Inspiron 1720 - No External Mic since moved to Windows 7

Hello,

With Windows 7, I've figured out that you must have one of the two set as your default to make the Microphone work. When you go down to the little icon on the task bar at the bottom and you right click the sound icon , and go to Recording Devices, Do you see the option for the External Mic ? If so , i would suggest you put it as the default , and then try it with whichever software you are trying to use it with. Also , depending on the application that you are trying to use , it may not be set up properly to use the proper Microphone.

Let me know how it goes.

Dave.

Sorry for the late reply, but this did not work. I already had one set as default anyway. Tx.

Bumping.

I have the same problem, I tried to update with the drivers in Dell page (SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio) and it didn't worked. I also have Inspiron 1720.

I hope someone can bring some solution.

I have precisely the same problem. Tried all the same steps as the previous two posters and have had similar disappointing results. Is there anyone who knows a workaround or an alternate audio driver that will work with this sound card? Please, I use my external mic so, so much.

When installing the Sigmatel driver, did you install the Vista version into 7 using Vista compatibility mode?

Definitely a good suggestion, I hadn't thought of that. Unfortunately, I just tried it using plain Vista compatibility mode and the two service pack options and still no luck. Any other options? Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated.

Bump. That didn't worked for me. Any more ideas?

Hi all.  I just fixed this problem on my 1720.

You need to install the sound drivers.  Then it will ask you if the device plugged in is a mic.  The problem is that the sound drivers crash on Windows 7.

Run the driver so that it unzips, then go to the directory that it unzipped to (c:\dell\drivers\RXXXX\).  Right click on setup.exe and select Properties.  Then click on the Compatibility tab.  Check the "Run this program in Compatibility..." box.   Set it to Vista.  Click OK.

Now run Setup.exe and it will install correctly.  It will ask you to restart the computer, then you will be able to select mic for the input jack.

Here is the driver:

When I try to install (with or without Compatibility mode) setup.exe says:

This is not the correct audio driver for this system. The installer will now exit.

So I can't install the drivers you linked. Do you know how to "force" the drivers to install?

Thanks anyway.

JamesTheExpert,

This is essentially the same thing I was asking about earlier in this thread when I wrote

"When installing the Sigmatel driver, did you install the Vista version into 7 using Vista compatibility mode?"

but Shadark and nickwaker said that it did not work for them.

The link you provided yesterday was to the XP version of the driver (R171789) which probably explains why Shadark got that error. Here is the driver you meant:

the Vista version (171786) .

Edit: just re-read your last post and it looks like you did mean to install the XP driver instead of the Vista one. My bad.

That sounds like the error I got before I set it to Vista compatibility.

You need to change the properties for Setup.exe that extracts into the dell\drivers\ folder.  If you just change the R171786.exe file properties, it will still crash.

Jim,

I'm thinking maybe they ran the extractor .exe in compatibility mode, but not setup.exe.

That's my guess.

When they said it didn't work I took it to mean that it did not fix their mic jack problem, not that the driver installation failed. I hope Shadark and/or  nickwaker will clarify that point.

Sorry about my post this morning ... got my wires crossed.

I have the same issue with an Inspiron 1420 that uses the same SigmaTel driver.  I went to get the latest version of the driver but it appears the R171786.exe file is no longer on the FTP site.  Can someone tell me an alternate location (or send me the file independently)?

I tried following the instructions using the Vista(SP1) compatibility mode with my previous driver (R167846.exe) file's extracted Setup.exe, but that seems to have no effect.  I still have no external microphone.

Thanks,

Terry