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Solved: "No Audio Device" Problem

431K views 42 replies 28 participants last post by  hobo87 
#1 ·
Hello,

I recently re-installed Microsoft Windows XP Professional on my computer (a custom machine which I do not have any device drivers on disks for), and I have had no problems in finding all of the correct device drivers I need apart from the sound-card.

When I view the volume settings, it says "No Audio Device", and when I view the "Device Manager", under "Sound, Video And Game Controllers" it reads as follows:

Audio Codecs
Legacy Audio Drivers
Legacy Video Capture Devices
Media Control Devices
SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio
Video Codecs

The item in bold has a yellow exclamation mark icon that reports, when I right-click and select "Properties" that "This device cannot start".

As far as I know, the sound-card is in-built to the motherboard (if that makes sense - I am not remotely familiar with hardware), and I am unsure as to the specifications of the computer or the devices within it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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#6 ·
I recently re-installed Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition on my computer, which I do not have any device drivers on disks for. It also says that there no audio device or Mixers present....In the sound and audio devices everything is greyed out, along with a yellow question mark on PCI device in my device manager....can anyone help me with this problem....here the motherboard specs from Everest

Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 63-0100-000001-00101111-012805-iSPGDL_G$EV915001_BIOS DATE: 01/28/05 08:09:47 VER: 08.00.10
Motherboard Name Intel Avalon D915GAV

Front Side Bus Properties
Bandwidth 4266 MB/s
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Effective Clock 533 MHz
Real Clock 133 MHz (QDR)

Memory Bus Properties
Bandwidth 3200 MB/s
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Effective Clock 400 MHz
Real Clock 200 MHz (DDR)

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel Direct Media Interface

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 775
Expansion Slots 4 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16
Form Factor ATX
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Motherboard Chipset i915G
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 300 mm
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM

Motherboard Manufacturer
BIOS Download http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/genbios.htm
Company Name Intel Corporation
Product Information http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/index.htm

thank you so much!!
 
#8 ·
For a few years now I have occasionally followed the problems folks have with thie "No Sound Device" issue. I am curious to know if, when you say the Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio Devices Properties controls were not available (grayed out) you mean all of them, or only a part of them.

I have seen many cases where the graying out of many of the controls on the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties sheet was due to miss assignment of the Sound Playback "default" device on the Audio Tab - usually to a modem speaker, instead of the sound card.

This seems to happen after installation of a modem, or when certain software, including the Windows OS or other programs, are updated or upgraded. For some reason the update/upgrade causes reassignment of the "default device" for Sound Playback from the sound chip or card to another device - such as the modem speaker. (Often sound is reported as "intermittent" in these cases, because the modem is capable of supporting a small subset of sound file types - those are played, the rest are not.)

I have repeatedly "repaired" computers with grayed out sound controls and "No sound device present" in Control Panel's Sounds and Audio Devices Properties sheet, but with Device Manager's "Sound, video and game controllers" reporting that audio codecs, drivers, and devices were OK.

In these cases the problem was NOT that the drivers needed updating or the OS needed to be repaired or reinstalled. The problem was fixed by changing the default device for sound playback on the Audio tab of the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties sheet back to the appropriate sound device.

I remember that not even a reboot has been needed after this simple change.

Of course, when an OS has been trashed and the hard drive wiped, replacement of sound drivers will be required after reinstall of the OS, in many cases. I had one of those, too, only two weeks ago. And when an OS version is upgraded, it may be necessary to install new drivers.
 
#9 ·
Hi Jim,

Jut to chuck in my 5 cents - with me all the options are greyed out on my box, including the option to change the default device.

I'm not looking for a fix right now (I don't use that computer for anything other than work and my lappy sits next to it for entertainment) - but just thought you might want to know.

Cheers,

Kev
 
#10 ·
Hi, I have the exact same problem as the topic starter. I followed all the suggestions in this thread and could not solve the problem :(

I went to the Biostar website (http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/driver.php?S_ID=173) to download all the drivers (I dont have the driver CD for this mobo) and installed all of them (some gave me errors of sorts, like USB 2.0, however USB 2.0 works perfectly fine).

I re-installed the Chipset drivers, restated and installed the "On-Board Audio" driver (which seems like an SFX .exe if I'm not mistaken) that only pops up, extracts, the and I think installs in the background, i.e. no progress bar or installation display (compared to the chipset installer).

