The Silent Treatment

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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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I have a problem here, GTPlanet. Here's how it goes:

Earlier today, I was on the computer as everything was working fine. I turned off the PC and took me a little power nap here at home. That's when I later heard thunderstorms outside. I unplugged everything as the action was getting worse. It didn't take me until about 90 to 120 minutes later that I plugged everything back in. Now when I turned on the PC, first thing I noticed was that the speaker icon in my system tray wasn't there. I restarted the computer, and it came back. But a little problem occured... NO SOUND! The programs I have (including some games on my PC) didn't play sound at all. Here were some observations of mine:

* I have a Realtek AC97 sound card with my PC. I noted "Realtek AC'97" instead of "Realtek AC97."
* Sounds on my computer and in media I've played seemed to double in speed like it was actually playing something. Unfortunately, no sound.
* I tried playing a video on my computer. The video was running at double speed... but again, no sound.
* I had a CD in my CD drive. The CD player plays, but no sound.
* I tested the speakers by putting in my portable radio and connecting it with a headphone jack connected to the on-monitor speakers. The speakers played the material on my radio just fine.
* After checking and re-checking the device works, it says that it is working fine. But again (again), no sound.
* Just for experimentation, I tried out the PC Speaker. That works.

So what this has come down to was that there's either something wrong with getting digital sound from the sound card, or that there may have been a mix-up somewhere in my system that has (and it's just a hunch) renamed the Realtek AC97 as the "Realtek AC'97." I've had no luck trying to find ways to take care of this situation so that I could play sound again from my PC. Sounds will play on the computer, but no sounds played back. I don't want to risk sliding out the sound card or doing a system restore. So if any of you have something to suggest to me to help me out, PLEASE offer your advice! Send me a Private Message if you have to. Thank you for reading as well as any suggestions you may have for me.
 
Some programs (like realplayer) tap straight into the computers main volume control.... you may have to open them up and turn the volume back to 100%.

Robin
 
Here's something else to add. I tried testing the sound hardware. It's where you test out your microphone as well as your speakers. Every time I slided up the microphone volume in this test, it just keeps going back down. So perhaps this has been boiled down to something involving recording which, in turn, affected the rest of my sound card. Maybe that's been corrupted even though diagnostic stuff says my Realtek AC97 is just fine.

I haven't downloaded the new drivers. And with a chance of some strong thunderstorms (typical Houston Summer weather), and on dial-up, it may take a while to download the 18 MB files. I also tried putting Volume Control into my Startup menu as I plugged my computer back in (fear of thunderstorms). Thing is, the system pretended the Realtek AC97 wasn't installed in the first place... until I restarted my computer. I tried doing what you said about programs like RealPlayer. Turned it back up to 100% volume, but still no sound.

Any other suggestions?
 
Something else I've grown suspicious of is that my Realtek COULD be part of my motherboard. One troubleshooter I looked up asked if a sound device is built into my motherboard. And if so, is it turned on in the BIOS? I have no idea about anything truly technical. I'm not some computer surgeon. I didn't want to take a chance messing up anything and risking having to go back to my old eMachines for computer usage.

Here's another observation. I have a Multi-Channel Sound Manager as part of my Control Panel. Why is this so interesting? Well when I tried using my monitor-mounted speakers and put it into the microphone port, I got a little sound from the speakers just by plugging the cable connecting my monitor's speakers to my PC. Then... I still hear nothing but just the sound made by plugging in some speaker input to the Mic or Line In ports. I set it to Stereo Headphones, and STILL no sound (broken record saying "still no sound").

Other details from the Multi-Channel Sound Manager about my model:

Audio Driver Version: 5.10.0.5840
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c
Audio Controller: SiS(7012)
AC97 Codec: ALC658

I'm now thinking about going to (from Control Panel) Sounds and Audio Devices Profiles > Hardware > Realtek AC'97 > Properties button > ...

