No Audio Output Device Is Installed

I've been dealing with a no sound problem for weeks and have tried to fix it to no avail. I THINK the problem started when I was trying to repair the built-in HP web cam, which had stopped functioning. (It still does not function). Trying to remember what I did at the time, I believe that I tried to update the video card driver and the bios. At one point during one of those update processes I needed to input the password for the admin (not the user) account, which I'd forgotten. I tried incorrect password attempts and tried to cancel the login process but the login box kept reappearing until finally it no longer did.

At one point over recent weeks I was, in fact, able to install a new audio driver. I may have been in safe mode during that update process and was able to get into the admin account through an alternate admin account that seems to be available to me in safe mode. After rebooting, sound worked for a few minutes and then later disappeared again. I have not heard it since.

About a week ago I scanned my computer with Avast free version, which discovered a virus. I placed it in the chest. It asked me to scan again during boot, which I did. Scan was clean. I have deleted the viruses from the chest.

I tried to update the bios again today and downloaded
sp52477.exe . Every time that I clicked to install and the login box popped up to install it, the file name read incorrectly e.g., "If you started this program continue sp5A645.tmp." When I tried to do it again, a different incorrect file name would show. So it would not let me install it.

PC: HP Pavilion dv6646us, about 4 yrs old.

OS: Vista home sp2

Motherboard:
CPU Type Mobile , 1900 MHz
Motherboard Name Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion dv6500 Notebook PC
Motherboard Chipset Unknown
System Memory 1984 MB
BIOS Type Phoenix (04/24/08)
Motherboard Properties:
Manufacturer Quanta
Product 30CF
Version 85.26
Serial Number None1

Attached is my additional hw profile from Everest if needed. Many thanks for your consideration!

 

Hi,
I can't see any soundcard listed in the everest report, so did a search on your model... it says you have a choice of 2 audio drivers for that model which can be found here....

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3552675#N150

Why are you so concerned about up dating your Bios ??? this could be a fatal thing to do, the rule is that you do not need to run any updates to your bios unless the vender of your machine requests that you do so, IF IT AINT BROKE DONT FIX IT!!!.
You may also still be infected so it will not harm for you to headover to the Malware forum and run the procedures and post logs in a new thread there....

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

As you have tried to install audio drivers I would like you to download and install (BUT NOT RUN YET!!) driversweeper.....

http://majorgeeks.com/Driver_Sweeper_d6171.html

You need to create a restore point before doing this fix. I need you to go to add/remove programs and uninstal any Audio/sound drivers from there... Re-boot your machine into Safemode (F8) ...

YOU MUST DO THIS IN SAFEMODE.......
Double click Driver Sweeper and put a tick in the box that has Sound/Audio next to it (there could be a couple, tick them all) Click on "Analyze" then Click on "Clean" run the clean button twice to remove any residual leftovers.
Re-boot into normal windows and click out of any 'found new Hardware' prompts. Download and install the audio driver from the link i supplied before, choose one (I would go for the top one) install and re-boot, it is important that you re-boot, if that does not work try the other driver that is available, remembering to re-boot after install.

iain.t :major

 

Thank you for the help. I followed the steps recommended and here's what happened:

1. went to add/remove programs and saw no audio drivers to remove

2. rebooted into safe mode and opened driver sweeper. i saw 3 files labeled sound or audio, ticked all. After clicking 'analyze', no files were visible, however i then clicked 'clean' twice as suggested.

3. rebooted normally and windows sounds played normally, so i did not try to install any new sound driver. however i'd previously experienced sound at startup a few weeks ago and sound disappeared after a few minutes. In fact, that is what happened again. I went to aol music site to see if sound remained on and i could not hear any audio. I opened my itunes program and again no audio when i tried to play a file. Although there is no sound, the sound icon in the bottom right corner of my computer screen no longer has an "x" over it. However I'm guessing the "x" will reappear once i reboot.

I'm guessing that the following is not related to my sound issue, but i will describe it anyway, since it occurred during the above process. Sometimes, when trying to open a new firefox browser after one is already opened, only a fraction of the browser image appears (see attached file). This was the case just now as well, after i tried to go to another music site when i could not hear any sound on aol music. However, when i opened IE instead, i could get to a music site, but again no sound played. Also, when i closed the aol music site on firefox, i could open firefox again and the full browser image appeared once again.

Thank you again for your help.

 

Please download and install the driver that i linked for you.. as you will now have no audio driver on your system.

iain.t :major

 

I installed the driver and then played an aol music video, which played fine. Then i remembered that I was supposed to restart the computer so I did so. After restart the sound disappeared. Again the indication is no audio output device.

 

as I stated before you may be still infected, and the infection may be triggering this issue with your sound driver.
check to see if the Windows Audio is started and set to automatic in services.. Start> Control Panel> AdminTools> Services .. scroll down to Windows Audio and make sure that it is started and set as auto..also another is to check in the Control Panel Audio panel that the correct sound card is picked in the playback dropdown list.

iain.t :major

 

Windows Audio is started and set as auto. However, if I go to control panel\sound, under the playback tab it says "no audio devices are installed. Nevertheless, when I go to control panel\uninstall programs, I see that Conexant Audio shows up. That did not exist earlier i.e., prior to following your first set of instructions.

