# No sound on Dell Dimension 2400



## idgbjt

I have seen a lot of other posts about this problem but have never seen it resolved. Hope someone can help.
My sound was just not there one day when I booted up computer.
I have checked all drivers (reinstalled driver from Dell) for the integrated sound on the motherboard. I also tried installing a sound card (Creative) when that did not work. I got the same problem with the sound card. When I check in control panel it says all drivers are properly installed and working. It shows Soundmax is loaded for recording but the space for playback is grayed out and it says "no playback device".
Please help if you can. I miss my sound.
Thanks!


----------



## TheMatt

I would perform a system restore to a couple days before this became an issue. The steps for using the System Restore are detailed here.


----------



## idgbjt

The sound went away months ago. I don't have a restore point that goes back far enough. Any other suggestions?
Thanks.


----------



## TheMatt

Do you see your sound card in device manager?


----------



## idgbjt

Yes - it shows up and info says it is operating correctly. When I look in Audio folder it shows Recording box ok and shows my card. The playback box is grayed out and it says "No Playback Device". I have uninstalled the drivers and re-installed them from Dell website. (this is Soundmax onboard sound) Also checked bios setup and onboard sound is "on".


----------



## TheMatt

Have you tried the drivers from the Dell driver disk?


----------



## idgbjt

Sorry - yes. I tried those before going to Dell website.


----------



## TheMatt

You said you tried installing a creative card. What exactly happened? Did you disable the onboard sound first? Did you install the correct drivers?


----------



## idgbjt

Yes - I went through all the steps... disabled onboard sound before I installed the card and then loaded drivers that came with the card. Still came up with the same results. Is it a possibility that some downloaded sound program (or any other for that matter) might have affected the playback only?


----------



## TheMatt

I'm stumped here unfortunately. I'm going to ask the other team members to take a look.


----------



## idgbjt

Thanks, I appreciate that.


----------



## ad2326

hey

just saw your post in passing - 

I used to have a Dell Inspiron 1100, and had exactly the same problem. sound disappeared one day without any explanation!

i tried all the things you had, new drivers, fiddled with EVERY setting you can imagine, even did system restore, to no avail, ended up having to ring Dell (which was a task in itself, their customer service at the time was shocking!) and they had to put a new card in it. one of the connections had just fried for some reason.

i wasnt aware that this was an issue until i saw your post saying youd seen it looooads of times, so maybe its a h/ware flaw in the inspirons or something.

anyway, unless youve managed to solve it by now, id try give Dell a call and tell them how many people youve seen with the same issue, maybe they know its a flaw by now...??


good luck mate
Adam


----------



## ad2326

sorry - just realised youre running a Dimension not an Inspiron....


not sure if thatll void my input, but hey!

i stand corrected ;-)
Adam


----------



## 93lxmustang

TheMatt said:


> You said you tried installing a creative card. What exactly happened? Did you disable the onboard sound first? Did you install the correct drivers?


I didnt do this, cuz my friend didnt have to on his cp. since then i have had no sound. can i fix my cp so i can get sound back?


----------



## ravage2k6

*Re: No sound on Dell Dimension 2400/solution*

its very simple but a lil tricky. once the driver is installed go to control panel then "sounds and audio devices" then "audio". now use the drop down arrows and select soundmax on both playback and recording......then u r good to go. for some reason after installin the driver it doesnt make the soundcard default. :wave:
"keep da noise down"


----------



## ravage2k6

oh dont 4get to click apply


----------



## Simsy

*Re: No sound on Dell Dimension 2400/solution*



ravage2k6 said:


> its very simple but a lil tricky. once the driver is installed go to control panel then "sounds and audio devices" then "audio". now use the drop down arrows and select soundmax on both playback and recording......then u r good to go. for some reason after installin the driver it doesnt make the soundcard default. :wave:
> "keep da noise down"


Dusting off an old thread here but same problem and worse!

What if those drop downs you speak of are greyed out? What then?

Desperate to have sounds back. Please help..


----------



## Pauldo

What happened before you lost sound?

Are there any yellow ? or ! in Device manager?

Are you using onboard sound or the Sounblaster add on card?

Have you looked in your BIOS to see if onboard is enabled, if that is what you are using?

Pauldo


----------



## Simsy

Pauldo said:


> What happened before you lost sound?
> 
> Are there any yellow ? or ! in Device manager?
> 
> Are you using onboard sound or the Sounblaster add on card?
> 
> Have you looked in your BIOS to see if onboard is enabled, if that is what you are using?
> 
> Pauldo


Like the other chap I had done a system restore with a disk from Dell. Would try that again but dont have the auth code.

I do have yellow? in Device manager under 'other devices' - Multimedia audio controller.

On checking I appear to have Legacy Audio drivers.

Not altogether sure where I would find BIOS to check.

Worrying thing is, in Sounds & Audio Devices Properties, is says 'No Audio Device'


----------



## Simsy

All sorted now :grin:

dell.com a download I'd already downloaded to no effect, downloaded again and it worked.

Thanks for advices.


----------



## ravage2k6

ok good 2 know u got sorted out


----------



## Volkemon

Ah, blow the dust off this thread again..

got a dell 2400, removed the soundcard that came with it, removed the black 'lockout' plug on the back to allow access to the motherboard in/out jacks...

