Latitude 7490 headset microphone issue

We have seen this issue on multiple laptops at my company, on 7470 and 7480 models normally reinstalling the realtek audio driver would just fix the issue.

With the 7490 though this would only fix it around 5% of the time.

We found the issue was a corrupt driver pack in our build process (SCCM), we had to download the latest driver pack to get this working:

https://www.dell.com/support/article/uk/en/ukbsdt1/how13663/latitude-7490-windows-10-driver-pack?lang=en

On already built machines we tried everything to get it working but almost nothing worked so in the end we re-imaged several laptops with the issue and all new builds are fine now.

Same problem, and no solution apparently without a clean install, which is not an option.  This is really rather a silly situation.

I have the same issue on the same type of computer (Latitude 7490).

I have installed what drivers are available to me as a normal user and found at least the Realtek Driver 6.0.1.8622 would actually ask what I had plugged in, but then it would duly ignore my microphone anyway.

I had downloaded and installed the same drivers you mention in the pack (Video driver with legacy sound and the Realtek driver), but they did not work...

I am pretty annoyed, as I always use a wired headset (no problems with electrical interference and no batteries) and nothing seems to work.

Thanks for the info. First page result on google and you helped me solve my problem. I uninstalled all the sound drivers via device manager, deleting drivers. Uninstalled Realtek driver. Installed latest Realtek HD driver and rebooted. Fixed. The installer, Realtek-High-Definition-Audio-Driver_88KKK_WIN_6.0.8809.1_A22.EXE, has command-line options though I did mine manually. Glad we aren't deploying this model.

Hi, also have the 7490.

Had the same problem after installing new driver.
The problem seems to be that old drivers are not uninstalled correctly by the new installer or that Windows automatically keeps installing the latest driver, but wrongly, and a lot of things start to conflict with each other.

What worked for me (after 6 months of trying.): 
FYI: I also installed latest windows 10 update (1909).

1. Download the latest driver (from Dell), currently Realtek-High-Definition-Audio-Driver_88FFF_WIN_6.0.1.8622_A20_03.EXE
2. Put off your internet (otherwise windows will keep trying to install the driver, but mic jack won't work.)
3. go to "Device manager" (Search, device manager), Under "Sound, video and game controllers", find "Realtek Audio" (or your Currently installed audio card/driver)
4. Right click and select "Uninstall device" and check the "delete the driver software for this device'" box!
5. Restart windows and wait for a couple of minutes. Go to Device manager again. If windows reinstalled a driver, go through steps 3 to 5 again, until the device shows as an unknown device in Device Manager (yellow exclamation point).
6. Manually delete following folders: Program Files/Realtek, Program Files/Waves Program files(x86)/Realtek
(I did not delete any system32 files)
7. reboot again, make sure you are still not connected to internet and windows did not install another driver. Normally it's fine now. (else follow steps 3-6 again).
8. Install the Dell/Realtek Audio Driver exe downloaded in step 1 (still without internet connected)
9. Reboot pc/windows
10. If you now connect your headset, the popup should appear, asking what device you plugged in. Select "Headset" (NOT headphones!). This should enable the 'Jack Mic' in the "Recording" tab in Windows "Sound" control panel (settings, system, sound, sound control panel). If the popup does not appear, try re-plugging your headset, but wait it 5 second between plugin-in. Sometimes it takes a couple of plugs. If it still does not appear, go to step 11.
If the driver installed correctly you should also see "Jack Mic (Realtek Audio)" appear in the "Device manager" under "Audio inputs and outputs" when plugged in.
11. That should work. If it doesn't, or the popup does not appear, try this: Open Waves MaxxAudioPro (blue icon in the taskbar.), plugin your headphones, on the "Playback" tab, under "Select Output Device", select "Headset" (not headphones!). This should enable the "Jack Mic".
If you want to enable or disable the pop-up asking what device you plugged in: Click "Advanced" and (un)click the checkbox. 

If after a reboot your mic doesn't work again, always check if "Select Output Device" is still "Headset" in Waves MaxxAudioPro. Sometimes it changes from itself (to headphones for example) and won't recognize the mic. In that case, select Headset again!

Hope this work for you too.

Thank you Maarten.

I had the same issue on L7490. I have exactly followed your techtip and was working for me. So it is clear the issue was related to some residual stuff and and is is essential to clean everything before new driver install.

I had the same problem and even contacting Dell via our service contract gave zero real help.

Solution that just worked for me. Go to Sound settings - type Sound settings into the search window if you don't know how to navigate there.

Go to Manage sound devices.

Click on Microphone array and disable.

Plug in headset and it should prompt for type (earbuds, over ear, on ear) etc. Pick your settings and then try setting it up - go back to Sound settings and look for Jack Mic as input device. Trouble shoot to verify or use https://www.onlinemictest.com/ . I checked it was the mic on the headset as mine has a mute button. Mute off = sound and on no sound.

Seems once set up, you can go back and re-enable the Microphone array and the headset stays enabled.

Jeez, this took too much time to figure out and Dell should have known this. So much for a service contract via work

Let me know if it worked for you too

Hello and thanks for the very detailed instructions, unfortunatly after reinstalling the drivers i can select the connected device on the popup window, but the realtek microfone array (internal microphone beside the webcam) stays the only available input so far.

Our company is running Win10 1809, fresh installed L7490 are working as intended and the external connected microphone gets recognized, but the ones which get "patched" afterwards are not working and cant get an external attached headset running... 

Any suggestions?

Very simple: Go to Microphone Privacy settings -> enable (Allow apps to access your microphone)

It worked for me!!!

Thanks @Maarten1984! This worked for me with Realtek-High-Definition-Audio-Driver_88XXX_WIN_6.0.8895.1_A23_01 on a 7490 with Windows 1909.

You may want to check my reply in another similar post. It is using the Dell Audio (=Realtek HD Audio Manager) application to setup the microphone jack of your laptop correctly.

https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/Inspiron-15-7580-Headset-mic-doesn-t-work/m-p/7650547/highlight/true#M90728

Download latest driver from https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/pc-audio-codecs-high-definition-audio-codecs-software

This package will remove the old driver, reboot, install fresh drivers and app, reboot

Then from C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA launch RtkNGUI64.exe

Here you can configure the input including headset or jack microphone.

It fixed the problem on my laptop.

This solution worked perfectly for me. I wish I would have found it sooner. Twice before, the Dell techs had me disable my network and delete and install the audio drivers. The solution of disabling mic array then plugging my headset back in was a lot faster. Thanks for posting it!

This worked for me. thank you. crazy that we should have to go through that much the get the combo jack working.