Mysterious loss of sound

[JD]

All of the connections have been double-checked and are secure. The Device
Manager assures me that the sound device is "working properly." The drivers
are signed and up to date. I just all of a sudden can get no sounds. No
system sounds, no music from Media Player, etc.
Any suggestions? Is it possible that the speakers have just gone bad in some
way?

 

[Rich Barry]

Did you check in Control Panel>Sound and Audio Devices>Volume. Any Mute
boxes checked?

 

[Jeffrey W. Bowen]

Before I begin, I just wanted to explain that it is always a good idea to
tell us what kind of computer you have (Desktop/Laptop), Brand and model
number, as well as the specifications - Operating system, Memory, and
anything else that might help guide you better on how to fix your problem.

First check and see if your speakers have their own Volume Control. Mine can
be found on the right-hand speaker. If this is the case, check to see if it
has been turned all the way off or down. I assume someone in your family may
have turned it down for some reason.

If this isn't the case, then do the following.

Reinstall the drivers for your sound card, or check for updated sound card
drivers on your sound card or computer manufacturer's website. If a new
driver is available, download and install it.

If no help, then:

Double click on the Volume Icon that looks like a little speaker near the
clock on your task bar.

Check the level control of the one designated as Volume, the one designated
as Wave, the one designated as SW Synth, and the one designated as Line out
or Aux.

If the Main Volume control is not muted or turned down, then check the Wave
Control for the same thing and the others until you can confirm that all are
not muted and/or turned down.

For the folowing, I need to explain that you already checked the connections
in the back, but I have good reason for you to take this next step.

If all of these are set correctly, look at the manual for your computer to
find out which female connectors are for what in the back of your computer.
For example depending on your set up, if the connectos are not already
labled, the manual should say which is for the Spkr, Mic, Line In, Line Out,
and maybe Aux and some machines have a connector for Digital sound. You
probably don't have all of these connectors, or you may even have more. The
usual connector obviously is the Spkr or however your manufacturer lables
it. If that isn't working, then try the Line out or Aux connectors to see if
you get sound from one of them.

If none of these help, we need to know if your sound card is built in to the
mainboard(motherboard) of your computer or if it is an add-on card.

If it is built in, try the support area for your computer maker'd website
and see if they have any information on how to troubleshoot your computer's
sound card. You can also check for the latest drivers to install for your
onboard sound card.

If it is an add-on, then go to your sound card's website and download and
install the latest drivers for your card.

If all else fails, you can go out and purchase a new sound card and install
it and use it. Just make sure you discharge all static electicity from your
body before digging around inside your computer, and work in a clean
non-static area to prevent possible roasting of your whole system.

I hope this helps.

Happy New Year to all.
--
Peace,

Jeffrey W. Bowen
Remove NO SPAM entries from email address to send personal email.

Please post replies of successes or failures so we all can benefit from each
others' experiences.

 

[JD]

I appreciate your lengthy response and suggestions.
First, this is a Gateway desktop running Windows XP SP 3. It's surely also
relevant that the sound system has worked for several years, and that it was
working earlier in the day and there were no reboots during that time. The
volume control is on the right-hand speaker and is definitely turned on. I
did reinstall the sound card drivers and Device Manager assures me that they
and the card are "working properly."
I've been through the Windows hardware troubleshooter and verified each
suggested item. No volume control settings are muted or turned down.
None of the cables were moved or disconnected during the day in which the
system failed.
The sound card is not part of the motherboard.
Do I infer correctly that it is your guess that the sound card (not the
speakers) has failed and that the likely solution is to buy a new sound
card?
Would the device manager still say that "the device is working properly"
even if it were not?

 

[Paul]

I appreciate your lengthy response and suggestions.
First, this is a Gateway desktop running Windows XP SP 3. It's surely also
relevant that the sound system has worked for several years, and that it was
working earlier in the day and there were no reboots during that time. The
volume control is on the right-hand speaker and is definitely turned on. I
did reinstall the sound card drivers and Device Manager assures me that they
and the card are "working properly."
I've been through the Windows hardware troubleshooter and verified each
suggested item. No volume control settings are muted or turned down.
None of the cables were moved or disconnected during the day in which the
system failed.
The sound card is not part of the motherboard.
Do I infer correctly that it is your guess that the sound card (not the
speakers) has failed and that the likely solution is to buy a new sound
card?
Would the device manager still say that "the device is working properly"
even if it were not?