And I still get the dreaded "No Audio Device" message. Here is a screenshot of the 'Device Manager' thing. In red is where the problematic device is.


Any help is appreciated ;)

Here are my specs:
Computer
Computer Type ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11 (IE 7.0)
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard
CPU Type DualCore Intel Pentium D 945, 1700 MHz (12 x 142)
Motherboard Name Biostar P4M890-M7 SE (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset VIA P4M890
System Memory 960 MB (DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (04/19/07)
 
#11 ·
I have recently replaced a broken harddrive on a Hp Pavilion a817n. I found out this morning that i voided the warranty by doing this. Oh well. I have everything reinstalled and working fine save for the audio. No audio device can be found. I have used aida32 to search for my motherboard manufacturer, but there is non listed. The driver updates offered from the HP website will not install correctly, "Cann't find Match Realtech HDaudio inf file" I guess i am missing something. HP obviously does not want people fixing their PCs on their own. Helllllp!!

thank you:confused:
 
#12 ·
#13 ·
TuncaCeleste said:
Hi, I have the exact same problem as the topic starter. I followed all the suggestions in this thread and could not solve the problem :(

I went to the Biostar website (http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/driver.php?S_ID=173) to download all the drivers (I dont have the driver CD for this mobo) and installed all of them (some gave me errors of sorts, like USB 2.0, however USB 2.0 works perfectly fine).

I re-installed the Chipset drivers, restated and installed the "On-Board Audio" driver (which seems like an SFX .exe if I'm not mistaken) that only pops up, extracts, the and I think installs in the background, i.e. no progress bar or installation display (compared to the chipset installer).

And I still get the dreaded "No Audio Device" message. Here is a screenshot of the 'Device Manager' thing. In red is where the problematic device is.


Any help is appreciated ;)

Here are my specs:
Computer
Computer Type ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11 (IE 7.0)
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard
CPU Type DualCore Intel Pentium D 945, 1700 MHz (12 x 142)
Motherboard Name Biostar P4M890-M7 SE (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset VIA P4M890
System Memory 960 MB (DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (04/19/07)
Some suggestions:

Use the site given in the thread to download Everest Free Edition, run that program, get the system specifications, and post them here.

That may help in interpreting the situation where Device Manager's "Sound, video and game controllers" are reporting that audio codecs, drivers, and devices are OK, AND another sound device is listed with warnings. I'd like to know more about that other device - it might help find drivers for it, for example - and Everest report could provide that info.

What happens when you disable the "warned" device? (Especially to the "Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio Devices Properties > Audio" tab)

What does the "Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio Devices Properties > Audio" tab show? Which, if any, of the controls which should be active there are active?
 
#14 ·
Thanks for your response, but I already solved my problem, all I had to do was download the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website, in this case Realtek.

However, now that we're at it, I have another problem. I'm pretty sure it has to do with video drivers. I can watch .avi, .mkv, etc videos fine, but I noticed that YouTube videos kind of stutter whilst watching them, I mean, they're viewable alright, but that never happened with my previous PC, which had an integrated 32MB Video Card. This one's got a 64MB one.

Also, I tried playing the simplest of games, one was 1997's Sega Rally Championship, and first of all, there's music in the menu, but in-game is almost mute (engine, crowd, co-pilot audio is normal). I then tried a japanese game and its system requirements were: P4 1GHz, 128RAM, 32VRAM, this one ran (crawled?) at 19FPS, and it should be 60FPS.

I got the video drivers also through the manufacturer's website, VIA using a link provided by Everest. I even tried older versions of the drivers but they were worst.

Code:
Computer	
Computer Type	ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Operating System	Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack	Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer	7.0.5730.11 (IE 7.0)
DirectX	4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name	NAVI
User Name	TuncaCeleste
Logon Domain	NAVI
Date / Time	2007-09-23 / 13:32
	
Motherboard	
CPU Type	DualCore Intel Pentium D 945, 1700 MHz (17 x 100)
Motherboard Name	Biostar P4M890-M7 SE  (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset	VIA P4M890
System Memory	960 MB  (DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Type	Award (04/19/07)
Communication Port	Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port	Printer Port (LPT1)
	
Display	
Video Adapter	VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP  (64 MB)
3D Accelerator	VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro
Monitor	HP Pavilion MX50  [15" CRT]  (MXAEP05132)
	
