No Sound From My Laptop! Any Advice?

[Everythingape]

Well, having tried a few computer forums without any luck, I might as well give this beloved diverse community a try!

My PC is a Dell Inspiron 9400 lappie, the sound device is SigmaTel 9xxx-series something.

My problem: I lost my sound while playing a resource hungry game. (overheat?)

-No sound in my speakers, and no sound in the 3,5mm out line.

-The in line works, and so does sound through USB-connected speakers.

-The post in BIOS where it's supposed to say: Onboard Devices -> Integrated Audio (on/off) is gone

-The SigmaTel Card is still listed in hardware

I tried to fix it myself by:

-Mucking about for 4 days

-reinstalling all drivers

-formatting my HDD and reinstalling windows XP and all drivers

-Upgrading my BIOS

Dell Diagnostics returned an error code for sound: 1B63:111B

..The Dell technician I was in contact with interestingly said: "I Don't know what that means.."

After mailing back and forth with Dell Tech Support, they tell me it's most likely my motherboard, and I have to send them the PC to replace it.

Of course, I don't want to send it to them if I don't have to, so this is me asking you if you have any kind of advice as to what I can try on my own.

And if it all comes down to replacing my motherboard, can I do it myself?

Is there any soldering involved?

Any particular thing that's extremely hard to do for a layman?

I consider myself to be over average in terms of technical compentence btw.

Of course, Dell's warranty is off if I do it myself, but I am willing to accept that.

I'm at sea, so sending it in is a bit difficult, and I'd rather not be without my baby for too long.

Any kind of help appreciated.

Regards

-Ape-

[gioarmani]

My PC is a Dell Inspiron 9400 lappie

Well there's your problem.

Try one of these, and you won't be disappointed:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...mp;nclm=MacBook

[jkerouac]

Is the sound card integrated on the motherboard or not? If integrated, then you might be out of luck. If separate, then you could try to swap cards temporarily with someone who has a similar or the same model.

As for the Apple suggestion, it's grand to hear that sound cards or circuits never burn out on Apple computers.

[davethecat]

It's an easy fix. Use a drill press rather than a Dremel or free hand. Use lots of cutting oil. Go slow.....

wait..... that's lug hole advice. Sorry. My bad.

[Mickey Padge]

The sound card would be intergrated into the motherboard and is NOT changable. If the BIOS is not seeing the hardware AND you have reflashed/upgraded your BIOS then the hardware has most definitely failed.

I would suggest you get it repaired if it is free under warranty, to not do so would be a waste. You could also look at getting one of these: http://www.creative.com/products/product.a...p;product=10769

That would give your laptop sound again Be sure to completely remove all the old software/drivers for the old card before you install the new one.

Cheers

[jfreeman420]

Well there's your problem.

Try one of these, and you won't be disappointed:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...mp;nclm=MacBook

You must own quite a bit of stock in Apple Gio, considering you have the same response every time someone has a problem with a pc.

@Everythingape: I had a similiar problem with my Toshiba. Funny thing is it fixed itself after a while and the sound just started working again. I'm sure it's not much help but maybe just leave it off for a while. But seriously, I have opened up several laptops and it is not pretty. A big pain in the ass to work on because everything is in such tight quarters. There should be several wires that require soldering mainly for the power supply, plus Dell is notorious for not wanting anyone but them to work on their machines so most of the stuff is integrated, thus the need for a new motherboard and not just a sound card. My office pc's are the same way, ethernet/motherboard/soundcard all in one.

[DRVJA]

If the computer is under warenty send it to dell and get it fixed. If not live without sound or get the creative sound card.

[section8]

From what you've done already, I'd make use of the warranty and have it replaced. Swapping a motherboard on a laptop isn't quite as easy as doing it on a desktop - plus they'll do it for free.

Also, i'd make sure you back up any data you have on that puppy before sending it off.

Good luck.

[gioarmani]

You must own quite a bit of stock in Apple Gio, considering you have the same response every time someone has a problem with a pc.

Happens when I suffer from low blood-alcohol.

[Everythingape]

Thanks for SOME of your replies, guys..

Yeah.. it's the soldering part that worries me most.

It'll be MONTHS without my PC if they can't get it back to me before I leave for sea again.

But I guess I'll just have to bite that bullet, and ship it to them.

I'm very satisfied with Dell, actually.. No problem getting parts and stuff as long as I'm inside warranty time.

I still have 4 weeks of warranty left, and I guess I'll make good use of it then.

The external sound card would be my option if outside warranty, but I am keeping the haul-around to a minimum, as I fly a lot and this PC is a big chunk on its own.

Once again, thanks!

[Mickey Padge]

Don't forget the sound card I mentioned goes into the PCMCIA card slot

It would hardly stick out of the laptop's side at all, one inch or so at most

I upgraded my laptops CPU a while back. I was tricky to do, and the mouse pad never worked afterwards no matter what I did to fix it Good job I use a usb mouse anyway I am typing this message on the very same laptop! So no harm done.........................

[ahchard]

sorry to hijack...but i thought since we were on the topic... i download a lot of movies and watch them from my PC... i hook up my PC to my 42 inch rear projection tv... the problem is... the volume is always very low and I need to turn the volume on the TV all the way up.... is there something wrong with my settings? I have the volume settings on my PC to the max for all of them... what i find as well is the music in the movies is usually louder than when they are talking as well...

[Mickey Padge]

That could depend on too many different things. Maybe download an audio codec that has a "normalise" option and a loudness boost. The one that springs to mind is AC3filter, have a search on google and you will see what I mean

sorry to hijack...but i thought since we were on the topic... i download a lot of movies and watch them from my PC... i hook up my PC to my 42 inch rear projection tv... the problem is... the volume is always very low and I need to turn the volume on the TV all the way up.... is there something wrong with my settings? I have the volume settings on my PC to the max for all of them... what i find as well is the music in the movies is usually louder than when they are talking as well...