No sound from external speakers

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rebel1
  • Start date Start date
R

Rebel1

I can’t get any sound from my external speakers, regardless of the input
source. If I click on
Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->Entertainment-->Volume Control, I get
this message: “There are no active mixer devices available. To install
mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware,
and then Click Add Hardware.” (Honest, that’s what it really says with
XP Home, v5.1, SP3.)

I have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI sound card. If I go to Control
Panel-->Sounds and Audio Devices, the Volume tab says “No Audio Device.”
If I click on the Hardware tab, all of the three Santa Cruz entries are
“working properly” and Enabled. So are the 8 others, except Microsoft
Kernel GS Wave Synthesizer, which has a duplicate device already in the
system. Regardless of which of the 11 entries I highlight, the Apply
button remains grayed out. In the Audio tab, Sound playback, it says in
the Default Device box, in gray, "No Playback Devices."

In Control Panel, if I double-click on Santa Cruz Control Panel, I get a
message “Unable to detect Santa Cruz. Would you like to run the
diagnostic program?” If I do run it, it tells me that the software is up
to date. It then tells me that the card is detected, the hardware is
okay, but the software is not responding and there is an error restoring
Santa Cruz default settings. The icon that normally appears in the
system tray is missing.

If I go to Device Manager, Sound, video and game controllers, each of
the three Santa Cruz entries is working properly.

If I Start/Run/services.msc and scroll down to Windows Audio, the status
is Started and Automatic.

If I trying playing an audio file with Winamp, it says: “Bad DirectSound
driver. Please install proper drivers or select another device in
configuration. Error code: 88780078” If I hit Ctrl-P to get preferences,
the Output Plug-in shows Nullsoft DirectSound Output v2.49. If I try to
configure it, only the Primary Sound Driver is listed in the device box;
Santa Cruz is NOT available from the drop down list.

If I try using Windows Media Player, the message is: “ Windows Media
Player cannot play the file because there is a problem with your sound
device. There might not be a sound device installed on your computer....”

While I can’t get sound from my external speakers, when I try closing
Spider Solitaire (comes as part of Windows), I hear a blip from the tiny
internal speaker.

My problems started last week with a virus, which did not affect the
sound. Once I got the virus removed, I lost the sound.

I've scanned the computer with SuperAntiSpyware, Ad-Aware, SpyBot,
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Avira anti-virus.

I’m using the latest Santa Cruz driver. In the BIOS, I’ve disabled the
audio device built into the mobo because I’m using a separate sound
card. This card has been working perfectly in this computer for over a
year, right up until I fixed the virus problem.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Rebel
 
Your problem is not the driver, it is that you lack a mixer. That's the
Creative soft that let's you select sound sources and their volumes.
Basically, it is a skin for Windows Volume Control which you also won't have
at the moment.

It will be on your sound card's install disk but maybe not as a separate
item so you may have to install the whole works.
Click to expand...


I did remove the original Santa Cruz software (with much difficulty) and
reinstalled it from the CD that came with the card. I then installed a
more recent driver right from Turtle Beach's support site.

In Start/Settings/Control Panel, one of the entries is Santa Cruz
Control Panel, which is the mixer that you mention. When I double-click
it, the message is "Unable to detect Santa Cruz. Would you like to run
the diagnostic program?" The program gives the results I stated earlier.

Before this problem started, the Santa Cruz icon would appear in the
System Tray; now it doesn't.

I'm puzzled by your phrase "Creative soft". The capital C suggests you
mean that Creative is the brand of software that I need.

I'll try another uninstall and reinstall. Thanks for your reply.

Rebel1
 
Rebel1 said:
I can’t get any sound from my external speakers, regardless of
the input source. If I click on
Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->Entertainment-->Volume Control,
I get this message: “There are no active mixer devices
available. To install mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click
Printers and Other Hardware, and then Click Add Hardware.”
(Honest, that’s what it really says with XP Home, v5.1, SP3.)