Multimedia	
Audio Adapter	Realtek ALC862 @ VIA VT8237A High Definition Audio Controller
	
Storage	
IDE Controller	VIA Bus Master IDE Controller - 0571
IDE Controller	VIA Serial ATA Controller - 5337
Storage Controller	SCSI/RAID Host Controller
Disk Drive	HDT722525DLAT80  (250 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Disk Drive	Maxtor 4D040H2  (40 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Disk Drive	ST3160021A  (160 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive	PI6128P SDM822A SCSI CdRom Device
Optical Drive	SONY DVD RW DW-D22A  (DVD+R9:2.4x, DVD+RW:16x/4x, DVD-RW:8x/4x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status	OK
	
Partitions	
C: (NTFS)	52617 MB (28049 MB free)
W: (NTFS)	100000 MB (68324 MB free)
X: (NTFS)	238472 MB (96444 MB free)
Y: (NTFS)	39077 MB (26665 MB free)
Total Size	420.1 GB (214.3 GB free)
	
Input	
Keyboard	Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse	Microsoft USB Laser Mouse 6000 (IntelliPoint)
	
Network	
Primary IP Address	**********
Primary MAC Address	*************
Network Adapter	VIA Compatable Fast Ethernet Adapter  
	
Peripherals	
Printer	Canon PIXMA iP1500
Printer	Microsoft XPS Document Writer
USB1 Controller	VIA VT8237A USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller	VIA VT8237A USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller	VIA VT8237A USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller	VIA VT8237A USB Universal Host Controller
USB2 Controller	VIA VT8237A USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device	USB Human Interface Device
	
DMI	
DMI BIOS Vendor	Phoenix Technologies, LTD
DMI BIOS Version	6.00 PG
DMI System Manufacturer	BIOSTAR Group
DMI System Product	P4M89-M7A
DMI System Version	Ver:1.0
DMI System Serial Number	OEM
DMI System UUID	00000000-00000000-34120000-78563412
DMI Motherboard Manufacturer	BIOSTAR Group
DMI Motherboard Product	P4M89-M7A
DMI Motherboard Version	Ver:1.0
DMI Motherboard Serial Number	
DMI Chassis Manufacturer	BIOSTAR Group
DMI Chassis Version	P4M89-M7A
DMI Chassis Serial Number	
DMI Chassis Asset Tag	
DMI Chassis Type	Desktop Case
DMI Total / Free Memory Sockets	2 / 1
Thanks for your reply, again.
 
#15 ·
Good news on the audio, at least.

Re the Video, I have less experience - none at all with games. It is probably appropriate to post your issue as a new thread in the forums, after doing a forum search for similar issues. Someone out there knows a lot more than I do, and your problem description is buried in this audio thread. I wish I had more time these days, as I would love to learn more about the things I only speculate about in the two following paragraphs.

You may have two separate problems here. If I recall correctly the YouTube video is in a Flash format, rather than .avi or MPEG or any of their relatives and derivatives. The file type - I think - is .flv and support for it may be through some Macromedia flash program support (remember I know next to nothing about this) rather than the more typical video support (Direct X, Open GL, and that sort of thing). So updating your Macromedia program support from their website is a good idea. Since there have been security issues and updates there it's a good idea anyway. AOL seems to have particular difficulty playing YouTube video.

The games also have (what to me are) peculiar software support requirements. Whether these are drivers or some other software to support operating system and graphics card functions I don't know - but making sure that your MS OS video processing support is up to date would be a good idea. Check Windows Update site for those.

Would you email me (within the forum) if you do post your issue in a new thread? I'd like to follow the responses.
 
#19 ·
Hi, I've been going at this for over a week now. I'd really appreciate some insight on this.

System:
Windows XP SP2
Motherboard Model: MSI MS-6787 P4MAM-L
Chipset: VIA VT8751(A) P4M266(A) + VT8233CF/VT8235
Onboard audio is enabled
Broadaxent DSI V.90 PCI DI3635 when installed it adds a Unimodem Half-Duplex audio device.

I've installed the latest AC'97 drivers (v6.80b). the funny thing is the audio driver I downloaded directly from MSI web site is a realtek driver which wouldn't run because the hardware didn't match?! so I used ac'97.

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=553&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=170&cat3_no=4

I have also tried removing the modem and reinstalling the motherboard and audio drivers afterwards.