And I cant get audio working. Says no audio device when I look in device manager, and none with the yellow '?' mark either. 

Tried add hardware, no go. 

Wont play system sounds, or any at startup besides the "beep" from the onboard beeper 

Downloaded the driver/installer from the dell site for the onboard audio- Install wizard says that the driver isnt compatable with the hardware I have.

:4-dontkno


----------



## ravage2k6

volkemon!!! be more precise bro so we can know how to help. wat is it that u r doin we need all the info.


----------



## Volkemon

Um..OK! Thanks for the response!

got a dell 2400, removed the soundcard that came with it, removed the black 'lockout' plug on the back to allow access to the motherboard in/out jacks... 

The computer came with a "creative sound blaster" card and a 5.1 speaker system. I removed the PCI soundcard, and the plastic blockoff plug that was in the motherboard jacks for mic, line etc.

And I cant get audio working. Says no audio device when I look in device manager, and none with the yellow '?' mark either. 

Tried add hardware, no go. 

No sounds are produced by the computer. Using device manager, there is no device with the yellow '?' next to it to tell me something is disabled/lacking a driver. Used the 'add hardware' wizard, and it failed to find an onboard audio chipset.

Wont play system sounds, or any at startup besides the "beep" from the onboard beeper 

To test for audio output, I went to the control panel, and tried to play the 'system sounds'. It was greyed out, and didn't even offer an option to install or enable a device.

Downloaded the driver/installer from the dell site for the onboard audio- Install wizard says that the driver isnt compatable with the hardware I have.

Went to the Dell site, and found three audio driver installation choices. 2 for soundcard, 1 for onboard audio. Downloaded that one, and installed it- it says hardware not present/compatable. 

I went ahead and installed an old soundcard into it, and it works fine. It is being delivered as a gift for a student, and I wanted to make it simple as possible for them to install by using the motherboard connections.


----------



## jbuerman

I have just spent the last three days working on this issue with my neighbors dell dimension 2400 series desktop and after all was said and done. the problem lies in the order that the restore disk reinstalls the drivers . The modem driver and modem must be uninstalled including the drivers for the half duplex modem in the sound and multimedia section of system in the device manager. Then uninstall the audio drivers s for sound max in add remove programs. On restart if it detects the modem first then choose cancel and then wait for the onboard audio to be found and then have windows automatically install the drivers. After the audio is installed. Restart the system and then when prompted have windows automatically install the modem at this point. The correct order of installation should be 1st chipset drivers 2nd update bios 3rd install audio 4th install modem drivers restart system after each step. and you should be all set. This will also affect the installation of a pci sound card and the card will not work either. Hope this help you guys. 

Regards, 
JBuerman
ray:


----------



## Volkemon

@jbuerman...

ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:

Man...too bad the computer is gone. But I am sure someone will come this way again, and it looks like you have done your homework!!!!!!!

After ravage2k6, I had givin up. His (lack of) command of the english language made my head hurt, but I hoped if I dumbed it down enough...nope.:uhoh:

Nice Work. Thanks again, and if nothing else, you provided me with a plan of attack should I find similar problems like this in the future.

ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:


----------



## ravage2k6

volkemon.....im sorry dude!! didnt check the post in time. next time ill make it simpler. sorry again and dont b afraid 2 ask for help dats wat everyone is here for.............peace out!!!
p.s. glad to know everyone is happy though:wave:


----------



## bigal115

Ok SO after reading I am going to have to re bump this thread ..sorry

My father-in-law uninstalled Rhapsody on his computer, since then the sound stopped working. I checked everything...Updated the soundcard drivers. the sound card is SoundMax. Now here is the weird part. I went to windows help and used the Microsoft automatic "Fixit" application, About halfway through the sound went on. The problem is when the computer restarted it stopped working again. I have only been able to replicate the "fixit" fix one more time. Now that wont even work. The sound card is showing up in device manager but not under sound devices in the control panel ... Another funny thing. First the soundmax would show up for the Voice recording under the audio tab and the Sound playback was greyed out. Now they are both greyed out. But it does show up under devices in the Hardware tab and I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times.. The computer is a dell dimension 8300 with an integrated sound card and windows XP.


----------



## Best Sound Card

I know no one wants to do it but a fresh install of the operating system usually cures all software related issues. Dell makes it easy if you have a Dell OS disc. Just remember to download all the drivers you need from the Dell site before you start.

__________________


----------



## Horusrogue

Best Sound Card said:


> I know no one wants to do it but a fresh install of the operating system usually cures all software related issues. Dell makes it easy if you have a Dell OS disc. Just remember to download all the drivers you need from the Dell site before you start.
> 
> __________________


Seconded. I am so used to doing it all my important data is synced on external drives.


----------



## GoneTil9

*Re: No sound on Dell Dimension 2400/solution*



ravage2k6 said:


> its very simple but a lil tricky. once the driver is installed go to control panel then "sounds and audio devices" then "audio". now use the drop down arrows and select soundmax on both playback and recording......then u r good to go. for some reason after installin the driver it doesnt make the soundcard default. :wave:
> "keep da noise down"


Oh my gosh you are a LIFESAVER!!!! I reinstalled drivers like I"ve been finding everywhere, but this was what did the trick!!! I could kiss you right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!:heartlove


----------

