Problem with voice cutting out

Question

Hello, I am using a dell inspiron 9400 laptop purchased one year ago.   I am having problems using my microphone.   I will start talking for a few seconds and then my voice will either get really quiet to the point of not being able to hear it or it will cut out completely.  More often it cuts out completely.  I have tested the microphone on another computer and it works fine.  I ran the windows diagnostic tests and I can hear this phenomenon on the playback.  I have used the voice chat software ventrilo and others can hear this happening also.  I have the sigmatel audio card in hear and I was made aware that this problem can occur on dell laptops however I have found no solutions.   Has anyone else expierenced this problem or can offer a solution/suggestion?

Jim Coates · Answer

This was a common problem on E1505's (6400) a while back due to a noise gate malfunctioning. Dell fixed it in a BIOS revision. It was only on the 1505 as far as I know, but you might try a newer BIOS version and see if it helps.

Or if you have never tried to correct the problem by re-installing the audio drier, you might try doing that first.

What test is "windows diagnostic tests"?

Jim

Eddie4f77 · Answer

The hardware audio test is the one I am referring to.  Where you speak into the mic and it does the playback as you are speaking.  I will talk for a few seconds and then it cuts out.  I used the test to confirm that it wasnt just ventrilo.     I updated the drivers from the list on the dell site, I am not sure if I had the correct driver.     Where/how can I update my bios?

Jim Coates · Answer

You can find your correct drivers, update BIOS, etc, by using the 'Drivers and Downloads' link on the left, in the bottom section named 'Dell Support Tools'. Either use your service tag, or click on the links to your model and operating system.

Another good test is Dell Diagnostics audio test. It has an external mic test.

To run Diagnostics restart the computer and as soon as it starts to boot up hold down f12. Select 'Diagnostic' from the boot menu. The computer will run its pre-boot assessment tests for 3 or 4 minutes before the Dell Diagnostic starts. These pre-boot tests play some beeps and tones through the system speaker but not the rest of the audio hardware, so you still need to run Dell Diagnostics.

When Dell Diagnostics opens, select 'custom', then the audio test. This will test your audio system independently of Windows and drivers, meaning it doesn't matter if they are working correctly or not. Any problems that show up during the test are in the hardware.

[If you have ever reformatted your hard drive then the Diagnostics partition might have been wiped off. If the Dell Diagnostics option fails to open, run it from the Drivers and Utilities (Resource) CD if you have one. If you don't, you can download the Dell Diagnostics from your downloads page under 'Diagnostic Utilities'.]

Jim

Eddie4f77 · Answer

Ok, So I downloaded the BIOS update and when I ran it, it said this ' An unexpected errior occured while running the flash applicatiion' Please reboot and try again.   Application error return : 0x00000610 Windows error return:  0x00000002   I tried rebooting and got the same thing.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Problem with voice cutting out

Was this post helpful?