Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
2 Posts
0
2076
December 17th, 2009 10:00
No audio output device is installed
Dimension 8400 - integrated audio - Dell motherboard model 047077.
Have upgraded os to Win 7 Home Premium. Before doing so I dual booted Win 7 release candidate with win xp for a couple of months to be sure everything worked with Win 7. The sound worked perfectly. Now that I've upgraded I get the message in the subject of this post. I've tried installing drivers from the driver download page, read many of the posts I've found by searching and nothing has helped. Is there hope or shall I just give up and install a sound card? Everything else is working as well as it did with the Win 7 release candidate.
No Events found!
fireberd
11 Legend
•
33.4K Posts
•
112.8K Points
0
December 17th, 2009 13:00
I assume you did a complete install of Win 7. On a new (or clean install) the correct install sequence is (1) Install Windows (2) Install Intel chipset drivers (3) Install device drivers such as sound, video, ethernet, etc.
A lot of install problems is because the Intel motherboard chipset drivers were skipped. The chipset drivers define (identify) all the hardware devices on the motherboard and MUST be installed BEFORE installing the Sound Drivers.
As it worked with the Win 7 RC, it doesn't mean it will work with the final version. I've seen a lot of sound problems on the Windows 7 forum. Generally, the Vista drivers will work for Win 7, as Win 7 is basically "Vista improved", however there have been some changes in the final release. As it turns out many of the SoundBlaster sound cards are either not compatible or must have Windows 7 drivers to work.
Dell does not support (have drivers) for Vista for the 8400, which represents many potential hardware device problems including the sound. In many cases non-Dell sound drivers either will not install or if they install will not work correctly. A new PCI sound card that is Win 7 compatible is probably the best option if you have all the other hardware working. I've seen posts with users that upgraded to Vista from an older PC that only had XP drivers and users were installing new sound cards on those.
bob94952
2 Posts
0
December 17th, 2009 14:00
Thank you. I will find and install a Windows 7 compatible card. I've spent enough time on this.