No sound Windows ME

skippy71 · 11-19-2008, 04:10 PM

Windows ME, Compaq Presario 5000. Onboard audio (SoundMax Integrated Audio) has been disabled in BIOS. Philips Rhythmic Edge PCI sound card installed. Drivers installed fine, no errors at all in Device Manager. In "Sound and Audio" settings in CP, I see "No Playback Devices". Clicking on the Hardware tab, there are no error messages there, either.

Booting into Safe Mode, I noticed many more devices under Sound in Device Manager (about 15). In Normal Mode, I only see the Philips drivers. Could this be an indicator of the problem?

I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling Multimedia through Windows Setup. I've also tried removing everything under Device Manager/Sound (in Safe Mode), then had Windows re-discover the new hardware in Normal Mode. No problems in the re-discovery either.

Help! Thanks, all!

**blah789** · 11-19-2008, 06:27 PM

This won't help you, but in Windows 9x, if you boot in safe mode, all devices that have previously been detected (and had working drivers) will be listed in device manager - even if they're not really connected anymore. On some OEM setups you'll see a bunch of different graphics card you've never installed for example - that's the manufacturer installing all the drivers for various configurations of the PC's they sell - you don't need to worry about it though - it doesn't interfere with proper operation of Windows.

skippy71 · 11-20-2008, 12:30 AM

Thanks, Blah789.... that does help me. As I try to figure out this problem, at least I don't have to worry about comparing what is in Safe Mode device manager versus Normal Mode device manager.

Any additional tips like this are welcome, and certainly add up when it comes to trying to figure out these types of problems.

skippy71 · 11-20-2008, 10:33 AM

Problem solved - Turns out there was a missing line in my system.ini file. Under the BOOT section of the file, I had to add in the line 'drivers=mmsystem.dll'.

11-19-2008, 04:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
skippy71 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp, me, 2000	No sound Windows ME Windows ME, Compaq Presario 5000. Onboard audio (SoundMax Integrated Audio) has been disabled in BIOS. Philips Rhythmic Edge PCI sound card installed. Drivers installed fine, no errors at all in Device Manager. In "Sound and Audio" settings in CP, I see "No Playback Devices". Clicking on the Hardware tab, there are no error messages there, either. Booting into Safe Mode, I noticed many more devices under Sound in Device Manager (about 15). In Normal Mode, I only see the Philips drivers. Could this be an indicator of the problem? I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling Multimedia through Windows Setup. I've also tried removing everything under Device Manager/Sound (in Safe Mode), then had Windows re-discover the new hardware in Normal Mode. No problems in the re-discovery either. Help! Thanks, all!

11-19-2008, 06:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,304 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: No sound Windows ME This won't help you, but in Windows 9x, if you boot in safe mode, all devices that have previously been detected (and had working drivers) will be listed in device manager - even if they're not really connected anymore. On some OEM setups you'll see a bunch of different graphics card you've never installed for example - that's the manufacturer installing all the drivers for various configurations of the PC's they sell - you don't need to worry about it though - it doesn't interfere with proper operation of Windows.

11-20-2008, 12:30 AM	#3 (permalink)
skippy71 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp, me, 2000	Re: No sound Windows ME Thanks, Blah789.... that does help me. As I try to figure out this problem, at least I don't have to worry about comparing what is in Safe Mode device manager versus Normal Mode device manager. Any additional tips like this are welcome, and certainly add up when it comes to trying to figure out these types of problems.

11-20-2008, 10:33 AM	#4 (permalink)
skippy71 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp, me, 2000	Re: No sound Windows ME Problem solved - Turns out there was a missing line in my system.ini file. Under the BOOT section of the file, I had to add in the line 'drivers=mmsystem.dll'.