...and change the "Use this Device" option to "Do Not Use This Decice," restart, then enable the device again. Reason why I'm not doing this is because I don't want to risk screwing up my HP computer. It's why I haven't gone to any real extremes (such as opening up the back of the computer and taking out the motherboard), not to mention being clumsy at times. My modem works, though I can't be able to hear if my modem is working properly. Keep the suggestions coming if you have any. I'll try to update my Realtek drivers.
 
I'm mad as hell... EVERY time I try to download the latest drivers for my Realtek AC97 installed with my computer, the m:censored:f:censored: keeps stopping. Like, I get to 80% completion until the damn thing just stops. Happened three times in a row with Opera. I basically spend 90 minutes a pop trying to download the latest drivers... then the piece of s:censored: times out on me and just drops. Like trying to climb a mountain when you all of a sudden lose grip and fall off yards away from the summit.

I've given up on several other options. This includes two attempts at downloading from Realtek's site followed by trying to download the needed files from a Filefront download. So I got to try something else. Either that, or maybe download this stuff on a PC with a faster connection. For when I do eventually get the stuff working, I do have my monitor's speakers at full volume for all elements.
 
A while back my computer lost all sound for no apparent reason - the solution was to uninstall the sound card (due to the card being plug-and-play, it reinstalled itself upon restart). Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio Devices Properties > Hardware > find sound card > Properties > Driver > Uninstall, then reboot computer

After that, sound was back and working perfectly. Your problems are more severe than mine were, but give what I tried a shot. Can only make it better, right? ;)
 
Not sure if you solved the problem or not, but when you open up you sound devices in control panel, what do you see?

This is what mine looks like:

soundfz0.png
 
I think my sound card may be attached to my motherboard. Like when I enter the BIOS, there's something that says "onboard audio." So maybe that's something to look at.

Whenever I unplug the computer due to any advancing thunderstorms (we took a wallop tonight), the first time I load up the computer, I am unable to access the sound card. Can't use Volume Control. But when I restart the computer, the sound card comes back on (with no sound, of course). Here are some more observations:

* MIDI plays at regular speed in programs, yet no sound.
* Videos and WAV files all go at double to triple speed with no sound to speak of.
* Games play well without sound. Everything runs at normal speed.

Again, everything on my computer works just fine. Just that losing sound is my computer's only ailiment(?) right now. I'll take that uninstallation of the sound card under advisement. And by the way, I took the chance of doing a System Restore- still no luck. Now I'm trying to "rebuild" my computer by installing all of the different hardware pieces that I have. That same picture (to opendriver19a is exactly what I see when I click on the Audio tab. I wonder if it's the sound mixer or maybe something within the drivers themselves.

I already took one extreme- System Restore. Since I think my Realtek AC97 may be attached to the motherboard (it came with the computer), I MAY be able to uninstall the sound card, then have the computer automatically reinstall the whole thing. Only thing I wonder is if I'll need a CD or some install program to add on other drivers. But since it came with the computer, I'm wholly uncertain that Windows XP will actually find the device and reinstall it after uninstalling it. It's too much a risk for me at this point. I'll keep the option open, but I'm still not going to take such an extreme right now.
 
JohnBM01
I think my sound card may be attached to my motherboard. Like when I enter the BIOS, there's something that says "onboard audio." So maybe that's something to look at.

<snip>
Click to expand...
'Onboard' means your motherboard has an integrated audio codec. Almost any motherboard in the last decade has onboard sound and until recently, the defacto codec has been the Realtek AC'97. I believe the audio codec is integrated into the southbridge chip of the motherboard, so I don't see how thunderstorms would have cooked the audio without destroying the southbridge (and consequently rendering your system completely useless).

Everything I've read sounds to me like something went wrong with your current drivers. So, you need to somehow get a hold of that 18MB installer...
 
Do you use Windows Media Player? Check the playback options in that and make sure the playback speed is set to 1 (normal). It may be what's causing this. BTW I'm no expert on this kind of thing.
 