I have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI sound card. If I go to
Control Panel-->Sounds and Audio Devices, the Volume tab says
“No Audio Device.” If I click on the Hardware tab, all of the
three Santa Cruz entries are “working properly” and Enabled. So
are the 8 others, except Microsoft Kernel GS Wave Synthesizer,
which has a duplicate device already in the system. Regardless
of which of the 11 entries I highlight, the Apply button remains
grayed out. In the Audio tab, Sound playback, it says in the
Default Device box, in gray, "No Playback Devices."

In Control Panel, if I double-click on Santa Cruz Control Panel,
I get a message “Unable to detect Santa Cruz. Would you like to
run the diagnostic program?” If I do run it, it tells me that
the software is up to date. It then tells me that the card is
detected, the hardware is okay, but the software is not
responding and there is an error restoring Santa Cruz default
settings. The icon that normally appears in the system tray is
missing.

If I go to Device Manager, Sound, video and game controllers,
each of the three Santa Cruz entries is working properly.

If I Start/Run/services.msc and scroll down to Windows Audio,
the status is Started and Automatic.

If I trying playing an audio file with Winamp, it says: “Bad
DirectSound driver. Please install proper drivers or select
another device in configuration. Error code: 88780078” If I hit
Ctrl-P to get preferences, the Output Plug-in shows Nullsoft
DirectSound Output v2.49. If I try to configure it, only the
Primary Sound Driver is listed in the device box; Santa Cruz is
NOT available from the drop down list.

If I try using Windows Media Player, the message is: “ Windows
Media Player cannot play the file because there is a problem
with your sound device. There might not be a sound device
installed on your computer....”

While I can’t get sound from my external speakers, when I try
closing Spider Solitaire (comes as part of Windows), I hear a
blip from the tiny internal speaker.
Click to expand...

There is no sound from the sound card. The first place you go is
Device Manager.

Right-click on My Computer -- Manage -- System Tools -- Device
Manager

Make sure nothing has question marks or exclamation points or
whatever.

I might try reinstalling the motherboard drivers. Then maybe the
sound card drivers again.

You might also make sure that any integrated soundcard is disabled
in the BIOS, if you have not already.

Easily cleaning up a virus is a great use for backup copy of
Windows.
 
On 10/12/2010 7:17 AM, dadiOH wrote:


I did remove the original Santa Cruz software (with much difficulty) and
reinstalled it from the CD that came with the card. I then installed a
more recent driver right from Turtle Beach's support site.

In Start/Settings/Control Panel, one of the entries is Santa Cruz
Control Panel, which is the mixer that you mention. When I double-click
it, the message is "Unable to detect Santa Cruz. Would you like to run
the diagnostic program?" The program gives the results I stated earlier.

Before this problem started, the Santa Cruz icon would appear in the
System Tray; now it doesn't.

I'm puzzled by your phrase "Creative soft". The capital C suggests you
mean that Creative is the brand of software that I need.

I'll try another uninstall and reinstall. Thanks for your reply.

Rebel1
Click to expand...

I just removed and reinstalled Santa Cruz. Same problems still exist. Ugh!

Rebel1
 
Rebel1 said:
I can’t get any sound from my external speakers, regardless of the input
source. If I click on
Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->Entertainment-->Volume Control, I get
this message: “There are no active mixer devices available. To install
mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware,
and then Click Add Hardware.” (Honest, that’s what it really says with
XP Home, v5.1, SP3.)

I have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI sound card. If I go to Control
Panel-->Sounds and Audio Devices, the Volume tab says “No Audio Device.”
If I click on the Hardware tab, all of the three Santa Cruz entries are
“working properly” and Enabled. So are the 8 others, except Microsoft
Kernel GS Wave Synthesizer, which has a duplicate device already in the
system. Regardless of which of the 11 entries I highlight, the Apply
button remains grayed out. In the Audio tab, Sound playback, it says in
the Default Device box, in gray, "No Playback Devices."

