Missing Sound on T40

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Icepyk · #1 Post by **Icepyk** » Sat May 24, 2008 1:40 am

I've had a T40 (and many other thinkpads) for years, but suddenly I have lost all sound on this one, though I cannot specifically say when it failed, as I used to use this machine every day - Whilst I'm a newbie to this forum, I've been around PCs and laptops for many years, so I know my way around a mainboard...I've read the previous posts giving advice to others regarding this same type of problem, but I have reached an impasse, for which I seek help and /or advice.

The SoundMax software will not reinstall, saying the driver is not found. The ThinkPad Configuration window shows the audio as disabled, and when I try to re-enabled it, it advises The device is not working, or the drivers are not loaded properly. Everyting in my Device Manager is fine, with no yellow items. The SoundMax device is not present under Sound controllers....I have updated the BIOS and Controller software, all other drivers are up to date...

My conclusion is the sound chip has failed, (this is a T40 that I reflowed the mainboard), but I seeks others opinion, before I go and try and source another mainboard....

Can anyone offer any suggestions, bearing in mind I have attempted all the simpler solutions????

Tim M · #2 Post by **Tim M** » Sat May 24, 2008 1:58 am

Have you tried a hard reinstall to factory configuration using the recovery partition?

Icepyk · #3 Post by **Icepyk** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:21 am

Yes, I recently replaced the HDD which necessitated re-installation of the OS. (I don't have the original recovery disks, so I reinstalled XP, and then all drivers which I downloaded from Lenovo's site.

I had hoped that that would resolve the problem, and restore the audio capability, but it made no difference...I fear there is a hardware failure....

zdriver · #4 Post by **zdriver** » Sat May 24, 2008 9:41 am

The easiest way to verify the sound failure is to load up the bootable pc doctor diags (not the windows version) and run the audio specific tests & the mainboard tests.
That will tell you quickly if a motherboard replacement is in your future.

Icepyk · #5 Post by **Icepyk** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:23 pm

I ran the PC Doctor diag in DOS as sugested, and it cant find the sound card, which pretty much seals the verdict...

Thanks for your help...I'll look for a mainboard

Missing Sound on T40

Missing Sound on T40

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