Chipset Software

A general laptop question (I have an E6320):

Dell periodically releases chipset software under their software
downloads. I had always thought this software needed to be installed
first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers, provide inf files
for other subsequent component driver installs as to motherboard
capabilities). So, what does this updated software actually do and is it
meaningful to install it at a time well after the Windows installation?

Thanks,
Harvey

On 12/11/2011 12:34 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
> A general laptop question (I have an E6320):
>
> Dell periodically releases chipset software under their software
> downloads. I had always thought this software needed to be installed
> first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers, provide inf files
> for other subsequent component driver installs as to motherboard
> capabilities). So, what does this updated software actually do and is it
> meaningful to install it at a time well after the Windows installation?
>
> Thanks,
> Harvey

Well I can see why they say to install the chipset drivers first before
others. First, Windows can dump the slow generic chipset drivers right
away with no extra features. So that is pretty important.

And my other educated guess for a second reason is that I can see some
complex drivers might install differently based on the chipset in use.
And without the chipset driver being already being installed, the other
driver install might not install the correct parts of the driver.

Now having said all of this, I have purposely done it all wrong. As I
was curious how bad could it get? And to be frank, I never found any
difference yet. As all of my experiments, they have always been stable
in the end.

The only thing I didn't look at very well was the speed of the system.
And that might be a problem when you did it wrong. As I remember
purposely installing the chipset driver last with three of my Alienware
laptops. And if I hibernate them, they take twice as long as my Gateway
M465 machines do. But there are so many differences between the two
models that this might be normal. Something I should recheck again. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

BillW50 wrote:
> On 12/11/2011 12:34 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>> A general laptop question (I have an E6320):
>>
>> Dell periodically releases chipset software under their software
>> downloads. I had always thought this software needed to be installed
>> first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers, provide inf files
>> for other subsequent component driver installs as to motherboard
>> capabilities). So, what does this updated software actually do and is it
>> meaningful to install it at a time well after the Windows installation?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Harvey
>
> Well I can see why they say to install the chipset drivers first before
> others. First, Windows can dump the slow generic chipset drivers right
> away with no extra features. So that is pretty important.
>
> And my other educated guess for a second reason is that I can see some
> complex drivers might install differently based on the chipset in use.
> And without the chipset driver being already being installed, the other
> driver install might not install the correct parts of the driver.
>
> Now having said all of this, I have purposely done it all wrong. As I
> was curious how bad could it get? And to be frank, I never found any
> difference yet. As all of my experiments, they have always been stable
> in the end.
>
> The only thing I didn't look at very well was the speed of the system.
> And that might be a problem when you did it wrong. As I remember
> purposely installing the chipset driver last with three of my Alienware
> laptops. And if I hibernate them, they take twice as long as my Gateway
> M465 machines do. But there are so many differences between the two
> models that this might be normal. Something I should recheck again. ;-)
>

I guess the real question is whether, by installing the new chipset
software (CS), the other system drivers will somehow "update themselves"
to provide potentially enhanced performance and/or the CS update
provides new functionality for the north/south bridges.

If not, what is the point of installing the new CS?

Thanks,
Harvey

On 12/11/2011 1:27 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
> BillW50 wrote:
>> On 12/11/2011 12:34 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>>> A general laptop question (I have an E6320):
>>>
>>> Dell periodically releases chipset software under their software
>>> downloads. I had always thought this software needed to be installed
>>> first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers, provide inf files
>>> for other subsequent component driver installs as to motherboard
>>> capabilities). So, what does this updated software actually do and is it
>>> meaningful to install it at a time well after the Windows installation?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Harvey
>>
>> Well I can see why they say to install the chipset drivers first before
>> others. First, Windows can dump the slow generic chipset drivers right
>> away with no extra features. So that is pretty important.
>>
>> And my other educated guess for a second reason is that I can see some
>> complex drivers might install differently based on the chipset in use.
>> And without the chipset driver being already being installed, the other
>> driver install might not install the correct parts of the driver.
>>
>> Now having said all of this, I have purposely done it all wrong. As I
>> was curious how bad could it get? And to be frank, I never found any
>> difference yet. As all of my experiments, they have always been stable
>> in the end.
>>
>> The only thing I didn't look at very well was the speed of the system.
>> And that might be a problem when you did it wrong. As I remember
>> purposely installing the chipset driver last with three of my Alienware
>> laptops. And if I hibernate them, they take twice as long as my Gateway
>> M465 machines do. But there are so many differences between the two
>> models that this might be normal. Something I should recheck again. ;-)
>>
>
> I guess the real question is whether, by installing the new chipset
> software (CS), the other system drivers will somehow "update themselves"
> to provide potentially enhanced performance and/or the CS update
> provides new functionality for the north/south bridges.
>
> If not, what is the point of installing the new CS?
>
> Thanks,
> Harvey

Well I am positive (and I should have mentioned this too) that without
the chipset driver(s), anything that has anything to do with ACPI is
dead in the water.