Funny you kind of mention Media Player. At my community college, the computers in the library once played music at the right speed, albeit a little faster and a bit higher in pitch. They've since been remedied even before my Fall 2006 semester there.

Checking Media Player may sound pretty silly, but I'll check it out.
 
Another update:

I was able to download those Realtek AC97 drivers for my computer. As I restarted the computer... the sound STILL did not work. Even sometimes, the computer fails to realize my audio hardware as I boot up. Even when I do successfully boot everything (I even set the Onboard Audio in the BIOS from "Auto" to "Enabled"), I still get no sound, and music and audio files still play faster (and without sound). I might have come down to something...

I checked again with my Multi-Channel Audio Configuration. I have a blue port (Line In), a pink port (Line In/Microphone), and a green port (Line Out/Headphones). The Realtek EZ Connector reported that the headphones are working. What isn't connected is the Line In according to the program. I connect my PC to my nearby big stereo by using a cord that's actually supposed to be used to connect an MP3 player to a stereo system for better sound. It is a black port which has the white and red ports connected at the end to connect to things. I bought a second one to connect from my PC to another stereo unit in my room. This one helps bring in sounds from when I'm playing games on the PS2 and want the sound to come from the smaller stereo. Or I may use it to connect to my satellite receiver to listen to what's on my Dish to my computer. I sometimes use the other adapter to record things from the smaller stereo or even my satellite receiver. So I've boiled down to these two things:

* I can't record digital sound anymore. This, in turn, affected my playback ability.
* The Line In port must have some damage or not have any drivers getting it to work.

One observation I still note is that my headphones will pick up sound if I connect my headphones or my monitor's stereo speakers to the Microphone port of my PC. But the only sound I'll get is that sound of putting something into that PC. I know my monitor speakers work because every time I put in the port from the stereo speakers (a green port) into the microphone port (a pink port), a little sound is generated. But not enough to enjoy my daily fix of being on the computer and doing things.


Now I'm starting to get a bit desperate having done a System Restore, downloading and installing the latest drivers, disabling and re-enabling the mixing features of the Realtek AC97, and fiddling around with other stuff from other programs. STILL... NO... SOUND...! Only saving grace for me is that the sound card is actually noticed by the PC. Other than that, getting sound to play again from my PC is the big problem. It is even a problem in wondering if my modem successfully connected to the Internet. Been the problem since this past Thursday. I'll keep looking for solutions and suggestions so that I don't completely lose hope getting this thing to work again.

Keep the suggestions coming...
 
Some websites I looked up say that I could try to go into Safe Mode and uninstall the Realtek AC97 drivers. Then, Normal Mode will re-install those drivers. But if I'm taking ANY sort of extreme, I at least want to be certain that whatever method I undertake has at least some success rate. Almost as if I'm equating this to finding a cure for a disease. Sometimes, you get to feel this desperate with a computer issue like this.

More questions, fewer answers. At least I'm trying, though.
 
Latest update since the last post... I've tried to go into Safe Mode to uninstall the drivers. My concerns of losing the Realtek AC97 for good were averted. The drivers re-installed by themselves. No sound there. Then, I tried to re-install the newer drivers. No sound.

So I think I'll be needing a new sound card as this one just gave out. Let's go into perspective. My first computer was a Packard Bell with 8 MB of RAM and 75 MHz processor. Only real sound problem I had was that the sound card would sometimes go out after playing certain games sometimes (like Duke Nukem 3D). Because of the low space, sound files had to be at about 8000 Hz. Haven't had a sound card problem ever. * The second computer was my eMachines with 32 MB of ram and about 533 MHz processor. The sound issues were about the same as the Packard Bell, but I was better able to enjoy 11025 Hz sound and even 22050 Hz if I was lucky. The sound card would not play sound after playing some games or accessing some programs. * Now to my current PC. This HP has 384 MB of RAM and a 1.81 GHz processor. It's the first computer I have in which I can be able to play MIDI and digital audio without any real interruption. I could easily play around with sound formats. It was a Christmas gift for me back in 2005. What I was hoping for was that I got the best computer for not a lot. And so, Santa thankfully granted me this great computer. First game I played and bought for it was Unreal Tournament 2004. I've since loved the audio. I even went to using the big stereo for better sound quality. So I've had this computer for almost 2 1/2 years, and this is the first time I had a significant sound card problem of any kind.