Do I need to go to the AV forum to resolve a potential problem or do you think it;s something else? Thanks again for the support!

 

It may be that you have not installed/unpacked the driver properly, locate where the driver down loaded to and double click on it to unpack it then run the .exe file. follow the prompts and restart the machine. if this is not the issue the follow the next fix.....

Try this before you go to the Malware Forum.....

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/no-sound-in-windows

if that does not help, make a new thread in the Malware Forum and follow the READ and RUN me FIRST for the version of windows that you have (Vista) as each one has different ways of running the scans, psot the logs as required and the Malware Fighters there will help clean up any issues tat are found..... once given a clean bill of health post back here and we will continue in trying to resolve the sound issue if it still exists.

iain.t :major

 

Sometimes a little bit of luck goes a long way. I tried following the directions below but could not get the sound to work. I was set to restart my computer and noticed that there was an OS update awaiting so I updated and voila my sound came back. Then it left again. So I reinstalled the driver as you'd suggested, restarted again and the sound seems to be fine. Many thanks for your support, iain.t!!!

 

Pleased to hear that the sound issue is now sorted.Thanks for the feed back . Any more issues/glitches just create a new thread in the relevent forum and some one will try and assist you.

Thanks

iain.t :major

 

Unfortunately I spoke too soon. While the sound remained for the rest of last night, upon returning to my PC tonight it appears the issue has returned. I will head over to the malware forum and see if that is the cause. Thanks again for the support. Let's see what happens from there.

 

I am having this same problem with a DV6500 model that I am trying to fix for a friend. I started out upgrading to Windows 7 and all was fine. After a few days, he informed me that the sound wasnt working, so I took it back from him to see if I could fix it. I messed around with the device manager, but there was no audio option given. Tried installing the driver, regardless of the fact that I knew it had to recognize the sound card before it would install the driver, worth a shot, tried it, still no luck. I pulled the top section of the lappy apart and checked the wiring, not wanting to go into the case too much if at all possible, no wire damage. Went into Bios, noticed that I am getting beep alerts from bios, so speakers and sound card must be fine. I wiped the drive with KillDisk, reinstalled 7 and the speakers worked fine. Rebooted, the problem returned (mind you this is a clean install with nothing installed yet). Wiped the drive again, reinstalled. Absolutely nothing this time. Wiped and reinstalled Vista w/ SP2. No luck, still a big red X. Try to install the driver again, ended up getting error beeps from the system. Otherwise, no sound. Still looking for options, but after a lot of reading, I am beginning to think it has something to do with one of the updates that MS has provided. Both OS's that I installed have been the with the latest service packs. I am currently installing an older version of 7 that I have to see if that fixes the problem. Will let you know what I come up with. I doubt its a virus, though. This seems to be a HUGE problem with the dv6500 series across many forums with no real answer yet as to what the cause is. If anyone has any other ideas, feel free to throw them on here. I'm open for suggestions for this PITA. Thanks (as well as I hope it helps the OP know that he isn't alone in this battle!).
-Dave

 

As deviant12 has suggested, the lack of sound does not appear to be malware related. I've been thru the malware cleaning process and no viruses were found. Some of my registry keys were locked but now appear to be ok based on fixes implemented. (See malware forum thread http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1630203#post1630203)

If you have any further suggestions for me I'd welcome the support again. Thanks!

 

It seems that youhave an onboard faulty sound chip, the only solution would be to install a PCI soundcard , something like this.....

http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...AVfnTZSyNtGw8QOmxKGNCw&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQ8gIwAg#

or usb

http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...X&ei=wlfnTd-5BdGHhQfD6PnKCg&ved=0CIoBEPMCMAU#

you can pick them up fairly cheaply off ebay also.

iain.t :major

 

Thank you for the response. I've noticed that tons of folks across the web are having similar problems with HP PC sound. I'm curious about 2 items:
1. What makes you confident that purchasing the new sound card will resolve the problem? Has it resolved the identical problem for others using similar HP Pavilion laptops?
2. If purchasing/installing the new card can resolve the issue, is there a US equivalent sound card and US equivalent sites where I can purchase the device, or otherwise, what specs to I need to search for)? Dynamode seems to be a UK brand.

Thanks again.

 

Hi,
1. A different sound card will resolve your sound issue as it is a different device to the one you are currently having issues with, all you need to do is turn off the integrated card in your BIOS.... In the bios, look for something labelled 'onboard devices' or 'integrated peripherals'. Under one of those headings should be onboard sound, or Conexant audio or something of the sort.Use your curser key to turn it off/disable.
2. You will find the exact same cards on U.S websites, only issue you will have is that you will only be able to use a USB one with it being a laptop.It depends on how much $$$'s you want to spend will determin as to what quallity card you get.

iain.t :major

 

Will order the part and report back. Thanks iain.t !