IBM R50e sound not working in Windows 7

[j00j4nt200]

Installed Windows 7 on IBM R50e, and there is no sound.

Tried:
- Windows update, winxp sound drivers, vista drivers, diferent soundmax drivers and nothing is working.

Any idea?

[emeraldgirl08]

Did the sound work before you installed W7?

[j00j4nt200]

Yes, on XP.

[ajkula66]

You might have to force the installation of the XP audio driver.

And you'll be missing the graphics driver as well in W7. No cure for that one AFAIK.

Good luck.

[j00j4nt200]

Everyting else is working great - for months now.
Graphic driver forced. Speedstep control - working with CrystalCPUID.
But sound driver is making me crazy.

[emeraldgirl08]

Can you report with what shows up in "Device Manager" in the 'Sound, video, and game controllers' submenu?

Edit:

W7 should at least load a generic audio driver. OP when you come back IIRC you had installed several audio drivers. Have you tried right-clicking on whatever audio driver is in 'Sound, video, and game controllers,' and rebooting? I am pretty sure you have but I would like to hear what happens if try that now- if possible. Thanks

[j00j4nt200]

Hello,

Here is picture:


First time when audio driver was installed - I got blue screen.
After that tried about 10 different drivers, most of them after installing require restart - and not working.

[emeraldgirl08]

Have you tried letting W7 load its generic drivers without installing anything?

[j00j4nt200]

Uninstaled Soundmax, and stuck with this:

[emeraldgirl08]

Oh dear. Do you have sound now?

[j00j4nt200]

No Sound at all

I think I don't have right driver or right ini file?

[emeraldgirl08]

Hmm..not sure why it is not working for you. I have installed a W7 on an R50p and IIRC Windows Update found the drivers, installed it, and the sound was working.

Not sure what is going on with your specific R50e

Where did you get the SoundMAX Driver that you have in the first photo?

[ajkula66]

R50p is the equivalent of a T42p, a top-shelf unit.

R50e is the economy-class sibling of T40, an entry-level machine.

I'm really not certain (and don't feel like checking it from my PDA) that the audio drivers is shared between these two.

[emeraldgirl08]

Thanks for that information George. I am still learning my way around some of the earlier ThinkPads.

If there is a difference in the audio drivers from Lenovo Support between the offerings between an R50p and an R50e- then that might say something about why OPs audio is not working. It is strange because I have installed W7 on a T30 and an R40 also and the sound worked on those ThinkPads as well. It's been far too long and I do not remember if I had to install the audio drivers manually and in compatibility mode or not

OP have you tried to google for more information? I am hopeful that there is someone out there has shared a similar dilemma as yours and perhaps worked out a solution.

[j00j4nt200]

@emeraldgirl08

Can you tell me what is the name of audio device for T30 or R40 in Win7, and driver version and date?

[emeraldgirl08]

@emeraldgirl08

Can you tell me what is the name of audio device for T30 or R40 in Win7, and driver version and date?

Its been over two years since I did those installations. I have since sold those ThinkPads. Sorry. I did find out something interesting. The R50p I had worked on has the same soundMAX driver version you have in that first photo. I might have the exe for the driver I used. I'm on my tablet so give me a minute to get my heinee out of bed to check.

EDIT:

Okay. Some info regarding differences between the R50, R50P versus the R50e audio drivers.

There is no difference.

I just checked Lenovo Support and the official audio drivers supported and issued by Lenovo are the same. What is weird is that on the R50p that I worked on is that the audio driver is a more recent version than the Lenovo driver. I also did not manually install the audio driver. Windows Update did it for me.

Here are more details regarding the working and functional audio drivers on the R50p (hope they help you!):

Code: Select all

Analog Devices driver update for SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

Installation date: ‎11/‎3/‎2012 3:52 PM

Installation status: Successful

Update type: Recommended

This driver was provided by Analog Devices for support of SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

More information: 
http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=4166

Help and Support: 
http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub

[j00j4nt200]

I hate to say it, but I give up
Will try clean install of win7 and first try sound driver.
if still not working back to xp.

[j00j4nt200]

Just for record, I finally did clean install, and everything is working now

1. After win7 install, I first installed audio driver from Lenovo site file:1ga241ww... using compatibily mode just in case ... and sound is working - miracle
Driver is installed as: "SoundMax Integrated Digital Audio"

2. Then installed Video driver using this tutorial: http://groundstate.net/855GMWin7.html

3. Working Wifi driver is file: INTEL 2200BG_2915BG-1...

4. I think speed step doesn't work on win7 with older centrino laptops - so instead I'm using CrystalCPUID with enabled multiplier manager.

[ajkula66]

Good to hear!

Srećna Nova Godina!

[emeraldgirl08]

Good to hear you got it worked out!

Happy New Years!