Joe,

i don't know why you can't get the driver from the cd. Try getting it from the D820 downloads page.When you go to that page the first thing to do is to check the Operating System dropdown box and select the OS that you are running on your computer or else you won't get the proper driver.

Your audio driver is the Sigmatel HD driver in the Audio category. When you click "download" you may be asked whether you want to use Dell Download Manager or your browser. Select the browser and just download it to your desktop in the usual way as you would download any other file.

"Audio device on high definition audio bus" is part of the graphics driver that is in the Video category. It is complicated but it has to do with HDMI audio when you connect to a tv. It you don't have any audio at all it is not that one, so concentrate on the Sigmatel driver.

If you need to post back please mention your operating system.

Joe,

You don't need to start a new thread with each message. Just click on the reply button below and we can keep all of this in a single thread where it will be easier to track of what has been covered.

You wrote that you are running Windows XP SP3  -  Professional Ver. 

"Went to D820 Audio d/loads as you suggested and it seemed to be installing ... but got an Adobe 8 Installer Info msg - 'Setup has detected that you already have a more functional product installed. Setup will now terminate'"

Were you installing the Sigmatel audio driver or Adobe 8?

"I thought the original driver I removed, by mistake,  was a codecs one rather than sigmatel???"

The term "codec" can refer to either hardware or software. The Sigmatel HD audio chip is the hardware codec on the motherboard. It is "HD" because that is the protocol specified by Intel for that codec on your motherboard. There are also software codecs but the Sigmatel one is the hardware.There is also the corresponding Sigmatel driver which is software.

There are a bunch of different reasons why the driver will not install. Start by checking for hardware problems. If the audio chip is damaged then the driver will not load. Run the audio tests in Dell Diagnostics. These interactive audio tests are designed to narrow down the problem to either the software or hardware. The tests are independent of Windows and drivers, meaning it doesn't matter if those are working correctly or not. To run Dell Diagnostics

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.

Hi Jimco

I really appreciate your help... thanks a lot for your time.

1)  re your question about Adobe 8 -----  when I was loading Simatel Driver ... I got the adobe 8 msg with Sigmatel driver loading heading on it ... I thought it was a funny link as I never got an Adobe Msg screen before relating to loading other software applications.

2) I did the diagnostics  as suggested and the audio tests .... and all worked OK .... heard the music etc  .....  except the side Microphone speak and playback test  did not playback (got msg ' error:1B63:181B failure refere to Dell Tech Support'  .... I know thats ok as there is a problem with it because the earphone port was broken sometime ago with the laptop falling with a jackplug in it.    HOWEVER the internal micophone speak and play back were OK I heard it alright.

3) After the diag. test and a system restart which it prompted  ... I automatically got a Sigmatel Audio Install shied loading the Sigmatel Driver ... it did the file extracts and then was loading files & drivers to C:folder- Dell\Drivers:R122161  ... it appeared to finish (got Finish button up at the end) but before I could select 'finish' I got error msg :  'exiterror: error=this system does not support the driver you are attempting to install'

Do I need to call Dell Support  and get a fix.  I am out of warranty at this point but I may not have a choice

Regards

Joe

Joe,

Dell Diagnostics shows that thewre is a software problem so it doesn't matter that you are out of warranty. The warranty only covers hardware problems.

"it did the file extracts and then was loading files & drivers to C:folder- Dell\Drivers:R122161"

That is odd because the R122161 driver is an older one. If you follow the link I posted to your downloads page you will see the current driver R171789 (ver 5.10.0.5515).

I suggest that you get rid of all Sigmatel driver files from the hard drive and start fresh. Go to your hard drive
 c:\Dell\Drivers\R...and delete any folders whose 'R' names correspond to a Sigmatel driver. The Sigmatel folders will be the ones that have a subfolder named "WDM". There could be none, one, or more.

Next go back to the drivers download page and install these:

a. Dell Notebook System Software (on your downloads page expand the System Utilities category). Restart.

b. Next install the Intel Mobile Chipset driver (expand the Chipset category). Restart.

c. Install the Sigmatel R171789 audio driver (expand the Audio category).