Well now, I may need to get a brand-new sound card. While the sound card is operational, no sound is being played back. Either I find a new way to hopefully get sound back and have some semblance of hope, or I go find a new sound card. Another sound card will do what this current sound card isn't doing. I may even check out programs I've used. Last program I can recall using before this sound card issue was WinAmp. I checked over WinAmp several times. Only problem I observed was that the sound card wasn't found. I set it to the Realtek AC97, and still no sound as well as enjoying double-speed digital sound files not hearing a damned thing. Have to hum to remember what the hell songs and sounds sounded like. So here's a timeline/review:

THURSDAY AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING:
* played WinAmp and turned off computer Thursday morning when done
* unplugged all equipment in the house when severe thunderstorms impacted my area
* plugged everything back in afterwards
* noticed sound card not playing sound
* seeking troubleshooter to help offer suggestions
* made thread on GTPlanet detailing what is going wrong

FRIDAY AND EARLY SATURDAY MORNING:
* continued to look for answers online
* tried to download latest Realtek AC97 drivers... failed four straight times on Opera
* performed a system restore, fearing accidentally formatted the PC

SATURDAY AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING:
* unplugged everything from another round of severe thunderstorms
* plugged everything back in
* still no sound
* re-installed hardware from CDs
* successfully downloaded Realtek AC97 drivers with Firefox, albeit a bit slower than Opera

SUNDAY AND EARLY MONDAY MORNING:
* still worked on PC software and still shocked to not hear sound play

MONDAY:
* uninstalled Realtek AC97 drivers in Safe Mode
* automatically re-installed Realtek AC97 drivers, no sound
* installed newer Realtek AC97 drivers, no sound



So I may need to invest in a new sound card. I always regarded SoundBlaster as the industry standard. So hopefully something that works for this. If the Realtek deal is done, then maybe another sound card can work. It's what my brother suggested as I've seen him change up the motherboard or something like that. I've actually seen him install [what was a working] CD-ROM drive on my eMachines. I may even go back to the eMachines just to enjoy DOS games again while the sons of bit... the good people at Microsoft continually screw up DOS functionality. Even thinking of putting some of my personal stuff on DVD-ROMs for storage.

That's how it ends. I try to think positively on things, but even I have a break point at times. May have to think of getting a new sound card if all efforts have absolutely failed and that there's no hope getting sound to work again on my computer.
 
Well, I can play MIDI externally as I tested the thing out. I have a USB Audio Port which doesn't require a sound card. I can play MIDI music through my keyboard from this port. This is a sign that this issue COULD be resolved. Doesn't mean I'll get deceptively close, but at least this is better than hearing nothing from my PC speakers. You're probably asking, "why are you listening to MIDI? It's the 21st Century, man!" I do make MIDI music and still find some joy in listening to classic MIDIs instead of always having to listen to MP3s. I'm pretty old-fashioned. Think I'm new age, but mainly old-fashioned. Playing MIDI with the PC speakers runs at normal speed, just no sound playback.

So add "can still play MIDI files through USB to my keyboard" to my observations. Here's an ultimatum I set: have between now and Friday night. If I can somehow get sound to work again, I won't post any bad news in this thread and will only report success and loving my sound card yet again. But if I'm unable to, then I will strongly consider getting a new sound card. May have to spend some money this weekend...
 
