Latitude D830, no sound card installed

Thanks, Jim. I am using Windows XP, SP2.

If the hard drive was wiped and then XP re-installed, then it is just a matter of installing the drivers in the correct order. In the Dell laptops with XP and Sigmatel it was imperative that the correct order be followed for the audio to work. Here are the links.

a. Dell Notebook System Software . Download, install and restart.

b. Intel Mobile Chipset software. Download, install and restart.
 
c. Sigmatel R171789 audio driver. Download, install and restart.

If there is still no audio at this point then the chip might be defective. Let me know and we can explore further.

Thanks again. The hard drive was wiped and I installed the Windows XP. Currently, the Dell Laptop is not connected to the internet so I will have to download the drivers, save them on my HP desktop computer and then transfer them to a flash drive for installation to my Dell laptop. I'll install the Dell software first (and re-start), then the Intel software (and re-start) and finally the Sigmatel software (and then restart). Into what program should I load these drivers?

Into what program should I load these drivers?

You don't install the drivers into a program. The links go to the drivers' pages, which contain detailed information about each driver, a link for downloading the driver, and installation instructions.

To see the instructions for a given driver, click on the link to get to its page, then scroll down the page to "Installation Instructions" and click that. There are 3 steps to the installation: download, extract, and install.

The first part of the instructions just describe the normal things one would do to download a file to the desktop. In your case you would download to the flash drive as you said.

The 2nd part of the instructions describe the rest of the process. The driver files are compressed, so first you extract the files (unzip) to a folder on your hard drive. There is an extraction wizard that guides you through the process and suggests which folder to use. The wizard creates the folder so you don't have to do that. Never use a different folder than the one that the wizard suggests.

The driver files contain an installer to finish the installation. Some of the installers run automatically, but if not the instructions explain how to make the installer run. There might be some on-screen instructions at this point.

When you have the flash drive attached to the D830, if you try to extract the files while still on the drive and run into problems, move the files to the desktop of the D830 and extract them from there. I don't really know if you can extract them while still on the flash drive. Never tried doing that.

Besides the drivers needed to make the audio work, there are other drivers that ought to be installed. I'll give you links to the rest of the drivers later if you want.

Thanks for all the help. Maybe I better try getting the Windows Explorer working on the D830 rather than trying to save them to a flash drive.  My Windows XP is SP2; is there any reason I need to get SP3 before I install these drivers?

Once I get the audio working, I'll take you up on your offer for the other drivers. Thanks again!

Maybe I better try getting the Windows Explorer working on the D830 rather than trying to save them to a flash drive.

It's okay to download them to a flash drive. If you drag them from the flash drive to the desktop (or copy & paste) it be exactly the same as if you had downloaded them to the desktop. Sorry if my earlier explanation caused confusion about that.

The drivers are fully compatible with XP SP2.

I saved the drivers to my flash drive and imported them to the D830. I started with R181864, the one you want me to start with. I got a message that said "the language of your operating system does not match the supported languages of this software release. Please try the release that corresponds to your Operating System language". On top of the box, it says Version A30. There are 15 languages, none of which are English.

There are 15 languages, none of which are English.

I just downloaded it and looked at it and see what you mean. The next also was not for English, but the 3rd one is.

Notebook System Software R181862

It didn't occur to me to check beforehand because they normally include English.

Sorry, I was a little too hasty in asking about Step 2. I was able to load all three and SUCCESS, I have audio! Did you want me to load additional drivers?

Step One - done! What is the correct Step 2 to replace R153997?

The Dell Quickset application provides some features that you might or might not want. The features are described on its page. I haven't checked the language of this version. There are 5 other versions for XP if this one is lacking.

I'll get back with you tomorrow about other drivers.

Here are some links if you are not familiar with the Dell website. You might want to have your D830 close to your internet computer while checking out the links.

Order of Installation -- this is a generic list of drivers, applications, and firmware you could install.

1. BIOS. The thing is that if you try to update the BIOS and the update fails for some reason, it could brick the motherboard, so generally speaking don't do this unless there is a problem that is corrected by a newer version. Each version is supposed to say on its page what it is supposed to fix. The newest version (A17) for the D830 was released in 2013.

