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No Sound from Dell Speakers after Windows XP Re-Install
I have a Dell XPS 400 with Dell 5650 5.1 Speakers. I recently did a fresh install of Windows XP and now I no longer get sound from my speakers. I did before the install. My headphones do work, however.
After my fresh install, I re-installed all of the software for my Sound Blaster X-FI sound card and made sure to turn off the built in audio in the BIOS setup. The Sound Blaster card shows up in the Device Manager and it says it is working properly. The Sound Blaster X-FI is the default audio if I look it up in the control panel. I have used the Sound Blaster diagnostics tool which all checks out ok. I have power, I know its all plugged into the right places because it was working before the re-install. I tried downloading the latest drivers for my sound card but it just seemed to cause more problems, like my Sound Blaster software no longer running.
Any ideas? Please help. Thanks in advance.
fireberd
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September 23rd, 2008 09:00
There are "chipset drivers" that must be installed when you do a reinstallation. The (motherboard) chipset drivers define what is on or attached to the motherboard and must be installed before installing device drivers such as the sound.
Install the chipset drivers and you may have to reinstall the SoundBlaster drivers again after that.
For reference the correct install sequence is (1) Install Windows (2) install chipset drivers (3) Install device drivers.
joachimddk
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September 23rd, 2008 18:00
I looked on Dell's support site for driver downloads and found the following:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=XPS/DIMENSION%20400/9150&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=
I just want to confirm that the driver on this page under the label "Chipset" is the driver you speak of. Is this the driver I need? Additionally, would I need to download any other resources on this page before intalling device drivers?
Thanks.
fireberd
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September 23rd, 2008 21:00
Yes, the chipset driver listed is the one. If you don't have the sound drivers then download them too before running the chipset driver installation so you will have the needed sound drivers.
There are those that have also used the retail SoundBlaster Xfi drivers but I would start out with the Dell drivers on the downloads first and make sure it works OK.
joachimddk
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September 24th, 2008 00:00
fireberd
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September 24th, 2008 09:00
Connect a headphone to the front panel headphone jack and see if you get sound. If you do then connect the headphone to the GREEN speaker jack on the SoundBlaster card on the rear. If you get sound there, the PC is working OK and either there is a problem with the speaker system, or how it's connected.
joachimddk
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September 24th, 2008 15:00
fireberd
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September 24th, 2008 17:00
Open the PC and reseat (with the power off) the cable from the front panel to the motherboard. If that doesn't do it and the front panel works and rear doesn't it could be a defective jack.
But, until you find what the actual mechanical/electrical problem is, you can connect standard computer speakers (not the 5.1) to the Headphone jack and it will work.