Question Replaced (upgraded) mobo in Dell XPS 13, now have no speaker audio

[midrange]

Motherboard went out on my wife's XPS 13 9350 laptop. I board a direct fit replacement, but the new board had an i7 processor instead of the original i5. It was listed as direct swap, and it was indeed otherwise a direct swap.

After the swap, I had to update to uefi and raid in the bios in order to get it to start up. Otherwise, install went fine and no issues other than missing audio.

Audio through headphone jack works, but built in speakers no longer do. I can hear a faint click click or pop sound repeatedly when sound is trying to be played. This leads me to believe the speakers are getting power but it's an output issue of some kind.

I've checked to make sure speakers are set as default in audio output settings (there's no other choice). I updated all drivers from Dell's website. Then I ran a Windows reset and fresh OS install from cloud (removed apps but kept files). Still no audio.

At this point I'm beginning to wonder if it's an actual motherboard issue? Is there anything else I can do? How could I determine faulty mobo

 

[stonecarver]

Is there anything else I can do?

I will admit I'm 100% guilty of doing this on laptop repairs. Forgetting to plug back in the speakers to the motherboard while in there. Could there be a chance of that.

 

[midrange]

I will admit I'm 100% guilty of doing this on laptop repairs. Forgetting to plug back in the speakers to the motherboard while in there. Could there be a chance of that.

Haha, yes that's one of the first things I opened back up to check. Unless there's wiring damage or something, but I couldn't find any signs of that. And also like I mentioned, there is this small clicking noise coming from the speakers, but it's pretty hard to tell.

 

[punkncat]

Does Device Manager show everything has a driver? No yellow triangles?

By the way, just wanted to comment that was some good sleuthing to not only find the correct fitment, but for the i7 update as well. Aside from the hit to battery life, this should be a breath of fresh air for that laptop. Kudos. (and hoping you can solve the sound issue)

 

[midrange]

Does Device Manager show everything has a driver? No yellow triangles?

By the way, just wanted to comment that was some good sleuthing to not only find the correct fitment, but for the i7 update as well. Aside from the hit to battery life, this should be a breath of fresh air for that laptop. Kudos. (and hoping you can solve the sound issue)

Hey thanks! Yes, nothing shows with an error in device manager. What looked odd though, to me, is that even though I install the realtek driver from Dell, in device manager the speakers/headphones under "audio inputs and output" shows the driver provider is Microsoft. If I click on Driver Details, it says no driver files are required or have been provided.

However, the Realtek audio under "sound controllers" does show the realtek drivers. I'm not sure if it's normal or not for the realtek driver package to only be installing on the controller alone.

 

[punkncat]

Did the motherboard you are using come out of the specific model you are searching drivers on Dell's site for?

Dell likes to do this "service tag" thing and from time to time will use some strange parts/hardware. I recall having a pretty specific issue about a touchpad with them one time, I recall one of the options being "Alps", cannot recall the other, but for some strange reason had to go to a slightly different model and get the driver for it instead. If this motherboard is from another model, even a letter or so off, try searching it.

edit- Try Intel Driver and Support Assistant?
Dell has something also, Dell SupportAssist, which will run a short check and might find it.