URGENT: D610 No Sound after Motherboard Replacement

If the drive hasn't been reformatted, try using Dell Diagnostic to make sure the hardware on the new MB is working.

Dell Diagnostics Interactive Audio Test

To run Diagnostics restart the computer and as soon as it starts to boot up hold down f12. Select 'Diagnostic' from the boot menu. The computer will run its pre-boot assessment tests for 3 or 4 minutes before the Dell Diagnostic starts. These pre-boot tests play some beeps and tones through the system speaker but not the rest of the audio hardware, so you still need to run Dell Diagnostics.

When Dell Diagnostics opens, select 'custom', then the audio test. This will test your audio system independently of Windows and drivers, meaning it doesn't matter if they are working correctly or not. Alternate between using headphones and listening to speakers in case only one is working.

[If you have ever reformatted your hard drive then the Diagnostics partition might have been wiped off. If the Dell Diagnostics option fails to open, run it from the Drivers and Utilities (Resource) CD if you have one. If you don't, you can download the Dell Diagnostics from your downloads page under 'Diagnostic Utilities'.]

Dell Diagnostics will play some audio and ask you whether you heard it. If you answer 'no' then the test generates an error code that means you indicated you did not hear the sounds it played. It can't pinpoint the exact component that has gone bad but that doesn't matter because the 'repair' is to replace the motherboard with a new one (if you are still under warranty), so all possible defective parts are replaced. If you are no longer under warranty, the best workaround in this situation is to get an external soundcard.

If you do hear the audio that means the hardware is okay but there is a problem with the software or configuration.

Configuration Settings

Open Audio Properties (right click on the volume icon on the system tray and click 'Adjust Audio Properties', or go through the Control Panel/Sounds & Audio Devices). Select the Audio tab. Click on 'Volume' under 'Sound Playback'. Make sure volumes are turned up and the mute boxes are not checked. In addition, each audio application or player you use will have its own settings. Check the volume control on each app and any other settings they might have.

Audio Driver

This is the main cause of problems. It might be not installed, incompletely installed, or corrupted. Often there is no way to tell if the driver is defective except by uninstalling and reinstalling it and then trying to use your audio again. Go to Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager. Find the audio driver under Sound Controllers, right click on the driver, and then click Uninstall. Shut down the computer then restart. Windows should automatically detect your device and display a wizard that helps you reinstall the driver for it.

Or you can download a new audio driver from your downloads page under 'Audio Drivers'. Your audio driver will be named Sigmatel. Don't download anything with the name 'Creative' or 'Audigy' at this time; that is a software enhancement for some of the laptops, it is not your audio driver.

To find your downloads page use the 'Drivers and Downloads' link on the left, in the bottom section named 'Dell Support Tools'.

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If the drive has been reformatted, then make sure these are installed in this exact order:

a. Install Dell Notebook System Software (find it under System & Configuration Utilities).

b. Most important, install Intel Mobile Chipset (find under Chipset).

c. Finally re-install the Sigmatel audio driver. (Not all Dell laptops use the Intel Mobile chipset, but if yours does then the audio driver won't install unless the chipset driver has been installed first.) All of these are on the downloads page for your computer model and operating system: To find your downloads page use the 'Drivers and Downloads' link on the left, in the bottom section named 'Dell Support Tools'.

In some few cases (in Windows XP) when there is still a problem with the installation after following the procedure above, follow this tip from forum member rpilT2005: check in the Device Manager for a "PCI Device" with a yellow question mark next to it, under the "System Devices" grouping. Hit 'update driver' on that one, and it should find the driver.


Jim

Do you get sound if you plug headphones or speakers into the headphone jack? I'm not familiar with the audio settings on the D6XX series latitude but some laptops have control panel controls where you can set which output to use for sound. The Windows Sound control panel should also show you if the sound card is being detected properly.