This controls and turns over such tasks like power management, the
multiprocessor support and the Plug and Play support over the the OS to
handle instead of the BIOS. Even those hotkeys on laptops are controlled
by the ACPI.

Ah... so you are wondering later when there is a newer chipset driver
version, now what, right? Yes, I would think it would be perfectly ok to
install it after everything else is all said and done. As everything
already knows what chipset you are using now anyway.

Of course, you know that any changes to the OS has a chance of going
wrong and your OS could become totally corrupt, right? Yes somewhat
rare, but it can happen nonetheless. So if you are not willing to
reinstall everything over from scratch again in case this rare event
actually occurs. Then either clone your drive or make a system backup.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

BillW50 wrote:
> On 12/11/2011 1:27 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>> BillW50 wrote:
>>> On 12/11/2011 12:34 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>>>> A general laptop question (I have an E6320):
>>>>
>>>> Dell periodically releases chipset software under their software
>>>> downloads. I had always thought this software needed to be installed
>>>> first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers, provide inf files
>>>> for other subsequent component driver installs as to motherboard
>>>> capabilities). So, what does this updated software actually do and
>>>> is it
>>>> meaningful to install it at a time well after the Windows installation?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Harvey
>>>
>>> Well I can see why they say to install the chipset drivers first before
>>> others. First, Windows can dump the slow generic chipset drivers right
>>> away with no extra features. So that is pretty important.
>>>
>>> And my other educated guess for a second reason is that I can see some
>>> complex drivers might install differently based on the chipset in use.
>>> And without the chipset driver being already being installed, the other
>>> driver install might not install the correct parts of the driver.
>>>
>>> Now having said all of this, I have purposely done it all wrong. As I
>>> was curious how bad could it get? And to be frank, I never found any
>>> difference yet. As all of my experiments, they have always been stable
>>> in the end.
>>>
>>> The only thing I didn't look at very well was the speed of the system.
>>> And that might be a problem when you did it wrong. As I remember
>>> purposely installing the chipset driver last with three of my Alienware
>>> laptops. And if I hibernate them, they take twice as long as my Gateway
>>> M465 machines do. But there are so many differences between the two
>>> models that this might be normal. Something I should recheck again. ;-)
>>>
>>
>> I guess the real question is whether, by installing the new chipset
>> software (CS), the other system drivers will somehow "update themselves"
>> to provide potentially enhanced performance and/or the CS update
>> provides new functionality for the north/south bridges.
>>
>> If not, what is the point of installing the new CS?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Harvey
>
> Well I am positive (and I should have mentioned this too) that without
> the chipset driver(s), anything that has anything to do with ACPI is
> dead in the water.
>
> This controls and turns over such tasks like power management, the
> multiprocessor support and the Plug and Play support over the the OS to
> handle instead of the BIOS. Even those hotkeys on laptops are controlled
> by the ACPI.
>
> Ah... so you are wondering later when there is a newer chipset driver
> version, now what, right? Yes, I would think it would be perfectly ok to
> install it after everything else is all said and done. As everything
> already knows what chipset you are using now anyway.
>
> Of course, you know that any changes to the OS has a chance of going
> wrong and your OS could become totally corrupt, right? Yes somewhat
> rare, but it can happen nonetheless. So if you are not willing to
> reinstall everything over from scratch again in case this rare event
> actually occurs. Then either clone your drive or make a system backup.
>

Sounds like what your are saying is the risk may not be worth the
possible benefits since it's not clear that any of the other installed
drivers would be updated.

