Reinstalled WinXP & still NO audio

[LiLFrustrated]

:o
I apologize for LONG post but wanted to explain things & hope someone can help.


Ok I lost my audio after updating to SP3 & tried everything I read on internet to fix it but Realtek drivers would not install,,, kb888111xpsp2 would not install or fix it (even did the changing in registry to CDVersion so it thought I had sp2).
I literally tried about a million different solutions in the course of 2 weeks & no success. At one point, I even got the sound test on DXDIAG to play sounds through my speakers & pass but still had no audio devices in Sound Control.


Finally, I decided to reinstall a fresh copy of WinXP Pro on a new clean partition (which created a duel boot config now).
The Dell CD had SP2 included on disc & I installed my motherboard drivers (nForce 650i SLI 15.23) with chipset & then attempted to install the Audio drivers (Realtek ALC888) which at the time, was Realtek High Definition Audio System Software Ver:R1.81 (but moved up to version 2.06 since I started).

It automatically installed the Microsoft High Definition Audio Driver Package - KB888111 when installing but still no audio & drivers didn't even appear in device manager (only in Add/Remove)
When I tried to uninstall, I got error "Remove Realtek HD Audio Driver Failure !" but it still finished uninstalling & seemed to be uninstalled.....removed KB888111 also.

Strange thing is, the sound works fine through my USB Sennheiser (PC135) headset on my fresh XP install & continues to work but I believe the headset has its own soundcard or something.

I'm going crazy..please tell me someone has a solution


I have Everest if needed and KB888111 acts like it installs but doesn't show up anywhere like it's installed.
I have a Dell 630i
WinXP Pro SP2
Integrated Audio (Realtek ALC888)
Nvidia motherboard but Everest says:
Field Value
Motherboard ID 07/15/2008-C55-MCP51-6A61Im35C-00





SiSoftware Sandra says:

System

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU Q6850 @ 3.00GHz
Speed : 3GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Internal Data Cache : 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 4MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

System
System : Dell Inc XPS 630i
Mainboard : Dell Inc 0PP150
Bus(es) : ISA PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
System BIOS : Dell Inc. 1.0.8
Total Memory : 3.25GB

Chipset
Model : Dell C55 Host Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 333MHz (1.33GHz)

Video System
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX (768MB DDR3, 533MHz/1.24GHz/2x900MHz, PCIe 1.00 x16, PS3.0, VS3.0, 2 Heads)
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX (768MB DDR3, 533MHz/1.24GHz/2x900MHz, PCIe 1.00 x16, PS3.0, VS3.0)

Graphics Processor
Adapter : GeForce 8800 GTX (1.00, 768MB, 1.35GHz)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Dell MCP51 LPC Bridge
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Dell MCP51 Parallel ATA Controller
Disk Controller : Dell MCP51 Serial ATA Controller
Disk Controller : Dell MCP51 Serial ATA Controller
USB Controller 1 : Dell MCP51 USB Controller
USB Controller 2 : Dell MCP51 USB Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Dell FW322/323 IEEE1394 OHCI FireWire Controller
System SMBus Controller 1 : nVidia MCP5+ SMBus 1
System SMBus Controller 2 : nVidia MCP5+ SMBus 2

Printers and Faxes
Printer : hp psc 2170 series (USB, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Adobe PDF Converter (4000x4000, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP (2002) Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : x86

First, you may want to check your BIOS to be sure that onboard sound is Enabled.
Audio will install but not be recognized if the BIOS setting is not right.
Reboot your PC,
As the PC starts,(before Windows loads), press F2
Tap it until you enter set-up, then look for your audio (it should be in Advanced or in Integrated Peripherals)
Make sure sound is set correctly, then exit, saving changes.

[LiLFrustrated]

Yes it's enabled but it also seems to go on the option "HDMI Only" occasionally. There are 3 settings (Enabled/Disabled/HDMI) & none work.

[LiLFrustrated]

Ok I decided to do it again (check bio) for the heck of it even though I've tried this before but not on fresh install drive.

Went into bios & its set to "HDMI Only" so I changed it back to "Enabled",,,logged onto fresh XP drive & instantly detected drivers, installed & WORKED!!!

I feel like I been deaf for 2+ weeks,lol...you never realize how important sound is until you lose it...

Now how do I get bios to stop changing back to HDMI setting?

I wish I knew why it wouldn't work on original drive.I even did repair install on it & it set back to sp2 cuz cd has sp2...guess I will have to reload programs on clean XP drive now...but I don't care, cuz my sound works!

THANK YOU! ~ THANK YOU! ~ THANK YOU!!!

EDIT:

BIOS shouldn't be changing on it's own. Maybe there is some software doing it.
Could you ATTACH a fuller report from Everest?
When Everest is done scanning, click "Report" at the top of the Everest window, click next to get to "Report Profile", select "Hardware related pages", click next, select "Plain Text", click "Finish". Then when it is done processing, click "Save To File". Save it where you want to. (I would use Desktop.)
Now come back here to your thread.
Click "Go Advanced" in the MG reply box (near the bottom of the page), scroll down a little way until you see "Manage Attachments", click it, browse to your file, click "Upload", and close the window. Then submit the post. You may have to also type something in the reply box.

