By the way if you google Sigmatel R171786 you will find sites where you can download it.

The server that has the Sigmatel R171786 file has been out or having some problem for at least a month now. I have reported this several times to the Dell liaison who is keeping an eye on it, but there is no word yet on when it might be fixed. I do not have the driver to be able to mail it to you. It is odd that the older versions will not install.

Here is what I would do. Go to the hard drive  to  c:\dell\drivers\

and look for any of the Sigmatel folders, R171786, R167846  and R157031. Also expand every R folder there and look for any with a sub-folder named WDM. Any R folders with a WDM subfolder is a Sigmatel folder. If you find any Sigmatel folder click on setup.exe and see if it will install. But if it is not one of the 3 I listed then it may be an incorrect one for the 1420.

If you do find one or more Sigmatel folders but cannot get one to install, then next delete (not uninstall) all Sigmatel folders from the hard drive. You do not need a Sigmatel driver for basic audio because Vista has a generic HD audio driver. Reboot and when Vista cannot find any Sigmatel files it will install its own driver. If you still do not hear audio -- and be sure to test through headphones as well as the internal speakers, then run the diagnostics again, like this:

1. Restart the computer and tap the f12 key as soon as it starts to boot up .
2. Select 'Diagnostic' from the boot menu. The computer will run its pre-boot assessment tests (PSA) before Dell Diagnostics starts. During the PSA you will hear some tones through the system speaker but this does not adequately test the audio hardware. Dell Diagnostics plays an instrumental piece of music complete with drums, so if you only hear some tones then you have only run the PSA.
3. Dell Diagnostics should open after the PSA tests, or you should see an option to open it. If you have ever reformatted your entire hard drive then Dell Diagnostics will no longer be there as an option. In that case run it from the Drivers and Utilities (Resource) CD if you have one.
4. Select 'Custom', then the audio tests. (At this point - after you have opened Dell Diagnostic custom - if you can't find the option to select the audio tests that is a symptom of a failed audio chip.)
5. The tests will run. Alternate between using headphones and listening to speakers in case only one signal path is working.
The tests will play some audio and ask you whether you heard it.
6. If you don't hear the music during the test it definitely means there is a hardware failure somewhere in the system. In this case Dell will repair the computer if it is still under warranty.
7.If you do hear the audio during the test but not when you boot back into Windows, that almost always means the hardware is okay but there is a problem with the audio driver or with Windows.
8. Error codes: If you answer 'no' to any question that the test asks you, the test generates an error code that can tell a Dell technician that you answered 'no' to that question. The test does not know the exact component that has gone bad. Before answering 'no' to a question, make note of the circumstances at that point so you will know in general what the error code means.

So apparently I'm not supposed to swear on here. Yeah, just kidding. Here's my original response that *hopefuly* is within guidelines after being revised.

Thanks so much for your response. I was seriously starting to think that I was the only person having issues trying to download the driver. I googled it to no end last night trying to see if anyone else had reported some kind of broken link on any other forums and came up with nothing. Nice to know my inspiron isn't out to get me by giving me random 404 errors. I did go into the drivers folders and located both R167846 and R157031. Ran both setups but got error messages for both saying 'device object not present, please reboot and try again' or what have you. Deleted both driver folders, rebooted and I still have a red 'x' through the speaker at the bottom of my screen saying 'no audio output device is installed'. Rebooted, ran diagnostics, and heard that ever-so-funky little song at the end through my speakers and my headphones. Tried googling 'Sigmatel R171786' but the majority of the ones I clicked on mirrored back to the dell site, thus getting the fantastic '404 error' again. I've clicked my way through about 8 or 9 pages now and will continue to do so and I'm **hoping** that my bad luck streak doesn't continue by me getting some kind of a virus attached to any of the files. Thanks again for all of your help. I've posted on a few other tech support forums and yours has been the nicest response thus far.

