Reinstall the audio drivers. It's usually best to uninstall whatever's left of them first, if possible, but an overinstall will usually do the trick for integrated audio.
I am having the same problem with my dell 8400 (Intergrated audio). I have tried deleting/reinstalling the driver and reformatting the pc and still get the code 10 error. After reformat drivers were installed in this order.. chipset, video then audio. I have over 6 hours of dealing with this issue and 1 1/2 hours with dell support. They had me run tests on my mb, hd and audio. When doing the audio test I was able to hear the beeps. They say its a software issue. They also had me change settings in bios and know I am not sure if the setting are correct so is there somewhere I can check to see what the proper bios setting are for a dell 8400 or a way to get them back to what they are suppose to be. Now since the changes were made in bios it takes forever for windows to boot up, if it boots up. Most of the time it takes me to the safe mode/last good config./start windows normally screen before I can get windows to boot.
One other quick question if I may. If the issue cannot be resolved by reinstalling the drivers, is it possible (or advisable) to simply disable Soundmax and install an audio card? My thinking is that perhaps the SMIA has simply fried so would installing a card create any conflict issues.
One other quick question if I may. If the issue cannot be resolved by reinstalling the drivers, is it possible (or advisable) to simply disable Soundmax and install an audio card? My thinking is that perhaps the SMIA has simply fried so would installing a card create any conflict issues.
As long as you have an open PCI slot, you certainly can add an audio card, although I think it would still be helpful to determine what's wrong with what's already on there before adding anything else to the mix.
For "pcdumdum" - you can restore the default settings in your Dimension 8400 by following the instructions here:
For both users, that's always a good thing to try when you're having problems similar to what you're describing. It doesn't hurt anything, and often helps.
First things first. Flooby thanks for the help. I appreciate it.
Now to what I did. I reinstalled the drivers but that didn't help. I uninstalled the Soundmax device, restarted and allowed XP to reinstall Soundmax, however, when checking in the device manager, it shows that there is no audio device installed.
I have performed that operation twice, and each time the install appears to go normally, but upon restarting the PC, no sound device appears to be installed. When I open the sound and audio device folder in control panel, all items are grayed out. No volume control or sound scheme setting is available. I performed the uninstall/reinstall operation a third time, and used an updated driver for the Soundmax Integrated Audio from Dell, but still no change.
Have you run the Diagnostics to see if the thing even passes the audio tests?
Right click on the "Owner's Manual" .pdf link and select "Save target as..." and download it to your system. See "Advanced Troubleshooting - Dell Diagnostics." You can download the Diags from the link below, if they're not presently on/with the system. The Floppy version works best, if there's a floppy drive installed.
If it fails the test, you're going to have to get with Dell to discuss repair/parts options. This may require a new system board, although I can't say for certain, as I've never had to deal with an integrated audio failure on one of those. Perhaps an easier option would be to just bypass the integrated audio via System Setup, and install a PCI sound card. If the system's out of warranty, that's certainly likely to be cheaper.
I ran the diagnostics program earlier today and all audio tests failed, which of course they would if the system sees no audio device. Power DVD, WMP, any program that has an option menu that allows audio settings simply gives an error message that "no audio device could be found". I have since been told to try sweeping the HDD and do a clean reinstall of windows which I would prefer not to do, at least not until we try to disable onboard sound and try a sound card. I really don't expect the sound card to work however.
Floppy, I tried that with the dell rep online and after we did it I was getting a boot disk error during start up so he had me change some setting in bios so it would at least boot to windows. Dell has decided to send a new mb and some new software sometime in the next few days and have a tech look at it when he installs the new mb. They are thinking it could be a hardware and software issue combined and thats why they are sending the new software. So glad that the pc still had a warranty on it and I hope it will be up in running soon. Thx Floppy for your advise and time.
@edpro wrote:
I have since been told to try sweeping the HDD and do a clean reinstall of windows which I would prefer not to do, at least not until we try to disable onboard sound and try a sound card. I really don't expect the sound card to work however.
