AR11S Vista - Sigmatel audio drivers

[rjhmills]

Hi all

I have installed Vista RC1 (upgrade over XP) on my AR11S and am having trouble with the audio. Vista installs its own S/PDIF high definition driver but no sound is audible.

Another thread in this forum (from andrewb) says that this problem can be fixed by downloading the latest Sigmatel driver from the vaio-link website. However, this driver won't install on my machine - I get an error message saying "Device object not present".

I wonder if I would have had more luck if I had done a clean install?

I am an experienced user and am frustrated that I cannot fix this! I'd be very grateful if anyone could share their experience with getting audio to work under Vista RC1. I am very happy to answer any questions anyone has with other aspects of RC1.

Richard Mills

[Blencogo]

There is an XP Hotfix for this but I don't know if it will work with Vista - may be worth a try!!

Install the Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for high Definition Audio (KB835221 or the newer KB888111) first? This allows the sound chip to be recognised.

You should find it in Drivers\Hotfix on your recovery discs or you can download it from Microsoft Update.

[rjhmills]

Thanks - I have finally managed to get audio working. For the benefit of anyone else who runs into the same problem, this is how I fixed it:

- I installed a clean copy of RC2
- I installed the original audio driver that came with the machine (c:\drivers\audio\setup.exe)
- I then downloaded the latest Sigmatel audio driver from the vaio-link site and installed that.

I don't know if the second step was necessary, but I did it nonetheless. I had system sounds working by the end of the second step, but mp3s etc would play only after installing the latest driver.

I didn't need to run either of the driver setup routines using XP compatibility settings.

I hope this helps other people out there.

[Naz123]

Thank you SO much rjhmills. That was very considerate of you to post your problem following on by the solution which resolved your issue. I did what u said and my problem is fixed. Take care mate

[Naz123]

also could you please give me the link for "Sigmatel audio driver from the vaio-link"

[rjhmills]

also could you please give me the link for "Sigmatel audio driver from the vaio-link"

No worries. The link is here:

http://www.vaio-link.com/downloads/info/info.asp?l=en&url=Downloads/ST/D/AUD/STDAUD-01129106-UN.exe&...

If this link doesn't work, go to www.vaio-link.com and then go to "drivers and updates" under "download area". Once you have selected your machine, you'll find the audio driver in the "drivers" section.

Out of interest, if you're using a Vaio with a webcam, have you had any luck in getting the webcam to work under Vista?

[Naz123]

My Vaio does have a build in webcam (VGN-FE31H) but i havent installed Vista so i wouldnt know. Prehaps ur webcam is disabled from the "Devide manager"? Ive disabled mine since it restarts Windows much faster.

I downloaded the latest driver but unfortunately when i restart Windows to use the laptop, i have to keep on installing the sound Driver (provided with the laptop) inorder to get the sound to work. This is the error message i get when i click on the speaker on the taskbar.

"There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware.

This program will now close."

You have any ideas what i can do?