My Mini ITX has no Audio

[Searcher7]

I have a Mini ITX pc I put together over a year ago. I had so many problems I put it on the shelf and I'm just now getting back to it.

It's an EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX mainboard inside of a Foxconn RS0338 Mini-ITX case.

The most important issue I need to take care of is getting the audio to work. I get no audio from Windows or when playing mp3s, with either speakers or headphones.

When I click volume control I get a pop-up that says:
---------------------
"There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devices, go to control panel, click Printer and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware.

This program will now close."
---------------------
And when I go to "Control Panel" and click "Sounds and Audio Devices" nothing can be manipulated on the "Volume" or the "Audio" tabs. It's like the pc has no capability to output sound.

"Device Manager" shows the yellow question marks near "Other Devices", "Multimedia Audio Controller", and " Video Controller (VGA Compatible)".

Any ideas on what to do next?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Paul]

I have a Mini ITX pc I put together over a year ago. I had so many problems I put it on the shelf and I'm just now getting back to it.

It's an EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX mainboard inside of a Foxconn RS0338 Mini-ITX case.

The most important issue I need to take care of is getting the audio to work. I get no audio from Windows or when playing mp3s, with either speakers or headphones.

When I click volume control I get a pop-up that says:
---------------------
"There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devices, go to control panel, click Printer and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware.

This program will now close."
---------------------
And when I go to "Control Panel" and click "Sounds and Audio Devices" nothing can be manipulated on the "Volume" or the "Audio" tabs. It's like the pc has no capability to output sound.

"Device Manager" shows the yellow question marks near "Other Devices", "Multimedia Audio Controller", and " Video Controller (VGA Compatible)".

Any ideas on what to do next?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html

"The user's digital media experience is further enhanced by support
for 5.1 surround sound, courtesy of the onboard
VIA VT1616 6 Channel AC'97 codec."

That means the sound is AC97 rather than HDAudio. A slight difference
between the two, is the driver for AC97 must include design elements
for the Southbridge as well as the AC97 chip. There have been
cases in the past, where there were several AC97 packages,
and each package would only handle a Southbridge family or two.
So Intel and VIA might be one package, SIS Southbridges in a second
package and so on.

That same page has a driver link. You should double check you're on the
right product page, before downloading. I can't be absolutely
sure this is the correct file.

Audio 3.40b 2004/10/14 EPIA M Audio Driver audio.zip (1.92M)

http://www.viaembedded.com/servlet/downloadSvl?id=81&download_file_id=1158

VIAUDIO.inf

PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3059
PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3058

That means it covers two different VIA Southbridge chips. 1106 stands for VIA.
3058 and 3059 are identifiers. Sometimes (at least for VIA), the logic block
on several chips can be identical, so even though there are two entries shown,
it may cover more than two Southbridge chips.

HKR,Drivers,SubClasses,,"wave,midi,mixer"
HKR,Drivers\mixer\wdmaud.drv,Driver,,wdmaud.drv

Ah, maybe you'll get a mixer. That might work for WinXP, but
I doubt any later OSes are supported.

DeviceDesc="VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM)"

I'd hoped to see some identification of the VT1616, but
that just doesn't seem to be present there.

In terms of the mixer itself, I had a problem once with the
registry, where installing drivers for one sound chip, damaged
a critical setting for the other sound chip. So there's at least
one registry setting, that one driver can stomp on what the
other driver has done. Many of the settings may be stored
independently, but not all of them.

*******

Product page for VT1616. Pretty standard stuff.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/audio/codecs/vt1616/

If the mini-ITX board has a FP_AUDIO header (a 2x5 pin header),
make sure the two jumpers are still plugged in. Some people
install their audio driver, then complain there is no sound
coming from the speakers. If you remove those two jumpers,
that'll kill LineOut (lime green connector on the stack).
When the jumpers are in place, you should get sound again.
The sound will also come back, if you plug in the front panel
cable (which has the equivalent of the jumpers as part of
the wiring scheme).

When you receive a brand new AC97 equipped motherboard,
the jumpers should be as shown in (2) here.

http://www.frontx.com/cpx110p4.gif

Paul

 

[Searcher7]

http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/81/1/EPIA_M_(EOL).html

    "The user's digital media experience is further enhanced by support
     for 5.1 surround sound, courtesy of the onboard
     VIA VT1616 6 Channel AC'97 codec."

