Latitude D830, no sound card installed

To connect to the internet install the ethernet driver (#8 in the list above) or the wireless driver (#11) or both. Were you able to find the specific hardware devices in your laptop, either by Service Tag, Belarac Adviser, hardware i.d., or some other method? You need to know what hardware you have in order to install the appropriate driver. Or it might work out okay to just install the drivers in the Network category and stop when one of them works.

For video, I would install at least the driver for Intel graphics, located in the Video category..

It looks like I only have one choice for the Ethernet driver.

Did you install the Broadcom 57xx Gigabit Controller? That is for the Ethernet. to make it functional you have to connect a cable from the router to the RJ-45 port of the laptop.

Enabling internet connections is outside of my area of audio. After the cable is connected you might have to run one or more of the connection wizards in XP.

You might have to setup the laptop & router, I'm not sure. Look on the router's label for its address and passwords. You put the address into the address bar of Internet Explorer and it connects you to the router's setup utility. A typical address is 192.168.1.1, or a variation of that. Typical passwords are username = admin, password = password or admin. If that information is not on the router, you can probably go to the router manufacturer's site and get the instructions on how to set it up.

I installed the "Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN ..." driver but am not able to connect through IE.

You might have to set up the ethernet connection first, before the wireless connection. If you downloaded the D830 User Guide from the documentation links, go to page 50 where it says you need a network cable in order to establish a wireless connection. I honestly can't remember much about setting up XP connections. I suggest that you post on the Networking board to get in-depth help on making your connections.

Remember that XP has passed its end-of-life and is no longer getting security patches. Hackers are seriously targeting it so using it to get on the internet is risky.

I have not installed the Quickset V8.3.17,A51 yet. Should I install this driver at this time?

It's an application. You can install it anytime, if you decide you want to use the features it provides.

which Intel driver do you suggest?

This is the Intel graphics controller for the Latitude D830 with XP.

The only recommended driver

Something I forgot to mention in earlier posts. When Dell uses the words "recommended", "optional", etc, those words only apply to the importance of updating a driver when a new one comes out (which won't happen anymore in the case of the D830). Those words are irrelevant in the case of initially installing drivers after a new installation of Windows. For example the Sigmatel audio driver is mandatory if you want audio. If Dell applies the word "optional" to it, that just means that specific version is optional, but one of the versions has to be installed. Very misleading of Dell to have those labels.

Thank you again very much for your help! Unfortunately, my IE6 is still not working so I am taking your suggestion and posting to the Networking board.

My pleasure. It has been an interesting thread.

Hello again, Jim. I have been busy getting my D830 upgraded. I've been working with a very helpful person on the Windows XP Forum. After all our effort, I still get the yellow ? for my Ethernet Connection. I found that I am using an older Bios version, A11 (4/3/2008, SMBIOS Version 2.4). You previously wrote:

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.

My Windows XP contact says I should upgrade to A17. Do you think it is worth the risk you described? Do you think upgrading the BIOS will correct this error?

This reply also moved to OP's Networking thread

Moved reply to OP's Networking thread

My Windows XP contact says I should upgrade to A17. Do you think it is worth the risk you described?

Hello again. I looked through the "Fixes and Enhancements" section of all of your available BIOS versions after A11 but did not see anything that would pertain to the networking function of the laptop. However the risk that doing the update will brick the laptop is small, so it could be a risk worth taking particularly with an obsolete laptop.

Do you think upgrading the BIOS will correct this error?

I have no way of knowing, but my guess is that it would not make a difference. The D830 was not known to be deficient in its network functionality, to the best of my knowledge, so there would not have been a "fix" in a later BIOS.

Hi Jimco, I have the same issue on my D830 but it's not resolving through the steps that worked for cquatraro.

Here's the details of my situation:

-The laptop is a Dell Latitude D830, Windows XP Professional, SP2. Service tag: 4ZZYBF1

-"No audio device" shows up in the Volume panel of the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties window, and Found New Hardware wizard opens on startup each time looking for software for a PCI device

-System sounds play just fine.

-After following your instructions for installing the Notebook System Software R181862, rebooting, installing the Intel Mobile Chipset software, rebooting, then attempting to install the Sigmatel R171789 audio driver, the audio driver installation fails with this error message: "Latitude D830 BIOS Flash A 17: Invalid command line parameters. Please verify the program was executed properly."

-If I try it again, it fails saying there's already another copy of the installation in progress. If I reboot, the SigmaTel audio driver installation opens automatically on startup, but then fails with the following error message: ExitError:Error=This system does not support the driver you are attempting to install.

-I tried installing the BIOS updates available on the Dell drivers page for the Latitude D830, but my battery holds no charge anymore, and it won't run the BIOS installation without at least a 10% battery charge.

Any ideas for how to get the sound card working again, given that I've lost the recovery CDs that came with the computer? Any way to bypass the 10% battery charge requirement for updating BIOS?

Many thanks!

Jesse

the audio driver installation fails with this error message: "Latitude D830 BIOS Flash A 17: Invalid command line parameters. Please verify the program was executed properly."

Hello Jesse. That error message is unfamiliar to me. I assume that your current BIOS is older than A17, so since the error references A17 it must be related to your attempt to install that version. Make sure that the D830_A17.exe file is removed from your system. You might have to run a search for it. If you are using a flash drive, remove the drive or remove the file from the drive.

