No sound - driver not found!

Randomly downloading and installing drivers is NOT recommended and in some cases makes it worse.
You should download XP Service pack2 the full version 270 megs.

Save to a USB Memory key 512meg or larger.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&displaylang=en

Then Reinstall XP.

Reboot 3 times.

Then install SP2 logged in as ADMINISTRATOR

Reboot 3 more times

Then install the Audio driver.

It takes a few reboots to Finalze the registry.

Title      : Audio:Analog Devices ADI 198x Integrated Audio Driver
Version    : A08
OEM Name   : Analog Devices
OEM Ver    : 5.12.01.3538
Computers  : Dimension - 4500C, 4550, 2300C, 2350, 8250, 4590T;
OptiPlex - GX260, GX60, L60;
Precision - 650, 450, 350;
SmartPC - 350D / 450D
Oses       : Windows 2000 Professional,Windows XP Home Edition,Windows XP Professional
Languages  : Brazilian Portuguese,Chinese-S,Chinese-T,English,French,German,Japanese,Korean,Spanish,Thai

File Name File Size Download Time (56K) File Format
ftp://ftp.dell.com/audio/R56339.EXE

Analog Devices Inc. SoundMAX(R) Windows(R) 98SE/2000/ME/XP WDM Driver

INSTALLATION AND REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Installation or Update of Analog Devices SoundMAX Audio Driver

 NOTE: Remove any previously installed driver using the instructions
  in the next section.

1.  From the task bar, click on Start -> Run.

2.  In the Run dialog box, type C:\dell\drivers\R56339\Setup.exe

3.  When installing, "SoundMAX Install" dialog box appears. In the
    dialog box, press Next. When upgrading or reinstalling, "Setup
    Type" dialog box appears. In the dialog box, select "Reinstall or
    Upgrade" radio button, then press Next.

4.  Click on the Next and OK prompts as they appear.

5.  Reboot the system to complete the installation.

Removal of Analog Devices SoundMAX Audio Driver

1.  From the task bar, click on Start -> Settings -> Control Panel,
    or for Windows XP, click on Start -> My Computer -> System Tasks.

2.  Double-click on the Add/Remove programs icon.

3.  Double-click on SoundMAX Install. (A dialog box appears.) 

4.  Select Remove and then press Next.

5.  Reboot the system to fully uninstall the drivers.

TO INSTALL USING AN INF FILE:

1.  Find the location of the following files:

    * smwdm.sys
    * smwdm.inf
    * smx.cat (for signed drivers)

    NOTE: These files are located in the Se (for Windows ME / Windows 98SE)
   or W2k (for Windows 2000 / Windows XP) subdirectory of the
   distribution media.

2.  Open Control Panel using the Start Menu->Settings->Control Panel
    and double click the System icon.  On Windows XP, open System
    Information using Start Menu->My Computer->View System Information.

3.  Select Device Manager tab (on Windows 2000/ Windows XP, select the
    Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button).

    *For Windows XP

 a. If Multimedia device is "Intel(r) 82801 BA/BAM AC'97 
Audio Controller" (default), remove device and rename 
corresponding inf file C:\WINDOWS\Inf\wdma_int.inf into 
C:\WINDOWS\Inf\wdma_int.

b. Select "Scan For The Hardware Changes".

 c. In the "Add New Hardware Wizard" dialog box, select
   "Install from the list of specific locations" radio
   button and click Next.

 d. Select location of the driver files noted above and 
     click Next to install driver.
           
    If Multimedia Audio Device is older version of SoundMAX Integrated
    Digital Audio Device, follow driver update procedure described
    below for other operating systems.
         
  
    NOTE: Different actions are necessary depending on whether a
          Multimedia Sound Device is present.
 
    * If a Multimedia Sound Device is present (like "SoundMAX
      Integrated Digital Audio" or an "AC'97" generic sound
      driver), complete the following steps.
   
  a. Double-click on the device.

  b. Select Driver tab.

  c. Click Update Driver.

  d. Select Search for a better driver.

  e. When prompted for a location, select a specific location
             and enter the one noted above.

 NOTE: If you are prompted to insert the Windows CD, insert 
the CD. If you are prompted to reboot, do so.

 * If a Multimedia Sound Device is NOT present, complete the
    following steps.

   a. Click refresh.

   NOTE: A multimedia device will be found.

   b. Select Search for a better driver.

   c. When prompted for a location, select a specific location
        and enter the one noted above.

    NOTE: If you are prompted to insert the Windows CD, insert
      the CD. If you are prompted to reboot, do so.

TO UNINSTALL WHEN USING INF FILE:

1.  Open System Properties using the Start Menu->Settings->Control
    Panel, or Start Menu->My Computer->View System Information for
    Windows XP.

2.  Select Device Manager tab (on Windows 2000/Windows XP, select the
    Hardware tab, and click the Device Manager button).

4.  Select Sound, Video and Game Controllers -> SoundMAX integrated
    Digital Audio device.

5.  Click Remove (on Windows 2000/Windows XP, click the Uninstall icon
    with the red X).

6.  Following an uninstall, the system must be restarted before
    another install can be run.

    NOTE: If you are prompted to insert the Windows CD,
          insert the CD. If you are prompted to reboot, do so.

The Windows Plug and Play System maintains a backup copy of the driver
and will re-install it automatically upon reboot unless another driver
replaces it. If you wish the driver to be completely removed from the
system, complete the following steps:

Using Windows Explorer, delete the following from the WINDOWS
directory (WINNT for Windows 2000):

    a. C:\Windows\inf\Other\Analog DevicesSmwdm.inf (or any
       similarly named file if present)

    b. C:\Windows\system32\drivers\smwdm.sys

    c. For Windows 2000/Windows XP:
       C:\WINNT\inf\OEMn.inf, or C:\WINDOWS\inf\OEMn.inf for
       Windows XP, (where n is an integer)
       Only delete those files that are copies of Smwdm.inf
       (they will be named OEMn.inf [where n is an integer]).   
       Also, delete the corresponding .pnf files.

Message Edited by SpeedStep on 01-01-2006 10:18 AM

---

@BATXS wrote:

I have

Optiplex GX 260
Service Tag : 6LMF71S

 

ive done all the isntructions

but the sound still quiet

 

---

You may have corrupted registry for the following reasons.

1 You did not install the chipset drivers BEFORE installing the Audio drivers.
2 You did not login as administrator and the Permissions to registry keys are now Broken.
3 You tried to install several drivers that were wrong and did all of the above.

WINDOWS XP HOME REQUIRES BOOTING SAFE MODE TO LOGIN AS ADMINISTRATOR.

Error 10 sound card wont start Permissions problem

Listed Here in this Word Doc file
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/winxp_driver_data_invalid.doc

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ENUM\PCI

The fix is to put the permissions back the way they were (turns out this particular subkey had been modified by mistake anyway). You’ll either need to be a member of the local Administartors group to run this, or schedule it to run under Task Scheduler with admin credentials. You’ll also need the SubInAcl.exe command-line utility.

subinacl /subkeyreg
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum
  /grant=Administrators=F
  /grant=System=F
  /grant=everyone=R

Now Windows will be able to properly enumerate devices and the problem should go away.

Read the KB article 555377 by Microsoft MVP Nick Whittome.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555377

Get SubInAcl.exe from Microsoft.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=e8ba3e56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&displaylang=en

Hmmmm I remember coming across and issue like this a long time ago, I think while I was completing my information systems degree. If I recall correctly, we had to wipe the hard drive completely and reboot windows before if ever started working again.