Is my soundcard's inability to play back songs... because of a Microsoft Update? If so, that would be a damned shame. That's something I've been reading according to some stuff I've read online. Have a look at the following. The first bit of information is from Wikipedia, and the other is from the forums of CNET:

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC97 )
AC97 Soundcard Connector Configuration Problem:

Most of the AC97 on-board sound card versions are typically shipped with three RCU connectors marked in three colors: pink, green and blue. The pink connector is meant for a microphone, the green either for line-out to amplified speakers, or to a line-in wire, and the blue has an amplified signal for un-amplified or slightly amplified headphones. The audio settings program has a problem when set to Headphones or to Stereo Speakers, and will only work when configured to be set as a multi-speaker unit with 3 speakers or more. The speakers actually attached to one of the outputs (and only one output typically works), are behaving as background speakers for 3D sound effect, and for this reason will play only music and not talking, or will work only with a sound effect set on, and no sound will be heard when the sound effect is set to NONE. In many cases no solution has been found for this problem, and most technical advice sites advise to simply buy a low-cost external soundcard.


Microsoft Update Acknowledged AC97 Soundcard Problem:

Microsoft has acknowledged that in one of their automatic updates they have caused the AC97 to stop working. This has been corrected in a subsequent version of updates, and is now treated as missing the updated driver.



What I noticed was that from a CNET message board, someone posted back on April 12, 2007 about how a certain Automatic Update basically screwed over the Realtek AC97. So if this is the case, it's the damndest of shame. This would be worse than any rough day I've had in either grade school or college. A solution I saw was just to get an external sound card until this issue is resolved. So I may need a new external sound card. I was never a hardcore Microsoft guy. Should my Realtek AC97 lose all sound quality and have uncontrollable microphone input, then Microsoft's got some explaining to do. Just another suspicion of mine. I'm not exactly Dick Tracy or Sherlock Holmes, but I fear this may be an unfortunate screw job by simply enabling Automatic Updates.

Has anyone suffered this same sort of problem?



[UPDATE: 3:37 AM CDT]One thing has been resolved since this past Monday night:

get PC to recognize Realtek AC97

The sound is still down. What I'm still thinking is that the inputs of the Microphone and Line-In may not be recognized. What happens is that when I do a Sound Hardware test, the Microphone Recording Level goes from very loud (to test) all the way to zero. No matter how many times I try to move the slider upwards in the test, it always keeps going down. Not even sliding it up and keeping it there works. Still no sound, as usual. I'll be damned if an Automatic Update is to blame for my onboard audio not playing back sound. May never forgive Microsoft.

In case it becomes a factor, more potentially bad thunderstorms are in the forecast today (Tuesday), tomorrow, Friday, and even Sunday. So I'll need to unplug. The unknown factor is if the sound card will remain recognized as I did in Safe Mode. I'll keep you people posted.
 
I would buy a new sound card if I were you right now.

You downloaded off the Microsoft site right? If so find the update at realtek and look for the OS you use.
 
I'm not sure what's being downloaded for my Automatic Updates, but I do think there was a download months ago upgrading my SP2 to SP3. A big download is at about 3 or 4 percent complete. I can't access to see what's actually being downloaded.

I think what I may do is set the Automatic Update deal to notify me of new updates, but don't download them. Instead, just go to the Microsoft site and download.

I am currently in the process of thinking about what to download. Each time I have to unplug the computer because of advancing thunderstorms (especially rough ones), it seems like the sound card just doesn't get recognized after I plug everything back in. So I have to restart the computer to get the sound card back. It's the damndest shame. Can't wait for this weekend. I may just go ahead and do an online search for what sound card would be best for me. I did go ahead and let the Windows Update let me know when updates were available and just choose the ones.

Hopefully the thing will work for me.
 
I had a sound recording problem with the realtek but when I got the latest firmware it was fixed, I would try the firmware from the realtek site if I were you, before trying out SP3.

Are you on dialup? Depending on your area you can get a better internet provider such as Version FOS at the same price of dailup.
 
