# Audio Driver trouble



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 4, 2010)

On my grandmother's computer, I had had to reinstall Windows, and now I have most of its drivers back with the exception of its audio driver. Whenever I try to reinstall the audio driver that Dell lists for it it goes to SoundMax and says "Driver not found! Reboot your system and run this setup again".


Any ideas on how to get around this?


----------



## J Riff (Jul 4, 2010)

Could try Control panel/system/hardware/device manager/  find the audio driver, right-click and choose update driver...


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 4, 2010)

Uh, it doesn't even list SoundMAX as an audio driver. I have Legacy Audio and USB Audio Device in the Device Manager, but, trying to update either of those, I don't know....


----------



## J Riff (Jul 4, 2010)

You can browse for it there as well Karn. Update any and all drivers you like in device manager, you can always roll them back.
 or use system file checker ...start/run/ type:  sfc /scannow   with your installation disc in, maybe it missed the audio driver somehow.


----------



## J Riff (Jul 4, 2010)

Of course you can find the driver online, at driverguide.com or elsewhere....


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 4, 2010)

Believe me, I've tried all over online for the driver, and the Resource CD won't install the driver, either. But nothing EVER MENTIONS Legacy or USB Audio Device, and what we had on here before was 24 Bit SoundBlaster! device.


----------



## mosaix (Jul 4, 2010)

Karn, usually there's somebody who's experienced a similar problem before. Google for the relevant words 'SoundMax Driver not found' etc. There's probably a forum or two where people have discussed this kind of thing. This has worked for me in the past.


----------



## Erin99 (Jul 4, 2010)

Can you post up its model, make, and operating system? Then I can see which driver you need. 

(You can find a model number usually on the back of the laptop.)

I think you said it was a Dell.....


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 4, 2010)

This is a Dell Dimension 3000, Windows XP Home edition. It's my grandmother's desktop PC, not my laptop. That thing is about dead and I'm building up the funds for another, preferably a Toshiba Satellite.


And I've tried looking up the SoundMax Driver Problem on Google before, but the only tech forum I found with anyone suggesting anything said to mess with the driver with the problem-and this computer's device manager doesn't even list SoundMax anywhere.


----------



## mosaix (Jul 4, 2010)

Karn, don't know if this link will help but there's some discussion and a couple of solutions.

Uninstalled myself into a corner (SoundMax/driver not found on ThinkPad X31) - WinDrivers Computer Tech Support Forums

The initial discussion refers to a ThinkPad but it may help.


----------



## Erin99 (Jul 4, 2010)

Have you tried downloading the driver off Dell's official site? The Dimension 3000 is here: Drivers & Downloads

You can down _all_ the latest drivers for the machine, here.


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 4, 2010)

Oh, yes, THAT I have tried multiple times. The earlier version of the audio driver goes back to that SoundMax problem and the latest version of it says "this audio driver does not support your computer's hardware" or something along those lines.


----------



## Erin99 (Jul 4, 2010)

Have you tried installing the "Analog Devices ADI 198x Integrated Audio"? It's listed on the Dell page, too: Drivers and Downloads

It even lists how to install it, under "Installation Instructions".

If not, I'll have to Google it and see what I can find, if no one else's suggestions have worked.


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 4, 2010)

Yeah, that's the one that came up with the SoundMax problem, at least its earlier version.


I've tried looking through tech forums on the matter, but the ones that offer any solutions say to uninstall/reinstall the offending driver, but, this computer's device manager doesn't even list SoundMax as a driver anywhere.


----------



## Erin99 (Jul 4, 2010)

Well, you could try going to Device Manager and right-clicking on both Legacy Audio and USB Audio Device - and selecting "Update Driver", or whatever the wording is. This should take you to a screen where you can allow the driver search to go on the internet and find one for you (good idea)...


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 5, 2010)

I tried that as well, with both Legacy and USB Audio Driver, as well as Multimedia Audio Control.

Got bumpkis there as well.  *shrugs* Looks like this will have to be one machine without sound.


----------



## Erin99 (Jul 5, 2010)

You could try removing all three from the audio section (right-click and "Uninstall"). Then try downloading/installing the official driver from Dell's site again. Then reboot your machine.

And I'd recommend downloading the driver "via your internet browser", so you can install it manually, possibly by rebooting your machine after uninstalling all your non-official audio drivers, and then pointing the Windows Driver Wizard to the folder where you've saved and installed the driver to.

