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Lack of sound on pc

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  buccaneer 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,
I just encountered a pc (my nephew's), which has an audio problem. The pc, which has an integrated audio chip does not have any sound. Tried the basic things like checking that the volume is turned up, there is no exclamation marks in the device manager against the sound card entry, the drivers have been updated, checked the speakers on another pc and a phone and it works with both, went to control panel and checked that the default audio output is correctly displayed.
The only difference I see in the control panel speaker properties is that in his pc, all three jacks are shown in the jack info while on mine, only the green is shown. The audio chip on both our pcs is Realtek high definition audio. I am not tech savvy enough to know what the problem could be, perhaps the audio port is damaged? When I put in the speaker jack the speaker gave a single spluttering sound, but no actual audio is coming through the speakers. If the audio chip was shot, it would show up as an exclamation mark bound in yellow in the device manager, would it not?
I hope someone will be able to give me advice about how to troubleshoot this please. *fingers crossed*
 
#2 ·
Have you tested the speakers in rear panel and the front panel ports?

You can try manually updating/reinstalling the audio drivers.

But based on everything you have done so far, and assuming the speakers don't work in either port, I'd say the audio chipset is faulty.
 
#3 ·
Thank you for replying Sir, and yes the speakers have been tested with both the front and rear panel ports but no joy. Tried manually updating the drivers and also reinstalling them, again to no avail. I suppose you are right Sir, the audio chip must have gone kaput, though no yellow triangle with exclamation mark is shown in the device manager. So really Sir, nothing more to do than get a separate sound card and see if the pc emits sounds through that, right?
 
#4 · (Edited)
It's been my experience that sound modules are extremely susceptible to static discharge. This can occur when someone (or someone's pet) touches a headphone or speaker without first discharging static electricity.

Follow the recommendations outlined on the MS site. If none of them work then, as stated above, the sound module is probably damaged.

The fortunate thing is that sound cards are relatively inexpensive. If you would give us the make and model of the system we could advise your further but if it has at least one unused PCI or PCI-e slot it only takes a couple of minutes to install a sound card.

I've had good luck with this ASUS sound card. Not only is it one of the less expensive ones out there ($17 after rebate), it produces excellent sound. This version requires a PCI slot (the PCIe version is more expensive).

ASUS XONAR DG Headphone Amp & PCI 5.1 Audio Card
 
#5 ·
Thank you for posting Sir, I frankly did not know touching a speaker or headphone could cause the sound card/chip to fry. Thank you for telling me that, and perhaps that is what happened in this case. Everyone I know who has a pc just handles the speaker/headset without discharging static electricity. I'd got several pc's assembled over the years but no tech ever warned me of this. All I was told in my computer class was to touch something metallic before handling the motherboard. Will be more careful in the future ofcourse. Thank you for the link Sir, but I had already done the things outlined there. The pc I am talking about is an assembled one and if I remember correctly, there are a couple of PCI slots in the motherboard and PCI express slot. I will tell my nephew about what you said, he just wants the sound for his gaming and movies, the card neednt be anything fancy, afterall he (and I),have just got two small speakers on our PCs. I personally think he'll go for the cheapest card available. (We are in India btw, so 17 dollars is more than 1000 bucks in our money, I saw some soundcards for like 450 bucks in our money on a couple of sites.) Thank you again, Sir, for responding, it's been a very great thing to have got help from both of you, as neither my nephew nor me are very computer savvy.
 
#6 ·
If funds are tight you might want to visit a local computer shop. Oftentimes they have working used components for a fraction of the price of new ones. Be aware though that older-model sound cards may be lacking drivers for newer operating systems.
 
#7 ·
That is indeed a great idea Sir, I will go see at the local computer shops to see whether they havent got a second hand sound card. Nephew's PC runs Win7 so I'll ask if they have got drivers for that. Again, very much grateful to you Sir, for the idea.
 
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