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Inspiron Laptops Using Realtek Audio Driver Do Not Recognize Headset or Microphone

Summary: Steps to fix your system settings to allow audio via a headset on Inspiron systems with Realtek Audio

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Symptoms

In certain circumstances Inspiron notebooks may not recognize the microphone or headset when connected to the P2 / P3 port after the operating system is properly booted. In this scenario the audio continues to come out on the speakers.

If the headset is already connected to the system from the start then the microphone and the headset are recognized normally, but if disconnect and reconnected again the fault appears, resulting in a restart of the equipment with the phone connected to it to be recognized.

Cause

Analysis of the failure was isolated in the Waves MaxxAudio Service Application which needs to be loaded at the startup of the system.  Some users choose to disable certain feature at startup to improve performance and reduce the time for equipment to become available after startup.  It is at this point that sometimes they disable the audio driver, which causes the headset and microphone to not be recognized if connected after the system has booted.

Resolution

To resolve this issue follow the steps below:
  1. Make sure your Inspiron device has the latest BIOS version installed and the latest version of the Realtek audio driver available on the Dell website. If it does not, remove the current versions and install the new versions
  2. Open the start menu, by clicking the Windows icon Windows icon.JPGon the far left or pressing the Windows button Windows icon.JPG on your keyboard and verify that the Waves MaxxAudio Service Application service is enabled. If not please enable it
  3. Reboot the device with the headset/microphone disconnected
  4. When the system finishes booting up, put any audio to play, confirm that the sound comes out only through the speakers. If yes, try inserting the headset and see if Waves MaxxAudio will open a window asking which device you connected, as below:
SLN311543_en_US__1SLN306194
        5. Select the correct device (while the audio is still playing), click OK, and check if the audio starts playing on the headset. If so, the problem has been solved.
 
In this pop up box, please, do not select "Never show this dialog again" to ensure you can set this up properly in future.

If the procedure above does not solve the issue, check the possibility that some other audio managing application might be causing the failure by following the next steps:
  • Open the Task Manager, go to the ‘Startup’ tab and disable all other audio managing applications for instance: Waves MaxxAudio Service Application, Realtek HD Audio Manager and HD Audio Background Process.
SLN311543_en_US__3image(10252)

Reboot the system with the headset/microphone disconnected. When the system finishes booting up, check if the audio comes out through the headset as usual.

Additional Information

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Affected Products

3000 Series, 5000 Series, 7000 Series

Products

Inspiron 11 3180, Inspiron 11 3185 2-in-1, Inspiron 13 5368 2-in-1, Inspiron 13 5378 2-in-1, Inspiron 13 5379 2-in-1, Inspiron 7370, Inspiron 7373 2-in-1, Inspiron 14 3467, Inspiron 5452, Inspiron 14 7460, Inspiron 7472, Inspiron 15 3567 , Inspiron 15 3576, Inspiron 5552, Inspiron 15 5566, Inspiron 15 5567, Inspiron 5570, Inspiron 15 Gaming 5577, Inspiron 15 7560, Inspiron 15 Gaming 7566, Inspiron 15 Gaming 7567, Inspiron 7570, Inspiron 15 7572, Inspiron 7573 2-in-1, Inspiron 15 Gaming 7577, Inspiron 17 7773 2-in-1 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000137121
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 03 Sept 2024
Version:  6
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