2. Notebook System Software -- done  

3. Chipset -- done

4. Card slot driver --  The D830 had slots for Express Cards, PC Cards, and Smart cards. You might not have a use for those types of legacy cards. The only driver I can find is for USB smart card and I don't know if it is necessary for the smart card slot to work.

5. Intel Matrix Storage Manager -- you can probably skip this one. It is only needed in certain situations and can introduce noise into the audio.

6. Audio driver -- done

7. Video driver. Laptops have a basic driver so that the screen will work before a vendor's driver is installed. The vendor's driver usually makes the display work better. All D830's have Intel graphics integrated on the motherboard. In additional you might also have a "discrete" nVidia graphics card. There were 2 choices of nVidia cards for the D830. Because of the different possible hardware configurations, there are 3 vendor's video (graphics) drivers available in various versions. The simplest thing to do is to install the Intel driver if it is not already installed, and try to figure out later if you need an nVidia driver and which one.

8. Network ethernet -- this is the wired RJ45 port. Don't need it if you plan on keeping the laptop off the internet, unless you want to connect to your home LAN with a cable from the router.

9. System Management -- you can probably skip this category.

10. Quickset -- in addition to the features listed on its page (link in previous post) on some models it also lets you enable or disable the Fn keys for volume and screen brightness. I've forgotten most of what I used to know about Quickset as it hasn't been used for years.

11. Network Wireless  -- don't need it if you plan on keeping the laptop off the internet, unless you want to wirelessly connect to your home LAN. There are various drivers to choose from depending on the wireless card in the laptop. The wireless card can also a source of audio noise.

12.Bluetooth. I don't know whether the D830 had that technology.

13. Mouse keyboard input -- all of these should work with the Windows native drivers, but might work better with the Dell-supplied drivers. You laptop also has a "track stick" (I have a cruder name for it) which is a fun tool, but I keep mine disabled because it messes with my typing if I accidentally brush against it.

There are a few more items in the list that I don't think apply to you.

Where to get drivers.

First, Windows has a number of native drivers. If something is working okay then you might not need to install a vendor's driver. Otoh a vendor driver might make it work better or enable additional features.

Suggest you first look at your Device Manager. It will contain a list of the devices that Windows has been able to detect. If there is a bang next to any device then it needs you to find a driver for it. If no bang then either there is a vendor's driver already installed, or Windows is using its native driver.

Dell Support Start Page. If you know the laptop's Service Tag number (bottom of laptop) enter it and you will be given a customized support page based on the laptop's original hardware configuration. But since the laptop might have have any number of hardware replacements in the last 10 years it could be inaccurate. If you click the "detect product" button it might show the current configuration -- not sure because it never worked at all on any of my laptops.

If you can't find the service tag but really want it, there is a 3rd party app that will find it. 

Latitude D830 support page. This is the non-customized page. On the left you'll see a list -- Diagnostics, Articles, Drivers, Manuals, etc. The Manuals section should have links to your model's documentation. The drivers section has various categories. The links in that section are only to the "newest" versions, not to all the versions that Dell makes available (see the html page for those).

Latitude D830 html page. This has all of the drivers that Dell has released for the model. This is useful for when you need an older version of a driver, and I use these pages just to get a quick overview of what might be in a given laptop.

If you need help in identifying the devices in the laptop, trying using a utility like Belarac Adviser. There are also tools on the internet for identifying a device from its hardware i.d. which can be found in Device Manager.

First, thank you again for all your help. The only other functionality I would like is to be able to connect to the internet. Currently, IE6 is installed but I can't connect to my home internet connection. I show a yellow ? mark to the left of all the Other Devices (Ethernet Controller, Modem Device on High Definition Audio Bus, Network Controller, O2MicroCCID SC Reader, SM Bus Controller and Video Controller (VGA Compatible)). What drivers do I need to make the D830 internet usable?

Do you think I should install the additional Intel video driver?  I see a Legacy Video Capture devise and video Codecs on the Device Manager