Hi,

Thought here would be the best place to ask before I go spending money to have my Dell looked at.

I was watching a movie through Windows Media player when suddenly the audio went real quiet then full cut out 10 sec later (without me doing anything). Since then, I've not been able to get sound out of either the speakers or headphones. Have unistalled and reinstalled the sigmatel drivers from Dell website about 10 times but still nothing. Tried the diagnostic test on the Dell resource cd and still no sound when it asked "can you hear the song"

So it sounds like a hardware problem to me.. Anything else I could try before I go ask someone who really knows what they are doing when it comes to laptop hardware?

Cam

I had exactly the same problem with my 5150. Audio just stopped working one day and I haven't managed to get it back despite reinstalling/updating the audio driver. Did you have any luck solving the problem?

No, not yet. Going to get someone to have a look at in the next few days so I'll keep you posted. Its definately a hardware problem, becasue even when I run Knoppix off the bootable CD, it recognises the sound card, says its working OK but no sound! Same thing when I run the diagnostics too!

I believe the 5150 has onboard sound so its not a simple thing to change chipset that controls the sound...

I'm also looking into an external sound card, although this isn't ideal. I assume these external sound card such as the audigy 2 will work over the top of faulty onboard sound...

Later,
Cam

The same thing happened to me two days ago. I was listening to music through my headphones, then finished doing so and unplugged them. I heard a popping sound, nothing loud or noteworthy. Next thing I know, my laptop is completely without any sound. I tried all the tests, went through all the troubleshooting, reinstalled drivers, and nothing. Everything apparently is working ok.

I'm studying abroad in Italy so it would REALLY be a pain for me to send it somewhere to get fixed. Please let me know if you find out anything...I would appreciate it.

Sounds (no pun intended) like its not an isolated problem. Anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it?

cam

Like to have a crack at it! Integrated audio circuit shouldnt be to bad to track down... Try w/headphones prior to anything else but it sounds like a component failure..

Have tried with headphones. no difference. When I plug headphones in, generally I got a static "click" through the earpience as I plugged them in. Now I get nothing (the click is there when I plug them into the microphone jack).

Now, I've realised the modem won't detect a dialtone or dial any numbers (tone) with the sound stuffed.

I know that the modem uses the speakers to make the noise, but even when I pick up another receiver when it tries to dial I hear nothing. The modem has worked before the sound problem, the drivers are installed correctly and the modem queries OK...

For anyone else who has this problem, can your modem detect a dialtone or dial???

Really confused. How do i get to the motherboard where the sound chipset it? I've tried unscrewing the back cover off, but I cant take off the two screws that near the hinges of the screen lid.

Cam

Dell are picking up the laptop tomorrow so I will get back to you all when I find out what the problem was.
My bet... faulty sound chipset = motherboard replacement...

I have an Inspiron 5100 (almost the same as the 5150, I think the 5150 has onboard wireless and maybe a couple of other small extra features) and I sure as hell hope that doesn't happen to me.

Funny, it JUST happened to me tonight. Had been using the audio early this morning with a DVD, worked fine, then nothing. I note that the "PC Speaker" sound works, however. Headphones make no difference. I was going to attempt a driver reinstall, but I am disheartened to hear others have tried that already. What really ticks me off is that my laptop is just out of warranty.

I would be astounded that it is a sound chip issue - perhaps it is with the speakers themselves or their amplification?

I will update if I can figure out what the problem is. Has anyone called Dell on this, and if so, what do they have to say about it?

Most likely a bad solder joint. People plug in all their things on the back and then tip up the laptop occasionally. This put stress on the ports and thus weakens the solder joints. When those go it is an expensive fix if you have someone do it for you. If you're good with a solder gun, though, it shouldn't be that bad. But, in the future, don't buy a Dell.

Well, the sound chip itself seems to be working. It is recording just fine. PC speaker also works, the sound hardware passes all tests. As others have discovered, updating the drivers does nothing.