The first two of these should already be on your computer but it doesn't hurt to reinstall them in case they have become corrupted. They are necessary to identify the hardware on the motherboard so that the driver will install.

You might get the error message again. If so go to your Device Manager and look for a device with an exclamation or question mark next to it. Click on it and try to update it by browsing to the R171789 WDM folder

Hi Jim

did as per your instructions  down to C) including file extrac on R171789 ......   but when installing R171789  got tow screens up ... one screen - the Adobe Reader 8 Setup screen -  again  stating - 'Adobe setup is preparing to guide you through the setup process.  please wait...'.    Also got a 2nd screen stating

 - Adobe Reader 8 Installer Information -  stating - 'setup has detected you already have a more functional product installed.  Setup will now terminate'  Took 'OK' button and setup appeared to continue (via an Install shield wizard headed 'Configure SigmaTel Audio Driver & Application'  but another msg came up - 'setup was interrupted ... your system has not been modified... to complete installation at another time run setup again.

Next went to Device manager and found no exclamation marks under under sound heading but did find one under System Devices on 'PCI device'  which had text  - 'Windows cant load the device driver for this h/ware.  The driver may be missing or corrupted (code 39).   Tried to update  PCI driver driver but it did not find one on the utilities drivers CD

Did not attempt to find PCI driver on Dell dloads page for drivers as I did not want to screw up anymore.

regards

Joe

deleted the R171789 folder

d/loaded Windows Server 2003 Hotfix -  UAA_HD_Audio_OOB_update   file -

off the  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888111 page ... no other driver available (but it said covers XP SP2 OS systems)

saved to a folder on C: drive.  

Ran the extract on zip files to a folder I created called UAA driver on C;drive.

Tried to install using Start/Run -  "C:\UAA Audio drive\ara\x86fre\kb888111xpsp2.exe" for XP SP2 systems but I got an error msg up  headed '????? ?????   kb888\i386111xpsp2' with a load of ????????? Windows XP ?????????????? in the detail.

so I could not install.

Checked the UAA Driver readme doc. which states:

The preinstall requires a reboot on Windows 2000 SP4 and on the other operating systems
as well if the OS component Portcls.sys is in use during the installation (another audio driver was loaded
prior to the Microsoft HD Audio package install).

and Portcls.sys was in both C;\windows\ServicePackfiles\i386 and C:\windows\system32\drivers   folders 

Am I doing it right ??

Joe,

I'm sorry, I had forgotten that the hotfix was for XP SP 1& 2, but not XP SP3 which is supposed to already have it. So just skip the UAA and proceed with the rest of the instructions where you browse to the WDM folder.

The purpose of the patch was that it helps an HD audio driver install on the older operating systems.

Hi Jim

Tried what you instructed but no joy!

On Updating PCI driver from R171789\wdm got message 'cannot install this hardware because the wizard cannot find the necessary software'

Joe

I'm starting to run out of ideas. Go into the R171789  folder and run setup.exe to try to force the installation. At any point in the process where you have an opportunity to browse, point back to the WDM folder. That is where the inf files are to create the driver.

Hi Jim

Tried all again without any joy  a msg came up each time saying  'the system is already trying to install'  ,

deleted what I thought was a previous setup process (using task Mgr.)...  but still no joy.

HOWEVER ..... GOT THE BREAKTHROUGH ... in device mgr. on PCI Bus properties .. saw  an option to roll back to last installed driver , 

 took it and  wallah........ it reinstalled the PCI bus driver and also added 'Sigma Tel High Definition Audio Codec' under Sound feature.

Checked it out it I've got sound back on everything ..... Happy days!!

I really do appreciate your very kind help and patience on this matter .... thanks a lot. 

Like yourself I thought it was a lost cause but as the song goes ...'always look on the bright side of life'

Thanks again

Joe 

   know how you feel but....

Thank goodness!