When I plugged my MOTU Ultralite into it, I get static from the the Ultralite. I checked the chipset on the firewire port and it's Ricoh. I know there have been some isses with these chipsets as I have a personal laptop that uses a TI chipset and has no problems whatsoever.
Is there a workaround for this? The Dell has a "ExpressCard" slot and finding another FW card for it is a bit tricky.
Thanks for your help.
Greg
A real musician knows the difference between the music and the notes.
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jcschild
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/03 09:02:38
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HI Greg,
nope it wont help much at all.
tell them to send it back and get a TI laptop!
SCott
ADK
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bassmandc@gmail.com
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 12:25:08
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Try disabling or removing the DVD drive. If that does not work, try disabling the wireless as well. I've seen reports that disabling the DVD drive works for some other Ricoh chipset laptops from Dell. Please respond if either of these work for you. I just ordered one of the Dell Vostro 1700's for myself yesterday, after being assured by a rep at Dell that it had the TI chipset for firewire. They are getting an angry call from me shortly... If I can get confirmation from anyone that the DVD/wireless fix works, then MAYBE I won't cancel my order...
btw, are you running XP or Vista on the vostro?
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mmarsh
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 12:27:16
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I have a Dell Inspiron with Ricoh chipset and an UltraLite and it works great. I'm using Vista 32 bit.
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gbarrett
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 12:46:42
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I've ordered a TI based FW card. In my situation I can't always disable things to make it work. I find it very funny that my less expensive Acer works great. I could have bought 3 similarly equipped Acers for the price of the Dell. I guess more money doesn't always mean better.
A real musician knows the difference between the music and the notes.
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bassmandc@gmail.com
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 16:11:45
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ORIGINAL: gbarrett
I've ordered a TI based FW card. In my situation I can't always disable things to make it work. I find it very funny that my less expensive Acer works great. I could have bought 3 similarly equipped Acers for the price of the Dell. I guess more money doesn't always mean better.
I hope that works out for you. I have heard of some people having problems with express card FW on the ricoh chipset notebooks, because the ricoh chip controls the express card slot as well... I called Dell again today to find out what was up with the FW chip, and after a little runaround they assured me that the notebook that I ordered (which is Vostro 1700) has a TI #TSB12LV23 chip. I asked to be emailed that info so I could have a record, and they said they couldn't because it was from some kind of confidential documentation. It's very fishy. If it is a TI chip, why would my Vostro 1700 be TI and yours would be Ricoh? Did they do a hardware revision because of problems? If they did, then I would assume they could replace the motherboard from your Vostro with a TI chipped one. But, maybe they are just clueless and in 2 weeks I will be shouting obscenities because my Vostro arrived with a Ricoh chip. If it wasn't such an amazing deal I wouldn't take the risk... But it is so I must :)
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gbarrett
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 16:17:04
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Well, I've had my laptop 5 days. It came directly from Dell. I, too, talked to tech support today. They gave me a totally different answer than what you got. My chipset is definitely Ricoh. They said the problem (which they know about since it affects on board audio as well) is due to the wireless LAN card. My LAN card is 802.11 a/b/g/h/n. The radio on the card causes internal interference.
It's weird, they knew about the problem before it was sent out, but they released it knowing about it.
I guess I'll have to wait until my outboard card gets here. If I still have a problem, then it's all going back.
A real musician knows the difference between the music and the notes.
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stuartr
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 16:46:17
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ORIGINAL: bassmandc@gmail.com
ORIGINAL: gbarrett
I've ordered a TI based FW card. In my situation I can't always disable things to make it work. I find it very funny that my less expensive Acer works great. I could have bought 3 similarly equipped Acers for the price of the Dell. I guess more money doesn't always mean better.
I hope that works out for you. I have heard of some people having problems with express card FW on the ricoh chipset notebooks, because the ricoh chip controls the express card slot as well...
I called Dell again today to find out what was up with the FW chip, and after a little runaround they assured me that the notebook that I ordered (which is Vostro 1700) has a TI #TSB12LV23 chip. I asked to be emailed that info so I could have a record, and they said they couldn't because it was from some kind of confidential documentation.
It's very fishy. If it is a TI chip, why would my Vostro 1700 be TI and yours would be Ricoh? Did they do a hardware revision because of problems? If they did, then I would assume they could replace the motherboard from your Vostro with a TI chipped one. But, maybe they are just clueless and in 2 weeks I will be shouting obscenities because my Vostro arrived with a Ricoh chip.
If it wasn't such an amazing deal I wouldn't take the risk... But it is so I must :)
When in doubt, just open the Device Manager and look at the entry under the heading "IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers". That should tell you which chipset you have.
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gbarrett
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 16:59:05
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Mine says "RICOH OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller"
A real musician knows the difference between the music and the notes.
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bassmandc@gmail.com
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 17:05:33
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I, too, talked to tech support today. They gave me a totally different answer than what you got.
They did say that the information they were giving me "only applied to my laptop" and they couldn't comment on others... This was after I told them I heard others reporting it was a Ricoh chip and not TI like they were saying. So, who knows... I guess I'll find out when I receive it in ~2 weeks.
post edited by bassmandc@gmail.com - 2007/08/07 17:15:24
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jcschild
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/07 17:08:18
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ORIGINAL: mmarsh
I have a Dell Inspiron with Ricoh chipset and an UltraLite and it works great. I'm using Vista 32 bit.
oh? can you run the ADK sonar 6 test @ 128 buffer? http://www.adkproaudio.com/downloads.cfm bottom test Scott ADK
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gbarrett
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/13 18:28:59
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Dell is pretty red-faced at the moment. Unless you already have a Vostro, you probably won't see one soon. They have held further shipments until they get this and a few other issues resolved. The actual problem I have isn't uncommon to this model. The processor for the audio and the firewire happen to run at the same frequency as the 802.11 card. As long as the WiFi card is broadcasting, there is no possible way to NOT have interference with the on-board audio and firewire. They have no solution - period. Also, they don't want to exchange the unit or refund. Can you say, "lawsuit!"
I've spent litterally hours on the phone with level 4 techs on this issue. They are very embarassed to say that there is no solution and they are working on a way to develop drivers that will kill the wifi when the audio or firewire are in use.
How's that sound boys and girls?
It's time to look for another laptop. Any ideas?
A real musician knows the difference between the music and the notes.
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jcschild
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/13 18:34:31
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HI, google "pro audio laptop" this is a very common issues with most namebrand and white box laptops. 99% of them have either ricoh, ENE or orange micro chipsets none of whcih work for audio (assuming core 2 duo processor) older single core with this chipset actually worked. Scott ADK
post edited by jcschild - 2007/08/13 18:43:48
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gbarrett
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RE: Dell Vostro 1700 FW issue
2007/08/13 19:42:34
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Hey Scott,
I forwarded your site to the technical director at the office. She's the one that actually orders the computer stuff. I hope she calls you soon.
A real musician knows the difference between the music and the notes.
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