Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

Thanks, I'll try that when I get home tonight. However, I did just now boot F12 into the diagnostics, and everything passes, and it did make various beeps and tones during the audio test. Not sure if the internal speaker beeping is the same as the full HD Audio Chipset or not.

 

So, I tried deleting the "High Definition Audio Controller" from the Device Manager, but there doesn't seem to be an option for deleting. The only options listed when I right-click on the entry are "Update Driver Software", "Disable", "Uninstall", "Scan for Hardware Changes", and "Properties".
I tried disable and then re-enabling without any success, and Scan for Hardware changes didn't seem to help either.
When I double-click on the entry, I see the following message in the box:
"A driver (service) for this device has been disabled. An alternate driver may be providing this functionality. (Code 32)"
I pulled up my list of services running, and very carefully reviewed all of the services that were set to "Disabled" or "Manual", and nothing seems to be related to the Audio.

Thanks for all this help from everyone!

 

I was thinking of uninstall, sorry. But also make sure that the Windows Audio service is running. Even if it's not marked as Disabled or Manual, it may have stopped (or failed to start) for some odd reason, and that would definitely cause your system tray icon to have a red X next to it.

And if all else fails, hop into Programs and Features, uninstall the RealTek High Definition Audio driver, reboot, reinstall it, and reboot again.

 

The Windows Audio Service is set to Automatic, and is currently says "Running". I did the uninstall, and then chose "Scan for Hardware Changes" and it just added it back to the list with the same yellow alert icon.
I'll try uninstalling the RealTek driver and re-installing it. Earlier I had installed the updated version, but maybe that doesn't do a full uninstall first.

 

Snake eyes. Uninstalling & re-insetalling the RealTek Audio driver didn't help. This is a tough problem. Maybe the H/W is bad, even though the speakers can beep.

 

Also, I just noticed that there are actually TWO entries in the device manager called "High Definition Audio Controller".
The one above my trouble maker with the yellow exclamation is kind of lighter in color (disabled?) and when I double-click on it, it says "Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. (Code 45) To fix this problem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer.".
I tried uninstalling it and rebooting, but it just keeps coming back.

 

Disabled devices are marked by a down arrow. Lighter in color means the device is not currently present, which typically you'd only see with USB devices. Disconnected devices also aren't even shown by default; you'd had to have gone to View > Show Hidden Devices in Device Manager to reveal them. Have you ever used USB speakers, a USB headset, or a USB docking station that had audio out with this system, any of which would include their own audio DAC and therefore might have generated that entry?

I don't know whether that mysterious entry is responsible for your issues, but if completely uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers doesn't work, I agree that booting from a USB flash drive that has a Linux Live environment with the appropriate drivers to support your audio chip provisioned on it would be the quickest way to rule out a hardware issue. Unfortunately I don't have a particular distro recommendation for this since I'm not a Linux guy. And like you, I'm not sure whether the audio diagnostics test the actual audio chip or if there's something similar to a legacy case speaker in there instead. Good luck!

 

Thanks. Yes, I had been troubleshooting per some articles I dug up on the Internet, and had selected the "Show Hidden Devices" option.
I'll give Linux a boot tonight and see what the verdict is. Thanks!

 

The Thunderbolt version of the M3800 appears to be available on the Dell site. I was able to meet with my Dell rep and see it. Will be updating the original review post with changes made on the new system.

 

I haven’t noticed any suggestion yet to look into BIOS, so I’m chipping in: you could have it disabled there.