Yes... I use dialup. I'll looking into the probability of getting the latest firmware. I'll leave that option open. Something I've considered doing here at home was to stop Automatic Updates. I know this pre-installed Norton Antivirus is going to nag me to Hell about no Automatic Updates, but who cares? I may even do one of those boot records in which the computer's current setup be saved so that I can look back to it for the next issue.

Still thinking of what USB Audio Card to look into. Perhaps even think of how to install PCI cards should the best possible option is a PCI card. I just don't want to screw this PC any more than it is now.
 
Haven't done much of anything since the last post. I'm still just examining the Line-In and Microphone outputs. The Multi-Channel manager keeps saying that in sensing, the Line-In is not connected right even with nothing in that port. I have my small Creative microphone from when I bought my Creative webcam. However, that's not detected as connected. So what I'm left with is a headphone/speaker input that *pretends* to play with Line-In and Microphone inputs that don't want to work.

Remember how I stated that the last audio program I could recall using was WinAmp? Well, I'm looking into as much as I can about what (if anything) WinAmp may have caused to not make the Realtek AC97 play back sound. I'll be working with WinAmp and looking into as many different caveats as possible. This is all in an effort to put off plans to buy a new sound card. And if this doesn't work, I'm still seeking my options.
 
People, I'm going to go ahead with buying a new sound card. Only other option would have been that I'd download new files for my motherboard. But I'm just going to try to buy a brand new sound card. Just because your motherboard has all kinds of neat things doesn't mean you have to rely on it when anything onboard isn't working any longer. While a bold step for me, it's basically a necessary step if I want to hear sound again on my PC.

This may even require me to learn how to take apart my PC and install new PCI cards. A website I looked up online shows me how to do this, but I'm not completely confident in my ability to take apart the areas to intall new material to my PC. The best-case scenario for me would be to find a good external USB sound card that's every bit as good as an PCI sound card. So I have some decisions to make when I head out to go buy one this Saturday. I'll hopefully find the best sound card I can work with. Let you know how it goes when I have something to share with you all.
 
JohnBM01
People, I'm going to go ahead with buying a new sound card. Only other option would have been that I'd download new files for my motherboard. But I'm just going to try to buy a brand new sound card. Just because your motherboard has all kinds of neat things doesn't mean you have to rely on it when anything onboard isn't working any longer. While a bold step for me, it's basically a necessary step if I want to hear sound again on my PC.

This may even require me to learn how to take apart my PC and install new PCI cards. A website I looked up online shows me how to do this, but I'm not completely confident in my ability to take apart the areas to intall new material to my PC. The best-case scenario for me would be to find a good external USB sound card that's every bit as good as an PCI sound card. So I have some decisions to make when I head out to go buy one this Saturday. I'll hopefully find the best sound card I can work with. Let you know how it goes when I have something to share with you all.
Click to expand...

OK good luck on finding a good card.👍

Also telling them your motherboard brand and model will help.
 
I got myself a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE. I love the sound capabilities this baby packs. It's making me forget all about the onboard audio. Thing is, I have a NEW problem: I cannot connect to the Internet! So I'll have to use my eMachines computer (risking a random restart at an unsuspecting moment) or even my parents' laptop. I was successfully able to install this PCI sound card after reading the instructions. But even with this, I cannot connect to the Internet from my current PC with this deal. I didn't want to spend a lot of money and wanted a quality sound card.

GOOD:
* LOVE the sound card! Absolutely amazing sound.
* Soundfonts make for amazing MIDI music sounds.

BAD (for now):
* cannot log on to the Internet.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:
* rely on the onboard audio to get online rather than use the Audigy SE. It will mean that I need to have the onboard audio enabled, but not as the primary audio device.



I'm probably not going to be online religiously while I have this online issue. So it may take me a while to see what solutions you all may have offered me. Anyone care to offer any advice for me to help log on to the Internet with this sound card enabled? Again, it may take a while for me to read any possible solutions you all may have presented me. So have patience with me.
 

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