Dell Media Direct 3.5 Issues.

I have the same problem with Inspiron 1520. See a splash screen followed by a blank screen. I did the update as well. Also using Vista SP 1. I really don't have the time to re-partition and install all my software again. Just another non-working feature I guess.

 

Did you try re-installing MD? First uninstall MD. Then install it from the CD, power off the notebook and press the MD button to boot. If it still does not work, it seems the MD mbr cannot find the MD partition. Perhaps the SP1 changed the MBR. You may want to check whether you still have the MD partition intact and is in a primary partition. I have replaced Vista with XP, so your procedure may be different. If the MD primary partition is there, try to reset the boot order using the rmbr.exe on the MediaDirect CD under /DellKit. Check the primary partition number for your OS and for the MD. In a command prompt, run X:\Dellkit\rmbr DELL Y Z
where X is the drive letter for the optical drive, Y is the partition number for the OS and Z is the partition number for the MD (only count primary partitions). Basically it tells the computer to boot with Y by power button and boot to Z by the MD button.
Shut down and try again to power up using the MD button. If it still does not work, you may need to check the boot.ini in the MD partition. It is a little bit complicated. First, you need to use md3utils to map the MD partition to a drive letter that is available (e.g. W) in a command prompt.
X:\Dellkit\MD3UTILS /MAPMD3=W:
Now you can see the MD partition in Windows as W drive. Edit the boot.ini file in text editor. Check the [boot loader] and [operating systems] sessions to see if the default boot partition number are correct. In here, the number is counting the formatted primary partitions first and extended partition last. Correct the number in both sessions if necessary. Don't forget to unmap the drive afterward.
X:\Dellkit\MD3UTILS /UNMAPMD3=W:
Power down the notebook and try the MD button again.
If it still does not work after correcting the partition number, you may have to do a clean installation.

Good luck.

Disclaimer: Manipulating MediaDirect may lead to partition and data lost in certain situation. You are at your own risk and I am not responsible for any damage or data loss.

 

Hi! I dont understand how i can see the number of the primary part. I opened the boot.ini and guess what..i dont get it what number to edit. Sorry for writing in the forum but didnt see the PM. Please can you help me?