Miscellaneous Problems with Dell Workstations

Kenn's
Tech
Notes

20001104: Miscellaneous Problems with Dell Workstations

November/2000
Tech Note #4

Last month's Tech Note #1 "Freezing/Slowdown Fix for Dell Optiplex GX110" may have given some technicians a wrong impression. We are not going to attempt to duplicate Dell's support web site within the Division. This represents the first year the Division has entered into a working relationship with a tier one computer manufacturer. Techs who are accustomed to the lack of technical resources provided by previous vendors may be pleasantly surprised by the extensive library of technical articles, downloads and updates available on line from Dell. While we will post the occasional article on issues that are particularly pertinent to Division requirements, such as the aforementioned article from last month, and this month's Tech Note #5, regarding serial ports, technicians may consider these Tech Notes a secondary line of defense when troubleshooting Dell systems. Your first line of defense should always be the Dell web site.

As far as the OptiPlex GX110 workstations are concerned, techs will find it helpful to browse the library of articles relating to that product.

Of particular note for these workstations is this article on the power management settings for the on-board network adapter.

Also, techs should visit the driver downloads page for the GX110.

One driver update that I think may merit immediate installation is the A10 video update . When viewing update information, it is important to remember that the "Fixes/Enhancements" list for any given update generally only includes that revision. So, in this case, for example, the A10 update page lists only improvements over the A9 revision. If the system in question currently has the A5 version of the driver, you would also have to view the info for the A6, A7, A8, and A9 revisions to fully appreciate all the improvements made by upgrading the driver from version A5 to A10.

This Tech Note will not be updated, but the video driver may be. Check the downloads page for the model to see if new versions are available.

Similarly, for the PowerEdge 1300 servers, there is a downloads page as well as a library of technical articles.

Technicians who wish to be certified as Dell Service Technicians will be required to demonstrate the ability to retrieve information from the Dell web site.

DISCLAIMER: This document is intended for the reference of computer support personnel within Winnipeg School Division No. 1. There is no warranty or liability if procedures recommended here have an adverse affect on any systems. Use them at your own risk. Any trademarks mentioned are the property of their owners, none of whom have certified any information provided here. Opinions expressed here are personal only and do not represent the policy of Winnipeg School Division No. 1 or any other organization anywhere.

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2001 June 9

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