MV Ixius 3.6 Laptop and NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go 256MB

[Alasdair @ MV]

Platham,

I'm sorry to hear of the trouble you've been having and would like to assure you that this is not a normal course of events. I trust that you will appreciate that all companies occasionally has a faulty machine but I agree that things have gone wrong here. My MD, Jon Kitchen is currently looking into your case and we may be able to process your refund and take your word that you will allow us to collect the accessories and process the refund up front.

[-pro-]

lo all, well, ive had my Ixius for about 2 weeks now, and ive run into two slight problems.

Firstly, the time on the LED's on the front panel doesnt work when the machine is on, in the bios its set as enabled, and the LEDs do work as when the laptop is off and i turn on the cd player, all are working fine. this is something ill tackle mobile support about but just wondered if anyone else has had this?

as for my second problem, i work as a computer games developer, the power of the ixius was one of the reasons i bought it, and as such i require the latest drivers (especially graphics drivers) possible all due to development purposes (something i talked to nabil at mv's sales about before i even bought the laptop).

so heres the issue - the ixius due to the custom nvidia geforce 6800 cannot use the standard cross platform drivers which nvidia release on their website regularly, as such you have to get the drivers from mobile support.

the drivers from mobile support are OLDER THAN THEN DRIVERS THAT COME INSTALLED ON THE SYSTEM. and the drivers on the system are not the current latest version.

I just wondered if anyone who has an Ixius knows of some holy grail of websites with custom nvidia geforce go 6800 drivers on it that updates them to the latest version regularly?

Ive emailed mobile support about this, and, if they say those are the only drivers they have, mv are getting a call and the ixius is going back (thanks to the great trading standards law of a product having to be fit for the purpose it was intented for - something i voiced to mv before buying the laptop). without the latest driver support, the ixius is useless to me as i simply cannot use it for work as a developer.

dont get me wrong, the machine is great, but if mobile support/mv dont keep the drivers up to date, its pretty much useless for anyone who uses it for games, games development or high end graphical applications - something which mv probably see as their core target markets.

If any of the guys from mv do see this, id really like their take on it.

regards,

-pro-

[-pro-]

Well heres Mobile Supports take on it...

I believe the current nVidia mobile drivers on our site are based on the 68/69 circa Forceware drivers. As the drivers from the nVidia website do not directly support the mobile chipsets these are the only official drivers currently available. However if you do need the later versions you can use the Omega drivers (an unofficial modified driver set based on the latest Forceware drivers) these are available from http://www.omegadrivers.net. However these are not officially supported by either ourselves or nVidia.

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

Yea you can be of assistance, you can build a driver package with the latest dll's in it for all of the mv users.

so, for anyone looking to buy an mv laptop, be aware, the support for the drivers based on the graphics module lies with MV and Mobile-Support.

And they dont have a driver based on the latest nvidia drivers...

Im chatting to some of the guys from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/ and if we can't come up with a solution (not that i should be having to do any of this anyways) then the Ixius is going back (with letters to the usual mags who reviewed this product detailing this whole debacle). I simply cannot use it for development if there is no supply of - or support for, the latest graphics module drivers.

[lunarmys]

-pro-, since you're using it for game development, i assume you've played a bit of sounds on it as well

are you experiencing any of the problems i've had? that the sound quality is CRAP, or.. sound quality = crap is probably the wrong way of expressing it.

it's more that there's no bass, at all
i can turn the bass up to max in winamp/itunes, but not much difference

it just sounds like those lowest tones go missing

(this is when using the headphones output, when playing through the speakers it's kinda' difficult to hear any bass at all anyway )

[-pro-]

yea i too am with you on this, you can improve it a lot though by using the sound enhancement program that comes onboard the ixius.

i usually set the effect to 'underwater' then have the ambient effect set to club or bass (if i havent got my headphones on that is) and it does make a big difference.

[lunarmys]

yeah, it does make a difference, for the better

but it's still crap compared to for example my ipod mini

feels kinda' odd to prefer to listen to the ipod mini (less than £200), when i've got a £2000 laptop here

[-pro-]

more on the driver debacle.

this came back from mobile support...

The drivers in use are those supplied by the main board manufacturers, when ever a new version is released this is normally tested and then provided on our website.

The board manufacturers are Clevo, you will note their details and their model number on the underside of your notebook.

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

So, my last ditch attempt by me before MV get called today/tommorrow to take the Ixius back...

Dear Sir/Madam,

The latest driver from Clevo are from Febuary 1st, 2005 wheras the latest Nvidia drivers are from March 11, 2005. So the drivers Clevo supply are out of date.

I have to have the latest drivers, neither you guys nor clevo supply the latest drivers.

So, what solution can you come to for my problem?

Also, has anyone actualy tried to download the old drivers from clevo? the ftp site times out after a few mb :/

[-pro-]

got this back from mobile support.

