Yellow ? in Device Manager causing videos to freeze

[harry.wj]

Hi

I have a yellow question mark over Other devices>Multimedia Audio Controller
in my Device Manager. Also I have recently got the problem of not being able
to play divx and xvid encoded videos in either Windows Media Player 10 and
11 or DivX Player but CAN play videos in VLC Media Player (probably because
it doesn't use any 3rd party codecs or filters?). Although I've got two
episodes of an old tv documentary one of which I can play fine at the moment
but the other one just sticks on the first frame. According to GSpot they
are both encoded with div3-divx3 low motion. The only differences between
the files is that one has audio:

48000Hz 128 kb/s total (2 chnls) LAME3.92, (VBR)

the other has audio:

48000Hz 192 kb/s total (2 chnls) (CBR)

So my questions are, what is the yellow question mark in Device Manager all
about, is it a problem, can I fix it, and if I do is it likely to solve my
video playback issues?

Harry


******************************************
"Bravo the Seventies!" - Steve Howe

 

[Jim]

Hi

I have a yellow question mark over Other devices>Multimedia Audio
Controller in my Device Manager. Also I have recently got the problem of
not being able to play divx and xvid encoded videos in either Windows
Media Player 10 and 11 or DivX Player but CAN play videos in VLC Media
Player (probably because it doesn't use any 3rd party codecs or filters?).
Although I've got two episodes of an old tv documentary one of which I can
play fine at the moment but the other one just sticks on the first frame.
According to GSpot they are both encoded with div3-divx3 low motion. The
only differences between the files is that one has audio:

48000Hz 128 kb/s total (2 chnls) LAME3.92, (VBR)

the other has audio:

48000Hz 192 kb/s total (2 chnls) (CBR)

So my questions are, what is the yellow question mark in Device Manager
all about, is it a problem, can I fix it, and if I do is it likely to
solve my video playback issues?

It most certainly does reflect a problem. The yellow question mark is just
the messenger, so don't shoot it.
You fix the problem which causes the yellow question mark.
The problem that is causing the yellow question mark is very likely to be
the one causing your video issues.
Jim

 

[Ron Martell]

Hi

I have a yellow question mark over Other devices>Multimedia Audio Controller
in my Device Manager. Also I have recently got the problem of not being able
to play divx and xvid encoded videos in either Windows Media Player 10 and
11 or DivX Player but CAN play videos in VLC Media Player (probably because
it doesn't use any 3rd party codecs or filters?). Although I've got two
episodes of an old tv documentary one of which I can play fine at the moment
but the other one just sticks on the first frame. According to GSpot they
are both encoded with div3-divx3 low motion. The only differences between
the files is that one has audio:

48000Hz 128 kb/s total (2 chnls) LAME3.92, (VBR)

the other has audio:

48000Hz 192 kb/s total (2 chnls) (CBR)

So my questions are, what is the yellow question mark in Device Manager all
about, is it a problem, can I fix it, and if I do is it likely to solve my
video playback issues?

Harry

You need to update the device drivers for the sound card. Check with
the manufacturer's web site. Go to the motherboard manufacturer's
site if the sound is integrated into the motherboard.

Anything in the "other devices" category is almost invariably the
result of an incorrect driver being installed.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[harry.wj]

Hi

Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and installed the latest drivers for my
soundcard but I still have the yellow ? in Other devices>Multimedia Audio
Controller in Device Manager. I don't even know what device it is referring
to although in the details of its properties it says:

Device Instance ld

PCI\VEN_13F6&DEV_0111&SUBSYS_59001462&REV_10\3&61AAA01&0&60

Any idea what this is all about?

My Audigy 4 soundcard appears in Device Manager as working with no problems,
yet I'm still getting no video playback. What can I try next?

Harry

 

[harry.wj]

Hi

Well, I went and checked in Gspot what codecs were available to me and saw
that quite a few were broken/files missing. So I installed the latest full
verison of the K-Lite Codec Pack (I know, I know I said I wouldn't, but
there were too many files missing/broken) and upon installation detected the
same broken/missing files that Gspot did. I removed them during the
installation (which the Pack will do for you) and now I have full video
playback. Now I hope I won't get that out of sync audio I used to get when
converting avis to dvd, which was the reason I uninstalled the K-Lite Codec
Pack the last time I had it installed.

Meantime, I still have this yellow? in Device Manager. Any suggestions how
to identify the problem and fix it?

Harry

 

[Ron Martell]

Hi

Well, I went and checked in Gspot what codecs were available to me and saw
that quite a few were broken/files missing. So I installed the latest full
verison of the K-Lite Codec Pack (I know, I know I said I wouldn't, but
there were too many files missing/broken) and upon installation detected the
same broken/missing files that Gspot did. I removed them during the
installation (which the Pack will do for you) and now I have full video
playback. Now I hope I won't get that out of sync audio I used to get when
converting avis to dvd, which was the reason I uninstalled the K-Lite Codec
Pack the last time I had it installed.

Meantime, I still have this yellow? in Device Manager. Any suggestions how
to identify the problem and fix it?

In Device Manager right-click on the entry and select Uninstall.

Reboot the computer and see if the device is redetected. If it does
it should now find the proper drivers.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[harry.wj]

Hi Ron

I did as you advised. I allowed Windows to connect to Windows Update to
search for the drivers for the now unknown device and it found and installed
them. The device in question was CMI8738/C3DX C-Media PCI Audio Device. I do
have C-Media on my mobo but don't use it. Anyway, problem solved.

Awesome dude

Harry

 

[frodo]

Hi Ron
I did as you advised. I allowed Windows to connect to Windows Update to
search for the drivers for the now unknown device and it found and installed
them. The device in question was CMI8738/C3DX C-Media PCI Audio Device. I do
have C-Media on my mobo but don't use it. Anyway, problem solved.

well, not really. repeat the operation (go into dev mngr, right-click the
cmedia device and choose uninstall), then reboot, and BEFORE xp relaunches
enter the bios and disable the on-board audio. now when xp comes up the
cmedia device should be gone. I would also double check add/remove
programs for any cmedia entries, and remove them; they may conflict w/
your add-in audio card's drivers. then go into control panel's "sound and
audio devices" and be sure all settings are pointing to the audigy card.
and then run the dx diagnostics (dxdiag.exe) tool and verify everything,
running all the audio (and video too) tests. at that point you should be
all set and xp should be using just your audigy card.