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October 14th, 2009 06:00
XPS 420 Sound Card Problem
Got a Dell XPS 420 ages ago with Windows Vista and inbuilt sound chip I guess... The Hard Drive failed so I bought a new one, installed it, put windows XP on it, everything's fine! Except I get no sound whatsoever.
So I bought a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy sound card, put it in the PCI slot and installed the software but I still get no sound :/.
It has 2 little sockets on the sound card and one of them says "AUX IN" I guess I have to plug something in there but I can't seem to find anything inside the pc case that goes in there...
When I start up the pc I get this faint noise from the speakers but no sound will play so I'm guessing I need to plug something from the motherboard into the sound card.
But I dunno what!?!?
Help :/... I'll try and provide more info if needed.
fireberd
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October 14th, 2009 07:00
The correct and required install sequence is (1) Install Windows (2) Install chipset drivers (3) Install device drivers such as the Dell sound drivers, video, ethernet, etc.
The chipset drivers are the most often overlooked item in a reinstall and they MUST be installed BEFORE installing the sound drivers. One of the things the chipset drivers do is define (identify) the devices on the motherboard.
In most cases, if the chipset drivers were skipped, you can install the chipset drivers, restart the PC and then install the sound and it will work OK. On a few isolated cases a new/correct install is required.
The Dell downloads for the 420 are here and you can download the Intel chipset driver if you don't have it.
The Aux in on the sound card is there only if you need it. One of the problems you will probably run into is that the front panel headphone and mic jacks will not work with the added sound card. In some systems the Dell front panel connection for the jacks will connect to some SoundBlaster sound cards. In other systems only special Dell cables will work.