Can't get the audio working on my PC.

Quimbly · 10-23-2006, 01:14 AM

I can’t get the sound on my PC to work. It used to work just fine, then, one day, it stopped working, and I haven’t been able to get it working since.

My system is Windows XP Pro SP2.
My motherboard is ASUS A7N266.
I recently purchased a new PCI sound card (Creative Sound Blaster 128 – CT4810).

I know that it’s not a problem with wiring or my speakers. I have tested the cables and speakers with my laptop and they work fine.

It seems like the audio “device” is just simply not recognized. From the Control Panel, when I go to “Sounds and Audio Devices”, I see the message: “No Audio Devices”. So, there’s the problem. Of course, the issue is that I DO indeed have an audio device, so this statement is wrong.

I was originally using the onboard sound card with my motherboard. I never had any problems with it. After the sound disappeared, I tried the following:

I uninstalled and reinstalled the latest driver for the motherboard and sound card – same problem. I disabled and then enabled the device – same problem. I checked the IRQs, looking for a conflict – there wasn’t one. Looking in the device manager, there were no yellow exclamation points, and all of the devices listed under “Sound, Video, and Game Controllers” had properties which all said “This device is working properly”. I even ran the Windows Audio Troubleshooter – it was useless and didn’t get me anywhere.

Thinking it was a problem with my motherboard’s audio hardware, I went out and bought a PCI audio card (see above). According to some docs I read on the web, I needed to disable my onboard audio through BIOS in order to get the PCI card to work. I did this. Next I installed the driver for the sound card. Everything seemed to go fine.

Looking in the device manager currently, all items under the “Sound, Video, and Game Controllers” section are ok and have no yellow exclamation points (and have properties which say “This device is working properly”) except the “Game Port for Creative” item. Big deal, I figure…

But now, I still have the same things as before.: The audio “device” is just not recognized. Under “Sounds and Audio Devices”, I see the message: “No Audio Devices”.

As I mentioned before, my audio used to work just fine. For years. Then, I used my computer one day and the audio was completely gone! Argh! This is driving me nuts! Please HELP!

1. Can anyone fathom what could possibly be going on?

2. Can anyone give me some suggestions on how I can diagnose the problem, or steps I can take to correct the problem?

~~Wozer~~ · 10-24-2006, 08:59 AM

I had situations similar to this years ago, in the days before I had a clue and had a firewall...

it is possible that you have been hacked or obtained a virus or been exposed to a malicious script that has affected you...

I did a quick google search for 'sound card registry entries' and got a couple of hits...perhaps doing the same and seeing what's up with your registry might help...

unfortunately, I am not a general sound card guru..in fact, I am no sort of computer guru at all, just a carpenter who makes his own because I found that the ppl who made my first 2 machines for music use were idiots...so I learned myself how to build, and that problem is solved...

anyways, as noted, I am not a guru, so my best (and perhaps lamer) advice would be that if all fails, reformat and do a clean install of everything (my usual solution when I decide that the amount of time I would spend 'fixing' a problem would be more than just reformatting )..and of course, before you do that, backup all important data for transfer to the new system...

good luck

Quimbly · 10-24-2006, 09:34 PM

UPDATE: Based on a good suggestions from another forum, I tried to perform a Windows XP Repair installation from the XP Setup CD. Unfortunately, this failed. However, I DID clone my disk and re-install XP onto that hard drive. Guess what? The audio worked fine. So! That tells me that the problem is most likely with the Windows XP Audio sub-system (i.e. Windows Audio Service, DLLs, etc.).

So, now what I need help with is figuring out how to re-install the Windows audio "sub-system". Does anyone know how I can do this? Does anyone have a list of DLLs and other files I'd need to extract from the XP setup CD (and where to find them) in order to completely reset XP's audio?

Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Quimbly · 10-25-2006, 03:44 AM

Well, I did finally manage to get my sound working again. I used the Windows XP Repair Installation tool, but I ran into some problems with it:

I first cloned my disk and then tried the XP repair installation on the cloned drive. I think there were some errors or indexes on the drive that were out of whack that prevented the XP setup from properly recognizing the XP installation on the drive. That's what threw me off to begin with.

Later, I tried the XP Repair Installation on my actual drive, and similarly the setup couldn't detect the XP installation. The problem this time, however, was that my disk is formatted with a single 200GB partition. My Windows XP setup CD is one of the old ones that didn't recognize drives larger than 137GB. To solve this, I had to borrow a more recent XP Setup CD.

Anyway, long story short, my sound now works! The repair installation somehow knocked out my wireless adapter, which I had to re-install, but aside from that, everything else seems to look good. And best of all, my sound now works! Hooray!

