Submission + - Dell Plugs the Analog Hole via Vista Drivers
Dr_Xadium writes: "For months, irate Dell customers whose computers ship with a Sigmatel audio chipset have complained that line-in / microphone monitoring (the feature on that lets you listen to what passing through your soundcard from an external source on your speakers (like when you run your TV through your card's input to take advantage of its 5.1 surround decoder) has been completely disabled in software, using their Vista drivers to basically remove a feature that has been a stock part of soundcard technology for almost 20 years. Dell even tried to claim that line-in monitoring was an "advanced feature" and that it wouldn't be supported on "low-end" soundcards, but quickly backpedaled. Users have resorted to using drivers from rival hardware manufacturer LG or hacking the Vista registry to try and reclaim the functionality that no one ever expected to lose. Unfortunately, the solution doesn't work for everyone, and even though the hardware itself supports monitoring, users are left in the dark as Dell continually promises to provide a revised driver which re-enables monitoring but fails to deliver, even going so far as to suggest users use the WinXP driver instead (which also doesn't work for everyone) Is Dell dragging its feet or tacitly co-operating in a plan to close the "analog hole?" Will we see more actions like this from other OEMs in the future?"
