No microphone devices detected

[Guest]

Hello,

I have a problem here that I hope someone will be able to solve. I want
to record my voice but when I go to my voice recorder, nothing happens. The
voice "slider" that usually moves when a voice is being recorded, doesn't.
So I went to my Speaker Icon in my system's tray and right clicked on that.
I opened the Recording tab and found "no audio devices are installed".

Now, I may have deleted the device by mistake, otherwise I would think I
should see something listed there. Could anyone tell me how I would get this
device back? Thank you for any help with this!
Jerry

 

[Daze N. Knights]

You don't say whether or not you have speakers and/or microphone plugged
in. If you do, it sounds like you probably need to reinstall your audio
driver.

Daze

 

[Guest]

And some sound cards do not have a driver for the mike & other components
yet. Check the manufacturers web site for any updates. Creative and other
sound card makers are still playing catch up with Vista drivers.

 

[Guest]

Hello,

Yes, I do have speakers and my mic is plugged in. I went to my Device
Manager and searched for a new driver under "Sound, video and game
controllers" but it stated that my driver was the latest and best. Is there
somewhere else I should search? By the way, does anyone else who has Vista
Home Premium and a Dell E 1705 with that sound controller see a microphone
listed under their recording devices? Also, I have a webam with a built in
microphone and when that is in use, that on-board microphone works. Thanks
again.

Jerry

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Are you running Vista 32? If so, do you have the Sigmatel audio driver
listed here:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen

Daze
------

 

[Guest]

Hi Daze,
Thank you for getting back with me on this. I really appreciate it. I
have that driver downloaded but when I open my recording devices by
right-clicking on the small speaker icon in the task bar, I still get the
message, under my recording devices, that there are no audio devices
installed. So, were there none to begin with or did I delete them by
mistake? Can't imagine Vista would come without them, especially when under
my "Start" button I have the "Sound Recorder" program. Any ideas? Thanks
again.

Jerry

 

[Daze N. Knights]

In your Device Manager, did you uninstall whatever audio driver is
currently installed, then install the new Sigmatel driver you've downloaded?

Also that Sigmatel driver is for *onboard* sound. You don't, perchance,
have a separate sound card installed, do you?

Daze
---------

 

[Guest]

Hi Daze,

You were correct. I went to Dell's technical help and chatted with a
tech who installed the driver for me via Dell Connect. Yes, I did not
uninstall the Sigma drivers first and I knew right away, when watching the
technician, that that was probably my problem. After done, he went to the
top of my list of drivers in my Device Manager and clicked something like
"update system hardware" or similar. After rebooting, the microphone was now
listed on my computer and I ran a test of the plug-in microphone and it works
okay.

I didn't know that I had to uninstall the drivers first. I thought
that the new download would simply replace what was missing in the driver or
replace the whole driver itself. Lesson learned.

Thank you very much, Daze, for all your help. It is one more thing I
will learn about the operation of my computer. Have a great day.

Jerry

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Inline:

Hi Daze,

You were correct. I went to Dell's technical help and chatted with a
tech who installed the driver for me via Dell Connect. Yes, I did not
uninstall the Sigma drivers first and I knew right away, when watching the
technician, that that was probably my problem. After done, he went to the
top of my list of drivers in my Device Manager and clicked something like
"update system hardware" or similar. After rebooting, the microphone was now
listed on my computer and I ran a test of the plug-in microphone and it works
okay.

"Update system hardware" in the Device Manager? That sounds like
something new to me . . . .

I didn't know that I had to uninstall the drivers first. I thought
that the new download would simply replace what was missing in the driver or
replace the whole driver itself. Lesson learned.

Thank you very much, Daze, for all your help. It is one more thing I
will learn about the operation of my computer. Have a great day.

YW. That's the way we all learn. Have problems, troubleshoot, ask
questions . . .

Daze
--------

 

[Guest]

Hi Daze,

He went to Device Manager, after downloading the drivers, and at the very
top of the list is the I.D. number of your computer. He right-clicked on
that and selected "scan for hardware changes". New hardware was recognized
and he completed that process.

I've learned that I can "update" my drivers without uninstalling them
first but when there is a question of a hardware device missing, I will
completely uninstall the device first, then reinstall.

Yes, we live and learn. Thanks again.

Jerry

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Inline:

Hi Daze,

He went to Device Manager, after downloading the drivers, and at the very
top of the list is the I.D. number of your computer. He right-clicked on
that and selected "scan for hardware changes". New hardware was recognized
and he completed that process.

Ah, ha! Yes, there it is. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Guest]

You bet. Thank you.

Jerry

Inline:



Ah, ha! Yes, there it is. Thanks for pointing that out.