use system speaker for audio playback

waterprism · 12-23-2006, 04:50 PM

Hi,

This is an odd question and I don't know if this is the right forum but I can't seem to find a closer one for this question.

Is there any way to make the internal system speaker play back audio? Okay, it's strange. I had a 486 with Windows 95 on it and the system speaker played back system sounds and internet sounds and I didn't think twice about it. I got a Pentium with Windows 98 and it doesn't play back any sound (except that default little popping sound when you make an error). With Windows 95 I even used to use the little Sound Recorder to mix my own little sounds for the opening and closing of programs and other system events :) Now with Windows 98 I just get "Sound Recorder cannot record or play back because a sound device is not installed. To install a sound device, click 'Add New Hardware' in Control Panel."

Have Microsoft just made it that post Windows 95 you have to go out and buy speakers and a soundcard or is there any way to make the system speaker play back audio? I know the speaker does work because it plays back some sounds in games but not in IE or system sounds.

Thank you very much,

waterprism

**OldGrayGary** · 12-23-2006, 05:22 PM

Hi waterprism

From the error messages you describe, it seems that your system either doesn't have a sound card at all, or if one is present, it's drivers haven't been installed yet.

Right-click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, then select "Properties". Then choose "Device Manager", and look for a category in the resulting list such as "sound, video, and game controllers". Click on the plus (+) sign before that category, and see if a sound card is listed. If no sound device is listed, see if there are any yellow exclamation marks or red Xs as you look through Device Manager. Let us know about these if you find any.

If the computer is a major-brand computer, post its make/model, & we can point you to a website where you can download and install the correct "drivers" (software that helps Windows use your sound card correctly).

If you see three small "mini-RCA" plugs (about the size of the plugs you use for portable CD-player headphones) in the back of your computer, one pink, one pale green, and one slightly blue -- then you likely have either a sound card already physically installed, or have "onboard sound" [like having a sound card built into the main circuit board ("motherboard") of your computer]. And we'll have to find out just what sound device it is. If it's a major brand, that information might be on the vendor's website. If it's a home-built computer, we can recommend some ways of checking on that.

The issue of being able to play back sounds through the tiny speaker inside the case is a separate one: and I have to recommend that you attach some modestly priced external speakers, if you want to be able to hear the sounds, voice, and music clearly [entry-level speakers can be had for as little as $10 (USD)].

Have a look in on Device Manager, and at the back of the computer, and let us know what you've found.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

waterprism · 12-23-2006, 07:51 PM

OGG, thank you. I appreciate your help.

I don't have anything in device manager relating to sound (except my external duxbury voice modem... I couldn't use that for playback could I? : ) I don't seem to have a soundcard per se installed but I'm really not sure if one is integrated into the motherboard. It's a secondhand computer and all I can tell you is that it says mecer on the stack but I'm sure it's all grey inside.

Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.

waterprism

Jlp1928 · 12-24-2006, 02:26 PM

Hi Waterprism, There is a driver for Win 3.1 that uses the system speaker as if there was a sounds card. It's called Speaker Driver and may still be available from Microsoft. It does work with 95 and 98. The audio quality is terrible as the driver for the speaker is only one transistor, but it does work. Try to download it.

Good Luck, Jim

**kodi** · 12-24-2006, 03:30 PM

Download and run Everest Home (link in my Signature) it will tell you what hardware you have on your computer.
Post the details here and we can then help you

**OldGrayGary** · 12-24-2006, 04:15 PM

Hi again

Kodi's recommendation of using Everest Home to help identify your system's components is a good one. Hopefully that will let us know if you have something that will work. I'd expect that you have a good chance. If you can see the back of your computer case, do try to take a look & see if there are the three-in-a-row little connector-plugs (the pink, green, and blue that I mentioned earlier - some aren't color-matched, and are just black or silver).

While looking in the back, see if Mecer put a model # sticker there - or if they were nice enough to emboss the model # into the case plastics somewhere (often in the front). Here's Mecer's homepage, they have a support # and support email you can try, in case you want to try to get more info from them... http://www.mecer.co.za/index.php

They do have archived drivers from the Windows 98 models - but I couldn't easily find any older model information to know which you'd need. The archived drivers are on their support pages: follow the link right there on their main homepage.

If you have no sound at all, modest sound cards for basic sound can still be purchased for older systems [they start around $10 (USD) here in the States], and speakers start at about the same price. You shouldn't need to bother with expensive cards and speakers for an older computer - which might be coming nearer to the "I'm all worn-out" phase for some of it's moving parts.

You can also try a visit to Windows Update: you might luck into an update for a sound device that Windows Update detects in your system. (And you can always uninstall that update, should it not work).

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[P.S. .... Windows Update still works for Windows 98 computers, it just isn't updated any more. But anything still available for your system should be shown in the list for downloading and installing.]

waterprism · 12-25-2006, 03:05 PM

Hi,

Thank you all. kodi, I'll download Everest soon (dial-up...) and I appreciate it.

Jim, lol, I just discovered speak.exe myself. For those who want it, this guy has it - http://www.geocities.com/dsaproject/sounds/speaker.html Yup, it's pretty sketchy but at least I can concoct my little system sounds again :)

OGG, got all kinds of time for you, thanks. No, I don't have those little inputs but I'll download Everest soon and see if maybe there is a soundcard in there somewhere.