In Control Panel, if I double-click on Santa Cruz Control Panel, I get a
message “Unable to detect Santa Cruz. Would you like to run the
diagnostic program?” If I do run it, it tells me that the software is up
to date. It then tells me that the card is detected, the hardware is
okay, but the software is not responding and there is an error restoring
Santa Cruz default settings. The icon that normally appears in the
system tray is missing.

If I go to Device Manager, Sound, video and game controllers, each of
the three Santa Cruz entries is working properly.

If I Start/Run/services.msc and scroll down to Windows Audio, the status
is Started and Automatic.

If I trying playing an audio file with Winamp, it says: “Bad DirectSound
driver. Please install proper drivers or select another device in
configuration. Error code: 88780078” If I hit Ctrl-P to get preferences,
the Output Plug-in shows Nullsoft DirectSound Output v2.49. If I try to
configure it, only the Primary Sound Driver is listed in the device box;
Santa Cruz is NOT available from the drop down list.

If I try using Windows Media Player, the message is: “ Windows Media
Player cannot play the file because there is a problem with your sound
device. There might not be a sound device installed on your computer....”

While I can’t get sound from my external speakers, when I try closing
Spider Solitaire (comes as part of Windows), I hear a blip from the tiny
internal speaker.

My problems started last week with a virus, which did not affect the
sound. Once I got the virus removed, I lost the sound.

I've scanned the computer with SuperAntiSpyware, Ad-Aware, SpyBot,
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Avira anti-virus.

I’m using the latest Santa Cruz driver. In the BIOS, I’ve disabled the
audio device built into the mobo because I’m using a separate sound
card. This card has been working perfectly in this computer for over a
year, right up until I fixed the virus problem.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Rebel
Click to expand...

A picture of the card.

http://i.ebayimg.com/16/!BnOTL+g!Wk~$(KGrHqIH-EIEtrH8,T5nBLirDWREKw~~_3.JPG

Crystal CS4630-CM main chip.

I'd start with the driver, and examining the INF file. This release is dated
03 Aug. 2009, but probably isn't from then (as the product was discontinued
in 2004). I picked this one first, for a look, as it's a ZIP. Inside,
the damn thing is InstallShield, so I can't look in the .cab files. But
the WDM folder has much of the stuff I wanted to see anyway.

http://www.turtlebeach.com/support/index.php?View=file&EntryID=900

The download page...

http://www.turtlebeach.com/support/index.php?View=files&CategoryID=311

If I use 7-ZIP and have a look through it, I can find "vtbwdm.inf", which
controls the installation. "Interesting" files mentioned in there,
include "tbctray.exe", "tbsctrl.exe", "tbccpnl.cpl" (control panel software).
I'd probably double click tbctray.exe for fun, and see if an icon appears
in the tray or not.

The thing is, there is some setting in the registry, that is preventing
this from working. I had a problem with my CMedia card a while back,
and it took me some Process Monitor work, to find the registry entry
that was causing the CMedia mixer software to exit. In my case, another
relatively innocent sound device, changed a registry entry in such a
way, as to say "it owned the mixer function". I had to find that
entry and change it back, to get my CM8738 based card to work again.
No amount of installing and uninstalling would help, because
apparently the CMedia installer didn't know it was supposed to
change that thing. The CMedia software wouldn't control things,
if it detected that registry setting, and yet the CMedia installer
wasn't clever enough to overwrite it. It could be there is a
similar kind of issue with the TB (Crystal) software.

Paul
 
A picture of the card.

http://i.ebayimg.com/16/!BnOTL+g!Wk~$(KGrHqIH-EIEtrH8,T5nBLirDWREKw~~_3.JPG

Crystal CS4630-CM main chip.