Hope this helps!


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 5, 2010)

It just might have to get to that point, I haven't actually tried a driver uninstall yet.....


----------



## J Riff (Jul 5, 2010)

How do i get the audio back in my laptop if someone deleted it? - FixYa


 I imagine you've tried most of this ... I had a similar prob years back, with a Soundmax driver. Thing is...it should work without it, with the legacy drivers, if you unistall soundmax. There must be a real tech or two around here.... good luck anyway.


----------



## AE35Unit (Jul 5, 2010)

You might have to go thru the rehistry and delete all entries for SoundMax


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 8, 2010)

Through the registry. Great.


You do realize that I'm not nearly tech-savvy enough to even touch the registry, right?


----------



## Dave (Jul 8, 2010)

I took a hammer to my last DELL. It won't help, but it might make you feel better.


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 8, 2010)

Well, that's what I would love to do, but this computer isn't mine.

I almost took a hammer to my old Dell laptop, but figured since I wasn't the one who paid for it, the kindest thing to do would be to leave it forgotten under the couch.  Its charging center went out on me so the battery is almost completely dead and won't recharge, and it's been that way for months.





Still, I hope to get a laptop upgrade fairly soon, and I've been taking a peek at a Toshiba Satellite L505.....


----------



## Vertigo (Jul 8, 2010)

I have a Dell and had to rebuild from scratch a couple years back (hard drive died). I seem to vaguely remember when I got all the drivers from Dell that they had to be installed in a particular order or they wouldn't work right. Also seem to remember that this wasn't immediately apparent when I first downloaded them. You're not going to want to hear this, but I'm not so sure I didn't go back and start again from scratch.


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 8, 2010)

Hehe. I'm willing to let this thread die at this point. If it were my decision, I'd chuck this POS out a tenth-story window after setting it on fire. Dell is just too much trouble to be worth it.


Not that any other desktop brand I've experienced was any better.....(Well, okay, as far as desktops go, I've only experienced NEC, Dell, and HP. And the NEC was the best of the three, and that was bought in 1996!)


----------



## Happy Joe (Jul 9, 2010)

I agree when talking about OEM computers... Its why I assemble my own.

I have a standard response with OEM garbage... I make a good faith attempt to find and install the original drivers, if no go; I give drivers downloaded from Microsoft a chance, then I install Aida and/or HWinfo to find out what the machine wants for drivers and give drivers from the audio chipset manufacturer a try... If all else fails I jam a cheap audio card into the machine, if its a desktop, and use that and the drivers it came with.

Enjoy!


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 9, 2010)

On a second note-does anyone know where I can get the Creative SB Live driver without having to go through Driver Detective or anything along those lines?



EDIT: Found and fixed the problem. Saw from Device Manager that the Multimedia Audio Controller driver was not installed and reinstalled it from that point. I had tried this before, but this time it actually worked out correctly.


----------



## Ursa major (Jul 9, 2010)

Excellent news, Karn. 


I can only hope that you have something worth listening to.


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 9, 2010)

Oh I will, Ursa, I will. 


Makes me feel a bit better about myself because I really don't consider myself high tech at all.

.....

Okay, I admit it. The only computer code I've ever written was simple HTML.  And that was only step-by-step class instruction.


----------



## AE35Unit (Jul 9, 2010)

Karn Maeshalanadae said:


> Through the registry. Great.
> 
> 
> You do realize that I'm not nearly tech-savvy enough to even touch the registry, right?



Registry is a piece of cake. You enter soundMax in the search box and hit Search. Then when an entry pops up you hit Delete. Then hit Control + F to search again and repeat till done. Before you proceed go into Tools/Backup to create a back up of your current registry just in case.


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 9, 2010)

I've fixed it anyway, thank you. 


I probably unwittingly solved part of the problem when I managed to find a Creative SB Live! 24-bit audio driver from CNET and then I went through Device Manager one last time and reinstalled Multimedia Audio Control driver, and poof! Sound again. 


Thanks for all the advice peeps.


----------



## Ursa major (Jul 9, 2010)

All the _sound_ advice, you mean.


----------



## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jul 9, 2010)

That's exactly what I was wanting to avoid, Ursa.


----------



## Ursa major (Jul 9, 2010)

So you decided to waive its use....


----------

