Inspiron 17R wont take its audio driver!

Hi Jarrett,

Welcome to the Community,

Could you check in Device Manager(expand Sound,video and game controller) and confirm what is listed there?

Did you install the Dell system Software and Chipset driver before installing the Audio driver?

Please post the Windows version installed on your system.

Thank You

Roshan, It lists intel display audio. And yes i did install those, i installed everything in the dell suggested order and a few other ways by now.  It is windows 7 home premium 64bit.

Jimco, Already did a bios update to the newest available version and reset everything and checked the settings out myself, no setting for anything audio related. Windows auto installs the audio driver for hdmi output from the initial install. And yes they did say there would be no charge if they cant fix it but that wont tell me what the problem is nor do i have $60 to shell out if i can fix it myself somehow...

Hello. Just a thought I would like to add to what Roshan L said. When you re-install the operating system software, that does not affect the BIOS which is firmware. If the former owner made some counter-productive changes to the BIOS you can revert to the original default settings by pressing ALT + F while in the BIOS, then save the changes when exiting the BIOS and reboot the laptop. [Or you could flash a fresh copy of the BIOS but I advise not doing that unless Roshan L tells you to, because if the process fails and bricks the motherboard Dell will not fix it if you are out of warranty -- unless you were instructed to do so by Dell.]

Windows has its own native audio driver which normally would be automatically installed and produce audio in the absence of Realtek driver files, so it appears to be more than just a problem with the Realtek driver not installing if the native driver also fails to install. As to HDMI audio, that is controlled by the graphics driver.

they want $59 to remote desktop it to fix it

Just out of curiosity, is there a guarantee with that, i.e., if they fail to fix it will they give a refund?

I shouldn't be crashing this thread but Roshan L is probably off right now, so ...

At this point I would want to determine if the problem is a software problem or a hardware problem (a failure of the audio codec can cause "no audio device" error). There is a diagnostic utility that can sort it out, Dell Diagnostic audio tests. It won't be on your hard drive but there is a chance it was included on the discs you obtained.

If you don't have it I do not know of any other diagnostic utility that can do the same thing, so what I would do is try again to force the native audio driver to install. All of the Realtek driver files must be removed if you were ever unable to unzip them to the hard drive. I'm not clear at exactly at what point the installation failed. Go to your hard drive
 c:\dell\drivers\Rxxxxxx  . Expand all folders and subfolders there. Delete any folders that have a subfolder named "WDM". Those are audio driver folders.

Reboot and if Windows does not install the native driver I would say that the codec is damaged or there is something wrong with your Windows. When the native driver is installed the Sound properties will say "High Definition Audio Device" on the Recording and Playback tabs instead of "Realtek...":

Or reinstall Windows again. After installing in the correct order and restarting, don't download the Realtek driver or let Windows Updates do it, and if Windows does not install the native audio driver and produce sound then I would  be talking to the seller about a refund. The workaround is to get an external audio card or interface but those won't play through the laptop's internal speakers.

Hi  Jarrett,Jim,

Sorry was out of office on a weekly off.

Jarrett did you try the steps suggested by Jim?Any progress?