I'd start with the driver, and examining the INF file. This release is
dated 03 Aug. 2009, but probably isn't from then (as the product was discontinued
in 2004). I picked this one first, for a look, as it's a ZIP. Inside,
the damn thing is InstallShield, so I can't look in the .cab files. But
the WDM folder has much of the stuff I wanted to see anyway.

http://www.turtlebeach.com/support/index.php?View=file&EntryID=900

The download page...

http://www.turtlebeach.com/support/index.php?View=files&CategoryID=311

If I use 7-ZIP and have a look through it, I can find "vtbwdm.inf", which
controls the installation. "Interesting" files mentioned in there,
include "tbctray.exe", "tbsctrl.exe", "tbccpnl.cpl" (control panel
software).
I'd probably double click tbctray.exe for fun, and see if an icon appears
in the tray or not.

The thing is, there is some setting in the registry, that is preventing
this from working. I had a problem with my CMedia card a while back,
and it took me some Process Monitor work, to find the registry entry
that was causing the CMedia mixer software to exit. In my case, another
relatively innocent sound device, changed a registry entry in such a
way, as to say "it owned the mixer function". I had to find that
entry and change it back, to get my CM8738 based card to work again.
No amount of installing and uninstalling would help, because
apparently the CMedia installer didn't know it was supposed to
change that thing. The CMedia software wouldn't control things,
if it detected that registry setting, and yet the CMedia installer
wasn't clever enough to overwrite it. It could be there is a
similar kind of issue with the TB (Crystal) software.

Paul
Click to expand...

Paul,

Thanks for giving me new possibilities to explore. I found the
tbctray.exe and tbsctrl.exe files, clicked on them, but couldn't get an
icon in the tray or get the control panel.

If my problem is in the registry, as yours was, it will be challenging
to find. Any tips on how I should approach the problem?

I'm hoping that there is something wrong with one of these three drivers
that show up in Device Manager, Sound category (in View, click on Show
Hidden Devices):

1. Microsoft Kernel GS Wavetable Synthesizer, which has a yellow
explanation mark and this status message: "Windows cannot load the
device driver for this hardware because there is a duplicate device
already running in the system. (Code 42)" (Path:
c:\windows\system32\drivers\swmidi.sys)

2. Microsoft Kernel System Audio Device (Path:
c\windows\system32\drivers\sysaudio.sys)

3. Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver (Path:
c:\windows\system32\drivers\wdmaud.sys)

Items 2 and 3 are "working properly.' From the work "kernel," there is
an implication that they are at the heart of the audio system.

I'll keep plugging away and posting results.

Thanks again,

Rebel1
 
Rebel1 said:
Paul,

Thanks for giving me new possibilities to explore. I found the
tbctray.exe and tbsctrl.exe files, clicked on them, but couldn't get an
icon in the tray or get the control panel.

If my problem is in the registry, as yours was, it will be challenging
to find. Any tips on how I should approach the problem?

I'm hoping that there is something wrong with one of these three drivers
that show up in Device Manager, Sound category (in View, click on Show
Hidden Devices):

1. Microsoft Kernel GS Wavetable Synthesizer, which has a yellow
explanation mark and this status message: "Windows cannot load the
device driver for this hardware because there is a duplicate device
already running in the system. (Code 42)" (Path:
c:\windows\system32\drivers\swmidi.sys)

2. Microsoft Kernel System Audio Device (Path:
c\windows\system32\drivers\sysaudio.sys)

3. Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver (Path:
c:\windows\system32\drivers\wdmaud.sys)

Items 2 and 3 are "working properly.' From the work "kernel," there is
an implication that they are at the heart of the audio system.

I'll keep plugging away and posting results.

Thanks again,

Rebel1
Click to expand...

Before you do anything, have you gone to Add/Remove and uninstalled the
Turtle Beach driver first ? Give their InstallShield uninstaller a chance
to clean up, before you attempt to delete anything.

Now, I have a different sound hardware than you. But, I have no "audio"
items in my vast collection of "hidden" items in the Device Manager.