As explained previously the latest drivers on the nVidia site do not support the mobile chipsets, as such they are not the latest drivers available for the machine and as such the current drivers are not out of date. The drivers you are expecting to find simply do not exist.

As I have advised the use of the Omega Drivers (which is a method of using the standard Forceware drivers on mobile chipsets) will most likely provide what you need.
If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

basically, if anyone buying an ixius needs to be using the latest forceware drivers, theyre all outta luck. mobile support keep saying to use the omega drivers, drivers which they dont support.

which pretty much rendered the ixius useless for gaming (splinter cell chaos theory for example, blue screens in versus mode due to having out of date drivers) and for games development, and also for high end graphical apps too, maya and xsi both usually requiring latest graphics drivers.

Its a massive, massive shame really, the machine is great but if MV, Mobile Support, Clevo and Nvidia arent going to support any updated drivers then the laptop will just continually be of less use as time goes by.

I'm going to pm Jon Kitchen (MV MD) to check out the posts and see what he thinks, as Im pretty much at a dead end.

[matisamd]

Yea nvidia and i think aTI have never supported there mobiles leaving it up to vendors to do so. Many things like that its life though a comapny selling a gaming laptops should at least let the buyer be aware of this as it is being baught 90% for a games machine!

But omega corner is an amazing site if yuor a gamer you should already be using these drivers any way.

Support omega corner his drivers are always better then ATI and NVIDIA every time !!!

[-pro-]

Hi All, bit of an update, I got this from Jon a few weeks back (I've got a milestone coming up on the project im on so havent had time to reply yet:

Dear Tim,

I did pick up your email from the Hexus forum and have seen the mails you have sent to Nabil (he has been out of the office) and have spoken with my Product Manager about this. The driver situation is always a difficult one where laptops are concerned as NVIDIA and ATi don’t tend to release drivers as quickly or frequently as desktop cards- this is something we can’t do anything about, and we provide the machine with the very latest divers that are available.

The only place to get the drivers is from NVIDIA directly.

I have been told that you can force install the desktop drivers onto the laptop which should work with no problems.

If you are unable to do this, let me know and I will speak to my product manager again- I’m confident we can come up with a resolution.

Kind regards,

Jon Kitchen

Which seemed fair enough, until last weekend.

last the weekend, i turned on my Ixius, and no display came on the screen. The machine appeared to boot (the usual hardrive LED activity and dvd drive spinning up happened) but absolutely nothing displayed on the screen, almost as if it were unplugged.

What I did was to turn the machine off and leave it for ten minutes, when i turned it back on all was ok, or so i thought.

About 30 minsutes ago today , I turned on my Ixius again (I have been using it since the weekend and its been fine) and now its not displaying anything again.

Ive turned it off for ten mintues and turned it on again, but still, no display, ive reset it, still no display.

So now I'm wondering what on earth is going on.

I dont actually think its booting the system fully as, even thought the harddrive led shows it booting, and the dvd drive spins up etc. if you leave it a couple of mins to supposedly boot up, then press the enter key (which if there was anything displayed, would be to access my profile on windows xp) there is no sound of windows loading up over the speakers.

So it doesnt appear to be fully booting up without the display showing, something much worse is happening i think.

So I've emailed Mobile Support and theyve asked me to call them - not an easy thing to do when you work 9-5:30 and theyre only open 9-5.

I have a feeling ill have to return the unit - which not an easy task as there is sensitive material on it which is under a non disclosure agreement (I work as a games designer in cambridge for all those reading this for the 1st time) so ill probably have to come with it personally to get it fixed/replaced/hdd wiped and returned.

So all was going ok, now its all gone very very bad.

I'll update you all as soon as i know anything.

[-pro-]

ah theyre open on saturdays 10-2 so no pc until the weekend for me. :/

[Alasdair @ MV]

I have been watching this thread for some time and feel it is time to set some things straight.

The GeForce Go 6800 module is a different product to desktop boards and as such it was never intended that the drivers would be updated as regularly as those on the desktop. This is common across all notebook manufacturers I am aware of, MV are by no means unusual in this respect.

We are however committed to ensuring that any issues our customers are experiencing are addressed. If you are experiencing issues, please can you PM me or contact Mobile-Support with details of the game you're playing, its version, your driver version and details of the issue. We can then escalate that back to our contacts at our suppliers and get a fix delivered. If I go to them only asking that they update the drivers, they will just ask me what issue needs resolving.

If you have a product that checks for the latest Forceware driver then there's not a lot we can do for you. Please contact that software provider's support and let them know that you're trying to use the software on a mobile chipset rather than a desktop one and see if they can remove the bar.

All of the MV sales staff are fully aware of the driver situation and are very good at pinging technical questions to me if they don't know the answer to a pre-sales enquiry.

Going forward, things are looking a lot more positive. ATI are currently looking into the possibility of offering centrally supported Mobility Radeon drivers for their range of cards and we are encouraging Nvidia to do similar.

