CANNOT get sound drivers to work on 2nd HD.........

(Sorry, in advance, for the long post, just trying to include all relevant information, thank you to anyone who takes the time to read and offer advice)

OK, I've had my m9750 for a little over a week now, I ordered it with the default 80GB HD that it came with. I separately ordered a 200G Hitachi 7k200 HD from Newegg, to put in afterwards. What I am TRYING to do is get everything moved over to the 200GB drive and use that as my main drive, and have the 80GB in the other slot as a backup/auxiliary drive.

My 80GB drive works 100% fine, absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. All the drivers on it work 100% fine.

As far as I can tell, the 200GB Hitachi drive is fine, physically, no errors, no defects.

I got my system with the Win XP MCE standard recovery and support disks, no Alien Respawn disk (although I'm almost wishing I had gotten one at this point). I wonder if I can call them and buy the Respawn Disk after the fact?

Here is what I have done/tried so far:

• 
  Formatted the 200GB drive and installed Win XP MCE on it.
  Installed all of the drivers from the Support Disk, starting with the Chipset Drivers, then the Video Drivers, then the Sound drivers, then the rest of them.

• 
  Everything seems to work fine, i.e. wireless card, bluetooth, etc, but I get no sound whatsoever when I boot off of that drive. This includes the built in speakers, the headphone jack, AND the external speakers plugged in. I checked all hardware manager settings, says everything is functioning properly.

• 
  I tried uninstalling the sound drivers and reinstalling them. I tried using system restore to roll the system back to just after Windows was first installed, this removed all other drivers from the equation. Installed just the chipset and sound drivers. If I boot off of the installation on the 80GB (original) hard drive, I get working sound.

• Nothing here fixed the issue or resulted in any change. I get perfect sound on the old 80GB drive, and no sound on the new 200GB drive. No other differences between the two.

• I thought "Well, maybe the drivers on this CD are generic and not the ones on my other drive." So, I checked the "My Alienware PC Information" file that they left on my system after they tested it, and made sure I downloaded the EXACT ones from their site.

• According to the file, these are what my system shipped with, installed on the 80GB HD:
  
  Microsoft AC Adapter, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz, 4-1-2004, 5.1.2600.0
  Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad, 8-11-2006, 8.3.18.0
  Realtek High Definition Audio, 1-30-2007, 5.10.0.5366
  Agere Systems HDA Modem, 6-29-2006, 2.1.72.0
  HID-compliant consumer control device, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2600.2180
  TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L632N, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  FUJITSU MHW2080BJ G2, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX, 3-6-2007, 6.14.10.9423
  Ricoh Memory Stick Host Controller, 1-20-2006, 1.0.2.5
  SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller, 10-1-2002, 6.0.4069.1
  OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Ricoh MMC Host Controller, 1-19-2006, 1.0.0.9
  Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller, 6-20-2006, 8.55.5.3
  Intel(R) 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4, 11-15-2006, 8.2.0.1011
  Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN, 2-25-2007, 11.1.0.86
  Primary IDE Channel, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2600.2180
  Secondary IDE Channel, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2600.2180
  Bluetooth Bus Enumerator, 11-28-2006, 5.1.0.2700
  Winvnc video hook driver, 9-25-2001, 1.1.0.0
  Audio Codecs, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Legacy Audio Drivers, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Media Control Devices, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Legacy Video Capture Devices, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Video Codecs, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Microsoft Kernel System Audio Device, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  BisonCam, NB Pro, 7-13-2006, 2.6.0.77
  Broadcom 2045 Bluetooth 2.0 USB Device, 10-3-2006, 5.1.0.2400
  Bluetooth Hands-free Audio, 10-3-2006, 5.1.0.2400
  Bluetooth Stereo Audio, 10-3-2006, 5.1.0.2400
  Bluetooth Remote Control, 11-28-2006, 5.1.0.2700

• I made sure I got the exact ones from their site, installed them and no change. I even thought maybe an error happened in the Win XP MCE installation process, so just to rule that out, I reformatted AGAIN and did a clean install. No change.

• These two drivers (from the above list) were not on the disc OR on alienware's site:
  
  Microsoft Kernel System Audio Device, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver, 7-1-2001, 5.1.2535.0
  
  Not sure if those are necessary or not, but either way I think I have no way to get them unless I buy the Respawn CD, or someone can provide them for me.

 

Just to ask a stupid question, but is there a FN+(KEY) to enable/disable sound. Maybe on the 200GB drive it is off by default. Otherwise that is the weirdest thing I have ever herd.