Under "Sound, video and game controllers", I have a

Microsoft Kernel System Audio Device

and the single driver file associated with it is "sysaudio.sys".

Under "Sound, video and game controllers", I have a

Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver

and it uses "wdmaud.sys" only.

I don't have a GS Wavetable, because my hardware doesn't support it.
(My previous PCI sound card had one, but it's been uninstalled for
a while now.)

I'd try:

1) Uninstall TB driver from Add/Remove.
2) View Hidden Devices in Device Manager and uninstall the audio ones that
don't belong there.
3) Try installing the driver again.

I used 7-ZIP, to examine what is inside the TB driver download, and
that is how I was able to read the vtbwdm.inf file without installing
it. But there are still things present in the InstallShield .cab files.
About the only way I can get to those, is to install in Ubuntu, under
Wine, and if the installer doesn't check for hardware, I get to scrounge
through the fake C: drive for remnants. I still don't have a tool that
can get inside an InstallShield cab file. I'm sure there is a tool
somewhere for it.

Another thing you can try, is use the services of virustotal.com .
Locate the wdmaud.sys file, the sysaudio.sys file, and upload
them to virustotal.com to have them scanned. Just to see if they're
infected or not.

Paul
 
Before you do anything, have you gone to Add/Remove and uninstalled the
Turtle Beach driver first ? Give their InstallShield uninstaller a chance
to clean up, before you attempt to delete anything.
Click to expand...

That's how I did uninstall it.
Now, I have a different sound hardware than you. But, I have no "audio"
items in my vast collection of "hidden" items in the Device Manager.

Under "Sound, video and game controllers", I have a

Microsoft Kernel System Audio Device

and the single driver file associated with it is "sysaudio.sys".
Click to expand...

Same as I have. That's what I meant by a "hidden" device.
Under "Sound, video and game controllers", I have a

Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver

and it uses "wdmaud.sys" only.
Click to expand...

Again, same as I have.
I don't have a GS Wavetable, because my hardware doesn't support it.
(My previous PCI sound card had one, but it's been uninstalled for
a while now.)
Click to expand...

Maybe I have it because Santa Cruz includes it.
I'd try:

1) Uninstall TB driver from Add/Remove.
2) View Hidden Devices in Device Manager and uninstall the audio ones that
don't belong there.
3) Try installing the driver again.
Click to expand...

Still no sound, but during installation I got a series of message in the
system tray for Found New Hardware. One of them indicated a problem.

I used 7-ZIP, to examine what is inside the TB driver download, and
that is how I was able to read the vtbwdm.inf file without installing
it. But there are still things present in the InstallShield .cab files.
About the only way I can get to those, is to install in Ubuntu, under
Wine, and if the installer doesn't check for hardware, I get to scrounge
through the fake C: drive for remnants. I still don't have a tool that
can get inside an InstallShield cab file. I'm sure there is a tool
somewhere for it.
Click to expand...

I do not have vtbwdm.inf in the driver file.
Another thing you can try, is use the services of virustotal.com .
Locate the wdmaud.sys file, the sysaudio.sys file, and upload
them to virustotal.com to have them scanned. Just to see if they're
infected or not.
Click to expand...

Those files had been analyzed 43 times, with zero reports of being good
or bad for two of them, and one having a single report of being good.

I tried a new tactic. First, I moved the SC card to another PCI slot. No
improvement. I then removed the SC card and in the BIOS I enabled the
mobo's VT1708B High Definition Audio Codec. I moved the inputs to my
powered speakers from the SC card to the mobo's lime-colored output
jack. When I went to Volume Control, it still reported no audio device.

I'm lost.

Rebel1
 
I'm trying to work back to core problems by finding out why, when I
double-click in Control Panel on Sounds and Audio Devices, I get the
message "No audio device." I googled on "sounds and audio devices no
audio" (without quotes).

