Audio device not detected

A few things - some may be repeating what the Dell tech tried, but here are the usual places to start:

1) Did the tech have you install the chipset drivers following the XP installation?  If not, XP may have trouble recognizing the audio device properly - chipset driver tells XP the exact configuration of the components attached to the motherboard.  It's one of the first 2 drivers in the recommended driver install order.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R114566&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_3100&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=3268&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=2&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=27&fileid=150654

2) Look in Device Manager (right-click My Computer - Manage - Device Manager).   What is listed under Sound/Video/Game controllers?  And are there any listings in any section with a yellow or red "bang"?

3) Another possible cause - the audio could be turned off.   To check that you'll need to go into your System Setup (F2 at the boot screen) and look under Onboard Devices for the Integrated Audio Controller - it needs to be enabled.  More info here:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3100/en/sm/syssetup.htm#wp1057460

Give those a shot and see how it goes.

Alexandra,

Thanks so much for your suggestions.  The audio was indeed turned off on the Onboard Devices.  I have gotten that turned on and the audio is working!  I am getting an error message on the shutting down of the computer regarding the audio but at least it is working now. There may be a communication problem between windows media player and itunes, switching between those programs does not work smoothly.

Thanks again.

Amy

Glad that helped.

If you post the exact shutdown error you're getting,  I'll try to help if you want.

Not sure if I can help with the Media Player/i Tunes thing, though - don't use iTunes.

Alexandra,

The error actually shows up after the machine is started. I had thought it might be during the shutdown process but actually the shutdown seems complete.  The message  says IDT Audio System tray application has encountered a problem and needs to close.  The next page says appName sttray.exe, App ver 1.0.56.7.0,  Mod name: unknown, offset 00000004.

If you have any ideas about that I would welcome them.

Thanks,

Amy

Funny, I had a hunch it was going to be something to do with IDT.

Your audio is a Sigmatel chip, but if  you let Windows install the driver for you from Windows Update, it installs an IDT driver.   IDT bought out Sigmatel a while ago, but the "updated" drivers they provide to MS often do not work correctly with older Dell Sigmatel devices - you need the original.

Go into your Device Manager and see what was actually installed under Sounds - if it says IDT,  then right-click and uninstall the driver.

Then reboot.   The Add Hardware Wizard will pop up, but cancel it immediately - don't let it install the IDT driver again.  Instead, install the original Sigmatel driver provided by Dell, either from the CD or the E310 downloads page. 

Alexandra,

Thank you for this suggestion.  It looks like I have the original Sigmatel driver installed with the driver date of 11/16/05.  I bought the computer in 4/06.

Best wishes,

Amy

D'oh!

A "clean" driver install fixed it for at least one other poster (uninstall driver, uninstall Sigmatel from Add/Remove, download and install the driver again).  Should've remembered at least this thread (different PC model, same idea) - there are a couple others floating around:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19280007/19505118.aspx#19505118

Yea!!  That did it!

I appreciate the help so very much!

Best wishes,

Amy