H-E-L-P!!! -- TRIED AND TRIED TO SOLVE MY MIC PROBLEM!

[cakruser]

I’ve been banging my head against the wall trying to get the onboard microphones to work. They’re super soft.

Via the SOUND RECORDER, my voice is one notch above a whisper.
Via the SIGHTSPEED microphone test, only a tad louder.

Via the CONTROL PANEL hardware test, well, a slightly different story—still quite soft but what comes out of the speakers is also garbled (whereas Sound Recorder and Sightspeed are soft but at least clear).

Music plays crystal clear and loud from the speakers, by the way.

I have a KX870AT running XP Professional Version 2002 with SP3 (legit disks)

*****************************

I’ve read the threads that discuss this problem and TRIED to download the Vista drivers everyone seems to feel will solve the problem.

I NEED HELP!!!

THIS thread was the last one I turned to for help:
http://www.hp2133guide.com/hp-2133-mini-note-drivers/

Here are the instructions.
Sound: install this patch [http://www.hp2133guide.com/drivers/H...ver-Patch.zip] first, and then these are the actual sound drivers [http://www.hp2133guide.com/drivers/H...nd-Driver.zip]. The sound drivers are actually for Vista, but they will still work. After you uncompress the files, the installer will fail because you don’t have Vista so you’ll have to manually install them. Go to the Device manager, and double click the question mark next to the sound device. Click on Update Driver and browse to the location of where you uncompressed the drivers at. Select the file in there and you’re set! open msconfig (Start > Run > msconfig > OK), go to the Startup tab and then uncheck the box next to smax4pnp to disable that annoying error when windows starts.

[This would be a good time to mention that THERE IS NO QUESTION MARK next to any sound device in Device Manager to double-click. Maybe that’s part of my problem!]

Okay, so per the above, I downloaded the KB888111WXPSP2 patch (‘this patch’ link) to Program Files\HPMini-Note-Sound-Driver-Patch and then unzipped it and ran the .exe.

I got the predictable error message:
SETUP ERROR
Setup has detected that the Service Pack version of this system is newer than the update you are applying. There is no need to install this update.

I did a RESTART.

Downloaded the drivers (‘the actual sound drivers’ link) to c:\swsetup\SP38873 and then unzipped them and ran the .exe. The setup procedure began.

I got the error message:
INSTALLATION FAILED
The Operating System is not supported by this software

I did ANOTHER RESTART.

I opened Device Manager > Sound,video, and game controller > SoundMax Integrated Digital HD Audio > Driver (tab)

I clicked the ‘Update Driver’ button and told it NOT to search the internet but to install from a list/specific location I give it, in this case: c:\swsetup\SP38873.

Now, there are, in addition to a number of individual files, FOUR SUB-FOLDERS in Folder SP38873:
i386
MUI
SM_EAX
SM_PANEL

I looked at the contents of each sub-folder and I THINK I want i386. Or do I want one/some of the individual files???

OR… is the whole notion that Vista drivers will solve the mic problem wrong? HP Support Live Chat – soooooo slow and useless – had me download:
ADI SoundMax AD1984A Audio Driver for MS Windows XP
Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) Bus Driver for Hi Def Audio (sp33967)
Slight volume improvement but it also made my voice echo like crazy.

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

Which of the SP38873 files are the drivers?

Do I need to delete any OLD drivers before I try to install/update with the new ones?

Are there other, newer XP drivers I should be loading?

IS IT a software issue at all, or did HP ship the 2133 with defective mics?

WHO CAN HELP???

[mikez]

You evidently missed the part of the directions you quoted that said: "before upgrading to SP3".
Those directions where written for people running SP2 - but you started with SP3 - it makes a difference.
- - - -
At least one person posted success by removing (with the device manager) every audio driver -
So what that does is delete the *NEW* (version-wise) drivers not the *OLD* (version-wise) drivers.
YMMV. Set a restore point before proceeding.

[cakruser]

You evidently missed the part of the directions you quoted that said: "before upgrading to SP3".
Those directions where written for people running SP2 - but you started with SP3 - it makes a difference.
- - - -
At least one person posted success by removing (with the device manager) every audio driver -
So what that does is delete the *NEW* (version-wise) drivers not the *OLD* (version-wise) drivers.
YMMV. Set a restore point before proceeding.

Am I just so deep into this that I'm blind? Where does it say "before upgrading to SP3?" Not that I saw anywhere in the thread I referenced. Some other one that discusses the mic issue?

So when you say to remove every audio driver, do you mean everything in the SoundMax sub-folder? I'm not sure I follow vis a vis the "NEW" vs. "OLD" drivers. My brain is mush by now (and not because I've been watching too much Hulu).

[juan david]

maybe the problem is you tried to update the driver, dont do it, delete the old driver completely and then use the vista driver when asked for it. This worked for me, but i have SP 2, in dont know how SP 3 will affect the process.

[cakruser]

maybe the problem is you tried to update the driver, dont do it, delete the old driver completely and then use the vista driver when asked for it. This worked for me, but i have SP 2, in dont know how SP 3 will affect the process.

Juan David, can you tell which specific files to delete and which specific new files to install? I'm new at this!

Thanks!

[juan david]

Go to control panel, system, hardware (tab), device manager.
There you should look for sound and game devices i think, and look for SoundMAX integrated ditila HD audio.
Uninstall that one, make sure you uninstall, because there is an option to inhabilitate (or something like that) and it wont work.
Then reboot windows, and when asked for the controller look for it manually and choose the vista one.
Keep in mind that my windows version is in spanish so some terms may differ in the exact name, and this is assuming you already did the patch, wich i think you did according to your last post.
If this does not work then maybe its the service pack 3, in wich case you would have to uninstall it. but try this first and if it doesent work, then try rolling back to sp2.
Also remember to turn on mic boost in the audio options.

[cakruser]

FAST FORWARD FOUR-AND-A-HALF MONTHS...

Followed your directions, juan david, and it worked perfectly. Mic level is still a tad soft but it's 200% better than it was.

Thanks, juan david!