Author Topic: Sound = gone (Read 361 times)

Tarmac · « **on:** February 14, 2004, 04:48:07 PM »

Hi all. Need some help.

Just got a new hard drive. Installed the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools. Tried to run it, windows encounters an error and closes program. No biggie. I uninstall it, reinstall it, same error. I download it from WD's website. Works fine.

About this time I notice that my computer has no sound anymore. I check all the mute settings, both in control panel/sound and in Windows Media player. All looks good. Check sound in other programs (AIM, Aces High, etc). Nothing.

My computer has an option to turn on a voice check on start up (before getting to windows). It's basically a message saying "system completed power-on self check." This works fine, so it's something within windows.

Reinstalled sound drivers next. Still no sound.

Called WD tech support. Level 2 techs won't be in until monday, and the level 1 tech is an idiot. ASUS tech support isn't open on weekends.

Mobo is an a7n8x deluxe with onboard sound.

Any help would be much appreciated. I'm stumped, and I can't wait until monday to figure out what's wrong. Thanks in advance.

AKS\/\/ulfe · « **Reply #1 on:** February 14, 2004, 05:07:55 PM »

Check for conflicts in the device manager, make sure the sound card is being given non-conflicting addresses, DMA and IRQ.

Uninstall the lifeguard tools (I really don't think you even need those, I've had a WD 30GB for 3 years with no problems and only using scandisk/defrag every few months) and see if the sound comes back. If it does come back on, then maybe the lifeguard tools has sound enabled for its menu and you should disable that if you choose to reinstall it. If it doesn't come back on, then I really don't know.
-SW

beet1e · « **Reply #2 on:** February 14, 2004, 06:34:52 PM »

Tarmac! Hello again.

Disregard what Wulf said if you're using the onboard sound. (Sorry, Wulf!) But if you are, why the heck are you installing sound drivers, and what exactly are the sound drivers you're installing? Could they be clashing with the onboard sound function? Are these drivers for a redundant soundcard?

I have that very same board - it's a damn good board. I was using the Creative SB Live Value! sound card, but uninstalled it when I was trying to solve another problem. I've been using the onboard sound ever since, having discovered that it is very good indeed. So no need to bother with a sound card. The onboard sound also works well for Aces High if you're using a headset with attached mike... So if you're still using a dedicated PCI soundcard, consider dumping it in favour of the onboard sound. Yes I know - onboard sound used to be crap, but this is Asus/Nforce we are talking about.

Not knowing what those "sound drivers" are that you've installed, my best guess is for you to reinstall the Nvidia drivers for the mobo. I'm using the 3.13 set, and didn't need to install any "sound drivers". The file name you're looking for is nForce_3.13_WinXP2K_WHQL_english.exe - for W2K or WXP. You may already have that. If not, download it from the Nvidia website.

Try that, and if it doesn't work, post back.

Tarmac · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2004, 08:18:50 PM »

Thanks for the replies.

That's exactly what I installed, Beetle. 3.13's, straight off the Nvidia website. All the board drivers (incl. sound driver) are in that driver package.

Still no good.

The whole reason I upgraded to the deluxe board was for the upgraded onboard sound - I know it's good.

No PCI sound card in the box.

Any other ideas?

I'll check IRQ's, although I'll be fumbling around since I don't really know what I'm looking for.

Tarmac · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2004, 08:56:58 PM »

Looks like the audio is sharing IRQ's with various things (USB and Firewire stuff).
However, I don't know how to change it, what to change it to, or even if I should change it.

I checked all the properties for the IRQ sharing devices, and they all report no conflicts.

bloom25 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 14, 2004, 09:46:31 PM »

IRQs above 15 don't actually exist. They are sort of like virtual IRQs. By default, everything in Windows 2k/xp shares IRQ 9. That's why IRQ 9 says ACPI compliant system. You cannot change this, and you don't need to.

You might try looking to see if the nVidia audio is not selected as the preferred playback device. In Win2k this is under the sounds option on the control panel on the audio tab. Under XP it should be in a similar location.

Tarmac · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2004, 10:16:09 PM »

DING!!!!!

Found it. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Bloom.

For some reason, .wav audio files were muted, but all others were ok. I guess this screws .mp3's too.

Well, I have music now. Thanks for the help everyone!

Hap · « **Reply #7 on:** February 15, 2004, 07:08:05 AM »

i have the same mobo as you. i used the drivers that asus provided on the cd.

ozrocker · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2004, 10:24:44 AM »

I had the same problem. Do you have soundmax integrated audio? If so, go to Asus, downloads, look for a zipped download for drivers/update. They give 3 download area options, USA would'nt start, so pick global. Download drivers, unzip, should work. Seems that xp overwrites all your integrated drivers with their default Legacy stuff. Good Luck, Oz