Speakers not working: Inspiron 1525, Vista, tried restoring factory image - nothing?

CnaG

Hi all, I'd really appreciate some advice on a problem I have with the sound on my laptop.

Make and Model: Inspiron 1525
Is it in warranty? I'm not sure but I think it's coming to the end of its warranty - I got it about two years ago. Is there some (probably really obvious) way of checking this?
Operating System: Windows Vista
CPU, RAM, GPU: Yes.
(no really, I haven't a clue)

Problem:
Basically my speakers don't work. They are not muted (just to get that one out of the way ). It says 'no audio device installed' and this is after I've restored the laptop to factory settings.

They haven't worked since last year. There was a (different) problem with my laptop which a Dell Technician called out to fix, but afterwards the sound intermittently came and went. I called the Dell tech support but they weren't very helpful. He wouldn't send someone out to fix it as he ran a diagnostic and told me it was a software problem and I'd have to pay to talk to someone who could talk me through how to fix it. I'm a student, I have no credit card and to be honest, being talked down to for 3 hours on the phone peeved me off So I left it.

I haven't thought much about since then. My bluetooth headphones work (even though the internal speakers don't, nor do external ones or wired headphones) so I just used them instead. However, today my speakers suddenly worked. When I turned on my laptop something didn't load right, it said (and the taskbar and look of open programmes was a bit windows 98 looking - grey and square, I don't know why), and my speakers just started working. They worked for about two minutes I'd say, then stopped working again. It was rather bizarre.

I thought I'd try fix it again. I started by downloading the audio driver for Dell Inspiron 1525s off the Dell website (and removing the bluetooth headset in case it messed that up or something), and tried to run it, but it came up with the message that the audio devices were missing. So I googled it, and after backing up all my files decided to try reset to factory settings (I remember we tried it last year as well, but it didn't work then either, but thought might as well try again to make sure) but it still says 'no audio output device is installed'.

So I just thought I'd ask on here. Little as I know about computers, I'm not entirely sure it is a software problem. Why would it have been intermittent if it were? I do have the CD for reinstalling "Dell Inspiron Portable Computer Software", but I’ve tried using it and got the same message as when I downloaded the audio driver off the net ‘ExitError:Error=Device Object not present, restart the system and run setup again’

If anyone can help here, that’d be really great. Or if not, if you could recommend someplace that can help (preferably someplace on a Dublin Bus route!) that’d be great either. My experience of going into techie shops has not generally been great in the past. I’m not sure if people in them talk down to me because I’m female or because I’m not really a techie, so if you know somewhere not condescending that’d be brilliant.

Thanks,
C

pwd

It sounds like it's a hardware problem. I think that the circuit for the audio is broken. This happened in a 2nd-hand laptop I had years ago where the headphone jack was pulled slightly off the memory board. I removed it altogether and soldered across it, and the speakers worked fine after that.

CnaG

Thanks, it sounds likely. Is that something I could try at home or would I really have to get professional assistance with it?

(Edit: the more I think about it the more likely it seems - I forgot to mention, the repair person replaced the motherboard first as they thought that was the problem. It wasn't, but I did think maybe something wasn't reconnected right afterwards...)

pwd

There are instruction manuals on how to take dell laptops apart an put them back together again online. It takes a bit of time and concentration, but no special expertise. Soldering things on a motherboard is something that could easily short circuit it if you do it a bit wrong. Again it wouldn't need particular expertise, but it would be very easy to break things if you weren't accustomed to using a soldering iron.

That's a non-sequittor though, because if the repair person already replaced the motherboard, then that's not the problem anyway!

Are the speakers themselves part of the mortherboard? It might be a loose connection in one of them.

shanemort

put the service tag (on base of laptop) in here and it will tell you what warranty is left

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/topics/topic.aspx/emea/shared/support/my_systems_info/en/details?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=gen&~ck=anavml