Dell Studio 1557

[dcgm]

Hey guys, back again.

I'm having some BSOD and general crashing issues again. Last night I was watching a video on youtube on battery when I got a low power indicator. As I plugged back into the wall (with the video still running), the laptop crashed badly. Upon restart, I got a BSOD. Waited 2 minutes, then tried to "repair" the problem. After 10 minutes, I was told the problem was not repaired, and if I had connected a camera or something else to disconnect and reboot. If problems persist, contact manufacturer.

I powered back on today and all was fine (no windows repair necessary to boot back up). I have had similar issues in the past few weeks.

I'm thinking it might have to do with heatsink problems, but who knows? I was wondering if there were any new developments rather than me skim through 180 pages. I'm calling dell again and I want a new computer because this is complete bull already.

[kraftman]

Here's an update for those of you who want to fit the internal mobile broadband cards. It's a bit long-winded but it's worth it-so bear with me!

This works for the 5530 card and where your machine does NOT have the extra antenna-no replacement screen required!

1. Fit the card the only way it will go in-no instruction required! Screw it in place if you are lucky enough to have the screw. I didn't but the antenna wire seems to keep the whole unit in place if wedged in carefully. If anyone has a spare screw or knows where to get one without having to buy a whole set please let me know.

2. Now this is the interesting bit. The only 3 antenna cables my unit have are all connected to the wifi card-so I called the ebayer who sold me the unit for £39.99UK for advice. He was extremely helpful and told me to disconnect the WHITE cable from the WIFI card and connect it to the MAIN connection of the 5530. I was sceptical as I thought this may affect the WIFI card ability but the guy reassured me it wouldn't. I did as he said and carried on....

3. Next up-drivers. The 5530 drivers DON'T work-use 5540 intead :

Drivers and Downloads

2. You need to reboot for the driver to update

3. Next, you need to be able to connect to the internet. From what I read, the dell software used for connecting to the internet is awful-instead, use this (from Sony Ericsson who actually manufacture these cards):

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/supp...0g?cc=gb&lc=en

4. The automatic installer didn't work on my 64 bit Win 7 OS. Instead, I navigated here:

wireless manager/install/temp/setup 64

Obviously, if you have a 32 bit OS, use the 32 bit option

5. Success! In my list of connections I was connected via my Orange sim card.

6. The 'connection manager' part of the software hadn't installed but I was still connected-just no 'manager'. I then went on to install this part of the software by navigating:

wireless manager/install/sonyericssonwirelessmanager5

The manager now installed (I can't remember if a reboot was required or not-sorry). However, it didn't pick up the 5530-this time even after a definite reboot. TBH, I haven't really bothered exploring further. My card connects beautifully without the need for the manager. From what I can see, the only assets of the manager are the ability to pick up texts if you need to and a data counter. The latter I'm sure you can have as a PC add-on whilst surfing via the 5530. The former? Well, I suppose you'd have to remove the SIM and place in your mobile phone. This would be a PITA but I guess not many people would have the need to do this too often.

If you really want to use the manager, the instructions are here:

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/down...202_4686_2.pdf

As you will see, to properly install the manager, you should have the unit disconnected to start with. Since the software is primarily for an external dongle, and not an internal card, that would be straightforward. However, since I had already gone through most of the setup, I didn't really fancy opening up my laptop whilst powered up and connecting my card during the installation!!!

It's entirely possible I did things a bit in the wrong order-but I was learning as I went-hindsight is a wonderful thing! Therefore, it's highly possible that if you install this part before connecting the 5300 then you'll have full functionality of the manager. but, as I've said I'm happy and won't be testing this.



So, my long-winded post is nearly over-but I hope it helps. Incidentally, my WIFI seems to be working perfectly minus the white antenna lead. If someone reads this and knows this to be a bad idea please let me know!!

In case anyone has the same issues as I did with this:

I followed the above guide but without much luck. Install the drivers and the broadband manager before physically inserting the card!

[OneCool]

Well after a year and a half im giving up on the 1557/1558 guys.

Motherboard went out on me AGAIN while gaming and temps where not the issue.Not sure what happened but im now in the process of parting out the rest of the laptop on Ebay.

If anyone needs/wants something PM me.

[iafzal3]

Well after a year and a half im giving up on the 1557/1558 guys.

Motherboard went out on me AGAIN while gaming and temps where not the issue.Not sure what happened but im now in the process of parting out the rest of the laptop on Ebay.

If anyone needs/wants something PM me.

what happened? BSOD or somthing else.
What were your temps?
I recall u did the shim mod and were very happy with it.

[kizwan]

I agree, in real-life performance there will be little differences between i7-720QM & 740QM. At best, 740QM will just slightly better than 720QM. If I have extra money, I'm thinking going to upgrade it to 920XM processor. Heat is not a problem to me. There are a lot of ways to handle it.

I also don't think it is outdated yet. Despite the GPU's temperature is very high when playing games, I'm satisfied with the performance of this notebook. I already planning to apply DIY Vidock. It should make the internal GPU relax/cool & still can play heavy games for hours with external graphic card. I'm not looking for "desktop's level performance" since I'm not hardcore gamers. So, DIY Vidock surely suitable for me.

Except the extreme edition processor, I'm successfully:-

• Shims mod the heatsink
• Setup external graphics card HD 5870 to replace the ancient HD 4570 for playing games.

[altoster]

good work kiz... how much did it cost for the vy dock config... and from where it can be puchased..??
thanks

[kizwan]

I bought the kit from HWtools.net. The one I bought is "PE4H-EC2C ver2.4 Package". So, currently running at x1 link. I paid around USD 102 (including shipping charges). Our notebook support x2 link setup. It gives comfortable performance than x1 link. For x2 link setup, you'll need "PE4H-PM3N ver2.4 Package" + PM3N (mini-PCIe card) + PCIEMM (mini-HDMI to mini-HDMI cable). This is because will need to use 2xPM3N for x2 link setup using PCIe port 1 & 2 (WLAN & WWAN port). Yeah, you'll need to removed the wireless device. I'm going to get 2xPM3N myself later.

In addition to the kit, you'll need external monitor, desktop graphic card & ATX PSU. Most people have external monitor already & usually have an old ATX PSU around. So, probably you'll only need to buy a graphic card. If it is high-end graphic card, you probably need to buy new PSU at least 500W with single 12V rail.

[kizwan]

My Dell Studio is failing. When booting into Windows, it kept BSOD & while running diagnostic, it shutdown itself. Exactly after one year & a half, it finally giving up. I have pushed my Dell to the limit & I do not regret it failing now. Good bye Dell!

So... what next? Any suggestion for my next notebook? Lenovo or Asus?

[pandoronn]

can you guys tell me how to install the moded bios? i execute PHLASH16.exe and it says its not compatible with my windows version, that i need a 32 or 64bit version of the program :S

[kizwan]

Hi pandoronn,

CRISIS package with BIOS A04 is included in A09 modified BIOS package (Dell Studio 1557 R301433_A09 MOD). BTW, PHLASH16.exe is a DOS application. So, boot with DOS bootable disk & flash like this:-

phlash16.exe /x /s 1557A09M.WPH