X61: Low Volume, No Adjustability (Windows 7)

[ArtShapiro]

Last night the wife complained that she could barely hear the audio on a video clip she was watching. This is an X61 upgraded months ago to Windows 7 x32. I discovered that the up and down volume controls on the keyboard had no effect. Happily, a pair of headphones was quite a bit louder than the internal speakers, although still not adjustable, and she was able to deal with the situation that way.

This morning I uninstalled / reinstalled the hotkey drivers - no change.

In researching the issue here in the forums, I discovered that I had had the same problem last year when the machine was still on Vista. Reinstalling the Sound Max audio drivers had cured the problem.

So I just went over to the driver matrix to take a look, although I'm at work right now and don't have her machine. I see audio drivers for Vista and for XP / 2000. Nothing for Windows 7.

A list of beta drivers on another Lenovo page doesn't mention audio.

I wonder if this has been a problem since I changed the machine to Windows 7 and we just hadn't noticed the problem until now. I suppose I could retrofit the machine to a several-months-old image from my daily Windows Home Server backup and see if it's a recent problem, but I'm reluctant to go to that extreme immediately.

Any advice for dealing with this issue?

Art

[ArtShapiro]

Oh bother - I posted this in the T forum, not the X. Is there a moderator in the house?!

Art

[Harryc]

Thread moved to X6X Forum

[ArtShapiro]

Multiple uninstalls and installs of the audio drivers and the SoundMax stuff (and I don't really comprehend the distinction) seemed to remedy the situation, as well as restore the on-screen display of the various things that OSD is supposed to show. The SoundMax download isn't on the drivers matrix page, and I found it using a search on the Lenovo site.

This was certainly not a smooth solution, and I'm bothered by not knowing exactly what fixed things. I suspect it will recur.

Art

[emeraldgirl08]

Art in my experience with a couple of Thinkpads the loudest speakers I've heard so far were in an R40 I'm betting your wife would not be pleased with an OS change but I find that Linux has louder sound than Windows. I am not certain why but it definitely is a welcoming attribute for sure! If you do not have VLC installed try it for what I'm assuming is it's volume preamp ability for your DVDs, AVIs, etc.

For a quick fix try getting a pair of external speakers for that X61. I mainly use headphones for my T400 (yes sadly it's volume is pretty much on the low side also).

[ArtShapiro]

Thanks for your input, EG.

If my technophobic wife encountered Linux, I suspect the X61 would be in pieces over my head. Can't say I'd blame her.

With the now-adjustable volume, the volume easily meets her needs as it is bumped upward - apparently the default when I reported the problem was something around 50% of the max. So she's content, although of course those tiny speakers are crummy at best, just as with all Thinkpads. I have computer speakers available, if she needs more volume or fidelity, or I could run a wire to the input of my audio system. That would be galactic-class overkill - listening to a Thinkpad through Consensus Conspiracies in a tubed system.

I believe I have VLC installed on the X61 - as you know, a very nice product.

Art