That sounds like a Dell Tech Support suggestion. Once in a blue moon, it actually works. The rest of the time, you're still stuck with failed hardware. That being said, there's nothing like a nice, fresh instalation of Windows to work with, but I wouldn't place any bets on whether it'll resolve the problem, particularly if the device is failing in the Diags, since the Diags measure the functionality of a given device well before Windows is ever involved in the equation.
As for the sound card, if you mean PCI sound card, I'd bet that it will work, assuming your PCI bus passes the Diagnostic tests.
Good luck and please keep us posted on your results - this is starting to get interesting. :)
Update... Dell tech installed the new mb and I had to reformat the pc again do to there was conflicts with the new mb and drivers but its up and running and everything is working great. Thx....
Flooby
2 Intern
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3K Posts
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November 9th, 2005 03:00
Reinstall the audio drivers. It's usually best to uninstall whatever's left of them first, if possible, but an overinstall will usually do the trick for integrated audio.
pcdumdum
8 Posts
0
November 9th, 2005 08:00
edpro
32 Posts
0
November 9th, 2005 11:00
Flooby
2 Intern
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3K Posts
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November 9th, 2005 12:00
As long as you have an open PCI slot, you certainly can add an audio card, although I think it would still be helpful to determine what's wrong with what's already on there before adding anything else to the mix.
For "pcdumdum" - you can restore the default settings in your Dimension 8400 by following the instructions here:
For both users, that's always a good thing to try when you're having problems similar to what you're describing. It doesn't hurt anything, and often helps.
edpro
32 Posts
0
November 9th, 2005 15:00
First things first. Flooby thanks for the help. I appreciate it.
Now to what I did. I reinstalled the drivers but that didn't help. I uninstalled the Soundmax device, restarted and allowed XP to reinstall Soundmax, however, when checking in the device manager, it shows that there is no audio device installed.
I have performed that operation twice, and each time the install appears to go normally, but upon restarting the PC, no sound device appears to be installed. When I open the sound and audio device folder in control panel, all items are grayed out. No volume control or sound scheme setting is available. I performed the uninstall/reinstall operation a third time, and used an updated driver for the Soundmax Integrated Audio from Dell, but still no change.
Any other suggestions are welcomed.
Message Edited by edpro on 11-09-2005 12:00 PM
Flooby
2 Intern
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3K Posts
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November 9th, 2005 16:00
Have you run the Diagnostics to see if the thing even passes the audio tests?
Right click on the "Owner's Manual" .pdf link and select "Save target as..." and download it to your system. See "Advanced Troubleshooting - Dell Diagnostics." You can download the Diags from the link below, if they're not presently on/with the system. The Floppy version works best, if there's a floppy drive installed.
If it fails the test, you're going to have to get with Dell to discuss repair/parts options. This may require a new system board, although I can't say for certain, as I've never had to deal with an integrated audio failure on one of those. Perhaps an easier option would be to just bypass the integrated audio via System Setup, and install a PCI sound card. If the system's out of warranty, that's certainly likely to be cheaper.
edpro
32 Posts
0
November 9th, 2005 21:00
pcdumdum
8 Posts
0
November 9th, 2005 23:00
Flooby
2 Intern
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3K Posts
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November 10th, 2005 12:00
That sounds like a Dell Tech Support suggestion. Once in a blue moon, it actually works. The rest of the time, you're still stuck with failed hardware. That being said, there's nothing like a nice, fresh instalation of Windows to work with, but I wouldn't place any bets on whether it'll resolve the problem, particularly if the device is failing in the Diags, since the Diags measure the functionality of a given device well before Windows is ever involved in the equation.
As for the sound card, if you mean PCI sound card, I'd bet that it will work, assuming your PCI bus passes the Diagnostic tests.
pcdumdum
8 Posts
0
November 20th, 2005 04:00
Update... Dell tech installed the new mb and I had to reformat the pc again do to there was conflicts with the new mb and drivers but its up and running and everything is working great. Thx....