XP sp3 stopped on board sound drivers working

ok a quick rundown of actions taken so far:

windows update installed xp sp 3
system cound no longer
reinstalled mainboard audio driver (realtek hd audio)
still cant detect sound card
updated UAA driver to current one
still cant detect sound card
checked Bios to make sure on board was enabled (is)
still cant detect sound card
installed realtek ac97 driver (is installed)
still cant detect sound card
Run DXdiag looking for conflicts / errors (none)
still cant detect sound card
Checked services.msc for windows audio enabled (is)
still cant detect sound card
applied KB888111 driver fix (for xp sp3 )


at this point i am at wits end. I have searched for what seems like and age online and all i am getting is reinstall driver / reboot. I am praying you guys can find an answer.

Currently in device manager>sound vid and game controllers it shows:
audio codecs
legacy audio drivers
media control devices
Realtek high def audio (is the only removeable entry)
video codecs

under sounds and audio device properties it says i have no audio device selected.

when i go add hardware there are no new devices found. I try and select a device manually. i choose sound vid and game controllers / realtek , but only the high def audio is visable. I locate the other drivers (ac97 / uaa) manually and try add by using the have disk but once i select the *.inf it comes up with a blank list of devices.

Just to clarify it was working perfectly pre SP3 install, so the hardware is fine.

i think that is about all i have , back to bounce off the walls of my rubber lined cell.

Thanks