Inspiron 8600 Audio Drivers - Win 7

Question

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600. I just installed a new hard drive and installed Windows 7 on it. On the devices screen, the network controller and audio were banged out. I was able to download the network drivers and get that working but have had no luck successfully installing audio drivers.

When I got to the Dell drivers and downloads page, there is only one download for the SigmaTel audio. Tried installing and nothing happens. Went through the process of installing the drivers through the devices screen and it said it couldn't find a driver for the device. So I'm assuming the drivers I downloaded are not the right ones.

Anyone know where the latest drivers for the 8600 SigmaTel audio are located?

TIA.

Dianne

Jim Coates · Accepted Answer

Fireberd, I think you implied that the current Sigmatel driver for the 8600, the R90698, is only for XP. It is for either XP, Vista or 2000.

You implied that IDT and Sigmatel drivers might be interchangeable. All of the IDT drivers are for HD audio. Only some of the ones named Sigmatel are for the older AC97 audio protocol that was implemented on the 8600 model. I have never heard of an HD driver working on an AC97 system.

Vista was rarely installed on those AC97 models, and I don't supposed 7 will be either. We finally figured out how to get around the chipset problem in Vista. It was to download the Sigmatel audio driver and unpack it but cancel the installation process. Open Device Manager and expand System devices near the bottom. Find the PCI Device entry with a ? next to it (or Multimedia Audio Controller). Go to the properties and choose to update the driver. Choose to manually find the driver and don't let Windows look for it. Browse to c:\Dell\drivers\R90698\WDM.

That worked for a couple of people in Vista. I don't know if it would in 7. I think the Device Manager is now called "Device Stage".

fireberd · Answer

A major problem, Dell only supports Windows XP on this model. You need at a minimum Vista drivers for the Sound as Vista and Windows 7 which is basically Vista, uses a different softare way of handling sound.

Since there are no Dell drivers, you will have to start trying SigmaTel drivers from other models to see if one will work (about your only hope). SigmaTel is now named "IDT" so if you find IDT Vista or Windows 7 drivers you can try those. However, from many posts that I've seen of people trying to get the System Mixer so they can record streaming audio, sound drivers from other vendors either will not install or do not work.

One note, there is an Intel chipset driver listed on the Dell downloads, and on a reinstall the Chipset drivers MUST be installed BEFORE installing the sound drivers and some other devices. The chipset drivers define (identify) the devices on the motherboard. An outside chance, once you install the chipset drivers, Win 7 may find an audio driver. If the listed XP chipset drivers will not install in Windows 7, try installing them in the Windows XP "Compatibility Mode".

dsiebold · Answer

Thanks, Jimco! Downloading that driver and following your install instructions worked. Appreciate it. Dianne

Jim Coates · Answer

Super thanks for the feedback! This might not come up too much in the future, but if it does it's nice to know that there is a way to get it to work. Every time Microsoft comes out with a new operating system there are problems with the audio drivers. Dell is almost always of no help except by providing this forum where we can put our heads together and figure these things out.

fireberd · Answer

Jim, I only looked at the download page and it only listed XP and that was what I based my findings on.  It is also a fact that Vista/Win 7 handle some audio functions differently than XP and when Vista first came out we had a run on audio problems until Vista drivers were issued.  My Dimension E510 was upgraded from XP to Vista and the SigmaTel did not work until Dell issued drivers (fortunately I had a SoundBlaster Audigy SE that I installed and SoundBlaster had Vista drivers when Vista came out).

Jim Coates · Answer

Jack, just want to say that its great that you are helping on this board. Remember the Audio Editing & Production Board? Man, that seems like ages ago.

By the way, thank you for the advice you gave me last year re drum machine. I finally ended up with an SR-18 with 2 foot switches and couldn't be happier with it.

fireberd · Answer

Jim, I don't do a lot in the laptop section but slowly getting into it since I now have a laptop. Mainly, I stay on the Desktop boards.

I'm using my SR-18 quite a bit in my studio. I recently completed a 10 song "demo session" for a semi-retired Nashville songwriter. I used the SR-18 on 8 of the 10 tracks and my old SR-16 on the other two tracks.

Jack

ElroyBJetson · Answer

So how good is Windows 7 working on the Inspiron 8600. I have one also with 2 gb of memory and am thinking of getting a new hard drive also and putting Windows 7 on it. Should I do it or stick with Windows XP?

Thanks

dsiebold · Answer

It's working out well, I had to upgrade the bios to version A14 to get it to notice the larger hard drive. Also, after installing Win 7, it took a little fanagling to get the right drivers installed for the wireless adapter. I had to plug it into the router directly to get the wireless drivers. Of course, the machine is relatively old and a bit slower compared to my other machines, but it's running great and would recommend going with it over XP.

ElroyBJetson · Answer

Thanks for responding.  Good to know.  I might give it a try.   Thanks

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Inspiron 8600 Audio Drivers - Win 7

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