Sorry for the delay. It seems like a driver issue so what I would do is to try all of the available drivers and see if one of them fixes the issue. I would begin by completely removing the existing Realtek driver.
Open the Device Manager and expand the Sounds Controllers section. Right click on the Realtek and select to uninstall. Put a check mark in the option to delete the files, and then ok. When you reboot, Windows will either install its own native driver or a Realtek driver if there were any other versions on the hard drive. So go back to the Device Manager and check for a Realtek driver. Keep uninstalling & rebooting until Realtek no longer appears under Sound Controllers and "High Definition Audio Device" appears in its place.
Then I would try all of the Realtek drivers that are available for the E6540 w/Win7, in order from the oldest to the newest. I hope all of these links work -- this forum has a hard time handling links sometimes.
I would do it in that order because you should be able to install a newer driver over an older one without having to first remove the older one.
You could also try a driver directly from Realtek:
1.Go to the Realtek downloads selection page. http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/ 2. On the page click on "High Definition Audio Codecs". 3. Check "I accept" and then "next". 4. (optional) In the column named "Description" find the file named README and download it. That has the instructions for installing or updating. 5. In the column named "Description" select your operating system and whether it is 32bits or 64bits from the top 2 choices in the list. 6. In the column named "Download" click on one of the server names to download the driver.
I installed the Realtek audio driver like you suggested. However, now no sound plays through my headset, although when I plug/unplug it, realtek tells me that it realizes that something is being plugged in. Any suggestions?
EDIT:
I also noticed that now, when I take my headset off and unplug it, any audio that plays (I was testing with youtube) sounds very echo-y, like it's coming from two speakers far away from each other.
Jim Coates
4 Operator
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13.6K Posts
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March 2nd, 2016 05:00
Sorry for the delay. It seems like a driver issue so what I would do is to try all of the available drivers and see if one of them fixes the issue. I would begin by completely removing the existing Realtek driver.
Open the Device Manager and expand the Sounds Controllers section. Right click on the Realtek and select to uninstall. Put a check mark in the option to delete the files, and then ok. When you reboot, Windows will either install its own native driver or a Realtek driver if there were any other versions on the hard drive. So go back to the Device Manager and check for a Realtek driver. Keep uninstalling & rebooting until Realtek no longer appears under Sound Controllers and "High Definition Audio Device" appears in its place.
Then I would try all of the Realtek drivers that are available for the E6540 w/Win7, in order from the oldest to the newest. I hope all of these links work -- this forum has a hard time handling links sometimes.
http://www.dell.com/support/home/drivers/DriversDetails?productCode=latitude-e6540-laptop&driverId=TFD11
http://www.dell.com/support/home/drivers/DriversDetails?productCode=latitude-e6540-laptop&driverId=DMXXD
http://www.dell.com/support/home/drivers/DriversDetails?productCode=latitude-e6540-laptop&driverId=Y8V8V
http://www.dell.com/support/home/drivers/DriversDetails?productCode=latitude-e6540-laptop&driverId=NCN00
I would do it in that order because you should be able to install a newer driver over an older one without having to first remove the older one.
You could also try a driver directly from Realtek:
1.Go to the Realtek downloads selection page. http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/
2. On the page click on "High Definition Audio Codecs".
3. Check "I accept" and then "next".
4. (optional) In the column named "Description" find the file named README and download it. That has the instructions for installing or updating.
5. In the column named "Description" select your operating system and whether it is 32bits or 64bits from the top 2 choices in the list.
6. In the column named "Download" click on one of the server names to download the driver.
Jim Coates
4 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
February 29th, 2016 20:00
Hello. First make sure that the Realtek audio driver for your operating system is installed. The mic jack won't work with the Windows native driver.
ccapfer
3 Posts
0
February 29th, 2016 21:00
Hello,
I installed the Realtek audio driver like you suggested. However, now no sound plays through my headset, although when I plug/unplug it, realtek tells me that it realizes that something is being plugged in. Any suggestions?
EDIT:
I also noticed that now, when I take my headset off and unplug it, any audio that plays (I was testing with youtube) sounds very echo-y, like it's coming from two speakers far away from each other.
ccapfer
3 Posts
0
March 1st, 2016 09:00
Windows 7 Professional x64
Jim Coates
4 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
March 1st, 2016 09:00
What is the operating system on the laptop?
Jim Coates
4 Operator
•
13.6K Posts
0
March 2nd, 2016 05:00
Okay, that didn't work. I'll hide the links, which seems to work better:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.