Has the machine been turned off and powered down lately ? Switch off at
the back for 60 seconds, then power up and give it another try.

You can try testing in an alternate OS. My Knoppix CD is pretty good
at commissioning the sound card early in the boot sequence. There is
a startup sound it uses, which proves the sound card has been set up.
The only time it doesn't work well, is if the computer has two sound
devices, and the CD selects the wrong one to put out the boot sound
through. I disable the onboard sound chip in the BIOS, so my PCI card
is the one to get the test sound. The purpose of using an alternate OS,
is to prove whether it is a hardware problem or not.

Computer speakers occasionally fail as well. I had a cold solder joint
on my current speakers, but that only caused the right hand channel to
disappear. Taking the green plug in hand, and touching the tip,
puts a bit of "hum" on the audio input of the speakers, and makes
a quick test that the speakers are still working. The "tip" is the
left channel, while the "ring" contact is the right channel. You can
also plug the speakers into a Walkman, to provide a stimulus.

Paul

 

[Jeffrey W. Bowen]

I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner JD.

Yes, I was hoping that one of my thoughts would be correct and that the
sound card would be ok.

One thing I forgot to suggest is to open your computer and make sure the
sound card is seated properly into the slot. I expect that may not be your
problem though since the card worked earlier in the day. Sometimes you will
start getting some static from the speakers if the card is beginning to go
bad.

If the device manager says the sound card is working properly, then you
might wish to try uninstalling and reinstalling the sound card completely.

You can choose uninstall or just delete the listing of the sound card in the
device manager. Choose yes and reboot your computer.

The sound card should be detected and reinstalled.

Paul made another suggestion that the speakers may have failed. If you can
test the speakers on another system to see if they still work, you can rule
them out or find that that is your problem.

If that doesn't work, then you may need to replace the sound card.

One more thought, if your speakers have a place for head phones, try that or
plug in a different set of speakers or your head phones directly into the
sound card to see if you can hear sound through the speakers.

I hope this helps a little.

If there is anyone in this NG who can offer other options, please feel free
to step in.


--
Peace,

Jeffrey W. Bowen
Remove NO SPAM entries from email address to send personal email.

Please post replies of successes or failures so we all can benefit from each
others' experiences.

 

[JD]

Hello again,
I'm not sure what you mean by "powered down." Or switching off "at the
back." I have done numerous reboots.
Touching the tip of the green plug plug produces no "hum."

 

[JD]

Hello Jeffrey,
The headphones when plugged in normally also give no sound.
I tried plugging the phones directly into the computer, via the green plug,
to see if sound came through the phones. Alas, no joy.
If I'm understanding any of this correctly, that would indicate that the
sound card, and not the speakers, is indeed the culprit.
If the card were not seated properly in the slot, wouldn't the in/out jacks
be loose or unavailable?
I will try your suggestion of uninstalling and reinstalling the sound card.
My wife has a Diskman player. I wonder if I could "test" the computer's
speakers through it.
Thanks much for your help.

 

[JD]

I uninstalled the sound card twice and upon rebooting found that it had been
reinstalled, without asking me or informing me that Windows had "found" new
hardware.
I plugged the speakers into my wife's Diskman--and we heard good clean
sound. I supposed this is evidence that the problem does not lie with the
speakers, but with the sound card. Even though, again, the hardware manager
says "This device is working properly." [?]

 

[Jeffrey W. Bowen]

Hello JD,

From what you say, it is quite possible your sound card has finally called
it quits.

You can probably try the speakers with your wife's Diskman or any other
sound device that uses the same type jack. However if you couldn't hear
anything with your head phones, things do look bad for the sound card.

As far as the card being loose or unavailable, that is probable with an
improperly seated card. I'm thinking that might not be your problem since
the card would only come unseated if too much pressure was used plugging in
your devices to the sound card or the computer got jarred in some way. So I
would have to say I am probably wrong about the card being improperly
seated.

Re: Paul's suggestion to "turn off" and "power down".