For anyone curious, this is link I used for help in using the XP repair installtion tool:
http://www.informationweek.com/windo...leID=189400897

10-23-2006, 01:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
Quimbly Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5 OS: XP SP2	Can't get the audio working on my PC. I can’t get the sound on my PC to work. It used to work just fine, then, one day, it stopped working, and I haven’t been able to get it working since. My system is Windows XP Pro SP2. My motherboard is ASUS A7N266. I recently purchased a new PCI sound card (Creative Sound Blaster 128 – CT4810). I know that it’s not a problem with wiring or my speakers. I have tested the cables and speakers with my laptop and they work fine. It seems like the audio “device” is just simply not recognized. From the Control Panel, when I go to “Sounds and Audio Devices”, I see the message: “No Audio Devices”. So, there’s the problem. Of course, the issue is that I DO indeed have an audio device, so this statement is wrong. I was originally using the onboard sound card with my motherboard. I never had any problems with it. After the sound disappeared, I tried the following: I uninstalled and reinstalled the latest driver for the motherboard and sound card – same problem. I disabled and then enabled the device – same problem. I checked the IRQs, looking for a conflict – there wasn’t one. Looking in the device manager, there were no yellow exclamation points, and all of the devices listed under “Sound, Video, and Game Controllers” had properties which all said “This device is working properly”. I even ran the Windows Audio Troubleshooter – it was useless and didn’t get me anywhere. Thinking it was a problem with my motherboard’s audio hardware, I went out and bought a PCI audio card (see above). According to some docs I read on the web, I needed to disable my onboard audio through BIOS in order to get the PCI card to work. I did this. Next I installed the driver for the sound card. Everything seemed to go fine. Looking in the device manager currently, all items under the “Sound, Video, and Game Controllers” section are ok and have no yellow exclamation points (and have properties which say “This device is working properly”) except the “Game Port for Creative” item. Big deal, I figure… But now, I still have the same things as before.: The audio “device” is just not recognized. Under “Sounds and Audio Devices”, I see the message: “No Audio Devices”. As I mentioned before, my audio used to work just fine. For years. Then, I used my computer one day and the audio was completely gone! Argh! This is driving me nuts! Please HELP! 1. Can anyone fathom what could possibly be going on? 2. Can anyone give me some suggestions on how I can diagnose the problem, or steps I can take to correct the problem?

10-24-2006, 08:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
~~Wozer~~ Troubled Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,038 OS: 2kpro/XP pro/MCE	I had situations similar to this years ago, in the days before I had a clue and had a firewall... it is possible that you have been hacked or obtained a virus or been exposed to a malicious script that has affected you... I did a quick google search for 'sound card registry entries' and got a couple of hits...perhaps doing the same and seeing what's up with your registry might help... unfortunately, I am not a general sound card guru..in fact, I am no sort of computer guru at all, just a carpenter who makes his own because I found that the ppl who made my first 2 machines for music use were idiots...so I learned myself how to build, and that problem is solved... anyways, as noted, I am not a guru, so my best (and perhaps lamer) advice would be that if all fails, reformat and do a clean install of everything (my usual solution when I decide that the amount of time I would spend 'fixing' a problem would be more than just reformatting )..and of course, before you do that, backup all important data for transfer to the new system... good luck

10-24-2006, 09:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
Quimbly Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5 OS: XP SP2	UPDATE: Based on a good suggestions from another forum, I tried to perform a Windows XP Repair installation from the XP Setup CD. Unfortunately, this failed. However, I DID clone my disk and re-install XP onto that hard drive. Guess what? The audio worked fine. So! That tells me that the problem is most likely with the Windows XP Audio sub-system (i.e. Windows Audio Service, DLLs, etc.). So, now what I need help with is figuring out how to re-install the Windows audio "sub-system". Does anyone know how I can do this? Does anyone have a list of DLLs and other files I'd need to extract from the XP setup CD (and where to find them) in order to completely reset XP's audio? Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated!

10-25-2006, 03:44 AM	#4 (permalink)
Quimbly Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5 OS: XP SP2	Well, I did finally manage to get my sound working again. I used the Windows XP Repair Installation tool, but I ran into some problems with it: I first cloned my disk and then tried the XP repair installation on the cloned drive. I think there were some errors or indexes on the drive that were out of whack that prevented the XP setup from properly recognizing the XP installation on the drive. That's what threw me off to begin with. Later, I tried the XP Repair Installation on my actual drive, and similarly the setup couldn't detect the XP installation. The problem this time, however, was that my disk is formatted with a single 200GB partition. My Windows XP setup CD is one of the old ones that didn't recognize drives larger than 137GB. To solve this, I had to borrow a more recent XP Setup CD. Anyway, long story short, my sound now works! The repair installation somehow knocked out my wireless adapter, which I had to re-install, but aside from that, everything else seems to look good. And best of all, my sound now works! Hooray! For anyone curious, this is link I used for help in using the XP repair installtion tool: http://www.informationweek.com/windo...leID=189400897