 

Hehe I think I may have found a way to obtain them, here you go. Tell me if these work or not. You really shouldn't need to do all of that to get the sound to work, but you never know. By the way, don't feel bad about not buying the respawn disk. My friend and I both had them and they didn't work for either of us so it was really a waste.


Kernel Audio Device

For the WINMN WDM compatibility driver... "If that doesn't work, try visiting www.windowsupdate.com and selecting the 'Custom' button to check for updates. Once finished checking, on the left-hand menu there is a 'Hardware, Optional' type link. There could possibly be a driver update for the 'Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver'. If there is, mark the check box next to it for download, and then 'Review and install updates'."

 

Ahh yes, there's that AND installing the function key drivers as well.

 

There is, and I tried that already. No luck.

Another update: on the 80GB HD, I have an extra system tray icon "Realtek HD Audio Manager" looks like an orange speaker icon. None of the programs or drivers on the disc seem to install this directly, and it does not appear on Add and Remove Programs. I assume it is part of the disc drivers, but maybe it's just not getting activated somehow?

 

Maybe you should just download the default realtek drivers from the realtek site then. Hopefully that manager program is on their site. No other ideas, so good luck!

 

Did you try what I said yet, any luck?

Oh and I know what your problem is I think. I'll link you to the Realtek HD Sound drivers, one sec.

Here is the XP Audio Drivers for the 9750 (try first): Here

Here is the Realtek HD Audio Driver: Here

 

I did not here you mention trying the audio control panel. You might check the settings on that. If you go to Control Panel and click the sound icon you can bring it up. Check to see that the speaker volume is not turned all the way down or the mute is enabled. Might be better to check this first before changing out drivers.

 

Yea, just let us know what's going on after you try all that stuff

 

Tried that, on every single configuration change. Most of the time it's not even showing the audio hardware, or its showing something incorrect.

On my 80GB boot, the Audio Device comes up as "Realtek HD Audio Output."

On the 200GB boot, I get "No Audio Device," unless I have the Bluetooth Drivers installed, then I get "Bluetooth Hands-Free Audio."

Tried everything you suggested, Stone, no luck.

I checked the documentation with the Alienware Drivers, it talks about an alternate installation method of creating some kind of custom script file and putting it into the Windows Installation Directory when you first install Windows.

I'm about out of energy for tonight. I may just wait till Monday then call them, so I can talk to a tech, because I know a Customer Support person is just going to give me some ridiculous suggestion like "have you tried using the support CD?"

I need to talk to one of their people who installs this stuff.

From what I can gather, they don't even use the disks themselves. When I got this machine, its primary boot source was set as a network drive, so I bet they just install these from a custom network drive, tailor-made to get an m9750 up and running.

 

Sorry I couldn't help. If I find anymore related things I'll let you know.

 

I really appreciate it. I think it has to do with the installation process of these drivers. It just isn't picking up the hardware.

I hope I can get this resolved on Monday.

 

I had the same problem as you on my M5550 (I haven't sent it back since I haven't received the 9750 yet). When I called and asked for help, they did the remote connection and installed the same drivers I installed already. When that didn't work, they updated my BIOS. And when that didn't work they told me that I had a faulty motherboard and that the computer needed to be shipped back to their factories.

I hope you do not have to do that. I am sure there is something that we are missing that is the key to getting the sound drivers working on the laptop.

 

I don't think your problem is hardware related since your audio worked fine when booting off of the original drive.

 

OK, a couple quick questions and then a couple of suggestions....

1. Do you have any "unkonwn" hardware in device manager?

2. Do you have access to "ghosting" software?

and the suggestions....

1. If you DO have access to ghosting software, you might ghost the 80gb drive, then install that on the 200gb. I suspect that would solve the problem.

2. When I first got my 9750, I fussed around quite a bit with different video drivers and tweak apps, as a result I felt my OS had become unstable, and I re-installed my OS from the disks I got from Alienware (not the respawn). I seem to rememmber that after completing the install, I had a similar problem where I couldn't get sound even though device manager told me the sound card was installed. At that time, I had several unknown hardware components listed in the device manager.

In the end, I found that one of the devices was a part of the modem. I went out and found drivers for an Agere systems soft modem, and that remedied one or two of the missing pieces of hardware in device manager. When I rebooted the system, sound was back too. I have no idea why that would be the case, but it was.