First hit is here:

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.co...drivers-there-enabled-working-properly-4.html

I just tried Scenario 1, since I had "Plug and Play Software Device
Enumerator" listed (actually, twice). Still he same problem, even by
following the procedure for both listings. Still investigating.



I should have mentioned in my 9:10 post that with the mobo audio enable
in the BIOS, when I installed the mobo audio drivers, the system became
very unstable. I could get to the desktop, but after doing even simple
things like switching from one window to the other, things froze. Only
way to restart was via the Reset button on the front of the computer.

I tried installing the mobo audio drivers in the Safe Mode, but got
errors. Very strange.

I'm almost ready to format and start from scratch. At least, the
computer is stable enough to allow backing everything up.

Rebel1
 
Rebel1 said:
I'm trying to work back to core problems by finding out why, when I
double-click in Control Panel on Sounds and Audio Devices, I get the
message "No audio device." I googled on "sounds and audio devices no
audio" (without quotes).

First hit is here:

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.co...drivers-there-enabled-working-properly-4.html


I just tried Scenario 1, since I had "Plug and Play Software Device
Enumerator" listed (actually, twice). Still he same problem, even by
following the procedure for both listings. Still investigating.



I should have mentioned in my 9:10 post that with the mobo audio enable
in the BIOS, when I installed the mobo audio drivers, the system became
very unstable. I could get to the desktop, but after doing even simple
things like switching from one window to the other, things froze. Only
way to restart was via the Reset button on the front of the computer.

I tried installing the mobo audio drivers in the Safe Mode, but got
errors. Very strange.

I'm almost ready to format and start from scratch. At least, the
computer is stable enough to allow backing everything up.

Rebel1
Click to expand...

Is it possible the system still isn't "clean" ?

Paul
 
...or that the Turtle Beach card is defective?
Click to expand...
Not likely. I've tried removing the TB card and using the mobo
integrated audio. Couldn't even get that to work, as mentioned a few
paragraphs above. Most certainly it is a software problem.

Rebel1
 
Is it possible the system still isn't "clean" ?

Paul
Click to expand...

Very much so. After getting the initial virus out so the system is
usable, I still have problems with a new browser window opening
spontaneously, taking me to seemingly random sites, including
google.com. One or two other odd things; can't be more specific. I've
scanned with Avira Antivir, spybot, malwarebytes anti-malware,
SUPERAntiSpyware Free. Don't know what else to try.

But many, many others having my problem found that malware was NOT the
underlying cause of the problem.

Rebel1
 
Did you also load the on board audio software and drivers from the mobo
install disc? They are often separate.
Click to expand...

At first, I missed doing that. There are three separate drivers on my
mobo CD: for the chipset, the video, and the audio. When I installed the
audio driver, things went to hell. After working for a minute or two,
the system froze. Had to reboot via front panel reset switch. Only way
to keep going was to disable the mobo audio in the BIOS.

With the sound card removed, and even the built-in audio not working,
some is wrong at a very basic level, with windows.

Rebel1
 
Rebel1 said:
Very much so. After getting the initial virus out so the system is
usable, I still have problems with a new browser window opening
spontaneously, taking me to seemingly random sites, including
google.com. One or two other odd things; can't be more specific. I've
scanned with Avira Antivir, spybot, malwarebytes anti-malware,
SUPERAntiSpyware Free. Don't know what else to try.

But many, many others having my problem found that malware was NOT the
underlying cause of the problem.

Rebel1
Click to expand...

Try an offline scan with this. This CD boots and uses DHCP to access the
Internet and get up to date virus definitions. My cheap router box
supports DHCP, and as long as my network is all set up, before I
boot this CD, it can download updates and do a scan of the hard
drive. I was running this yesterday.

http://devbuilds.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/RescueDisk10/

The download is an ISO9660 file, and you need a program like Nero
or Imgburn, to make a bootable CD from it. Just copying the file
to a CD won't work (it won't boot that way). The IMAPI support for
burning files in WinXP, isn't sufficient.

