Latitude E4310 audio driver doesn't work

My laptop does not have a mic array or a combo jack like yours so I don't know if this will help. I cannot find any instructions on using the combo jack. My advice here is based on the idea that perhaps the mic array is preventing the mic jack from functioning.

First, open the Sound properties (right click the speaker icon -- if missing then choose the "show system tray icon" you found) and select the Recording tab. I don't know what you will see with your model so I will insert here 2 screen shots of the most common Recording tabs.

If you don't have something like that then use "rollback driver" (in your driver properties) or System Restore to go back to your original IDT audio driver. Or you can delete the driver files and begin the installation again. See section 2 of the Audio Driver FAQ for instructions on deleting the files. If you would rather install an older version of the driver then see section 4 of the FAQ, but always delete newer driver files from the hard drive before installing an older version.

When you are able to see the Recording tab in Sound Properties, select the mic/line-in as the default recording device. With luck that will disable the mic array. On some models one has to  open the Recording tab,  right click by the mic icon, and select show disabled devices, then click on the now shown external mic and click enable, then set external mic as the default device.

A couple of other thoughts: I don't know if those combo jacks work with all headsets or if you need one with a special jack. Also,  there is a setting for mic in the BIOS of your model in the Miscellaneous section. I don't know if it is for the mic array or the mic jack but you might experiment with it by turning it off -- probably won't help though.

Hi, Jimco!

It's so kind of you to reply my question! Thank you! In contrast, I haven't got any help from Dell official helpers.

But unfortunately I have done everything you suggested except the BIOS part. I still think the problem lies in the IDT driver application. Each time I tried to install it, it appears like this:

It doesn't look even fully installed! The button on the upper left side does nothing when clicked. It doesn't ask me when I plug in anything in the jack, which means no jack monitoring is enabled :(

The recording device looks like this:

The dock mic is working together with Mic Array now, because my computer is on the dock. But if I undock it, nothing but Mic Array could work. The jack mic works in neither situation.

Thanks again, Jimco! No matter this problem is solved or not, I appreciate your help already.

I'm sorry that I or someone else here does not have the answer. It is not surprising that Dell will not help as software is not covered under the warranty. I hope they at least replied to you.

I have a couple of more thoughts that might not be worth much, but here they are.

> Your upper screen shot of "IDT  Audio Control Panel", was the path to that >Control Panel (if it is still called that in 7)>IDT? If so, that is not the right path to get to the "IDT HD Sound" in my screen shot. I have Sigmatel audio, not IDT, but I know that both IDT and Sigmatel have an item in the Control Panel that has that "Enable Power Management" setting but not much else. If that is what you are looking at then I believe that it is installed correctly but is not the right dialog.

Of the 2 screen shots I posted, some models with IDT have both of those Sound control panels and some only have the bottom white Windows one. I posted both because I do not know if your model is supposed to have both or just the white one that you do have. However, the fact that your white one contains the words "IDT High Definition Audio Codec" suggests to me that the IDT driver is installed. If it were not then you would just see "High Definition Audio Codec" or "HD Audio Device" or similar.

So my feeling is that the IDT driver is all right, but because you have doubts about it then why not go ahead and install an older version if you have not already? And if you get the same results with all of the older versions (there are 3 of them), then you can either assume that the results are correct, or that a problem has occurred in your laptop since the time you got it that is preventing the driver from installing. In that case restore the computer to the original factory configuration. If, after that, the results are the same then the conclusion is that that is the way the Sound and Audio Control panels are supposed to look.

You know, there is a possibility that the jack is malfunctioning. Different models have different versions of the Dell Diagnostics audio tests. Most have a test for external microphone so it might be worthwhile to run the tests and see if your version can test the mic jack.

Final thought at the moment, is that when you undock the Sound dialog is not reflecting that. I have no idea how the current docks work, but in the old days one had to reset the default devices to reflect that audio was no longer using the dock.

Yes, the upper screen shot is from the control panel. I cannot find where to open this application elsewhere. Any hint?

I ran the diagnostics as you suggested in the FAQ yesterday, but it told me that it would be more than 30 mins just for the memory testing part. I cannot choose which part to test. So I cancelled the testing...

And unfortunately I haven not even received the "automatic reply" to my email :)

Thank you again! (And I can't believe it when I see that you are a music teacher :D )

And I can't believe it when I see that you are a music teacher :D

Ha ha, I hope that's a compliment. I actually don't teach much anymore. I've been doing part time maintenance work for a rental management company for the last few years. This Laptop Audio board is one of my hobbies. I seem to need a little more mental stimulation than I can get from changing light bulbs.

I cannot find where to open this application elsewhere. Any hint?

All I know is the same way you opened the Sound dialog. I'll see if I can ask somebody else about that. Can you believe how bad Dell's documentation is in explaning any of this?

Here is a link to the Dell Diagnostics audio tests FAQ that explains how to just run the audio tests.

I'm facing the same issue with an E4310, and I also have the IDT control panel with just two options. I can ensure this is a faulty driver, but I cant understand why they haven't released an update.  Were you able to solve it?

Here is where you can find the older versions of the drivers, assuming you are using 7 or Vista. Maybe one of them will do better, but you have to remove a newer driver from the hard drive before attempting to install an older one, or else the newer one will just be re-installed.

support.dell.com/.../previousversions.aspx

Hi, unfortunately I am not able to solve it... I tried older drivers too, they don't seem to work for me. But if you find one that fits your system, please post it and I would like to try again.

I installed older drivers and I still cannot get a mic enabled either in the normal laptop jack or the dock station. This is really very frustrating cause I need to record weekly reports using the mic.

I don't think this will help, but you could try using the generic Windows audio driver. Uninstall and delete the IDT driver and when you reboot and Windows cannot find the IDT files, it will install its basic HD audio driver.

Well, thanks again, Jim! You are so kind :)

But I have tried that too, no luck, especially with the combo jack, it doesn't recognize at all... Maybe I should wait for the new driver to come... I am now always using the built-in microphone array, not the plug-in one, and it seems to be the only option.