[Selvaswami]

Dell GX-270 running up to date XP, with a Dell sound card/game port, and a GeForce FX 5200 for video.

This evening the monitor went blank, and when a second monitor plugged to the box showed blank as well, I pulled the video card and went back to the motherboard video port -- and Windows works fine, sans the GeForce card. Well, that card served for almost four years of constant use, so thanks old buddy.

But now -- no sound from the speakers, from a second set of speakers, from the onboard speaker itself. Nothing.

Pulled the gameport card and went with the onboard audio port, but it is dead air there as well. Even the onboard speaker is dead.

Tested these speakers on another box, and they are not the issue.

Windows and BIOS report everything is on and working properly. All drivers are generic XP, so it's not a drivers issue. This is dead hardware where it should be making sound.

Anyone run into this before? It looks as if the ability of the motherboard to send audio to any device is gone. This is a new one for me.

Thanks for any advice or help,

Selvaswami

[Dan Penny]

All drivers are generic XP, so it's not a drivers issue

Proprietary machines (ie; Brand Name - Gateway, Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Lenovo, Compaq, etc.) usually have drivers compiled for their machines motherboards and Chipsets. Even though XP "reports" that all is well with current drivers, I would try the Dell chipset and audio drivers.

Install the Chipset drivers before any other drivers. A restart may be necessary for each driver install.

Note there are three choices for Audio. Enter your Service Tag number (or post it) to narrow down the driver choices.

GX270 drivers;
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&catid=&impid=

[Selvaswami]

I hadn't thought of chipsets, and there is no harm in updating drivers.

The Service Tag on the box is 1VPQN31

Thanks again,

Selvaswami

[Dan Penny]

Chipset is self explanatory.

This should be the onboard audio driver;
http://support.dell.com/support/down...3&fileid=70114

To make absolutely sure, download, install, and run Everest Home Edition on this machine. (Clean FreeWare) Once it's finished loading and running, look under Multimedia,
or under Multimedia, PCI / PnP Audio. This will tell you what sound devices you have available on your system. Post that information.

[Selvaswami]

Upgraded BIOS to A07, upgraded chipset and drivers for audio, tried a couple different SoundBlaster cards (that work fine in other PC), and tried the onboard audio alone -- no sounds come out of this PC.

[Dan Penny]

What does Everest say about the Multimedia device?

Ensure the onboard audio is Enabled in the bios. Upgrading the bios may have disabled it.

The (next) things to check (given that onboard sound is enabled and proper drivers are loaded) is;

• Open your Volume Control (Start, Run, type in sndvol32 and ensure levels are up and nothing is muted. (Your Sound Device should be identified at the bottom "bar" of the Volume Control window.
  
• Assuming a speaker system, have you checked them on another machine to ensure they are working?
  
• Are they "powered" speakers? (ie; Have an amplifier and plug in to an AC outlet with a transformer or power pack.)
  
• If there's a volume control on the speaker system, is it turned up enough?
  
• Are the speakers plugged into the Green Line Out connector? (See pic)

#7 line-out connector -
Use the green line-out connector (available on computers with integrated sound) to attach headphones and most speakers with integrated amplifiers.

On computers with a sound card, use the connector on the card.

[Selvaswami]

Hi, Dan;

Everest says the following about the Multimedia:

Windows Audio
Device Identifier Device Description
midi-out.0 0001 0066 Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth
mixer.0 0001 0068 SoundMAX Digital Audio
wave-in.0 0001 0065 SoundMAX Digital Audio
wave-out.0 0001 0064 SoundMAX Digital

Audio
PCI / PnP Audio
Device Description Type
Intel 82801EB ICH5 - AC'97 Audio Controller [A-2/A-3] PCI

+++++

Audio is ON in the new BIOS.

All volume settings are on HIGH

Speakers are plugged in. They work fine on other PC's, and speakers and headphones that work fine on other PC's cease working on this soundless PC.

Yes, the speakers are plugged into the Green connector. They work on the same connector on the other PC's here.


I double-checked all the above, but no change.
I put the SoundBlaster audio card in another PC, and it works fine.
I've triple checked for loose wires, and found none.

I've known PC's to burn out their controller, their
power supply, their drives, even the MOB but never heard of just the audio dropping off the board. Can't find anything of the kind on the web, either.

Problem remains of the Weird category. PC works great otherwise, no viruses, worms, etc. In sleek condition otherwise.

Selvaswami

[Dan Penny]

Try these drivers ;
Intel Chipset; (Direct download link, run this first and restart)
http://download.intel.com/design/mot...nfinst_enu.exe

Audio driver; (Scroll down to Windows XP* Drivers - Audio: ADI 1985)
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/rc/rc_drive.htm#XP

[Selvaswami]

Hi, Dan;

These two drivers made no difference.

Everest and Control Panel report the audio drivers and devices working fine in all regards. Which remains in variance with reality.

Double-checked the speakers on other PC's, double-checked all wiring, volume settings, plugs, etc. Still no sound.

It's not a virus or malware -- I've never let that aspect of his PC out of my care. It's whistle clean in that regard.

[fanackapants]

Did you fix this problem? I have the same thing happening!

[Selvaswami]

Hi;

Never found the problem or the fix. Did find a workaround.

The effective workaround is a USB sound stick, which is $12 on ebay. Stick it in any available USB port, 1.x or 2.x.

No software drivers, nothing to change or add. Truly Plug n' Play.

Selvaswami