That tool writes to the hard drive. For example, it knew I'd run a scan
a couple months ago, and was still presenting the results (for some
files I'd removed in response to what it found). In my case, it
was infected files I'd downloaded but not run. So it was a simple matter
to just delete them.

That tool runs from the CD, but you can also make a USB flash stick version.
It is also possible to run the CD version, and have it copy the CD into
RAM, so the CD can be removed from the computer.

To copy the CD into system memory at run time, you'd do the following.

1) Make sure BIOS includes CD in boot order, so the CD will boot.
2) When the CD picks up speed, and before the colorful logo appears,
press the letter "e". Press it multiple times, if you're unsure.
3) You'll see a single line of text, with the word

configfile

on the left. If you pressed the letter "e" too many times, you'd need
to backspace and remove the changes to the line. You don't really
want to change this line.

To continue with the line as edited, you press "control-x".
4) Now, start pressing "e" again. In this case, perhaps only press
"e" the one time.
5) Two lines of boot info will show up. The first line has the word
"quiet" on the end. Cursor right until you get there, delete the
word "quiet" and replace it with "docache". Once the line is
edited the way you like, press "control-x" to start the boot.
Using "docache" and going to this much trouble, is so you can
pull the boot CD out of the drive later.
6) The Gentoo OS will then boot on that CD, and the Kaspersky
scanner will start automatically (it's called an offline scan,
because Windows won't be running). In a few seconds, it will attempt
to reach the Internet via using DHCP with your modem/router. I like
to have my network connection already set up, before running the CD,
so the CD can get virus definitions.
7) Once the download completes, you can go to the box where you
tick the partitions to be scanned. You can open a "Terminal" window
using the menu in the lower left hand corner, and do something like
"cd /discs", and the partition letters may be showing there.
Next, I might do "cd C:", which would change the path to /discs/C:
and then I could do "ls" to list the files. By going partition by
partition, I can eventually figure out that my WinXP partition is
actually E:. This tool doesn't do a very good job of telling you
which partition is which (it doesn't display partition labels,
like the label "WINXP" I've got on my boot partition in Windows).
You can always tick the boxes for all the partitions, but that might
take longer to complete the scan.

The tool won't quarantine anything, unless you give permission for
the tool to do it. But at least, if there is something nasty still
on there, you might get a hint.

8) To remove the CD from the drive, so you don't have to listen to
the CD spinning for the next two hours, all the software gets
stored in RAM if you use the "docache" boot option. In a terminal
window, you have to do something like "umount /mnt/cdrom" to unmount
the CD. Use the "df" command first, to get names for all the mounted
partitions. I think /mnt/cdrom is the boot CD. Once the umount
command is issued, pressing the button on the CD drive will
eject it. (Otherwise, the CD won't eject.) But you have to be quick.
In ten seconds or less, the OS will close the drive door!
Once the tray opens, remove the CD *immediately*, or risk jamming
the drawer on the CD. That is a stupid OS design feature, but I
haven't scratched a CD yet. You just have to be quick :-) It
was a surprise the first time it happened, but I'm alert to it
now. Fortunately, it didn't pinch the CD the first time it happened.

HTH,
Paul
 
Paul,

Thanks so much for all those comprehensive instructions. Unfortunately,
about an hour before you posted them, I decided to just reinstall XP and
get it over with. I was spending more time searching the internet than
it took to do a clean reinstall. Since I didn't reformat c:, many of my
old programs and settings were still valid, so it took about five hours
to do it. The nice thing is that a lot of clutter is gone, some odd
symptoms are gone, and so far things are much faster (still don't have
various malware programs installed).

(Only odd thing is that I'm still supposedly at SP3, but the Add/Remove
Programs list doesn't show any of the 70+ hotfixes, even though the Show
Updates box is checked.)

Before biting the bullet, I noted three odd things.

