DELL INSPIRON- 1525--------- AUDIO PROBLEM...

audio will work and showing speakers 2- high definition audio device.

If you only see the words "High Definition Audio Device" then the Sigmatel driver is not installed. In that case your audio is functioning because Windows has installed its own basic HD (high definition) driver.

When the Sigmatel driver is installed you see the words "Sigmatel High Definition Audio" like this:

Is that what you see? If so, select "Speakers/Headphones" as the playback device and not S/PDIF.

If you are having trouble installing the Sigmatel driver perhaps you did not follow the correct installation order. Try this (if your Sigmatel is not installed):

Go to your downloads page and use the dropdown box there to select  "Vista" Operating System. Install in this order:

a. Dell System Software (on your downloads page expand the System Utilities category). Download, install and restart.

b. Intel Mobile Chipset software (expand the Chipset category). Download, install and restart.

c. Install the Sigmatel audio driver (expand the Audio category).

jimco.. i am thank full for ur response..

after trying to solve the issue as u told in that order(dell system software->intel mobile chipset software->sigmatel audio driver)......... the problem is not solved...

this is what i am getting while installing sigmatel audio drive

exit error:error= Device object not present, restart the system and run the set up again

after running the system again and when i place my cursor on the icon .. its show 

digital output device(SPDIF)

high definition audio device

when i open the play back devices window.. this is what appears

speakers 

high definition audio device

not plugged in

digital output device(SPDIF)

high definition audio device

working(with small tick mark)

i look forward for ur next mail....

Your Sigmatel audio driver is not installed. You get an error message saying to run setup. "Run setup" means it wants you to put a Windows installation disc in the optical drive and repair or reinstall Windows. Before you do that see if Windows Audio Service is running okay. Go to Start/Run and type "services.msc" then hit the 'Enter' key (or click 'ok'). The Services window will appear. Scroll down until you find "Windows Audio" towards the bottom of the list. Check that it is enabled, set to automatic, and running. If it isn't, double click on it and change the Startup type to Automatic, then click Start, Apply, and OK.

If you find that it is running okay, go back to the the playback tab of the Sound properties where you saw  "speakers...not plugged in". Right click in the white area there and look under "Show disconnected devices" and "show disabled devices" and see if the speakers are listed there.

If not, run the Dell Diagnostics audio tests to make sure your audio hardware is not damaged. If the tests pass then there is probably a problem in Windows, because you should be able to select your speakers as the default audio device whether or not the Sigmatel driver is installed. In other words I don't think it is a driver problem.

i had performed all audio tests through dell diagnostics  and all tests are passed...

but when i start windows.. same problem appears...

now i had reinstalled operating system.. (windows vista through a dvd given by dell)....

same problem appeared again....

There is nothing else to try. If you

Reinstalled Windows

Then installed the drivers in the right order (and made sure they were the drivers meant for your operating system and your model of laptop)

Used Dell Diagnostics audio tests and they passed (other tests don't count)

Have you tried using headphones?

can u please tell me drivers installation in the right order

The correct order as far as the audio driver is concerned is

a. Dell System Software  Download, install and restart.

b. Intel Mobile Chipset software  Download, install and restart.

c. Sigmatel audio driver

Vista Service Pack 1 should already be installed before the drivers are installed.

The correct order for all of the drivers is listed in this Dell article. The main thing is to install the System software first followed immediately by the chipset driver.

mr.jim..

i installed all the drivers in the correct order which is mentioned in dell article.... still i have same problem...

actually 1 year before i installed windows 7 in my laptop.. from then onwards problem started with speakers(showing digital output device (spdif)...

this is what i am having in device manager... immediately after installing vista and drivers in the correct order

actually 1 year before i installed windows 7 in my laptop

You said in your 1st post that you have Vista. Which one do you have, Vista or 7? It matters because there is no Sigmatel driver for 7, or System Software or Chipset driver.

Okay, I looked at your screenshot of the Device Manager. It appears that the only audio device installed on your computer is the HDMI audio. HDMI audio is part of the graphics card -- it is the digital audio that gets sent to a tv when connected with an HDMI cable. You can also connect the 1525 to a tv using the s-video port on the right side of the laptop. When using the s-video port the laptop can send digital audio to the tv in the s/dif format.

So it looks like your computer is setup to only output digital audio. If you have a cable in either the HDMI port or the s-video port, disconnect it.

The Sigmatel audio driver is not installed but that should not matter because Vista (or 7)  has its own basic audio driver, but I don't see that listed either. Did you do what I mentioned earlier --  go back to the the playback tab of the Sound properties where you saw  "speakers...not plugged in". Right click in the white area there and look under "Show disconnected devices" and "show disabled devices" and see if the speakers are listed there? If so you should select them and make them the default playback device.

If it is impossible to make the Speakers the default playback device (which they should be by default), then the problem is either in Windows or in the hardware. If in Windows, then the audio should work after re-installing. If in the hardware, then the Dell Diagnostics audio tests should have failed in some area. Are you sure you ran those tests? There are other tests that play some tones but only test the system tones and speakers, not the Sigmatel hardware. The Dell Diagnostics tests play some music.

this is what appearing when i am trying to install sigmatel  audio driver through the dvd given by dell..

presently only windows vista is there in my laptop....... 1 year before i installed windows 7 and after some days removed windows 7 and installed vista again.... from then onwards problem is started....

i had not connected any cables either for s-video port or HDMI-port....

Under "show disconnected devices" and " show disabled devices", i am able to see "speakers... not plugged in"... but when i right-click on "speakers... not plugged in"... default playback device is not highlighted... so i am not able to select that as defaulf device.

i had run all those dell diagnostics audio tests and heared all the  music with speakers, recording internally as well as mic. record... and passed....

so as u told that diagnostics audio tests are not able to test sigmatel hardware, problem might be there with sigmatel hardware or windows...

 this is what appearing when i am trying to install sigmatell audio driver through a dvd given by dell...

so as u told that diagnostics audio tests are not able to test sigmatel hardware, problem might be there with sigmatel hardware or windows...

Let me explain that this way. The Dell Diagnostics audio tests do test the Sigmatel hardware, which is why they are the tests to use. The PSA tests only test system sounds and the speakers and so they are inadequate.

I don't know how to explain the symptoms you are having. It does seem like there is a problem with the hardware, but if so then the audio tests should have failed at some point.

The "device object not present" error is seen when the audio hardware has failed, but again it would not pass the Dell Diagnostics tests.

Sometimes the "device object not present" error is seen when a modem is going bad. The way to diagnose it is to remove the modem and then try again to install the driver. The 1525 does not have a removeable modem as far as I know. Try going into the BIOS and see if there is a modem setting. If it is enabled then disable it. If it is disabled then enable it. Then try the driver again.

Getting an error message also is a sign that the System software was not installed, but you have installed it so we can rule that out.