m17 R3, no audio devices detected

Question

Hi, I have an m17 R3 laptop and for months now I have had no audio. I have uninstalled and reinstalled drivers and nothing has helped. All other drivers for the laptop have been downloaded and installed from the Dell website and are up to date. Sometimes (very rarely) when I turn off the laptop the next day sound will be back sometimes for an hour, and then goes again. I was running Windows 10, and installed Windows 11 hoping it would help. Immediately after installing Windows 11 I had sound for about 4 hours. Turned the laptop off and now no sound again.

I have tried running the trouble shooter on Dells website but it will not work as it says nothing is detected.

Any help would be very much appreciated as it's so frustrating.

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A51-06 · Answer

Hi @Kalinda5 !

I hope I can help you with your issue today.

I would highly recommend going back to windows 10 as all driver support is technically for Windows 10 as 11 is still not finished.

I also would recommend going to a Best Buy or a Micro Center to have them plug in or reconnect the internal speaker connector so incase a issue happens they have to replace it themselves.

Hope I could help, and I highly recommend you restart the laptop and enter the BIOS via F12 and start an ePSA test so you can check if the speakers physically work.

LucasLisboa1 · Answer

Hi, @Kalinda5! I have the same problem, did you find a solution?

Kalinda5 · Answer

Hi @LucasLisboa1, yes I finally found out the problem. I replaced the speakers but that didn’t work. It ended up being the actual audio card. It had failed. As soon as it was replaced I had the sound back. Has worked perfectly since. Apparently it is a common problem on this laptop. Hope this helps.

lkalman · Answer

Hi Kalinda, how did you replace your sound card? Did you just buy an external one or can you replace the one in the laptop? Thanks!!

Kalinda5 · Answer

Hi,

‘Dell actually replaced it under warranty for me. They sent a technician to my home and he opened the laptop and took out the old one and replaced it with a new one. It honestly didn’t look all that hard to do. If it ever happens again and not under warranty I’d do it myself.

A51-06 · Answer

Congratulations! @Kalinda5

lkalman · Answer

Thanks for the quick response! It was just a simple unplug and plug? No soldering or removing any other parts? Getting it replaced at Best Buy is really

pricey and they would need to ship it out for weeks. Also do you know the specific part they used by chance?

rmartelo · Answer

I replaced mine too, getting an used on ebay, but not working. I'm very disappointed. I have always had and still have several Dell laptops. A G7, two XPS and this alienware is making me upset.

Alienware

m17 R3, no audio devices detected

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