USB caused a problem

[Judith Umbria]

I installed an MP3 USB using its disk and lost sound completely. I
then uninstalled it and still can't get sound to work.
I have done all the obvious things, done some that weren't so obvious
that I found suggested on various newsgroups, but nothing brings back
sound to the monitor speakers.
There is no joy on the page of the MP3 manufacturer as they've quit
selling it. I have reinstalled drivers for every part affected, even
though I didn't do a thing except install that MP3.
Why would this have happened? What can I do?
It doesn't help that every bit of verbiage is in Italian on this new
machine!

 

[decoder]

I installed an MP3 USB using its disk and lost sound completely. I
then uninstalled it and still can't get sound to work.
I have done all the obvious things, done some that weren't so obvious
that I found suggested on various newsgroups, but nothing brings back
sound to the monitor speakers.
There is no joy on the page of the MP3 manufacturer as they've quit
selling it. I have reinstalled drivers for every part affected, even
though I didn't do a thing except install that MP3.

MP3 is a file format, what exactly did you install? A media device?
A USB data storage stick? What?
What did you install from a disk? Software? Data? MP3's?
Did you try system restore?
I'm not gifted with telepathy, doubt anyone else here is either,
You need to supply coherent details of the problem

 

[Mike Williams]

I installed an MP3 USB using its disk and lost sound completely. I
then uninstalled it and still can't get sound to work.
I have done all the obvious things, done some that weren't so obvious
that I found suggested on various newsgroups, but nothing brings back
sound to the monitor speakers.
There is no joy on the page of the MP3 manufacturer as they've quit
selling it. I have reinstalled drivers for every part affected, even
though I didn't do a thing except install that MP3.
Why would this have happened? What can I do?
It doesn't help that every bit of verbiage is in Italian on this new
machine!

Mentioning the brand & model tends to be more evocative than speaking
abstractly about these things.

 

[Judith Umbria]

MP3 is a file format, what exactly did you install? A media device?
A USB data storage stick? What? <<


It is for music, brand is Sonic Impact from Sonic Solutions, Windows
recognized it as a removable storage. The installation went OK, from
its CD as stated, except for the loss of sound. I have restored the
system to a date a couple of days before I did it and I still don't
have sound.
You know, all these things look alike. The storage thingies look just
like this music thing. They seem to work pretty much the same, too. I
should think that the mini-CD makes the difference to how this
particular one is used, along with the ear plugs. That is all academic
to the question of how I can restore sound now that I have removed and
uninstalled the USB item, no?
I have no previous experience with XP or this storage device, so I am
trying to explain it from what I know.

 

[Mike Williams]

A USB data storage stick? What? <<


It is for music, brand is Sonic Impact from Sonic Solutions, Windows
recognized it as a removable storage. The installation went OK, from
its CD as stated, except for the loss of sound. I have restored the
system to a date a couple of days before I did it and I still don't
have sound.
You know, all these things look alike. The storage thingies look just
like this music thing. They seem to work pretty much the same, too. I
should think that the mini-CD makes the difference to how this
particular one is used, along with the ear plugs. That is all academic
to the question of how I can restore sound now that I have removed and
uninstalled the USB item, no?

Different software companies do different amazingly dumb things with
their software, no matter how similar their hardware might be. Knowing
the company increases the possibility of someone saying "Oh that device,
I know how to fix what IT does!". Or they might go to the website for
that company and find a fix or explanation for the symptoms.

I have no previous experience with XP or this storage device, so I am
trying to explain it from what I know.

In that case it's good to answer an expert's questions fully, as if you
were at the doctor's.

 

[Mike Williams]

Different software companies do different amazingly dumb things with
their software, no matter how similar their hardware might be. Knowing
the company increases the possibility of someone saying "Oh that device,
I know how to fix what IT does!". Or they might go to the website for
that company and find a fix or explanation for the symptoms.


In that case it's good to answer an expert's questions fully, as if you
were at the doctor's.

See also http://support.sonic.com/

 

[Judith Umbria]

See also http://support.sonic.com/ <<

I have exchanged a couple of emails with a fellow from there, but he
just tells me that it won't do that. It did.
Unfortunately, this product is not on their pages anywhere. They no
longer sell it, and apparently don't support it, either. I was given
it as a gift and couldn't install it until I got this computer. I
explored the CD and it was a bunch of compressed files without
explanation plus a user's manual, which I printed. No help there.

 

[decoder]

A USB data storage stick? What? <<


It is for music, brand is Sonic Impact from Sonic Solutions, Windows
recognized it as a removable storage. The installation went OK, from
its CD as stated, except for the loss of sound. I have restored the
system to a date a couple of days before I did it and I still don't
have sound.

If you had intended to only use it as playback for MP3, then you could
have saved yourself a whole heap of problems and NOT have installed
any supplied software -
MP3 is not actually an audio format but a data format, You could have
simply used drag and drop via Windows Explorer........

You know, all these things look alike. The storage thingies look just
like this music thing. They seem to work pretty much the same, too. I
should think that the mini-CD

What exactly is a mini-CD? Do you mean a floppy?

makes the difference to how this
particular one is used, along with the ear plugs.

"Ear plugs"? Do you mean in-ear headphones?

That is all academic
to the question of how I can restore sound now that I have removed and
uninstalled the USB item, no?
I have no previous experience with XP or this storage device, so I am
trying to explain it from what I know.

Is your soundcard detailed in Device Manager?
If it is detailed, is it listed as functioning?
Most soundcards/adapters should display an icon in the
system tray - where the clock is, double click it and ensure
that the "mute" option is not selected.
In Your gobbledogook post you detail "ear plugs"? I suspect
you mean in-ear phones for connecting to your device,
In the menu's for your soundcard ensure that selected output
is to speakers and Not headphones.
Have you tried simple things such as ensuring your speakers are
actually connected?

 

[Judith Umbria]

Is your soundcard detailed in Device Manager?
If it is detailed, is it listed as functioning?
Most soundcards/adapters should display an icon in the
system tray - where the clock is, double click it and ensure
that the "mute" option is not selected.
In Your gobbledogook post you detail "ear plugs"? I suspect
you mean in-ear phones for connecting to your device,
In the menu's for your soundcard ensure that selected output
is to speakers and Not headphones.
Have you tried simple things such as ensuring your speakers are
actually connected? >>

1) mute is not selected
2) stereo speakers on monitor are selected, the speakers for the MP3
player have nothing to do with the computer, actually, so although
there is a headphone it is not selected
3) yes, the rear line out is shown live and it is plugged in
4) in hardware page all is shown as working fine

What could have been on that CD that could have caused such a failure
of sound?

Gobbledegook is the language that ordinary people know how to speak
about unfamiliar computer terminology, you know. I now know that I
didn't have to use the mini-CD (which is what it is called in the
documentation of the MP3 player and which is a tiny CD that fits in the
indentation in the middle of the CD tray) but since it comes with it
and asks to auto-install, I believe the average user might be excused
for thinking you do have to install it.
I am unfamiliar with XP, have no info at all on 98, but I have been
using computers since before there were hard drives or PCs. I should
imagine that some people who come here for help actually have no
experience of any computer ever and that's why they come here. Every
message and term in my copy of XP is in Italian and I have to labor to
figure out what each word means, just like someone in Ohio who has
never had a computer before. I can eventually do it, but I need help
to figure out what I should be seeing in English so I can mentally
translate it.

 

[Judith Umbria]

I have resolved the problem, but I cannot say how. I just went all the
way through and changed anything that looked safe to change. Thanks
for your attention.