hey i was wondering if u ever got ur problem resolved??  i have the same system(inspiron 1720 w/vista) and want to play music on pal, but no one seems to able to help me.  ive done the download from here and it hasnt worked as far as i can tell.  so i thought i would contact you since u kinda have the same problem as me. please contact and let me know what u have done, if anything.....thanks thanks thanks so muc in advance

My problem is not resolved and now that my computer is out of warranty, Dell doesn't care about fixing it.  I contacted customer care back in January and they said they would address the issue with me but have since done nothing.

nop....nothing...Dell just doesn't care..only bought the system few months ago and still under warranty, when you call support most of them don't even know what stereo mix means...and when you explane they just don't care..contacted dell support at different levels and the 2 cent word is: customers we do not care about your problem  deal with it..offcourse no one ever said that but that's what they make you feel....

and I have the same problem with paltalk and other applications including recording my skype conversations and so on...

I even wanted to go for an external USB sound card but unfortunatly all the same they only work with XP for stereo mix mode.....

Dell could of provided a solution even suggesting to customers a hardware upgrade with a sound card that supports stereo mode in vista even if we have to pay but they just don't care....

the only think you can do friend is downgrade to Windows XP witch is crazy...

does the sound card support stereo mix? yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees as it works on windows xp in stereo mix mode

does the OS Vista support the stereo mic mode? yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees as I can see vista with stereo mix option enabled in many PCs and laptops

is dell reducing the functionality of the hardware from one OS to the other? yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees as they have released a driver for the same system but XP isn't that amazing as usually with new OS we should have more hardware support and capabilities but Dell doesn't see it this way...

Dell Support? Dell Architects? Dell Level 3 support? Dell Management? are you their guys? I think no!

I agree with romuse.

Where are Dell Support? Dell Architects? Dell Level 3 support? Dell Management? This problem CAN NOT stay without an answer.

For me, without a solution from DELL, I will NEVER buy DELL again and tell evey body to NEVER buy DELL.

I have been doing some research and I have found that back in Feb of 08' SigmaTel was bought out by Freescale. I am going to contact them and see if they can help. If any one else wants to contact SigmaTel the contacts can be found at:http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?code=SIGMATEL_ACQ&fsrch=1

hello someguy1212

Actually it's www.idt.com looking after sigmatel drivers....but really it's no use because anyplace you go and you look for sigmatel drivers they say that drivers are provided by the OEM (in our case Dell)

so no use friend......Dell need to fix the issue and no one else can do....

mslady144,

Your post from last night seems to have been removed, apparently for a Terms of Service (TOS) violation. In answer to your question, if you get an external sound card and it does not support stereo mix (or whatuhear or wave out) in Vista, that is the fault of the external's card's driver. Your computer doesn't have anything to do with that. I don't know if the Sound Blaster X-Fi can do it or not. If you get it and try it out please let us know the results. For a long time I have been trying to find out if there is an external card that is known to support whatuhear in Vista. This Turtle Beach SRM card is another card that supposedly can do it but I have not seen any confirmation.

Did you try the solution I posted earlier, about using the Sigmatel R171789 driver (5.10.0.5515) 

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

in XP Compatibility mode? A forum member reported good results when he used that method on a 1720 like you have.

There are also some software products that supposedly let you record streaming audio while in Vista, such as

Freecorder Toolbar
Total Recorder
Virtual Audio Cable  http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19117024/19240010.aspx#19240010
AML Easy Audio Recorder 
Super MP3 Recorder Pro

Forum member "RicknSuze" posted this:

I have found a solution!  I did another google search on "Vista compatible mp3 audio stream recorders" and came up with AML Easy Audio Recorder http://www.soft32.com/Download/free-trial/Easy_Audio_Recorder/4-190038-4.html  I downloaded the program and tried it out....at first I wasn't impressed but realized that it was not only recording what it was hearing off of the net but also through the mic on the computer.  I went into Control Panel...Sounds...and the mic was default.  As soon as I made the mixer the default the poor sound quaility disappeared.  I recorded some sounds and opened them again in Audacity to do a little improving and I'm happy to say that I think that this setup (while it does add an extra step) will work!  If you read the reviews of this little piece of software they don't talk too highly of it...so far I can find no problems...I will experiment a bit more but unless I find a big problem I will pay their $16.95.

hey jimco...well it seems romuse was correct....nothing will work on vista...the sound blaster sound card has a stereo mixer, but compatible with vista...so unless you wanna downgrade to XP, then there seems to be no hope.  kinda scared to keep tryin different things because i dont want to crash my system...and im not sure bout the whole "recording sound" thing...i just want to be able to play my music in the chat room i belong to.....so if anyone has an idea...please help me...thanks in advance!!!

Hi Jimco,

Already contacted Turtle Beach SRM card from their site and they confirmed that it doesn't support vista for stereo mix....so no luck in this direction neither....

sigmatel; R171... in compatibility mode does add the stereo mix option but it's not working not only this but the normale recording from the mic works bad....

tried all the options that I came across and pretty much all of them and nothing worked.....

Thanks to both of you for the update. Discouraging.

I've had this same issue with my Inspiron 1720.  I can tell you all that the work around that was provided does work.  I'm sorry I don't have that post handy to reference but I'm sure if you've spent any time in this forum for this problem you've seen it a few times already.  Also, the earlier refrenced Sigmatel driver in XP compatibility mode works too but will lose the array mic option with that driver (or at least I did) but you will get the Stereo mix option.

Lastly,  I can tell you first hand as I own it,  that the Creative - Express Card Soundblaster X-Fi for laptop external soundcard (found at Best Buy and other online retailers ) does have the What U Hear option (same as stereo mix or wave out etc) and it is compatible with Vista 32 bit (which is what I have).  It allows you to play music in your chat rooms and record streaming audio and all those types of things that folks were wanting the Stereo mix  to do.

I hope this helps.   Goodluck!

doveink,

Thanks yet again for an informative post. I'm going to add the info about the X-Fi card to my notes before I forget.

A few days ago another 1720 owner got the R171789 XP drivcer to run in compatibility mode, in the thread Inspiron 1720 no stereo mix?????.

It's a shame it gave romuse poor results but I hope mslady144 gives it a try on her 1720. It seems to work better for some than for others.

hey doveink...thanks for the info...my soundblaster card doesnt seem to work unless im doing something wrong...my connect light wont come on...but the other links ive tried and none of them took for me...i can only try them again and see what happens...

There is one problem with the newer version X-Fi you linked to,the only way to hear anything from it at all is if you have the wireless reciever and speakers.It will not work thru the notebook speakers,or external surround sound speakers.