Still no fix in sight for Alienware M17x stuttering audio issue, maybe you can help

Still no update in sight for Alienware M17x stuttering audio issue, but you can help
Back in November we reported on another in what’s becoming a long line of issues with Dell’s and Alienware’s laptops, with M17x owners suffering from “skipping, stuttering audio” — rather unbecoming in a high-end gaming rig. Dell was quickly on the case and initially indicated that a BIOS update last month contained a fix, only to learn that it didn’t resolve all things for all people. There’s still no proper resolution in sight, but Dell’s Community Manager John Blain has told us that “getting the community more closely involved with this is going to be key.” If you have an affected M17x John is asking that you stop on over to the Direct2Dell blog and shoot him a message with your machine’s vitals. He’s pledging to aggregate everything together and “expedite a resolution for those affected.” Godspeed, mobile gamers.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Tipster Adam wrote in with a fix that worked for him — check out his advice in full after the break.

Continue reading Still no fix in sight for Alienware M17x stuttering audio issue, maybe you can help

Still no fix in sight for Alienware M17x stuttering audio issue, maybe you can help originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogers’ HTC Magic having 911 call problems on Rogers, too

Turns out it doesn’t matter if you took up Rogers on its offer to swap your Dream to a Magic after all, because the bug’s spreading: Canada’s first keyboardless Android set is confirmed to be suffering from the same dangerous malaise as its older brother. Basically, neither model can complete emergency calls to 911 with location-based services enabled, and until HTC is able to spit out a patch, the only fix is to disable GPS altogether — not exactly an awesome solution. In the meantime, a quick check of Rogers’ site confirms that both the Dream and Magic have been pulled from retail, so let’s hope this gets cleaned up on the double. And try not to have an emergency, of course. Ever… but especially right now.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Rogers’ HTC Magic having 911 call problems on Rogers, too originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile gives reps troubleshooting tips for Nexus One’s 3G issues

T-Mobile’s already starting to acknowledge that the Nexus One might have a love-hate relationship with its 3G spectrum, but we’ve been able to track down some internal documentation on exactly how the carrier’s going about resolving this. Naturally, they’re recommending affected customers reset the phone — an old standby that actually works a troublingly high percentage of the time — and hitting them up with some knowledge about the behavior of the device in different situations (you don’t see the 3G icon when you’re on WiFi, for instance, nor if you’re not in a 3G area). As far as T-Mob knows, exchanging the handset doesn’t help so they’re not currently recommending it, but they are asking folks with other 3G devices to see if they can pick up a signal in the same area — something we’d already seen from the carrier’s support forum post. We’re hopeful this all gets tied off nicely with a firmware update on the double, because let’s be honest: a device with a huge touchscreen becomes a lot less interesting when high-speed data goes away.

T-Mobile gives reps troubleshooting tips for Nexus One’s 3G issues originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile makes mention of 3G issues with Nexus One, hopes to have ‘more information’ soon

There’s no fix yet, but Nexus One users are getting a solid first step this week now that T-Mobile is officially investigating the 3G / EDGE fluctuation issues that folks have been reporting. A posting over on T-Mob’s official support forums is now asking for users with verifiable problems to report a few key stats including their location, the nature of the problem (no 3G or 3G / EDGE switching), and whether they’ve got another AWS 3G phone handy that’s performing better. The company says that it hopes “to have more information for you soon,” so, you know, keep that box handy just in case this puppy needs to get exchanged Nokia 5800-style.

T-Mobile makes mention of 3G issues with Nexus One, hopes to have ‘more information’ soon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm and Sprint issue statement acknowledging Profile backup issue

Even in a world full of racket, it seems that the squeaky wheel still gets the grease. In yet another blow to this whole “cloud” agenda, a vocal segment of Palm users began to notice that information transferred from their online Palm Profile was only a fraction of what it should have been. Today, both Palm and Sprint have issued a joint statement acknowledging the issue and promising to work much, much harder in order to avoid having something like this ruin your life once again. To quote:

“We are seeing a small number of customers who have experienced issues transferring their Palm Profile information to another Palm webOS device. Palm and Sprint are working closely together to support these customers to successfully transfer their information to the new device.”

Between this mess and the T-Mobile fiasco, we’re pretty certain we’re being forced to stay on the manual backup bandwagon for the foreseeable future.

