I am using a Dell Latitude D610 notebook with Windows XP SP2. I performed some driver updates together with a bios update last week. After that the audio playback was distorted, skipping and cracking. I rolled back the driver and now have no audio at all.

In a nutshell, these are the problems that I have identified:
1. No audio from any audio player, only computer beeps on dialog boxes

2. No Audio Mixer is available, no volume control, etc

3. When I open "Sounds and Audio Devices" (from control panel) all items are inactive in the Volume tab, Voice tab and the Audio tab. The selection options are defaulted "No Playback Device", "No Recording Device" and "No Midi Playback Devices"

4. When I open the SigmaTel C-Major Audio properties from the device manager and go to the properties tab, if I open the properties for the Audio Devices, Midi Devices and Instruments or SigmaTel C-Major Audio, then it gives the status:
Driver is enabled but has not been started

5. After launching the DirectX Diagnostic Tool and going to the Sound tab and pressing the Test DirectSound button, the error message:
DirectSound test results: Failure at step 3 (DirectSoundCreate): HRESULT = 0x88780078 (No driver)" was displayed.

6. On the Music tab of the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, when testing using port "Microsoft Synthesizer", the following message was displayed:
Music Port activation failed because there was no sound driver found. Check whether your sound card is installed and working properly
and in the notes box:
DirectMusic test results: Failure at step 6 (Activating the IDirectMusicPort): HRESULT = 0x88780078 (No driver)

7. However, when I perform the DirectX test on the Music Tab with the port "SigmaTel C-Major Audio" then I have music playing and the message:
DirectMusic test results: All tests were successful.
Implying hardware is fine.

8. I went to a colleague with the same notebook and exactly the same original setup as mine. His audio is still working so I compared the Sound devices in the device manager using the option Show Hidden Devices and he had 3 extra sound devices that do not appear in my list. These are:
Microsoft Kernel System Audio Device
Microsoft Kernal Wave Audio Mixer
Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver
Apart from that, all his other audio devices (including the SigmaTel) are the same as mine.

9. I tried a test on my machine with some interesting results. I uninstalled the SigmaTel C-Major Audio driver in the device manager. Then I used the option "Scan for hardware changes" and after a few automatic refreshes, 10 additional microsoft devices appeared in the Sound device list, including:
Microsoft Kernal Audio Splitter
Microsoft Kernal System Audio Device
amongst others, but "Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver" was not on the list (as it was on my colleagues computer). The devices only appeared for a few seconds in the device manager, because the list constantly refreshed, and on each refresh the microsoft devices were disappearing until there were no more microsoft devices left, leaving the original devices including the newly found sigmatel device.
Note that whilst all the microsoft devices were displayed - all of them seemed to have an active status (no yellow question or exclamation marks)

10. I performed the test above once more. This time whilst all the microsoft devices were displayed, I quickly opened the properties windows for all of them, and checked the status's - all were enabled and working fine. This was until they disappeared from the device manager list. For each microsoft device that disappeared from the list, the properties now showed:
Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. (Code 45)
To fix this problem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer."

11. When perfroming the DirectX sound and music tests, the Microsoft audio devices suddenly appear on the device manager list, but this too is short lived.

This is the current status of the PC:
1. All devices in my device manager have the status "Device working properly" (including the "Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator) - there are no exclamation or question marks.
2. The SigmaTel C-Major Audio properties suggests it is working properly with the enabled status.
3. There is no hardware issue due to the DirectX test, Dell Diagnostics test and all the beeping.
4. I have performed all activities as an administrator.

I have searched through many forums Dell and others and have performed the following without any success:
1. Rolled back the drivers

2. Used an earlier system restore point (previous to the updates or the problem)

3. Re-installed the Dell Notebook System Software drivers, then the chipset driver, then the audio driver in that order

4. Ensured the "Microsoft Audio" is automatic and started in the services - and even stopped and started it.

5. Uninstalled the sigmatel driver and any other audio devices possible and restarted the computer (tried this many times with many variations). I also uninstalled the hidden devices which appear in the device manager list for a few seconds.