That means the sound is AC97 rather than HDAudio. A slight difference
between the two, is the driver for AC97 must include design elements
for the Southbridge as well as the AC97 chip. There have been
cases in the past, where there were several AC97 packages,
and each package would only handle a Southbridge family or two.
So Intel and VIA might be one package, SIS Southbridges in a second
package and so on.

That same page has a driver link. You should double check you're on the
right product page, before downloading. I can't be absolutely
sure this is the correct file.

Audio   3.40b   2004/10/14   EPIA M Audio Driver   audio.zip   (1.92M)

http://www.viaembedded.com/servlet/downloadSvl?id=81&download_file_id....

VIAUDIO.inf

PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3059
PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3058

That means it covers two different VIA Southbridge chips. 1106 stands forVIA.
3058 and 3059 are identifiers. Sometimes (at least for VIA), the logic block
on several chips can be identical, so even though there are two entries shown,
it may cover more than two Southbridge chips.

HKR,Drivers,SubClasses,,"wave,midi,mixer"
HKR,Drivers\mixer\wdmaud.drv,Driver,,wdmaud.drv

Ah, maybe you'll get a mixer. That might work for WinXP, but
I doubt any later OSes are supported.

DeviceDesc="VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM)"

I'd hoped to see some identification of the VT1616, but
that just doesn't seem to be present there.

In terms of the mixer itself, I had a problem once with the
registry, where installing drivers for one sound chip, damaged
a critical setting for the other sound chip. So there's at least
one registry setting, that one driver can stomp on what the
other driver has done. Many of the settings may be stored
independently, but not all of them.

*******

Product page for VT1616. Pretty standard stuff.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/audio/codecs/vt1616/

If the mini-ITX board has a FP_AUDIO header (a 2x5 pin header),
make sure the two jumpers are still plugged in. Some people
install their audio driver, then complain there is no sound
coming from the speakers. If you remove those two jumpers,
that'll kill LineOut (lime green connector on the stack).
When the jumpers are in place, you should get sound again.
The sound will also come back, if you plug in the front panel
cable (which has the equivalent of the jumpers as part of
the wiring scheme).

When you receive a brand new AC97 equipped motherboard,
the jumpers should be as shown in (2) here.

http://www.frontx.com/cpx110p4.gif

    Paul

Thanks a lot.

I believe that is the correct driver. I had actually downloaded it
before.

I clicked on setup and got the message that the software has not
passed Windows Logo testing to verify it's compatibility with Windows
XP, but I took a chance and continued anyway.

Nothing at all has changed. :-(

Darren Harris
Staten Island., New York.

 

[Paul]

Thanks a lot.

I believe that is the correct driver. I had actually downloaded it
before.

I clicked on setup and got the message that the software has not
passed Windows Logo testing to verify it's compatibility with Windows
XP, but I took a chance and continued anyway.

Nothing at all has changed. :-(

Darren Harris
Staten Island., New York.

Check the BIOS and see if there are any audio settings.

Check Device Manager and see if anything showed up there.
(I.e. Something with a yellow mark indicating a driver problem say.)

*******

Similar symptoms I suspect. I would not have thought you'd
be alone in experiencing this.

http://www.overclock.net/t/85126/via-vt1616-6-channel-ac-97

*******

There is a "vinyl" driver here, but I have no idea why it
has that name. It mentions VT1616/b and that could mean support
for VT1616 and VT1616b, but who can be sure ?

http://www.viaarena.com/Driver/vinyl_v700b.zip

There used to be a separate site for the miniITX stuff. The download
links don't work here.

http://web.archive.org/web/20050207...psd.com/product/Download.jsp?motherboardId=81

I can also find examples of users attempting to use RealTek
drivers instead of using a VIA one. The idea is, the RealTek AC97
driver can be used to get 2-channel sound out of AC97 codecs, when
all else fails. This isn't always a good idea. If you want
to try that, realtek.com.tw has a driver section and you'd
look under audio and AC97 for a driver.

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#AC

The reason that might work, is the hardware control registers for
two channel sound should be supported on most AC97 codecs. Normally,
a driver installer checks plug and play numbers before installing.
Maybe the RealTek doesn't bother doing that check.

Paul

 

[Searcher7]

Check the BIOS and see if there are any audio settings.

Check Device Manager and see if anything showed up there.
(I.e. Something with a yellow mark indicating a driver problem say.)