1. In Device Manager, System devices (with Show hidden devices checked)I
have three Plug and Play Software Device Enumerators showing. Elsewhere,
I read that there should only be one. I was able to highlight one, then
press Delete to get rid of it, but the other couldn't be removed that
way and the Disable box was greyed out so I'm was stuck with one extra.

2. In Device Manager, System devices (with Show hidden devices checked)I
did NOT have an entry of Microsoft UAA bus driver for High Definition
Audio. There should have been one. I think installing my mobo audio
driver generated it during reinstall.

3. Using Windows' System Information program
(Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools), I noticed a file called
sysaudio(.sys), which is described as Microsoft Kernel System Audio
Device. It was NOT started, and I couldn't find a way to start it (like
through Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services).

With these three things working against me, I just gave up and reinstalled.

So far, I'm operating using the mobo audio and the Santa Cruz card
removed; it sounds just fine. As someone pointed out, the SC control
panel is mainly a slick "skin" that wraps around XP's internal playback
mixer and recorder. SC's esoteric features are things that I never use,
so the only reason to go back to it is for the more convenient interface.

Again, many thanks for your generous educational hints and comments.

Rebel1
 
Paul,

Thanks so much for all those comprehensive instructions. Unfortunately,
about an hour before you posted them, I decided to just reinstall XP and
get it over with. I was spending more time searching the internet than
it took to do a clean reinstall. Since I didn't reformat c:, many of my
old programs and settings were still valid, so it took about five hours
to do it. The nice thing is that a lot of clutter is gone, some odd
symptoms are gone, and so far things are much faster (still don't have
various malware programs installed).

(Only odd thing is that I'm still supposedly at SP3, but the Add/Remove
Programs list doesn't show any of the 70+ hotfixes, even though the Show
Updates box is checked.)

Before biting the bullet, I noted three odd things.

1. In Device Manager, System devices (with Show hidden devices checked)I
have three Plug and Play Software Device Enumerators showing. Elsewhere,
I read that there should only be one. I was able to highlight one, then
press Delete to get rid of it, but the other couldn't be removed that
way and the Disable box was greyed out so I'm was stuck with one extra.

2. In Device Manager, System devices (with Show hidden devices checked)I
did NOT have an entry of Microsoft UAA bus driver for High Definition
Audio. There should have been one. I think installing my mobo audio
driver generated it during reinstall.

3. Using Windows' System Information program
(Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools), I noticed a file called
sysaudio(.sys), which is described as Microsoft Kernel System Audio
Device. It was NOT started, and I couldn't find a way to start it (like
through Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services).

With these three things working against me, I just gave up and reinstalled.

So far, I'm operating using the mobo audio and the Santa Cruz card
removed; it sounds just fine. As someone pointed out, the SC control
panel is mainly a slick "skin" that wraps around XP's internal playback
mixer and recorder. SC's esoteric features are things that I never use,
so the only reason to go back to it is for the more convenient interface.

Again, many thanks for your generous educational hints and comments.

Rebel1
Click to expand...

The 70+ updates are just that "updates" and you must tell "Add /
Remove Program" to display the updates.
 
smlunatick said:
Paul

The 70+ updates are just that "updates" and you must tell "Add /
Remove Program" to display the updates.
Click to expand...

You must have missed this part of my message.
 
I have Turtle Beach Santa Cruz board installed in XP & the Device
Manager has :

Santa Cruz (tm)
Santa Cruz (tm) Game Port
Santa Cruz (tm) WDM Interface

.... under Sound, video and game controllers. Mine works well. Do you
get sound out of the card sockets (or is that how you are getting
sound anyway). I am running on sc_4163 installer.

I also have Total Recorder which has mixers piggy-backing on the Santa
Cruz controller as well as directly to windows.

I also have an app which views all the mixers & connected audio lines.
If this would help you, send me an email & I'll send it to you.

Alan Lloyd
 
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