[LiLFrustrated]

Ok here is my report....
Thank you for taking time to help me.

oops it says file too large

[LiLFrustrated]

I uploaded it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/15445695...ted_Report.txt

Let me know if its ok to download for you

Got your report.
I'm on my way to bed but I noticed 2 things right off. (one I already was wondering about)
It doesn't look like your chipset is installed properly. I'm not sure if the driver you used was the right one.
How did you come about choosing that one?
Anyway, I will look into that more tomorrow.

The second thing is your audio doesn't look like it's set to Realtek as Default device.
You might want to check these settings.
Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices:
Click the Volume tab.
Make sure the box for placing the volume icon in the task bar is checked.
Click Advanced in Device Volume area.
Make sure that you have Volume Control, Wave, SW Synth, and CD Player all listed in the Control. Make sure none are muted and the volumes are at a listenable level.
If not there, click Options>Properties and mark the boxes for them.
Click Advanced in the Speaker Settings area.
Make sure that the speaker type you use is selected.
Check the Audio tab.
See if your sound device is listed in the Sound Playback Default Device list.
(It should be set to Realtek)
Check the Hardware tab.
See if sound device is listed in the list. If it is make sure it is enabled.

I'll get back on this when I get up.

[LiLFrustrated]

Should I reinstall a Chipset? I'm not sure which is on here now...I have tried so many solutions that I forget what I did.

Maybe I should send you a report from the working XP drive since it's technically the same system but faulty sound & XP is on c drive.. working one is on f drive but they share bios settings & imtegrated audio/motherboard card right?

Headset doesnt work on here but it shows up in dxdiag info as sound #3 ...
#1 is Modem #0 Line Playback (emulated)
#2 is Realtek HD Audio output
When I click Test DirectSound, I get this message:

DirectSound test results: Failure at step 3 (DirectSoundCreate): HRESULT = 0x8878000a (The request failed because DirectSound resources, such as the priority level, were already in use by another caller.)

for all 3 sound devices.

My Sounds and Audio Devices in Control Panel says "No Audio Device" and only lists "Modem #0 Line Playback" in pulldown list.

Device Manager lists Realtek & says working properly but Properties tab shows "Driver is enabled but has not been started" (Windows Audio service is started & on Automatic)

Found something strange just now when I checked off "Show hidden devices" in device manager...There are TONS of devices listed (see screenshot attatched).
I'm off to bed too for now.let me know what you think.

OK, looks like your some of those hidden devices and settings could be the problem.

First step:
Go into Device Manager>Sound, Video, and Game Controllers and uninstall everything (including hidden devices) except:
(You just need to right click the devices and choose uninstall.)
Audio Codecs
Legacy Audio Drivers
Legacy Video Drivers
Media Control Devices
Video Codecs
(You just need to right click the devices and choose uninstall.)

Next:
Download CCleaner Slim
Install it and run the Registry Tool (very safe to use)

Next:
Install your chipset: http://support.dell.com/630i Chipset Driver

Your PC will restart after the chipset install.
Take a look back at Device Manager (the hidden devices) and see if realtek HD audio reinstalled.
If it didn't, reinstall it: Realtek High Definition Audio for 2K\XP\03

Now go to Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices>Audio tab
Set Realtek as your Default Audio.
Let me know if you have sound and if that long list of duplicates are gone in your hidden devices.

We might still have a little more work to do but the main issue is the chipset. It allows the mother board to identify and use the hardware attached to it.
Realtek was installed but the motherboard basically doesn't know it.
It's was using the modem driver for sound.

We may have to reinstall drivers for anything like any special gaming headset or things in that hidden list that didn't reinstall. but that shouldn't be a problem. I'm trying to get your sound set right first.

[LiLFrustrated]

One more thing before I uninstall sound stuff..... Non-Plug and Play devices also shows LOTS of stuff when I click "show hidden devices" (see attatchment) .....should I remove those too?

It's just those 2 areas that expand & show stuff after clicking "show hidden devices".....everything else stays closed.


I'll be out today from 12pm EST to 5pm so if I don't respond,,,that is why.......Thanks again!

I'd leave that list alone for now. I can't see it well enough to say for sure what should be there or not.

One thing you can consider (and I usually don't suggest this), if this is a totally fresh install, without any private documents, pictures, music, or many installed applications, you could format and reinstall on this partition.
Then it should just be a matter of installing the drivers and all should be well.
That may take up less of your time and any problems would be easier for us to deal with.
Just a thought, not really saying that's what you should do, but....

[LiLFrustrated]

The WinXP sound you helped me fix first was the fresh install that I created specifically because of sound problem.
The current sound problem is my original C drive with XP Pro, all my programs, work,,,etc..

My family says I'v been trying to fix this for a month so you can imagine my frustration!

I came home today, followed your instructions EXACTLY,,,rebooted pc & I HAD SOUND!!! I'm still in shock because I honestly tried every solution offered to others with similiar sound issues & NOTHING EVER WORKED! You give me one solution & it works!?!?
I'm soooo sorry I didn't ask 4 help sooner!

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH........Again!

Great! Sometimes an extra reboot is needed for the sound to kick in.
You're very welcome.

You give me one solution & it works!?!?
I'm soooo sorry I didn't ask 4 help sooner!

I've had a lot of practice.