HELP! I just had my motherboard replaced by FRY's and the sound no longer works. I assume it is a driver issue. The Realtek AC'97 driver has been installed but it just don't work. I called FRY's and they told me to get the driver (already had it) from thier website (which was corrupted anyways...) and the problem should have been solved, thats all the help they have to offer. The driver is recognised as the audio device. My friend suggested reformating my C: drive and reinstalling everything... I will probobly try that as soon as I can back up my drive. I'm guessing that there is probably a conflict with another audio driver... I'm not very good with this stuff so any help would be appreciated. Anyway, here are my specs: CPU: Pentium 4 Motherboard: PCCHIPS P4 FSB800 M985G(v1.0) RAM: DDR 2GB(2x1GB) PC3200 400MHz Patriot Memory Graphics Card: WinFast PX6600 TD OS: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 w/ SP2 BTW it is an onboard soundcard in case anyone wanted to know...
take it back to fry's, tell them to fix it. reinstalling windows is a lot of work. if the store caused the problem, they can do the work to fix it.
If you go to the control panel & open 'Sound & Audio Devices' do you get a description next to the speaker symbol like this? If so what does it say?
Also double-check [in that same window] that the 'Mute' box hasn't been ticked? I've had that mysteriously happen to me before now
FRY's won't fix it because they don't have internet in thier service station and they don't know if they can do anything anyways. Next to the speaker symbol it says "Realtek AC97 Audio" ...and the mute box is unchecked.
ok, that's telling me that the sound drivers are 'working' so in theory you should be getting sound. Now, I'm know this is all a bit noob-ish - but have you checked that all your other connections/settings are correct? 1. The Speakers are in the Lime-Green audio socket. 2. The volume on the PC volume control menu is up. 3. Your Speakers actually work (try headphones if you can instead) 4. The Realtek Audio Control panel isn't muted or the volume turned down.
I assembled a computer for a friend of mine recently and had the same problem (I think). There is a Microsoft HD Audio fix that needs to be installed along with the drivers. Have a look at the driver cd that came with the motherboard. I experienced that the order of installation also had an impact and IIRC I had to remove audio drivers then install the fix and then install the drivers again. As I'm no longer near that computer I have no idea what to look for online, but a fair guesstimate would be http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888111
I contacted Microsoft Customer Service and they said "Hotfix described in KB article 888111: Windows XP is included in Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 1." Ah well...At least they offered more help than FRY's.
Edit: I just read up on your board and I'm completely off with my assumption. Sorry to have misdirected you. From here on in I recommend you either take it back or get a cheap onboard PCI sound card. Audio quality will also gain extremely from this.
I tried the update and it still does not work. I believe i will follow OjeJ's advice and just get a soundcard. He re is what I have in mind: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001
I've never heard of that one before - but then you're across the pond. It certainly looks the part A good alternative to that one, would be AuzenTech's Xplosion 7.1 ($80). I've got one of 'em in an older gaming rig (and their newer X-Fi Prelude 7.1 in another gaming rig), and they're excellent alternatives to Creative cards
