Inspiron Laptops Using Realtek Audio Driver Do Not Recognize Headset or Microphone

In certain circumstances Inspiron notebooks may not recognize the microphone or headset when connected to the P2 / P3 port after the operating system is properly booted. In this scenario the audio continues to come out on the speakers.

If the headset is already connected to the system from the start then the microphone and the headset are recognized normally, but if disconnect and reconnected again the fault appears, resulting in a restart of the equipment with the phone connected to it to be recognized.

Analysis of the failure was isolated in the Waves MaxxAudio Service Application which needs to be loaded at the startup of the system.  Some users choose to disable certain feature at startup to improve performance and reduce the time for equipment to become available after startup.  It is at this point that sometimes they disable the audio driver, which causes the headset and microphone to not be recognized if connected after the system has booted.

To resolve this issue follow the steps below:

1. Make sure your Inspiron device has the latest BIOS version installed and the latest version of the Realtek audio driver available on the Dell website. If it does not, remove the current versions and install the new versions
2. Open the start menu, by clicking the Windows icon on the far left or pressing the Windows button  on your keyboard and verify that the Waves MaxxAudio Service Application service is enabled. If not please enable it
3. Reboot the device with the headset/microphone disconnected
4. When the system finishes booting up, put any audio to play, confirm that the sound comes out only through the speakers. If yes, try inserting the headset and see if Waves MaxxAudio will open a window asking which device you connected, as below:

        5. Select the correct device (while the audio is still playing), click OK, and check if the audio starts playing on the headset. If so, the problem has been solved.
 
If the procedure above does not solve the issue, check the possibility that some other audio managing application might be causing the failure by following the next steps:

• Open the Task Manager, go to the ‘Startup’ tab and disable all other audio managing applications for instance: Waves MaxxAudio Service Application, Realtek HD Audio Manager and HD Audio Background Process.

Reboot the system with the headset/microphone disconnected. When the system finishes booting up, check if the audio comes out through the headset as usual.

Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

• How to Connect Speakers or Headphones to a Dell Computer
• Waves Maxxaudio Settings on Dell Laptops and Desktops Can Stop the Wired Microphone From Working