Thanks,
Harvey

On 12/11/2011 3:19 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
> BillW50 wrote:
>> On 12/11/2011 1:27 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>>> BillW50 wrote:
>>>> On 12/11/2011 12:34 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>>>>> A general laptop question (I have an E6320):
>>>>>
>>>>> Dell periodically releases chipset software under their
>>>>> software
>>>>> downloads. I had always thought this software needed to
>>>>> be installed
>>>>> first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers,
>>>>> provide inf files
>>>>> for other subsequent component driver installs as to
>>>>> motherboard
>>>>> capabilities). So, what does this updated software
>>>>> actually do and
>>>>> is it
>>>>> meaningful to install it at a time well after the
>>>>> Windows installation?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Harvey
>>>>
>>>> Well I can see why they say to install the chipset
>>>> drivers first before
>>>> others. First, Windows can dump the slow generic chipset
>>>> drivers right
>>>> away with no extra features. So that is pretty important.
>>>>
>>>> And my other educated guess for a second reason is that
>>>> I can see some
>>>> complex drivers might install differently based on the
>>>> chipset in use.
>>>> And without the chipset driver being already being
>>>> installed, the other
>>>> driver install might not install the correct parts of
>>>> the driver.
>>>>
>>>> Now having said all of this, I have purposely done it
>>>> all wrong. As I
>>>> was curious how bad could it get? And to be frank, I
>>>> never found any
>>>> difference yet. As all of my experiments, they have
>>>> always been stable
>>>> in the end.
>>>>
>>>> The only thing I didn't look at very well was the speed
>>>> of the system.
>>>> And that might be a problem when you did it wrong. As I
>>>> remember
>>>> purposely installing the chipset driver last with three
>>>> of my Alienware
>>>> laptops. And if I hibernate them, they take twice as
>>>> long as my Gateway
>>>> M465 machines do. But there are so many differences
>>>> between the two
>>>> models that this might be normal. Something I should
>>>> recheck again. ;-)
>>>>
>>>
>>> I guess the real question is whether, by installing the
>>> new chipset
>>> software (CS), the other system drivers will somehow
>>> "update themselves"
>>> to provide potentially enhanced performance and/or the CS
>>> update
>>> provides new functionality for the north/south bridges.
>>>
>>> If not, what is the point of installing the new CS?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Harvey
>>
>> Well I am positive (and I should have mentioned this too)
>> that without
>> the chipset driver(s), anything that has anything to do
>> with ACPI is
>> dead in the water.
>>
>> This controls and turns over such tasks like power
>> management, the
>> multiprocessor support and the Plug and Play support over
>> the the OS to
>> handle instead of the BIOS. Even those hotkeys on laptops
>> are controlled
>> by the ACPI.
>>
>> Ah... so you are wondering later when there is a newer
>> chipset driver
>> version, now what, right? Yes, I would think it would be
>> perfectly ok to
>> install it after everything else is all said and done. As
>> everything
>> already knows what chipset you are using now anyway.
>>
>> Of course, you know that any changes to the OS has a
>> chance of going
>> wrong and your OS could become totally corrupt, right? Yes
>> somewhat
>> rare, but it can happen nonetheless. So if you are not
>> willing to
>> reinstall everything over from scratch again in case this
>> rare event
>> actually occurs. Then either clone your drive or make a
>> system backup.o>>
>
> Sounds like what your are saying is the risk may not be
> worth the possible benefits since it's not clear that any of
> the other installed drivers would be updated.
>
> Thanks,
> Harvey
Dell provides a description of all the driver updates. Have
you checked that. It may just be a simple update to
solve a small problem. In that case no other updates would
be required.

Their description does not really explain what's going on nor does it
explicitly state that any "problem" would be fixed. I'm just trying to
get an understading as to what/how CS updates work.

Thanks,
Harvey

On 12/11/2011 2:19 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
> BillW50 wrote:
>> On 12/11/2011 1:27 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>>> BillW50 wrote:
>>>> On 12/11/2011 12:34 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>>>>> A general laptop question (I have an E6320):
>>>>>
>>>>> Dell periodically releases chipset software under their software
>>>>> downloads. I had always thought this software needed to be installed
>>>>> first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers, provide inf files
>>>>> for other subsequent component driver installs as to motherboard
>>>>> capabilities). So, what does this updated software actually do and
>>>>> is it
>>>>> meaningful to install it at a time well after the Windows
>>>>> installation?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Harvey
>>>>
>>>> Well I can see why they say to install the chipset drivers first before
>>>> others. First, Windows can dump the slow generic chipset drivers right
>>>> away with no extra features. So that is pretty important.
>>>>
>>>> And my other educated guess for a second reason is that I can see some
>>>> complex drivers might install differently based on the chipset in use.
>>>> And without the chipset driver being already being installed, the other
>>>> driver install might not install the correct parts of the driver.
>>>>
>>>> Now having said all of this, I have purposely done it all wrong. As I
>>>> was curious how bad could it get? And to be frank, I never found any
>>>> difference yet. As all of my experiments, they have always been stable
>>>> in the end.
>>>>
>>>> The only thing I didn't look at very well was the speed of the system.
>>>> And that might be a problem when you did it wrong. As I remember
>>>> purposely installing the chipset driver last with three of my Alienware
>>>> laptops. And if I hibernate them, they take twice as long as my Gateway
>>>> M465 machines do. But there are so many differences between the two
>>>> models that this might be normal. Something I should recheck again. ;-)
>>>>
>>>
>>> I guess the real question is whether, by installing the new chipset
>>> software (CS), the other system drivers will somehow "update themselves"
>>> to provide potentially enhanced performance and/or the CS update
>>> provides new functionality for the north/south bridges.
>>>
>>> If not, what is the point of installing the new CS?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Harvey
>>
>> Well I am positive (and I should have mentioned this too) that without
>> the chipset driver(s), anything that has anything to do with ACPI is
>> dead in the water.
>>
>> This controls and turns over such tasks like power management, the
>> multiprocessor support and the Plug and Play support over the the OS to
>> handle instead of the BIOS. Even those hotkeys on laptops are controlled
>> by the ACPI.
>>
>> Ah... so you are wondering later when there is a newer chipset driver
>> version, now what, right? Yes, I would think it would be perfectly ok to
>> install it after everything else is all said and done. As everything
>> already knows what chipset you are using now anyway.
>>
>> Of course, you know that any changes to the OS has a chance of going
>> wrong and your OS could become totally corrupt, right? Yes somewhat
>> rare, but it can happen nonetheless. So if you are not willing to
>> reinstall everything over from scratch again in case this rare event
>> actually occurs. Then either clone your drive or make a system backup.
>>
>
> Sounds like what your are saying is the risk may not be worth the
> possible benefits since it's not clear that any of the other installed
> drivers would be updated.

