It is a Inspiron 1150 with windows xp. The computer was reformatted and the media controller needs to be reinstalled. I may have found the driver but it says it can't install it because there is no device.
You should explain what you mean when you say the driver doesn't work. What is it doing/not doing? Here are some other things to check into:
> In Services (Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services) check that Windows Audio is enabled, set to automatic, and running. Audio won't work without this Service.
> In Device Manager (Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/System Tools/Device Manager/System Devices) check that 'Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator' is installed and running. It will be listed alphabetically if there. If not , then you need to reinstall it.
> Go to Start/Run and type in sndvol32.exe to make sure the system mixer is installed and running. The audio drivers won't stay installed without this application being installed and running correctly.
> On some models the audio driver won't install if the modem is defective. Remove the modem and try to install driver. (This is from Aussie Chris, a tech who discovered it.)
> Run Dell Diagnostics audio test. If that fails then it is a hardware problem which would need to be fixed by Dell, or you could get an external soundcard. To run Diagnostics restart, and as soon as it starts to boot up hold down f12. Select 'diagnostic' from the boot menu. It will run some tests for a couple of minutes before the diagnostic comes up. When it does select 'custom', then the audio test. This will test your audio system independently of windows and drivers. If this test fails then forget about all the other stuff. (If Diagnostics doesn't come up after holding f12, place the Drivers and Utilities CD in your computer and run the Diagnostic from that.) Alternate between using headphones and listening to speakers in case only one is working.
When you perform an OS reinstallation you have to install the Notebook System Software and the Intel Chipset driver before the Sigmatel driver. You can get them from the same place you got the audio driver.
Jim Coates
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Jim
ado07
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vwhebbe
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Jim Coates
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> In Services (Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services) check that Windows Audio is enabled, set to automatic, and running. Audio won't work without this Service.
> In Device Manager (Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/System Tools/Device Manager/System Devices) check that 'Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator' is installed and running. It will be listed alphabetically if there. If not , then you need to reinstall it.
> Go to Start/Run and type in sndvol32.exe to make sure the system mixer is installed and running. The audio drivers won't stay installed without this application being installed and running correctly.
> On some models the audio driver won't install if the modem is defective. Remove the modem and try to install driver. (This is from Aussie Chris, a tech who discovered it.)
> Run Dell Diagnostics audio test. If that fails then it is a hardware problem which would need to be fixed by Dell, or you could get an external soundcard. To run Diagnostics restart, and as soon as it starts to boot up hold down f12. Select 'diagnostic' from the boot menu. It will run some tests for a couple of minutes before the diagnostic comes up. When it does select 'custom', then the audio test. This will test your audio system independently of windows and drivers. If this test fails then forget about all the other stuff. (If Diagnostics doesn't come up after holding f12, place the Drivers and Utilities CD in your computer and run the Diagnostic from that.) Alternate between using headphones and listening to speakers in case only one is working.
Jim
vwhebbe
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December 8th, 2005 02:00
Jim Coates
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December 8th, 2005 02:00
Jim