Lat E7440 intermittent audio issues - any fix?

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Dell Latitude E7440

The Latitude E7440 is an ultrabook by Dell released in November 2013, identified by model number 730-6964, with a fully usable touchscreen display. It is a high end business laptop built to be portable and sleek yet sturdy.

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Nick @nick

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Lat E7440 intermittent audio issues - any fix?

This happens with this E7440 randomly, but this is the ~4th or 5th occurrence of the issue: Laptop doesn’t hibernate right multiple times, audio stops working when I get forced into a reboot to a fresh desktop, I need to uninstall and reinstall the driver to fix it. Rinse and repeat as the audio drops dead again.

I have tried throwing the book at this laptop and nothing sticks - Reset the BIOS in the UI, pulled the CMOS battery and dumped the BIOS settings for the default checksum and tried to stop and restart the audio hardware in Device Manager - NOTHING fixes the issue short of uninstalling, rebooting, reinstalling the Dell driver and then it happens again.

Is there any way I can fix this, or at least quickly make sure it is (or isn’t) due to the motherboard? It’s seeming more like a motherboard level fault by the day, especially since it persists. It does pass system management testing (and audio tests) consistently when this happens, so I’m beginning to suspect a higher level intermittent fault.

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Hi @nick,

Have you tried updating the chipset drivers?

It does all the interfacing between the hardware and the CPU etc

jayeff 의 2021년 6월 11일

@jayeff For the Intel chipset or Realtek audio? I don't remember if I went Dell or Intel there for the vendor, or if I kept the Win10 driver as soon as it touched WiFi.

Nick 의 2021년 6월 11일

@nick

As you have the latest audio drivers installed I was thinking that you could try checking the Intel chipset drivers are the latest.

Also noticed that there was an "urgent update" for the Intel management Engine components as well for Win 10 64-bit (issued 2017 but still) which I'm assuming you have ;-) (look under Win 10 64-bit chipset category)

jayeff 의 2021년 6월 11일

@jayeff I'll have to check, but I think it's the Intel M$ provided driver. Version 10.1.1.18, while the Dell driver looks to be 11.7.0.1035(?). I'll try it later by uninstalling and reinstalling, but I can't at the moment - trying to figure it out. I did reinstall the chipset driver to see; I'll probably install the other Dell provided driver just in case.

It is an ME disabled machine (Code 3) per Dell: INFO,MGMT,INTEL,ME,DISABLE/ LBL,STNG,MGMT,MEBX,DISABLE,3/631-AABR : No Out-of-Band Systems Management.

One less issue when TSing :-).

I reinstalled the ME components (4J8MX) and chipset (GH5T3) - going to reinstall the audio driver later and see if it's fixed - it doesn't clear up any other way.

It was a Win8.1 system until it replaced my E6440 so yes it runs 10 now for consistently (and some programs dropped 8.x).

Nick 의 2021년 6월 11일

@jayeff weird development - threatened to remove the driver, audio came back. Still reinstalling.

Nick 의 2021년 6월 11일

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Nick @nick

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Went with the nuclear option. Tired of fighting the previous install.

Yes this weird graphical issue is not unusual for me and it also happens on my 840 G3 - this is not unique to Dell. It has no effect on the final installation so I can't justify finding why.

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Hi @nick,

Have you tried updating the chipset drivers?

It does all the interfacing between the hardware and the CPU etc — jayeff
@jayeff For the Intel chipset or Realtek audio? I don't remember if I went Dell or Intel there for the vendor, or if I kept the Win10 driver as soon as it touched WiFi. — Nick
@nick

As you have the latest audio drivers installed I was thinking that you could try checking the Intel chipset drivers are the latest.

Also noticed that there was an "urgent update" for the Intel management Engine components as well for Win 10 64-bit (issued 2017 but still) which I'm assuming you have ;-) (look under Win 10 64-bit chipset category) — jayeff
@jayeff I'll have to check, but I think it's the Intel M$ provided driver. Version 10.1.1.18, while the Dell driver looks to be 11.7.0.1035(?). I'll try it later by uninstalling and reinstalling, but I can't at the moment - trying to figure it out. I did reinstall the chipset driver to see; I'll probably install the other Dell provided driver just in case.

It is an ME disabled machine (Code 3) per Dell: INFO,MGMT,INTEL,ME,DISABLE/ LBL,STNG,MGMT,MEBX,DISABLE,3/631-AABR : No Out-of-Band Systems Management.

One less issue when TSing :-).

I reinstalled the ME components (4J8MX) and chipset (GH5T3) - going to reinstall the audio driver later and see if it's fixed - it doesn't clear up any other way.

It was a Win8.1 system until it replaced my E6440 so yes it runs 10 now for consistently (and some programs dropped 8.x). — Nick
@jayeff weird development - threatened to remove the driver, audio came back. Still reinstalling. — Nick

jayeff @jayeff 평판: 496.5k 11 384 1.5k · Answer 1 · 2021-06-18T21:47:49-07:00

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jayeff @jayeff

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Hi @nick,

Here’s some images from the schematic which shows the connection from the cable connector on the IO board to the chipset. maybe worth a look.

(click on image to enlarge for better viewing)

I’m assuming that it is just the switch that is not enabling/disabling the WiFi and not that the WiFi isn’t working at all or activated - check BIOS maybe for WLAN on/off option.

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It just doesn't switch on and off anymore in software at this point, as the switch no longer shows up to the driver (it used to) and the driver crashes. WiFi is fine, so seeing as it works without the switch and Win10 has a SW switch it's not an issue I feel the need to address anytime soon.

It has a tiring battery too, which would come first in the long term but due to the age of the notebook and the degrading battery I'm retiring it from production when it's too far gone. It works for the moment and rips CDs just fine (slower on reissues with bonus tracks, JP CDs and 2nd discs with lots of bonus songs, but that's it), so it's not worth the trouble yet.

Nick 의 2021년 6월 18일

And it's happening again, in a much more mild form - no driver reinstall needed yet, but it's gotten to a point I'm honestly at the point of transferring the data to another computer altogether. I can't keep reinstalling Windows every 3-6 months since I'll probably find my Win10 license blocked at some point, and it'll be finished due to the cost of a new one plus the audio issue.

On one hand heh; it's an OEM locked license which came from Win8 ;). On the other, if I lose it then I'm done on multiple fronts (HW, OS cost, 2025 EOL). Why would I buy a license when it'll be EOL in 4 years, nor can I upgrade officially past 10, especially with how fatal the compatibility shortcomings are (HSW, TPM 1.2)?

At this point, I'm just running it to the ground. It's at the end of life stage, seeing as it has audio issues, a tired battery, HSW/TPM 1.2 (no 11).

Nick 의 2021년 9월 7일

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