No Sound

A week ago, a friend helped me install a new wireless router on my 5-year-old Dell desktop computer running Windows XP SP3. Immediately after that, all my usual computer sounds (startup, closedown, plugging in a device, etc.) got much quieter. Turning up the volume on the speaker and at the volume control on the taskbar had no effect.

Yesterday the sound disappeared entirely. The speakers are plugged in to the power supply (green light on) and to the computer. I checked Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices; and the card is supposedly working properly. There are .wav files connected with the various sounds at the Sound tab. The card is SoundBlaster Live!, version 5.12.01.124.

The only thing I can think of that I haven't done is reseat the sound card--and I have no idea where it's at. I've played with lots of software but have never looked inside the CPU.

I'd be grateful for your help!

Jo-Anne

 

it's the card connected to the audio inputs and outputs. open the cover of your pc follow those inputs that SHOULD be the card.

 

I'm glad you never tried to look inside the CPU, you could look inside the PC if you wanted though. Where you plug in your speaker setup in the back of the pc would tell you if you have an actual card or perhaps onboard creative sound. Every PC has two areas in the back, one is the inputs and outputs that are connected directly to the motherboard (stuff thats not removable its built onto the board) and it is usually a rectangle like box with usb,ethernet network, audio/video if the mobo has it onboard and printer and serial ports. At the bottom of the pc are several sections where pci cards would be mounted and they go side to side and typically take up the entire bottom back of the PC. A big tower might have 7 of them and a small tower as few as 3 or maybe 5. If your speakers plugin here your connected to a card that is the same position on the motherboard as the slot depicts from the outside. Inside, each of these slots is covered by a metal piece if the slot is unused, and covered by the cards metal mount if its in use. Most often they are held in place by a screw but there are the tooless kind that are becoming more popular.

So, depending on where your speakers are hooked up in the back of the machine should tell you if you are using onboard sound or a separate sound card. You could have both, I do, but only one should be active. Shared IRQ's are common, but not all things like to share with other specific devices.

A common cause of one thing going out when you install something else is that they are trying to share the same IRQ, and one is conflicting with the other. An easy way out is to move your sound card from one pci slot to another and it will be reassigned a new IRQ. Don't ask me what an IRQ is I forgot and I'm too lazy to look it up. Its a system controller that directs traffic is the best I can do right now.

 

have you checked device manager to make sure the drivers didnt just get messed up? we get that sort of thing all the time at work.. and it always seems to be the sounds that goes out...

 

If the computer case has been opened, or the box has been moved around a bit, it's not uncommon for a pci card to move up in the slot. You may just need to open the case and give all the pci cards a firm push down. If any of the cards move at all this will possibly fix the problem.
meekgeek.

 

I agree.
Check Device manager for bad drivers.
Check that Windows Audio Service is started.
Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services
Scroll down the list of services until you find the Windows Audio service.
Right click on it and choose Properties.
Make sure it is set to Automatic and Start is checked.

Check: Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices:
On the Volume tab:
Make sure "Place volume icon on taskbar" is checked.
Click Advanced just below that. Make sure no Volumes are muted.
Click Advanced under Speaker Settings. Make sure your speaker type is chosen.
On the Audio tab:
Under Sound Playback. Make sure SoundBlaster is your default device.
On the Hardware tab:
Highlight SoundBlaster and choose Properties.
Is the device enabled?
Try the troubleshooter, but That usually doesn't work well.

Then you might want to open your case.
Whenever you do open your case, make SURE you ground yourself first.

If those things don't work out for you:
Post a make and model # if your PC is manufactured (Dell, Gateway, HP, etc.) or your motherboard ID, if it is a build.
Use Everest to get a report of your system’s hardware, OS, and drivers. Upload the report as an attachment
Everest: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181
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.)
Click "Go Advanced" in the MG reply box, 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, like, "Here's my report.", so that it will submit.

 

Thank you, everyone! Everything checks out OK in Device Manager, Windows Audio Service, and Sounds and Audio Devices. The Windows Troubleshooter didn't help.

The only things left (I think) are (1) to look for the sound card and try to reseat it or move it to another slot, (2) to try a different set of speakers or try the current ones on another computer, and (3) to use Everest to scan my computer.

Unfortunately, I have no other speakers. My other computer is a new notebook, and I'm hoping I can connect the speakers to it at the Headphone connector. If I can do that, should the speakers work just by being plugged in, or would I need to install a driver or anything else?

I'm new at trying to deal with hardware issues and nervous as well--and the manual for my notebook says to look at the instructions that come with the external speakers. Of course, I have no instructions.

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne

 

normally speakers work just by plugging them in... if you have trouble out of them either they dont work or you need to check the drivers for the sound card.. not the speakers themselves... yea trying the speakers on your notebook sounds like a great idea.. and if they work then you will know its related to the sound card in your desktop..

something you may ant to try if reseating the card still doesnt work is to do a registry scan and fix.. i have seen a couple of people on here with problems that fixed themselves after running such a registry scan.. i think most people try to use a program on the majorgeeks site called Registry Optimizer... it may not help at all.. but it may find something that we havent.. also the everest scan sounds like a good idea too.. make sure you update beforehand though.. xD

 

Hi Jo-ann,

The speaker/earphone output of your Laptop is well suited to running your speakers from a Desktop. Just plug them in and go.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Well, the sound is working again--and I'm not sure why. After doing all sorts of troubleshooting, I unplugged the speakers from the desktop computer (for the second time) and plugged them into the notebook computer; they worked there, so I plugged them back into the desktop computer, and now they're working properly again. I don't understand what happened, but I'm pleased that I have my sounds back.

Thank you all for your help!

Jo-Anne

 

hmm.. maybe theres something loose on the plug where the speakers plug in.. or if its a sound card then it might have been loose... but great to hear that your working again.. let us know if you have any more trouble out of them..

enjoy streaming music over you new wireless router.. xD

 

Hi again Jo-ann,

That's why I always say "Eletronics is capable of 100,000 errors per second". I always told my guys that if it happens once forget it. If it happens again think about it a few minutes and forget it. If it happens the third time get busy and fix it.

More luck, Jim