Well no not exactly. As most updates work just fine and most work
without any incident. Thus why many people will willy-nilly install all
updates without question.

But unlike most people including most experts... I say wait a minute. If
an update doesn't offer you a feature you want or doesn't offer a fix
that would fix your problem, then why install it?

As the majority of updates does contain fixes, but 99% of the time it
doesn't apply to your system. And some updates does contain new
features, but they might not even be important to you at all. So
frankly, why bother?

But what I am really saying is that installing an update from a reliable
source is probably like 99% chance that everything will go well. On the
other hand, it is also like a 99% chance that it offers you nothing
different than what you already had. ;-)

P.S. I just saw Pen's post and I agree with him as well. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

On Dec 11, 2:15*pm, BillW50 <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
> On 12/11/2011 12:34 PM, Harvey Gratt wrote:
>
> > A general laptop question (I have an E6320):
>
> > Dell periodically releases chipset software under their software
> > downloads. I had always thought this software needed to be installed
> > first when installing Windows (i.e, bridge drivers, provide inf files
> > for other subsequent component driver installs as to motherboard
> > capabilities). So, what does this updated software actually do and is it
> > meaningful to install it at a time well after the Windows installation?
>
> > Thanks,
> > Harvey
>
> Well I can see why they say to install the chipset drivers first before
> others. First, Windows can dump the slow generic chipset drivers right
> away with no extra features. So that is pretty important.
>
> And my other educated guess for a second reason is that I can see some
> complex drivers might install differently based on the chipset in use.
> And without the chipset driver being already being installed, the other
> driver install might not install the correct parts of the driver.
>
> Now having said all of this, I have purposely done it all wrong. As I
> was curious how bad could it get? And to be frank, I never found any
> difference yet. As all of my experiments, they have always been stable
> in the end.
>
> The only thing I didn't look at very well was the speed of the system.
> And that might be a problem when you did it wrong. As I remember
> purposely installing the chipset driver last with three of my Alienware
> laptops. And if I hibernate them, they take twice as long as my Gateway
> M465 machines do. But there are so many differences between the two
> models that this might be normal. Something I should recheck again. ;-)
>
> --
> Bill
> Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
> Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

Let's not guess here.

If you install drivers for other hardware before you install
motherboard chipset drivers, the other hardware is not likely to work
correctly. Why? Because the other hardware drivers have a dependency
on the chipset drivers, being able to find the right serpetine path
through Windows to get to the bare iron to talk to the hardware.

If the non-chipset hardware happens to work correctly even though the
chipset drivers were not installed, this probably means that Windows
has chipset drivers out of the box, built into the install CD or DVD.
One can always look at the device status in Device Manager to see
which devices are fully operational. Yellow exclamation points and
red X's are a no-no.

Install chipset drivers first, then other hardware drivers. It is
that simple. No guesswork... Ben Myers

Ben Myers wrote:
> Let's not guess here.
>
> If you install drivers for other hardware before you install
> motherboard chipset drivers, the other hardware is not likely to work
> correctly. Why? Because the other hardware drivers have a dependency
> on the chipset drivers, being able to find the right serpetine path
> through Windows to get to the bare iron to talk to the hardware.
>
> If the non-chipset hardware happens to work correctly even though the
> chipset drivers were not installed, this probably means that Windows
> has chipset drivers out of the box, built into the install CD or DVD.
> One can always look at the device status in Device Manager to see
> which devices are fully operational. Yellow exclamation points and
> red X's are a no-no.
>
> Install chipset drivers first, then other hardware drivers. It is
> that simple. No guesswork... Ben Myers

OP here. I understand all of what you say. But the question is, given
that updated chipset software is available, is it meaningful to install
it at a time well after the Windows installation?

Thanks,
Harvey