This is actually a good suggestion to try before checking anything else.
Sometimes it is the glaring answer that no one thinks about until all hope
apears to be lost, and the computer is shut down to take to a repair
technician or computer guru down the street who finds the sound works just
fine when he or she turns the computer on to see what's wrong with it. LOL

I think what Paul was suggesting was that you shut down your computer
completely. I suggest you shut down from Windows ('Start' - 'Turn off
Computer' - 'Turn off' . . . just to clarify my meaning.) After the computer
shuts down, if your computer has a power switch on the back of your computer
near where the power plug connects to the computer, switch it to off or 0.
That's about the same as unplugging it from the wall. You can also unplug
from the wall if you want to be absolutely sure all power has been removed.

Leave it off for 30 - 60 seconds to give the computer enough time to cool
down enough for the residual RAM memory to erase.

Hopefully, your computer's hardware and XP will forget that it couldn't make
sound, . . . so to speak.

After the 30 or 60 seconds, power up and see if you have your sound back.
Hopefully this will do the trick. If not try moving the card as I suggest
next.


Another option is to check one last time if the card is bad, is to move the
card to another PCI slot on the motherboard and see if that fixes the
problem. That doesn't necessarily mean the slot itself is bad, but that some
program or other hardware device has decided to use the same IRQ Number as
the sound card, and if your card is a Sound Blaster that could be a very
real possibility. Sound Blasters don't like to share IRQ Numbers, . . . or
at least they didn't when I used to use them.

I hope this helps. Good luck. I'm getting ready to call it a night, but I'll
check in tomorrow before my eye appointment to see if you had any luck.

--
Happy New Year to all.

Peace,

Jeffrey W. Bowen
Remove NO SPAM entries from email address to send personal email.

Please post replies of successes or failures so we all can benefit from each
others' experiences.

 

[Jeffrey W. Bowen]

Hello JD,

I think we posted just within 5 minutes of each other. LOL

You may wish to try switching your card to another slot as I suggest in my
last post if you haven't considered that yet.

However, the fact that your speakers work is definitely a good(bad) sign
your sound card is bad.

So if you are really hoping for a chance to get a better sound card anyway,
this is the best excuse I can think of to do so.

I don't always trust the device manager saying that a device works properly
if I know there is a problem. Sometimes I think it is seen as "working
properly" only if it detects its presence in the system.

So I am as confused by that as you are.

Good Luck


--
Happy New Year to all.

Peace,

Jeffrey W. Bowen
Remove NO SPAM entries from email address to send personal email.

Please post replies of successes or failures so we all can benefit from each
others' experiences.

I uninstalled the sound card twice and upon rebooting found that it had
been reinstalled, without asking me or informing me that Windows had
"found" new hardware.
I plugged the speakers into my wife's Diskman--and we heard good clean
sound. I supposed this is evidence that the problem does not lie with the
speakers, but with the sound card. Even though, again, the hardware
manager says "This device is working properly." [?]

Hello Jeffrey,
The headphones when plugged in normally also give no sound.
I tried plugging the phones directly into the computer, via the green
plug, to see if sound came through the phones. Alas, no joy.
If I'm understanding any of this correctly, that would indicate that the
sound card, and not the speakers, is indeed the culprit.
If the card were not seated properly in the slot, wouldn't the in/out
jacks be loose or unavailable?
I will try your suggestion of uninstalling and reinstalling the sound
card.
My wife has a Diskman player. I wonder if I could "test" the computer's
speakers through it.
Thanks much for your help.

 

[Paul]

Hello again,
I'm not sure what you mean by "powered down." Or switching off "at the
back." I have done numerous reboots.
Touching the tip of the green plug plug produces no "hum."

Do you have another way to test the speakers ?

The purpose of powering off, is in case the problem is
something like micro-latchup. Removing all power from
the system, clears latchup (not that this is a credible
theory, but it won't hurt to try).

Paul

 

[JD]

Many thanks to you and Paul for your helpful suggestions. I was able to
eliminate the speakers as the source of the problem, and bought a RocketFish
5.1 card from Best Buy. After a few problems getting the drivers installed,
I now have excellent sound once again.
I appreciate your help very much.
I understand that there are to be no newsgroups for Windows 7, which is a
shame. You guys perform a valuable service for many of us every day.
Regards.

 

[Jeffrey W. Bowen]

You're welcome JD. Happy to have been a help to you.

Happy New Year to you and your family.


--
Peace,

Jeffrey W. Bowen
Remove NO SPAM entries from email address to send personal email.

Please post replies of successes or failures so we all can benefit from each
others' experiences.