Connect a cassette player? Line in? Mike jack?

I'm, not familiar with your specific model, but it has a Sigmatel HD audio chip. On other models with that chip, the mic jack doubles as a stereo line-in jack. The way it works on the other models is when you insert a plug into the jack, you see a popup box that asks you to specify whether it is a mic or line-in. The configuration of the jack depends on the answer. If you don't get that popup, go to Start/Control Panel/Sigmatel and see if there is an option to allow popups and check it. However on the models with the configurable jack I believe the default configuration is line-in, so you might just try recording something and see if it plays back in stereo or not.

Thank you very much, jimco, for your reply. My desktop computer setup is in the basement, and I didn't want to disconnect the cassette player from it and bring it upstairs to my laptop if there was no chance using the mic jack would work. Now I will try it hopefully.

It didn't work. There was no pop-up box, and no option in Sigma Tel to allow them. I used the same audio cord that I use on the Dell desktop computer, and the same software (RipVinyl) to try to record the cassette tape, but no luck. In Control Panel/Sound/Recording, there are two listings. One is Microphone/Line In, but it is marked "not plugged in." When I double-click it and choose to enable, it has no effect. The other listing is Microphone Array, and it is marked as "working." Microphone Array showed up in RipVinyl when I tried to record, but it still didn't record.

You mean it did not record anything at all? Even if the jack is solely a mic jack you should be able to record through it. If the computer does not know that a plug is in the jack then it is either

a hardware fault (defective sense pin in the jack). I don't know of a test for that. You could run the mic tests in the audio section of Dell Diagnostics but it will give a false positive result when sense pins are faulty.

a problem with the way the audio driver was written -- I don't think the audio driver for the 1526 has ever been updated with a newer version. When the model first came out some people reported using a driver from a Latitude D630c with success.

a configuration issue.

or mic array might be interfering with the functioning of the jack. I'm not an expert on the mic array but here is what others have written about getting an external mic to work. Even though they are about a mic, not line-in, the issue is to get the jack recognized at all.

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Posted by 040794 (Inspiron 1525)

"If you are trying to use an external microphone with an aplication make sure to right click on the soud icon in the system tray click recording devices then put microphone/line in as your default."

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Posted by Jakpro, to turn off internal mic in a 1520:

Go to sound in the control panel and select the properties button for the microphone and then look at the bottom and select disable the device.


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By phil r 279 in Audio
Hi, Here's how I fixed my microphone after disabling it to record internet radio..
Go to the
Control Panel choose "Hardware and Sound" then "Manage audio devices" in the Sound tab, then the "Recording" tab.
RIGHT CLICK on the dialog box and select "Show disconnected devices" and/or "Show disabled devices"
Left click on Microphone array to select it and click "Properties"
To the right of Device Usage, click the arrow pointing down and select "use this device(enable)"
Then choose Apply and OK. You will now see in the Sound/ Recording tab that its working.

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This is how to enable the array. I would reverse this to disable it.

"Open the Dell Webcam Center, and look for Audio Source in the bottom right corner.  Click on Microphone/Line In and then go to More, and select Microphone Array (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC).  Once the Audio Source says Microphone Array (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC) then the microphone should be active." -- posted by Rollie, a Dell moderator

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Thanks for all the info. None of the suggestions worked for me. I did make a recording using the mics at the top of the cover. I know very little about puters, actually, but it seems to be that a key to my problem is the fact that the Microphone/Line In is marked "not plugged in." I have it enabled. Do you have any idea of how I can plug it in?