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I deleted SOMETHING on my Inspiron 15 - now my earphones/microphone don't work!
I'm running Windows 8.1 on an Inspiron 15. A few weeks ago, I decided to remove programs I rarely/never used, or that I didn't recognize. Unfortunately, I seem to have deleted my sound program!
I ran diagnostics for my laptop, downloaded the driver and installed it. Now my speakers work - hurray! However, when I plug my earphones w/microphone into the audio jack, the sound continues to be routed to my built-in speakers - and I get NOTHING through my earphones.
I didn't have this problem until I deleted whatever I deleted. I have since downloaded and installed the 8.1 update but there has been no change.
Jim Coates
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February 22nd, 2015 18:00
You might have downloaded a different driver than the one you had before. Some of the Realtek audio drivers for the Inspiron 3521 model are buggy regarding the headphones. The way to diagnose the driver is to switch to the Windows native audio driver.
1. Open the Device Manager (type devmgmt.msc in the Windows search box).
2. Expand the "Sound, video & game controllers" and right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio".
3. Select to "Update Driver Software".
4. Click on "Browse my computer for driver software".
5. Click "Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer".
6. Put a check in the box "Show compatible hardware" if not already checked.
7. In the list of devices, click "High Definition Audio" (the native driver).
8. Click "Next".
9. On the Update Driver Warning box, click "Yes" (install the driver).
10. Restart the laptop if prompted. If not prompted, then no need to restart.
[To get back to the Realtek driver, do it again but reverse the names in steps 1 and 6.]
If the headphones work okay with the native driver then the problem is with the Realtek driver. If that turns out to be the case, return to the Realtek driver via the instructions above and then remove the driver completely by doing the following:.
Open the Device Manager (type devmgmt.msc into the Windows search box), then expand "Sound, video and game controllers".
Right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio" and select to uninstall. Put a check mark in the option to delete the files, and then ok. When you reboot, Windows will either install its own native driver or another Realtek driver if there were any other versions on the hard drive. So go back to the Device Manager and check for a Realtek driver. Keep uninstalling & rebooting until Realtek no longer appears under Sound Controllers. When you see "High Definition Audio Device" (the native Windows driver) in place of "Realtek High Definition Audio", download and install the Realtek driver 6.0.1.7023.
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/inspiron-15-3521?driverId=8F9KD&osCode=WB64A&fileId=3287662976&languageCode=EN&categoryId=AU
Angustaff
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February 22nd, 2015 23:00
I did as you suggested, including downloading the driver. But I got a "Fail" when I tried to load the driver.
======================================================================================================================================
Realtek High Definition Audio Driver update package
======================================================================================================================================
Command : "C:\ProgramData\Dell\drivers\Audio_Driver_8F9KD_WN_6.0.1.7023_A00\DELLMUP.exe" /v" LOGFILE="C:\ProgramData\dell\drivers\Audio_Driver_8F9KD_WN_6.0.1.7023_A00\DUPE0DE.tmp""
Date : 2015-2-23 0:21:14.572
User : Scott
======================================================================================================================================
Starting to get initial ...
[OS] : 6.2
-Build : 9200
-Service Pack : 0
-x64 system : 1
-MCE system : 0
-Server system : 0
-System Language ID : 0x0409
-User Language ID : 0x0409
[Default Path] :
-tcRtkTempDir : C:\ProgramData\Dell\drivers\Audio_Driver_8F9KD_WN_6.0.1.7023_A00
-tcISSetupLocation : C:\ProgramData\Dell\drivers\Audio_Driver_8F9KD_WN_6.0.1.7023_A00
Collecting inventory ...
Checking driver version...
The version of this update driver is equal to the currently installed version .
[Realtek HD Audio Driver]
Installed version : 6.0.1.7023
Package version : 6.0.1.7023
======================================================================================================================================
[Update Result]...
Update ready to be applied at reboot .
Rtk Code = 0x00000000
IS Code = 0x00000000
Install Result = 0
UPD execution code =
SetupAPI running code =
Exit Code = 0003 ( Dependency software error )
======================================================================================================================================
End : 2015-2-23 0:21:15.541
Can you interpret this? I noted that it said the new version was the same as the installed version; however, when I checked Device Manager, only the native driver was listed. Needless to say, I am quite confused.
Jim Coates
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February 23rd, 2015 05:00
Apparently the Realtek driver has not been removed from the laptop, but I don't know why.
I just checked for other versions of the Realtek driver for the Inspiron 15 3521 model with Windows 8.1 and found that there is only the one. The reason I thought it would fix the problem is because another forum member said that installing it fixed the problem and I assumed that it was an alternate driver, because it was in a thread in which I was explaining which alternate driver to use for Windows 8 to correct the headphone jack issue (there are 2 drivers available and one of them works right). I did not double check about the 8.1 driver at the time, so I apologize for the incorrect information.
What was the result of testing with the native driver? Did the headphone jack work with it? If not I would not worry about the Realtek driver because there is some other problem.