At my wits end here. "No Audio Output Device is Installed"

Hi,

I've been receiving this error intermittently since I bought this thing a month ago. Sometimes the audio will work perfectly, but sometimes when taken out of a sleep or a restart, I get a red X on the speaker icon on in the taskbar (which says the error in the title) and can't get audio.

The currently installed driver is a Creative Audio Sound Blaster Recon 3Di one, and Windows Update tells me I have an update for it, but when I try to install, it gives me an error (code 800F020B) which is apparently and error that arises when a component being updated is not connected to the computer.

When going into device manager and attempting to manually update the driver, the computer suddenly goes into blue screen of death mode and initiates a memory dump. It lists what seems to be the Sound Blaster driver(ctHda.sys) as a culprit. I've disabled / re-enabled / rebooted countless times to no avail.

I've reinstalled Windows 7 and still then have the same issues.

Has anyone had this issue or would point me to a way to fix it? I don't have much faith in Dell's technical support.

Thanks

 

Let us try, I feel this case might even end up in a replacement of a component. Email us and add my name to the body of the note. I will assign your case and follow up until it is resolved.
I don't see any other troubleshooting step you can try right now. AWSocialMedia at dell.com
Thank you

 

I have had this same issue. Mine seemed to be cause by a crash (I plugged a HDMI and a DP monitor for dual screen, the machine froze after a few seconds). After the crash I had no audio and nothing showing in device manager. Tried rescanning for new hardware, then a restart. Finally I shut the machine down and the card worked fine again from a clean boot.

Haven't managed to recreate it, but will try as I am planning to use my dual screens regularily

 

Its a known issue that the M14x R1 R2 has its problems with dual monitors if one is connected via analog vga and one with digital hdmi.

The solution to not running into issues is to have an adapter for your minidisplay port or even an analog-to-digital-converter for the vga port.

 

Yes but if you read my post you will see I am not using analog! I am using an HDMI and a DP (display port) connection to my monitors, therefore both digital

 

Thank you Frank! I plan on sending an email later tonight when I'm home from work and can get the serial number, etc.

 

Did you ever resolve this issue?

I bought a "certified refurbished" alienware m14x r2 laptop and it arrived with the same exact problem. Didn't come with Nvidia drivers installed either lol. Wouldn't keep date and time in Windows or the BIOS. What a mess! Resolved all the other issues but the sound just won't work consistently.

Anyway, I'm really interested to hear if you got this fixed and what needed to be done. I'm preparing to return this laptop, sounds like a hardware malfunction and no way I'm paying this high of a price for a used laptop that won't even keep sound.

 

Nope, still trying to work with the assigned tech to solve it. They're having me reinstall windows for the second time. My tech was also on vacation this week as well. Will update when I can

 

I did a complete reinstall of Windows and it still happens. Followed the guidelines on the Dell website for the correct order in which to install the drivers too. Windows still starts up sometimes and gives me the No Audio Output Device is Installed. I hate messing with the BIOS but as a last resort I updated the BIOS to the latest AO3 version and though it fixed a few other issues, it didn't fix the random sound disappearances.

 

So looks like I'll be needing to ship this back. Great

 

Good luck with Dell. I've been waiting for weeks now to get my replacement. I have an R1 and the stereo mics didn't work. They sent a tech out to replace the screen which then damaged the hinges, caused other various chips, and then the screen didn't shut all the way. They sent a new tech out to replace the screen again, damage was gone but then mouse Alien FX didn't work, and the screen made a popping sound when you opened and closed it.

I then had to send the m14 to their repair facility. Got it back just as broken (screen pop and FX not working) PLUS my gigabit LAN no longer works, which causes a POST error.

Now I'm waiting for a dispatch number for a new machine. I wish the best of luck to those dealing with Dell/Alienware's service.