[Thanks, Mike]

Palm and Sprint issue statement acknowledging Profile backup issue originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Core i7 iMacs showing up DOA — including ours

Apple’s new Core i7-based iMac might be a performance monster, but it looks like the whole family’s having some problems getting out of the gate: in addition to the previously-noted performance issues with the Core 2 Duo models, a quick glance across Apple’s support forums and on other Mac boards around the web reveals that some machines are showing up DOA and / or with cracked screens. We’re a little more familiar with the DOA issue, since the new i7 we just bought doesn’t boot at all, but the cracked screen issue seems to be equally common and mostly affecting the bottom left corner, from what we can tell. Now, our review Core 2 Duo 27-inch iMac is perfectly fine, and Chris Ziegler’s new Core i7 machine doesn’t have any problems either, so these obviously aren’t universal issues, but if you’re about to stick one of these under the tree for someone it might be wise to do some surreptitious testing first.

Core i7 iMacs showing up DOA — including ours originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid camera autofocus fixed in secrecy? (Update: it’s a date-related self-correction)


While we were busy looking into external speaker problems on the Droid, it would seem Moto was itself hard at work remedying a separate issue with the device. A number of users on support forums have complained of the Droid’s camera failing to focus and giving them “red corners” when attempting to take pictures, but now — suddenly and without warning — their ailment has gone away as if touched by the hand of an omnipotent being (or, alternatively, a silent firmware update). This particular autofocus problem was mentioned in Verizon’s 5-page treatise on known issues with the Droid, though the planned resolution was an official update by December 11. The fix seems to have been delivered early, as green corners are sprouting up all around, but this silent update conduit sounds a bit nefarious, no?

Update: Sure enough, we can confirm from testing one of our own Droids that the issue has been resolved. The endless quest for the green focus box is over, and you can now finally begin scanning all your discount cards into Key Ring.

Update 2: And things have turned surreal. Dan Morrill, from Google’s Android team, has confirmed that there’s a date-related bug in the Droid’s camera software that leads to it having cycles of good and bad focus that depend on the date. Our own testing confirmed this, as backdating to the 11th of November returned those red bars of failure. Apparently, the cycles last 24.5 days, meaning that you’ll have good focus all the way to December 11, when the real fix is expected to drop. So breathe easy, Gotham, there are no phantom updates, just an oddly date-sentient camera.

[Thanks, AlexL and Kaiser]

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Motorola Droid camera autofocus fixed in secrecy? (Update: it’s a date-related self-correction) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canon EOS 7D firmware update cures ‘residual image’ phenomenon

Say what you will, but Canon‘s customer service / engineering department definitely looks out for consumers willing to spend just under two large on a new body. Merely days after the outfit made public that a “residual image phenomenon” was negatively impacting EOS 7D images under certain conditions, it has now published a firmware update to wipe all of those woes away. Firmware v1.1.0 specifically “corrects a phenomenon that in images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame may be visible.” Hit the read link if you’re looking to put said phenomenon to bed. Or don’t. We don’t care.

[Via CNET]

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Canon EOS 7D firmware update cures ‘residual image’ phenomenon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canon’s EOS 7D experiencing ‘residual image’ phenomenon, fix is on the way

Canon’s $1,900 EOS 7D DSLR just started shipping a month ago to pros and those who’d like to be, and already the thing is causing all sorts of fits when shooting continuously. In a service notice posted today on the outfit’s website, we’re told that images “captured by continuous shooting and under certain conditions [can exhibit] barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame.” The phenomenon isn’t apt to be noticeable with optimal exposure, but apparently a number of Photoshoppers have been irked by the additional (and unwelcome) elements added to their shots. Canon assures us that a firmware fix is on the way, and you can bet we’ll point you to a download link as soon as it hits.

[Via DPReview]

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Canon’s EOS 7D experiencing ‘residual image’ phenomenon, fix is on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Peek offers disgruntled Sidekick owners a free Pronto, internet high-five

As Microsoft and Apple have so precisely demonstrated, there’s nothing like a face full of egg to make the competition fire up the sucker punch machine. Take Peek, for example, who is now offering angered Sidekick users (you know, the ones that probably lost all of their data recently) a gratis Pronto for their trouble. All that’s required is an image of you, a frowny face, your wiped Sidekick and a T-Mobile bill — once that’s sent over to Peek’s dedicated inbox, you’ll soon receive your Pronto in the mail. ‘Course, it’s up to you to foot the $20 monthly bill for keeping the thing active, but hey, free’s free. Kind of.

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Peek offers disgruntled Sidekick owners a free Pronto, internet high-five originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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