[Alasdair @ MV]

Ive turned it off for ten mintues and turned it on again, but still, no display, ive reset it, still no display.

It sounds like your Ixius may have developed a fault. Please contact support and they'll take you through a diagnosis procedure to see if we will need to get it back from you for repair.

I have a feeling ill have to return the unit - which not an easy task as there is sensitive material on it which is under a non disclosure agreement (I work as a games designer in cambridge for all those reading this for the 1st time) so ill probably have to come with it personally to get it fixed/replaced/hdd wiped and returned.

Notebooks under repair are stored securely within the building and are only handled by the repair staff. I can understand that you don't want to take risks but please also remember that although we take every care to preserve data, a format/OS reinstall is sometimes necessary as part of a repair job.

[Alasdair @ MV]

Firstly, the time on the LED's on the front panel doesnt work when the machine is on, in the bios its set as enabled, and the LEDs do work as when the laptop is off and i turn on the cd player, all are working fine. this is something ill tackle mobile support about but just wondered if anyone else has had this?

Please update your bios to R1.02 via the support site at http://www.mobile-support.net to see if this resolves the issue.

The Mobile Support website is a good first point of call for MV customers with issues. We'd like to also invite potential future customers to take a look too. The site not only gives driver downloads for each model but also listings of known issues. We like to get them out in the open with their fixes to save you and us time, you won't find many other manufacturers being as open about potential issues as MV

[-pro-]

Hi Alasdair,

I'm glad one of the MV R&D team is keeping an eye on the thread

Well firstly an update on the problems, over the weekend the Ixius started behaving properly (i.e. booting without an external monitor attached) so I thought all was fine and dandy. Until this morning, when I came to turn on the Ixius again, and the problem was back. The only thing I've done since the weekend was to use office, 3ds max and a bit of world of warcraft last night.

So as far as altering system settings - ive done nothing lol.

Please update your bios to R1.02 via the support site at http://www.mobile-support.net to see if this resolves the issue.

Yea I'm surprise Mobile-Support didnt send me the Bios and flash program the very first time I emailed them (you have to email them to get it) each time I reply to them with a supremely detailed breakdown of the problem, they refuse to give me any answer other than 'call us on the 0871 number'.

Seriously some of the replies I've sent were so detailed they were like tech supports wet dream

So I'm going to email them to get the updated bios.

The older bios may also be the reason for my whole 'refusing to display or even boot a post screen unless an external monitor is plugged in' problem.

I'm a bit disappointed that mobile support didnt meantion this updated bios first thing really. Oh also, the driver mobile support has on their website for the graphics module is older than the one you supply already on the Ixius - you might want to send them the updated driver you guys use.

Anyways, my plan is to get this bios, try that (by booting the Ixius with a 2n monitor plugged in), if still no joy then full bios reset and hdd format (yes I know the os shouldnt have anything to do with a problem where the system isnt even getting to the post screen but we all know how tempremental pc's can be), if none of that then works, then there is definately something up as there shouldnt be any other form of system setting to reset orther than the bios and software on the hard drive.

So if this is the case...I'll call mobile support on Friday (my day off, working in a games company 9-5:30 towards another milestone means i get no time to call support) and see what solution they offer.

Alasdair, I just wondered if you knew whats the usual turn around time for things getting sent to mobile support?

Anyways, at least theres a plan in the loop at the moment. So atm I'm at least feeling a little better about it all. It just so far the Ixius has been such a risk and liability, I honestly dont feel secure in using it for work (the purpose it was bought for). Take for example a situation that might occur if i were to go to a publisher to demo something and the laptop didnt boot? that'd pretty much be a nightmare - but thats what I do on a regular basis, take our latest build to demo it to publishers and partners.

Unless the Ixius can prove itself to be reliable in the future, its simply will have to go back as it wont be fit for the purpose it was bought for.

as for

If you have a product that checks for the latest Forceware driver then there's not a lot we can do for you. Please contact that software provider's support and let them know that you're trying to use the software on a mobile chipset rather than a desktop one and see if they can remove the bar.

The product is our own product, and after talking to the engine team it'd take a weeks worth of a programmers time to alter it - a weeks worth of an engine programmers time isnt cheap lol.

So yes i think the universe should push nvidia to provide a cross platform driver

Anyways, Alasdair thanks for replying here, I'll update you as to what happens!

[Alasdair @ MV]

Hi,

The updated BIOS is only known to resolve the issues listed on the support website, the main one being an issue when resuming from standby after a particular combination of hardware has been installed. It is unlikely to resolve the display issue and if that carries on happening, please speak to support and arrange a return. They will be able to give you an accurate turnaround time because it does change from day to day.

The reason we ask that you email for the BIOS is that some BIOS updates for notebooks don't have the safeguards in place that desktop motherboards have and it is sometimes possible to apply the wrong BIOS update to a machine and render it useless.

You should take up smoking and call support from outside with the other smokers :-)