Thanks.

waterprism

Jlp1928 · 12-26-2006, 07:46 AM

Hi again Waterprism, Thanks for the thanks. Jim

12-23-2006, 04:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
waterprism Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 13 OS: Windows XP Professional	use system speaker for audio playback Hi, This is an odd question and I don't know if this is the right forum but I can't seem to find a closer one for this question. Is there any way to make the internal system speaker play back audio? Okay, it's strange. I had a 486 with Windows 95 on it and the system speaker played back system sounds and internet sounds and I didn't think twice about it. I got a Pentium with Windows 98 and it doesn't play back any sound (except that default little popping sound when you make an error). With Windows 95 I even used to use the little Sound Recorder to mix my own little sounds for the opening and closing of programs and other system events :) Now with Windows 98 I just get "Sound Recorder cannot record or play back because a sound device is not installed. To install a sound device, click 'Add New Hardware' in Control Panel." Have Microsoft just made it that post Windows 95 you have to go out and buy speakers and a soundcard or is there any way to make the system speaker play back audio? I know the speaker does work because it plays back some sounds in games but not in IE or system sounds. Thank you very much, waterprism

12-23-2006, 05:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Hi waterprism From the error messages you describe, it seems that your system either doesn't have a sound card at all, or if one is present, it's drivers haven't been installed yet. Right-click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, then select "Properties". Then choose "Device Manager", and look for a category in the resulting list such as "sound, video, and game controllers". Click on the plus (+) sign before that category, and see if a sound card is listed. If no sound device is listed, see if there are any yellow exclamation marks or red Xs as you look through Device Manager. Let us know about these if you find any. If the computer is a major-brand computer, post its make/model, & we can point you to a website where you can download and install the correct "drivers" (software that helps Windows use your sound card correctly). If you see three small "mini-RCA" plugs (about the size of the plugs you use for portable CD-player headphones) in the back of your computer, one pink, one pale green, and one slightly blue -- then you likely have either a sound card already physically installed, or have "onboard sound" [like having a sound card built into the main circuit board ("motherboard") of your computer]. And we'll have to find out just what sound device it is. If it's a major brand, that information might be on the vendor's website. If it's a home-built computer, we can recommend some ways of checking on that. The issue of being able to play back sounds through the tiny speaker inside the case is a separate one: and I have to recommend that you attach some modestly priced external speakers, if you want to be able to hear the sounds, voice, and music clearly [entry-level speakers can be had for as little as $10 (USD)]. Have a look in on Device Manager, and at the back of the computer, and let us know what you've found. Best of luck . . . Gary __________________

12-24-2006, 03:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,397 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	Download and run Everest Home (link in my Signature) it will tell you what hardware you have on your computer. Post the details here and we can then help you __________________ Brian

12-24-2006, 04:15 PM	#6 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Hi again Kodi's recommendation of using Everest Home to help identify your system's components is a good one. Hopefully that will let us know if you have something that will work. I'd expect that you have a good chance. If you can see the back of your computer case, do try to take a look & see if there are the three-in-a-row little connector-plugs (the pink, green, and blue that I mentioned earlier - some aren't color-matched, and are just black or silver). While looking in the back, see if Mecer put a model # sticker there - or if they were nice enough to emboss the model # into the case plastics somewhere (often in the front). Here's Mecer's homepage, they have a support # and support email you can try, in case you want to try to get more info from them... http://www.mecer.co.za/index.php They do have archived drivers from the Windows 98 models - but I couldn't easily find any older model information to know which you'd need. The archived drivers are on their support pages: follow the link right there on their main homepage. If you have no sound at all, modest sound cards for basic sound can still be purchased for older systems [they start around $10 (USD) here in the States], and speakers start at about the same price. You shouldn't need to bother with expensive cards and speakers for an older computer - which might be coming nearer to the "I'm all worn-out" phase for some of it's moving parts. You can also try a visit to Windows Update: you might luck into an update for a sound device that Windows Update detects in your system. (And you can always uninstall that update, should it not work). Best of luck . . . Gary [P.S. .... Windows Update still works for Windows 98 computers, it just isn't updated any more. But anything still available for your system should be shown in the list for downloading and installing.] __________________ Last edited by OldGrayGary; 12-24-2006 at 04:18 PM.

12-23-2006, 07:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
waterprism Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 13 OS: Windows XP Professional	OGG, thank you. I appreciate your help. I don't have anything in device manager relating to sound (except my external duxbury voice modem... I couldn't use that for playback could I? : ) I don't seem to have a soundcard per se installed but I'm really not sure if one is integrated into the motherboard. It's a secondhand computer and all I can tell you is that it says mecer on the stack but I'm sure it's all grey inside. Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it. waterprism

12-24-2006, 02:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
Jlp1928 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 440 OS: Win98, XP, 2000	Hi Waterprism, There is a driver for Win 3.1 that uses the system speaker as if there was a sounds card. It's called Speaker Driver and may still be available from Microsoft. It does work with 95 and 98. The audio quality is terrible as the driver for the speaker is only one transistor, but it does work. Try to download it. Good Luck, Jim

12-25-2006, 03:05 PM	#7 (permalink)
waterprism Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 13 OS: Windows XP Professional	Hi, Thank you all. kodi, I'll download Everest soon (dial-up...) and I appreciate it. Jim, lol, I just discovered speak.exe myself. For those who want it, this guy has it - http://www.geocities.com/dsaproject/sounds/speaker.html Yup, it's pretty sketchy but at least I can concoct my little system sounds again :) OGG, got all kinds of time for you, thanks. No, I don't have those little inputs but I'll download Everest soon and see if maybe there is a soundcard in there somewhere. Thanks. waterprism

12-26-2006, 07:46 AM	#8 (permalink)
Jlp1928 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 440 OS: Win98, XP, 2000	Hi again Waterprism, Thanks for the thanks. Jim