No Audio - Inspiron 6400

Question

Hi, I'm running an Inspiron 6400 (old, but *mostly* still working) and recently (for a few weeks) the sound has stopped working, completely. I cannot get audio from speakers or headphones. Using audio players if I attempt to play a file the program will become unresponsive and I am forced to quit it. If I try to play a video, ie: on Youtube, the video will either play without audio or will not play at all. One other thing to note: I am duel booting Windows 7 and Linux. At the time that the sound stopped working in Windows, I found it was also broken in Linux too, which initially led me to believe it was a hardware issue, but upon reinstalling the Linux OS sound on there started working again. My only other thoughts are that the problem could be a level up from OS, but I don't want to risk bricking my laptop with a BIOS flash at this stage. Any thoughts would be appreciated :)

Jim Coates · Accepted Answer

but upon reinstalling the Linux OS sound on there started working again.

Hello. Sorry for the delay in replying.

If it is working in Linux then it is not a hardware failure. You could try installing a Sigmatel audio driver (Vista version).

Download the driver and extract the files (unzip or unpack and make a note of the name of the folder that is created) but cancel the installation process. Go to the folder on the hard drive to which you unpacked the driver files
c:\Dell\Drivers\Rxxxxxx

Find the setup.exe file and right click on it. Select the Properties. Find the compatibility tab and select Vista.

Note that there is some Creative Labs audio software available on the Inspiron 6400 support page. If you ever tried and failed to install that software prior to installing a Sigmatel driver, audio will no longer work in Windows due to failure of a service. There is a fix available if that is the case.

I don't want to risk bricking my laptop with a BIOS flash at this stage.

I don't blame you, and besides if the audio used to work with your BIOS version it should still work unless you changed your cpu. But if you want to, you can contact a Dell employee via p.m. and get him or her to tell you to upgrade the BIOS. If it bricks the motherboard Dell will fix it as long as you have proof of being directed to by Dell.

species9 · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I did try updating/reinstalling drivers from the Dell website for my model, but it didn't resolve the problem.

In the end I just did a reinstall of Windows 7, and that seemed to solve it.

I just hope it doesn't happen again, because I'm still confused as to what caused it!

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