[Latitude CPi R] problems after upgrading firmware

Hi!

Some days ago I upgraded the firmware on my Dell Latitude CPi R400GT
to the latest release (upgraded from A08 to A14). Now I see an odd
behaviour on this machine. It looks like the most recent firmware
release does not works as expected (but it fixes some important
issues related with the laptop's battery!). Two examples:

1. when I go to the Setup program from NetBSD (Fn+F1) and return
to the operating system, the font size on the console change
to big fonts (I need to press *two times* Fn+F7 to restore
the normal font size); and,

2. sound is incredibly high before going to the Setup program,
even if it has been configured to a low volume (and Fn with
either Page Up or Page Dn does not works). After running
the Setup program and returning to the operating system all
goes well (but I need to press Fn+F7 to restore the font size).

Those problems never happened with firmware release A08.

Can those issues be solved from NetBSD? Will Dell Computer Corporation
release a new firmware addressing those issues? I suppose that this
machine will be EOL'd soon, it is a great computer but it is some
years old now.

Cheers,
Igor.

--
Igor Sobrado, UK34436 -

In comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc Fredrico wrote:
The CPiR went end of life some time ago, about the middle of 2000 IIRC. If
a BIOS update causes new problems, I'm certain they'll come up with another
update to address them. Of course I'm in no position to make promises on
their behalf :-)

That is what I believed, Dell maintained the firmware on this machine
three years (from mid-1999 up to mid-2002) but there are not new firmware
upgrades on ftp://ftp.dell.com/.

I really hope you are right about new firmware upgrades. It is good
to see that Dell not only maintains high quality hardware but software
(e.g., firmware) too. That is the reason I got this machine and I will
buy new hardware to Dell.

On the other hand, I am not sure about the firmware behaviour on
MS Windows, I do not have any MSFT software on my machines. But I believe
that it does not work as expected on NetBSD. Another example: after going
to suspend mode (Fn+Esc) and turning on again the machine I need to run
the setup program again (Fn+F1) to make changes available (like a low
volume "beep"). In short, it looks like the setup program needs to be
run each time the machine is turned on to make changes available.

Cheers,
Igor.

--
Igor Sobrado, UK34436 -

Igor Sobrado wrote in
:


I need to run the setup program again (Fn+F1) to make changes
available (like a low volume "beep"). In short, it looks like the
setup program needs to be run each time the machine is turned on to
make changes available.

That might be a problem with the BIOS battery on the system. It might be
worth trying to flash the BIOS again as well. good luck.

In comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc Fredrico wrote:
That might be a problem with the BIOS battery on the system. It might be
worth trying to flash the BIOS again as well. good luck.

You are absolutely right about the BIOS battery issue. When the laptop
arrived, the BIOS battery was discharged (e.g., the machine was unable
to store the current date when it was turned off). Now, the BIOS
battery is working again.

I will follow your advice about flashing the BIOS again, but I will wait
until a new external battery arrives. The external battery is dead, and
I do not want to force a new BIOS upgrade without that battery. A power
outage can seriously damage a computer if it happens when a new BIOS is
being flashed. I will buy a new battery from Dell, it is not an expensive
item.

Dell did the right thing when requiring both the external power supply
and the external battery to be working before allowing a firmware upgrade
on laptops.

Thanks a lot for that advice,
Igor.

--
Igor Sobrado, UK34436 -