Having issue with Dell Realtek Driver R2.65 for XPS L702X

Due to someone posing as Dell Support, and me having letting them have access, I thought it was time for another reformat. This time I chose to wipe my system using DBAN before installing the Win 7 OS and all the above drivers.

When I got to the Realtek Audio Drivers, I decided to test ALL versions from 2.65 to 2.73. None of them resolved the issues. I decided to stay with the most current version on the Dell Driver Download page (ver 2.65). I was also able to obtain the correct SoundBlaster software, but that did not resolve the issue.

After the Realtek Driver installation, I noticed in the Playback Devices that the Digital Audio (S/PDIF) which had a "ready" status had changed to Realtek High Definition Audio with a status of "unplugged". This was represented by a red down arrow icon. Does this have anything to do with my audio problems?

Please note that on the link en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3517/t/19395125.aspx the images are identical to my situation (notice no headset icon). The resolution does not fix my problem.

Hopefully this added info can help someone help me with a resolution. Thank you.

My issue is with the Dell Realtek Drivers. As you can see from item 10a above, I tried to install the latest version (A05) but when I did so I lost the headphones in my Playback devices, it only listed the speaker.

My laptop does not have Realtek hardware so I get all of my info about Realtek from posts here or from my daughter's laptop which has Realtek but is not a Dell. I have never seen a screen shot that shows separate Speakers and Headphones when using a Realtek driver. I have only seen pictures that show the Speakers + the digital Output. I have seen screen shots showing a separate listing for headphones, but it is after the Realtek driver has been removed and the native Windows audio driver is installed. I am not saying that I doubt what you are saying about your earlier experience with the A05 driver, just that seems to be the norm for the Realtek drivers to only show Speakers. The output is supposed to automatically switch between speakers and headphones depending on whether a plug is in the jack.

Have you tried going through the Dell (Realtek) Audio Manager? On my daughter's laptop, it has a setting under Adavanced named "Separate all input jacks as independent input devices". On hers, with that checked, then on the recording tab of the Sound properties the sole Microphone now appears as Mic + Jack Mic or something similar. However on hers it does not separate Speaker into Speaker + Headphones.

Have you seen this thread about an XPS L502x? The owner had some adventures getting the A04 driver (R300326) and the Creative software working. His post pre-dated the A05 driver.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3517/t/19433517.aspx

Jimco,

Thank you for your reply. I reviewed the link you provided. The older A04 Realtek driver doesn't provide the sound quality. I have tested older versions as well, but they don't work with this system (with or without Soundblaster).

I'd prefer to have it working to its original state. That would require Realtek A05 and Soundblaster (SB) installed on the system.

When the HDD failed June 2013 and I reinstalled everything, it was working perfectly. Now I reformat and the sound doesn't work properly.

The following pic represents the Playback and Recording before and after the Realtek Driver install (I have selected it to show disabled devices). The Realtek console is a before and after of the headset plugged in (please note SB was not installed yet, but outcome is the same regardless).

The headphones have NEVER disappeared after the Realtek Driver install before and are not suppose to (nor is the mic). We are unable to get the sound to work properly with headset and speakers.

Both Recording tabs look correct. The native driver does not recognize the jack mic, which is normal for it. The Realtek driver combines both mics into a single listing (unless you have the setting I mentioned).

The Realtek Playback tab is the same as every other Realtek Playback tab I have ever seen, combining Speakers and headphones into one. I understand that you have seen them separated on a particular version. It correctly shows digital as unplugged.

However the native driver shows the headphones as not plugged in which is wrong, assuming that headphones are plugged in. On the face of it there appears to be a hardware failure as the audio driver seems to be loaded correctly. If a headphone is plugged in, Windows is supposed to detect it through the impedance sensing mechanism of the jack.

The only direct diagnostic tool for confirming that (Dell 32-bit Diagnostics) would have been lost when you replaced the hard drive.

You might be able to test the jack by booting to a Lixus operating system. There are versions on the internet that you can load onto a dvd for temporary use. Linux does not use the impedance sensing of the mic jack, so I *think* it should not use it for the headphone jack. If the sensor has failed and thus preventing Windows from detecting the headphones, then it should work in Linux. This is a bit hypothetical because I have not done this test myself, but the lack of Dell 32-bit Diagnostics is tough. BTW, the 32-bit Diagnostics is supposed to be downloadable, but my understanding is that it requires a separate 32-bit partition.

The only other thing I can think of is to get a Realtek driver directly from its site. I wrote some instructions last year but don't know if they are still good or not. However if the native driver cannot detect the jack then I doubt that a Realtek driver could, but installing it might be a useful experiment.

Go to the Realtek downloads selection page. http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/

On the page click on "High Definition Audio Codecs".

Check "I accept" and then "next".

In the column named "Description" find the file named README. That has the instructions for installing or updating.

In the column named "Download", click on one of the server names to download the readme file.

Go back to the column named "Description" and select your operating system (and whether it is 32bits or 64bits) from the top 2 choices in the list.

In the column named "Download", click on one of the server names to download the driver.

Jimco,

Thank you again for your response. My OS is Win7 64-bit. I have the correct Realtek driver installed for this (I even tested every Realtek Driver available up to version 2.73 available on FileHippo).

The headset and speaker are not suppose to combine into one on this version. The headset should continue to appear as a device and when I plug in my headset it should be available for configuration. I have done this in the past on this laptop (we have done streaming on this laptop so I know it has to be there for it to work properly).

I have also don all the "MS Fix-It" options and Sound Audio testing to determine it is not the jacks.

I do think it might have something to do with the bios upgrade I did from A14 to A19 or there is some other conflict. Another thing I'm looking at is possibly the registry. I can't find anything on this version to compare to. Thank you.

Did you ever check the Advanced setting in the Dell (Realtek) Audio Manager?I see on the internet that the newer versions have the Advanced setting in the upper right corner of the Audio Manager. The advice is to select the multi-stream mode (my daughter's does not have that) to get a separate listing for headphones.

Jimco,

Sorry for the delayed response. My work has kept me busy.

Yeah there is an Advance tab in the newer version of Realtek, but it’s less than stellar.

The first option is “Power Management” to adjust settings for your battery. The second option is “Restore Default” (and I’ve tested that because you just never know lol). The third option is “Setting” and that just gives you the option to “Display icon in notification area”. The last option is “Jack Information”. That just shows indicators if your device is plugged in or not and allows you to select whether or not you want a pop-up each time the device is plugged in to make alternative selections.

The pop-up displays for me when I plug in my headset. That’s just another indicator that nothing is wrong with the jacks/ports (at least to a point anyway). But as I’ve shown in previous pics, the headset and mic both disappear when Realtek installs and doesn’t allow for the headset to appear even when I plug it in.

Here are pics of the Advance Tab and pop-ups. Hope this might help you or someone point me in the right direction. Thank you again.

I am bringing back the dead... but I have the exact same issue! Win7 x 64 SoundBlaster... etc etc

I assume by now there was a fix

it doesn't work how it's supposed to.

I'll join your discussion in the other thread.

Sorry, I missed the "headphone" specific part on this one.... I just can't get anything to work on mine... but it's not a simple uninstall/re-install issue. no matter what I dis-able, un-install... it doesn't work how it's supposed to.