**caveat** this was almost 5 months ago at this point. I do not still have the driver on my system (just checked, sorry), and this is a VAGUE recollection. I know it sounds weird - it does to me too - but this is how I remember it. My one clear memory though was "Agere systems soft modem". I'll futz with this a bit and see if I can jog anymore memories for 'ya. In the mean time, see if you have those unknown pieces of hardware in device manager and let me know.

-- Update -- I have looked around some more for this and even Googled it to see if any sites rang a bell - no luck Sorry, I wish I could remember the particulars of the situation, but they elude me in my old age (that'd be 33 BTW )

 

I have tried everything at this point. The AW Tech on their tech support forums gave me a specific install order for all of the drivers.

I tried it.

No difference.

I even went so far as to get a copy of Norton Ghost (like you suggested) and reformatted the new HD and did a full copy from the old HD to the new one.

I rebooted, with the new HD set as my default boot device, and it booted from the old drive (meaning it didn't even recognize it as a boot device).

So, I powered it off and took out the old HD (to force it to boot from the new one).

It froze at the Welcome screen.

I rebooted 3 times, 3 freezes at the Welcome screen.

At this point, I think the HD is probably defective somehow, I'm going to contact Newegg to get a replacement.

I hope thats what it is, because I will be PISSED if I have to return my machine to AW and lose it for a few weeks.

 

@Philosopher - If you do end up having to send the laptop back to alienware, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. They usually have a turn around time of less then a week and a half, so it shouldn't be like 3 weeks.

 

Update on this issue.

I sent the old 200GB HD back to Newegg, got my replacement one today.
Installed it, installed the OS, installed all the drivers.
Same issue.

I reformatted the HD, and did a direct copy of the 80GB HD to the new 200 HD, and works perfectly.
I can install and uninstall, and reinstall all of the drivers on BOTH disks, now, with no issues.

At this point, I am convinced they sent me a wrong (or possibly defective) OS disk.

The original install works fine, the ghosted drive works fine, and the drivers work fine.
The only thing that DOESN'T seem to work fine is the OS on the disk they gave me.

Here's what's funny:

I ordered this m9750 with WinXP MCE 2005. That's what it came with installed on it. The OS disk it came with is labeled "Windows Media Center Edition Recovery Disk." When it installs though, all of the screens say XP Pro (I have installed XP Pro on other machines plenty of times; I assumed this was normal.) As far as I know, isn't XP MCE 2005 basically just XP Pro, with SP2 and the Media Center app included as an extra? (That's what I thought, anyway, and I assumed that's why it said XP Pro when installing)

Well, on the original drive (and the ghosted 200 drive), in the boot menu, the OS is listed as "Windows Media Center Edition." But, when I install off of that CD that I got with it, it lists it in the boot menu as "Windows XP/2003" but yet, when it loads up, it has SP2 and the Media Center App installed as well.

I don't know what the hell this disk they gave me is, but it never works properly when I install off of it, so it's either defective, or the wrong version of Windows.

I'm going to try and get a replacement disk from them (hopefully the right one this time).

 

I am going through pretty much this exact same issue with the Audio (no sound - device not listed).

Please send me a PM so we can sync up by email if/when either of us come up with a solution to this issue. Or email me on my username here at yahoo dot com

I JUST got my 9750 on 01/08/2008 and bought the AlienRespawn BS solution - that didn't work for me when I went to try and us it. Ghost errors on the second "spanned" image file (at about 74%).

Sorely disappointed in AW on this issue.

You have given me an idea though - of using another XP Pro install CD with my new key to see if it is the XP Recovery CD AW provides as OEM that is the culprit.

For any of you with "Respawn"... is it that the second file is corrupt? Can you copy it to the HD from the DVD? Do you get an "Not a valid spaned file (522)" error on the second file in Ghost (if you can remember).

Thanks

 

Just an update that I tried the install from a DIFFERENT (and older) XP Pro CD-ROM and had the same result - no audio.

I posted information at length in this thread:

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread210588.html

 

JUST A QUICK REPLY TO LET EVERYONE READING THIS THREAD KNOW THAT MY ISSUE HAS BEEN RESOLVED BY ALIENWARE.

I don't have time to post the details yet ( more on the fix later/soon), but in the interest of fairness, I wanted to provide this update because someone reading this thread may be considering a purchase from Alienware.

 

Dude, please share how you fixed it! I just won a m9750 a week ago, and I tried to record some oudio with the line-in, the sound glitched up, and then boom, nothing is recognized when i plug it in the sound ports and no audio no matter WHAT I do, and I've never been stumped by a computer problem before! I'm DESPERATE and I've only been having this problem for a few hours! Please let us know because this is driving me crazy!!!

Thanks!!
-Austin