Any way to bypass the 10% battery charge requirement for updating BIOS?

No, sorry. I was not aware of that requirement.

Any ideas for how to get the sound card working again, given that I've lost the recovery CDs that came with the computer?

So the audio problem is not a result of re-installing Windows, it just stopped working one day?

This system does not support the driver you are attempting to install.

Browse to this location on the hard drive and verify that this folder is there. C:\Dell\Drivers\NN9X1\

If there, find the "setup.exe" file and try to run it.

If the audio just suddenly stopped working and the audio driver won't install, those are symptoms of possible hardware failure, so if still no luck, run the audio tests in the Dell 32-bit Diagnostics.You have to install the diagnostic onto a flash drive or cd/dvd first -- can't install it to the hard drive within the Windows operating system. Need a new partition if installing on the hard drive.

Here are instructions for installing to a flash drive or cd. Here are instructions for running the audio tests after getting the Diagnostics installed. The Dell 32-bit Diagnostic audio tests are the next  best thing to performing a system recovery in a sense. If the music doesn't play during the tests then pretty sure the hardware has failed in a way that is preventing the Sigmatel audio driver from installing when in Windows.

Hi Jim,

Thanks so much for your response. I was able to properly update the BIOS to A17 despite not having 10% battery power by running the update from the command line along with /forceit, a trick I stumbled across in another forum.

Since there was still no audio after the BIOS update, I reinstalled the Notebook System Software update, rebooted, reinstalled the Intel Mobile Chipset update, rebooted, and reinstalled the Sigmatel audio driver update. This time the SigmaTel installation appeared to complete, but the Volume panel of the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties window still showed "No audio device".

After rebooting, the Sigmatel audio driver installation opened automatically on startup, but then failed again with the error: "This system does not support the driver you are attempting to install."

If I then try to install directly from the setup.exe file in C:\Dell\Drivers\NN9X1\, it says "Another instance of this setup is already running. Please wait for the other instance to finish and then try again." After I click OK it will again appear to finish running the installation, but still shows "No audio device". Rebooting just starts the process over again with the same results.

I ran the diagnostics you suggested, and the music played just fine, resulting in no errors, but back in Windows it still shows "No audio device" and plays no sound except system sounds. I did just run the audio diagnostics though, not the full system.

Any other ideas to try?

Thanks!!

Jesse

Sorry for the big delay -- couldn't think of anything on Friday and then I was very busy all weekend.

I don't know why there are problems with installing the driver. All I can suggest is to go to c:\dell\drivers\
Expand all folders and sub-folders there. Delete all folders that have a sub-folder named "WDM". Those will be Sigmatel driver folders and it is safe to delete them. After that try to install the older Sigmatel driver, R153908 (5.10.0.5401). If that one installs then try again to install the newer one.

If you don't have the Windows installation discs, you can probably find a Dell branded XP recovery disc for cheap on ebay or elsewhere. You can use the COA on the bottom of the laptop, as long as it is a Dell disc and as long as the version of Windows is the same as the one that was pre-installed at the factory, or a lessor version.

There were only 4 folders in c:dell/drivers, and the only one with a WDM subfolder was NN9X1, which I deleted. When installing the older Sigmatel driver, R153908 (5.10.0.5401), it seemed to finish installation, asked me to reboot, but then on startup automatically initiated the installation all over again, then fails once again with the error "This system does not support the driver you are attempting to install". Still "No audio device" in the sound settings.

I just ordered a Dell XP Recovery disc on ebay, so hopefully that will help. Would buying a Windows 10 upgrade CD work just as well?

Thanks!

Would buying a Windows 10 upgrade CD work just as well?

Tough to say. The reason you have to install a Sigmatel driver in XP is because the type of audio on the motherboard is "HD" (Intel's High Definition protocol). Motherboards with HD started being put into all new laptops after XP was fully developed but before Vista came out. As a consequence, all Windows operating systems from Vista forward have a native HD audio driver included, but XP did not have one so the audio chip manufacturer's HD driver had to be installed.

If you were to install Vista you wouldn't have to install a Sigmatel driver unless you just wanted to. (The mic jack didn't work with the native driver so most people did go with the Sigmatel driver.) The drawback to getting Vista is that if XP was factory-installed, then the COA that is on the laptop would not work, because Vista is a higher version than XP. That means that a cheap recovery disc would not do it. To the best of my knowledge you would have to obtain a full installation cd with a COA, if such a thing is still available.

In theory, Win10 would work like Vista, because it also has a native HD audio driver. But we have seen that when 10 is installed in older Dell laptops, the audio doesn't work until after a manufacturer's driver is installed. So having 10 wouldn't eliminate installing a Sigmatel driver, but would add a complication. Dell only supported the D830 up to Vista with drivers, so there is no Sigmatel 10 driver. You would have to install the Vista or XP driver using compatibility mode. That should be no problem and should work okay. But there aren't any other D830 drivers for 10 either, so you run the risk of perhaps needing a driver for something but unable to get it. 

On the other hand, Win10 might be a good idea if you are going on the internet with  that model, rather than using XP or Vista.

If you are not going to connect the laptop on the internet and you just need to get audio working, a dirt cheap solution is to get a usb audio jack. These little devices have a self-contained audio system and don't require you to load a driver. They use the Windows usb driver. However, they cannot play audio through the laptop's internal speakers. Audio goes out to headphones or external speakers or stereo.