If you have any other ideas feel free the throw them out there. I know I can only troubleshoot so much before there's nothing else to do to resolve the issue, I'm just hoping that's not the case just yet.

ran diagnostics, and heard that ever-so-funky little song at the end through my speakers and my headphones.

Did you run the custom tests as per my instructions? The reason I ask is that there are only 2 reasons I can think of why Vista would not be able to install its generic driver: failed audio chip or corrupted.Intel Chipset Software. You could try reinstalling that.

I re-ran diagnostics to make sure that I did it correctly the first time. The music played in the headphones and through the speaker, but when windows restarted I still have no audio.

I attempted installing the chipset driver three times over the past 2 days through the dell website and after about an hour (longest. install. EVER.) saying the following failed:

Ricoh company (rismsptsk) hdc (11/14/2006 6.00.01.05)
Ricoh company (rismxdp) hdc (11/14/2006 6.00.01.05)
Ricoh company MMC host controller (11/14/2006 6.00.01.04)

Good times :D

Lance,

Sorry I did not get back to you yesterday. I cannot think of a reason that Vista does not recognize the audio hardware and install its driver, except hardware failure or a problem in Windows. If it were mine at this point I would just return to the original factory configuration by using Factory Image Restore which is fast and you don't have to reinstall the drivers. If the audio does not work after that then it is definitely the hardware, and if it does work then I would say that something had gone haywire in Vista.

I attempted installing the chipset driver three times over the past 2 days through the dell website and after about an hour (longest. install. EVER.) saying the following failed:   Ricoh company (rismsptsk) hdc (11/14/2006 6.00.01.05) Ricoh company (rismxdp) hdc (11/14/2006 6.00.01.05) Ricoh company MMC host controller (11/14/2006 6.00.01.04)

That was when you reinstalled the Intel Mobile Chipset software? The Ricoh is for the card reader which is not important right now. It is the Intel Mobile Chipset software that is necessary for recognition of the Sigmatel hardware.

My apologies. I posted in the wrong location.

UGH! Got an email from Dell with the driver attached. But thankfully I didn't get my hopes up, because after spending so much time on this issue I knew that my luck wasn't that good. Low and behold mid install:

"object not present; please restart system'.

No thank you, Dell. I've rebooted hundreds of times in the past week and I'm just not going to do it anymore. Who needs audio on their computer anyway? God knows that's just asking way too much.

Whatevs. Over it. Thanks for all the help though, it's appreciated.

I got all excited cause I thought I'd gotten a response.... Instead my topic is hijacked. Sad times :( I'd normally put on something upbeat to make me feel better about the situation..... but I still have no audio so I can't. Even sadder times.

I have a question...My Studio 1537 has an HDMi port but he only thing i get out of it is video...no audio. It does not even appear in my control panel - sounds screen. How do I get audio out of my laptop via hdmi?

OS Windows 7

I got all excited cause I thought I'd gotten a response....

You did. I posted this morning. I don't think the problem is with the audio driver but with with Windows. If I am right Factory Image Restore will sort it all out.

***********************************************************************************

Captain09 you should look in the Laptop Audio Faq's and click on the link to HDMI audio.

Jimco, you are a GOD! If I knew it were this easy I would have done this weeks ago. Saved everything important on my memory stick, did what you suggested, and BAM! I have audio again. I had no idea you could restore to factory settings without a Vista disc and that it was so easy to do. Installing iTunes now, lets see if this will help me load the iPod I bought in December that was never recognized by Vista.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

:)

Lance, I'm glad that worked. It is usually the solution of last resort but I thought in this case that it was indicated.

One thing that I do that seems to help avoid problems that you might consider,  is to set Windows Automatic Updates to "Notify me of updates but do not automatically download or install them". That way I get to screen what Microsoft is doing, and I only allow security updates and service packs. If a driver seems to be working okay I do not update it, and when I do I just use the ones from Dell's web site.