6. Run sndvol32.exe and get the error message:
There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware
I have done exactly this, and no new devices are found, and when I try to look for this device manually, then there is no option to select Microsoft Kernal Wave Audio Mixer. I also do not think that the sndvol32.exe is corrupt.

7. Performed the diagnostics test and sound works.

8. The Bios setting for the onboard sound is not editable.

9. Reinstalling the OS is not an option right now.

Does anyone know what to do, I am sure there is a simple solution, like a button that says "Audio On"?

Thanks to all who have had the time to read and possibly respond to this
Zak

Not so sure it will help, but worth a try working through the Dell online troubleshooter here

http://support.dell.com/support/top...s=gen&treeid=BEBAC78D00D04A5DB8A32EFBF544C871

Cheers HSC

Sound systems are so fragile... burn out easily on most laptops. You have done an extremely thorough and competent job of tracking down the problem, but I suspect there is a bad chip or circuit on your motherboard that will prevent you from having sound again on that computer.
Hope I am wrong.

Thanks HSC for the suggestion, but I have already tried that - I was bound to forget something in my original message. BTW it didn't solve the problem.

Cheers

Raybay,

Its a possibility, but I am sure there is a button that will solve all problems

Btw I rolled back the BIOS and there was some difference in behaviour, in that the Microsoft drivers appeared for a lot longer after I deleted the Sigmatel and scanned for new hardware. Normally they disappear within 30 seconds. This time, they took about 5-10 mins.

hmmmmm

Even if I don't solve the problem, I guess my original message gives others a decent troubleshooting checklist.

Thanks

CCleaner may be worth a try if you download and install it do not make any changes to the default settings , first click Run Cleaner and clean what it recommends ,then click issues again clean what it recommends, keep clicking on issues and cleaning untill it comes up blank

Before using CCleaner it might be an idea to uninstall all the SigmaTel drivers and software but refuse a reboot if requested

I have had some good results and know of lots of others who swear by it

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Secure-cleaning/CCleaner.shtml

Cheers HSC

Fixed it!!!!! But thanks for the help

I was concerned that WINMM WDM was not on the devices list and reading the following microsoft confirmed the importance of the WDMAUD driver.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms789665.aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms789375.aspx

I tried a few thing, and these are the two that seemed to improve the situation:

1. I read that there is a limit of 10 audio device driver upgrades, so searching in the registry for wdmaud.drv I found midi, mixer and wave values replicated three times each e.g. midi1, midi2, mixer1, etc. I deleted all the entries except for the values without numbers. This did not fix the problem, however I am sure this solves other problems.

2. I also read that sometimes device drivers do not uninstall correctly and therefore are in limbo state as ghost drivers. To see these ghost drivers, you have to do the following:

i. open command prompt and type:

Set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

ii. open device manager and go to the view menu and select "Show Hidden Devices".

iii. expand the "Sound, video and game controllers" tree and you may many greyed out devices that never appeared before.

I found the WINMM WDM device as well as many others. I deleted all of these and restarted the computer.

AND BEAUTIFUL SOUND!!!!!

I think this is a solution to a lot of audio problems I have read in these forums and is not directly related to Sigmatel or Dell laptops. This is a Microsoft OS problem. Most people have solved this problem by reinstalling there PC - and this may save a lot of wasted time.

Regard
Zeek

I got the answer for no audio (Latitude D610 or other)

-----------------------I KNOW WHAT TO DO--------------------------------------------------------
I'VE GOT YOUR SOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All you have to is:

(1) Download the audio driver, here's the link: ftp://ftp.dell.com/audio/R99254.EXE

(2) Okay, now that you have that, right click it's icon, and select "Run as Administrator"

(3) The computer will run the Installation Wizard , and follow through by clicking next, next,

next, etc.

--------------------------AND THAT'S ALL-----------------Good luck with your laptop-------------

-Courtesy of IT, Arnaldo

arnaldogonzalez, please do not dig up 1 1\2 year old threads to answer.

nickc, Just to let you know that the reponse arnaldogonzalez made,
after a year and a half, helped me solve my issue with the audio, today.
Thanks arnaldogonzalez.