Sigmatel Driver XP Installation - Help Please!

These instructions are for a situation where an operating system has already been reinstalled and everything works except the audio driver will not install ... usually you get an error message, because the Notebook System Software and chipset drivers were not installed correctly and the audio chip on the motherboard is not recognized. In this situation "usually" a fresh install of the OS is not required, just re-installing the NSS and chipset correctly. If that doesn't work then a full re-installation may be necessary. Install in this order:

a. Dell Notebook System Software (on your downloads page expand the System Utilities category). Restart.

b. Next install the Intel Mobile Chipset driver (expand the Chipset category). Restart.

c. Install the Sigmatel audio driver (expand the Audio category).

Get these from the D630 driver downloads page.

If the above still doesn't work let me know and I can tell you a different way to try.

The other way is only for models with HD audio. Yours has AC97 audio, not HD. I will post some suggestions on your other thread when I get a chance tomorrow.

hi i tried the same process but still i sigmatel wont install in my laptop is there any other way ty!

If you state the model name of the laptop and your operating system I will reply if I have a suggestion.

i have a windows xp sp3 installed on my system and my laptop is dell latitude d630 and everytime i install the driver i get  this error "ExitError:Error=this sisytem does not support the driver your attempting to install... i would really appreciate it if u could help solve my problem ty

You have to make sure that you installed the Intel Mobile Chipset driver first and that you downloaded a Sigmatel HD audio driver for XP. But even if you do everything right you will still get the error message if the audio hardware has failed.

The "other" way of installing that I mentioned earlier in this thread is for SP1 and SP2, not SP3.  But here it is if you want to try it:

1. Open Windows Explorer and go to c:\Dell\drivers\R171789 and delete the R171789 folder. That is the current version of your audio driver.
2. Go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888111 and get the UAA driver patch. Install it and restart the computer. This is already included in SP3 so you should not need to do this step.
3. Download R171789 again or re-use the previous download if you still have it..
4. After it finishes extracting the files and begins to install, cancel.
5. Open Device Manager and expand System devices near the bottom. Find the PCI Device entry with a ? next to it. 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\R171789\WDM

With any luck it should detect some new hardware and one of them should be the Sigmatel.

i did what u said but  when i browse the file and click next still cant detect sigmatel i get this message the wizard could not find the software on your computer for pci Device what should i do now? should i just go to the computer shop to get it repaired? tnx jim

Why did you need to reinstall the audio driver? Did something go wrong with the audio or did you reinstall the operating system?

What happens when you open Windows Explorer and go to this location

c:\Dell\drivers\R171789

Are the folder and the files there?

Every time you get to the "found new hardware" window you should browse to the driver files and not let Windows look for them if possible.

I uninstalled my Sigmatel accidentally. What do i do? I have a D630 Xp, FYI, if that helps.....

I uninstalled my Sigmatel accidentally. What do i do? I have a D630 Xp

Hello. Use Windows system Restore. G to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore
and tick 'Restore my computer to an earlier time'.  Choose a date before you deleted the driver.

If that does not help then download and install the Sigmatel R171789 audio driver.