I did a little poking around, and there may be a solution as found on Dell's website --> You may have to update the BIOS of your machine. Here's the link to the thread:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&message.id=21132&c=us&l=en&s=gen&cs=

Essentially, the theory is that headphone jacks zap the nvram. Now, I have to admit that upon recollection, I did plug in my headphones (ones that I rarely use) in the laptop before testing the sound...so the theory isn't completed retarded.

I will let you know how it works.

The only problem I had with my 5150, which is why I turned it in under Dell's 21-day satisfaction period, was heat. I bought a different Inspiron, with a Pentium-M and it performs better and produced less heat. Or what used to be my laptop, had to sell it for the money to put into my kickass desktop here.

Ok - BIOS update did jack and squat.

Talked to The Man @ Dell and he claimed he's never heard of this problem before, agrees its likely hardware related, and agrees that it likely will be expensive to fix if is repaired out of warranty.

So, I;ve got two suggestions: first, call Dell with your problem, even if it is out of warranty. I was surprised by the number of people with the problem, so this isn't unusual. Who knows they might do something nice for you.

The other suggestion at this point is to consider buying an external audio solution. Here in Canada, the Turtle Beach USB audio stick (its VERY small) is about $40 at TigerDirect and it got a good review at cnet. It won't do recording, however (which brings me to a question - can you record with the onboard sound of the 5150 and play with the USB?). There's also the Creative Labs LIVE! 24bit external USB sound device @ Best Buy or Futureshop for $70 - it does support recording, has hardware volume and recording level controls, and might be a better sounding device (although the turtle beach got a stellar review). It isn't as compact, however and its 50% more.

Either external solution might be a lot cheaper than the aggrevation and cost of returning your laptop to dell, particularly if you use it for work/school and you can't be without. Spending several hours screwing around prepping your laptop for shipment (i.e. removing all those playboy.com pics you've got stashed away.... ) is with everything else considered, more expensive than just bitting the bullet and getting an external sound device particularly @ $40.

But if one of you smart guys out there figures this one out, let everyone else know.

Got the same problem today!!!

Flashing the BIOS from A31 to A38 was useless.

I called Dell and they were unable to help me... I need my laptop to work I don't have time to ship it and everything... :'(

Daniel

Just out of curiousity, when did people buy their 5150?

I bought mine just over a year ago, and am just wondering if others have a similar purchase date.

I bought mine about a year and a half ago. I had the motherboard replaced 6 months back (unrelated problem) and I got the sound problem about a month after that. Couldn't face calling Dell so I left it.

I ordered mine march 4th, 2004... I had the sound card problem yesterday.

But dont you all think that it's weird that we all have the same problem the same date? A sound card that blows up!!! this isn't an usual problem that we encouter regulary.

Daniel

hmmm, very suspect.

Can everyone with the problem just see if they can get a dialtone through the modem?

Even though I couldnt hear it (to be expected), it still wouldn't detect it or even try and dial (when "wait for dialtone" is set to "no" (when listening with another phone on the line).

I think its VERY suspicious that the audio fails in about a year's time. I've never heard of on board codec sound failing. I would still encourage people to complain to Dell, since at the moment, Dell is claiming (to me at least) that I was the first person they've heard of that has had this problem. I pointed out to the guy that if he did a google search he'd find this thread and a thread on Dell's own forums that deal with my exact situation.

As I mentioned earlier, I am going to pursue Dell for a bit since I believe that they should step up to the plate with a solution (and the cheapest out of warranty solution would be an external sound USB dongle, like the turtle beach). I'd certainly be satisfied with that....of course, might be wishful thinking on my part but you can always dream, right?

I will test the modem thing out, btw and report back. Haven't used dialup in years.....

Well,
It seems to be a common problem, I just posted on the Dell forums http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&message.id=21023 as aussie456. I bought 5160 in Sep/oct 04 and had the problem this morning. It happened very shortly after plugging in speakers, so I believe a short has killed the onboard chip. Bios update did nothing.