*******

Similar symptoms I suspect. I would not have thought you'd
be alone in experiencing this.

http://www.overclock.net/t/85126/via-vt1616-6-channel-ac-97

*******

There is a "vinyl" driver here, but I have no idea why it
has that name. It mentions VT1616/b and that could mean support
for VT1616 and VT1616b, but who can be sure ?

http://www.viaarena.com/Driver/vinyl_v700b.zip

There used to be a separate site for the miniITX stuff. The download
links don't work here.

http://web.archive.org/web/20050207005131/http://www.viavpsd.com/prod...

I can also find examples of users attempting to use RealTek
drivers instead of using a VIA one. The idea is, the RealTek AC97
driver can be used to get 2-channel sound out of AC97 codecs, when
all else fails. This isn't always a good idea. If you want
to try that, realtek.com.tw has a driver section and you'd
look under audio and AC97 for a driver.

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid....

The reason that might work, is the hardware control registers for
two channel sound should be supported on most AC97 codecs. Normally,
a driver installer checks plug and play numbers before installing.
Maybe the RealTek doesn't bother doing that check.

    Paul

I saw nothing having to do with audio in the BIOS(Setup).

And I did not find the problem in Device Manager.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/DeviceManager_zps81f35cd5.jpg

But I uninstalled and then re-installed the drivers again and also
swap in a different audio cable, and now the sound works. So I'm no
exactly sure what it was.

The audio however is terrible and has a slightly muffled sound to it.
(The video when viewed with any media player is terrible also due to
it being slightly too dark, making details less discernible).

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Paul]

I saw nothing having to do with audio in the BIOS(Setup).

And I did not find the problem in Device Manager.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/DeviceManager_zps81f35cd5.jpg

But I uninstalled and then re-installed the drivers again and also
swap in a different audio cable, and now the sound works. So I'm no
exactly sure what it was.

The audio however is terrible and has a slightly muffled sound to it.
(The video when viewed with any media player is terrible also due to
it being slightly too dark, making details less discernible).

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

You're going to need a gamma adjustment. And gamma for LCDs is
different than gamma for a TV set over composite or Svideo.

In my other post (five minutes ago), I mentioned installing
the video driver, and maybe you'll get a custom control panel
for the VIA once you install that. There could be some gamma
sliders to fiddle with.

As for the audio, do you have a mixer now ?

Notice the Device Manager info here, doesn't match yours.

http://www.viaarena.com/6-channel-onboard-sound-the-way-it-should-be.aspx?ID=75&MCatID=1

There are drivers here.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/downloads.jsp?motherboard_id=81

"VIA EPIA M (EOL) - Downloads

Driver
Category Integrated VGA <--- this is for your video output
Version (Date) 16.94.39.14
File Name (Size) 2kxp.zip (6.66MB) Download

Category Audio
Version (Date) 3.40b
File Name (Size) audio.zip (1.92M) Download
Operating System EPIA M Audio Driver"

When I click on a link there, I'm getting an error. There's a way to fix that.
Hold your mouse over the link, and you'll see a javascript "dodownload" and
a couple numbers. Plug the numbers into a URL like this, and the download should
start.

This should be audio.zip . Now, I don't see any "Enhanced Audio Controller"
in there, like the via page was suggesting.

http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/downloadFile.jsp?id=81&download_file_id=1158

And this should be the video one on that page.

http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/downloadFile.jsp?id=81&download_file_id=1181

The muffled sound could be one of two things. A graphic
equalizer you can't see is involved. Or, the speakers
are in 5.1 mode, and you've connected two speakers to it.
The "speaker model" dialog, has to match the speakers being
connected, to get a "proper stereo image". So if you have a
two speaker setup, use two speaker setting in the menu.

Also, if playing movies, be aware that for some reason,
commercial DVD audio levels are extremely low, and depending
on the output method (like S/PDIF), there isn't actually a
way to adjust the volume. If you convert AC3 from a movie to
stereo in software, then the volume control works. If you send
AC3 over S/PDIF to a receiver, no volume control on the
computer works, and you have to use the volume knob on the
receiver.

This is one of those situations, where the crappy and broken web
pages, mean you have to be there and sitting in front of it,
trying one driver after another, until you get something that
works.

Maybe that's how you "get your money's worth" ?
All the entertainment of driver testing.

Paul