The result is always the same - device manager shows the driver to be installed but no sound device is made available through the sound and audio devices panel.

A few screen shots are attached.

Thank you!

Yonatan
 

Attachments

#20 ·
Just noticed something else. after removing the audio drivers and restarting windows recognizes the new audio device but automatically asks for a disc contain the Vinyl AC'97 codec combo WDM driver and then for the file vinyl97.sys. When i give the location it installs properly but still no audio device avilable.

hope this helps in some way
 
#21 ·
Every time i install windows SP2 i get this error, but before i do it I'm fine, I've reinstalled drivers, I've tried it with and without my sound card installed, but i can't pinpoint the cause.
I think it is caused by one of my programs, and I'm not sure which one, my guesses are Norton GoBack/Ghost, Office XP, Palm Desktop, or WinRAR, because all of these programs were installed when i upgraded to SP2, I've gotten this error 3 times, and reformatted my computer between each of them, but I still haven't gotten any results. I'm going to try one more time, and hopefully it works, if anyone can give any suggestions it would be great.
Also, i install my programs on a separate HDD. (320 Gb Seagate)
 
#22 ·
I uninstalled Zone Alarm, WinRAR and Palm Desktop, AND IT WORKED!!!!!!!!
But now whenever i try to install winrar, my comp freezes, i guess i need to redownload the installer, but here is another possible solution for the No audio device error, anyone else with this problem should try uninstalling these programs before the SP2 upgrade (although you may need to reinstall windows to do this)
 
#23 ·
Can we see a screen shot of your Sounds and audio devices > Hardware tab? Would like to see how it lists your devices, compared to Device Manager listing.

Go to the Services, and look at Windows Audio. Make sure the service is set to ENABLED.

There is what looks like a good sound trouble shooting procedure at
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000208.htm#2

You might want to try that, and report back on the results.

The VIA site for your chipset indicates that the sound is integrated; this would suggest that the "drivers" may be a part of the chipset firmware, and only an AC97 compatible Codec is required. If you have installed other, non compatible drivers (even "AC97 drivers") a conflict may result.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/southbridge/vt8235/

The MSI site for your motherboard shows v. 2.6 as the latest BIOS update (12/23/2005). You might verify that yours is current.
http://www.msicomputer.com/support/...l&model=P4MAM-V (MS-6787-040/060)&newsearch=1

What is with the Broadxent modem? The MSI site indicates there is a modem in the chipset.

Both VIA and MSI have support links which might be helpful to you in sorting this out.

I'd start by uninstalling ALL sound related devices using device managers, uninstalling any add-on sound and modem devices (software and hardware removed), validating the currency of the chipset firmware, reviewing BIOS settings to be sure the on-board sound and modem are devices are enabled, and reinstalling the sound (and if necessary modem) devices using only MSI and VIA originated software and instructions.
 
#24 ·
Screenshot is attached. Windows audio service is enabled and automatic.
I went through the steps detailed in the link. still the same.
Motherboard BIOS is up to date and onboard audio is enabled.
I have removed the PCI modem and drivers, in addition the onboard modem is disabled.
I did the whole process of removing everything and reinstalling the sound card. still the same result. when windows starts up it recognizes the sound card but keeps on asking me for the vinyl AC'97 codec comobo wdm drivers and then for the vinyl97.sys file. could this be the problem? is it stuck on this driver in some way? when I provide the file location it installs properly but still no audio device...
Is there a way I can completely remove all traces of previous drivers? I've tried removing the INF files and other locations where the drivers exist.

About the integrated chipset - how can I install only the codec?

Thanks for your help and the quick reply!
 

Attachments

#25 ·
Jim Pivonka said:
For a few years now I have occasionally followed the problems folks have with thie "No Sound Device" issue. I am curious to know if, when you say the Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio Devices Properties controls were not available (grayed out) you mean all of them, or only a part of them.

I have seen many cases where the graying out of many of the controls on the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties sheet was due to miss assignment of the Sound Playback "default" device on the Audio Tab - usually to a modem speaker, instead of the sound card.

This seems to happen after installation of a modem, or when certain software, including the Windows OS or other programs, are updated or upgraded. For some reason the update/upgrade causes reassignment of the "default device" for Sound Playback from the sound chip or card to another device - such as the modem speaker. (Often sound is reported as "intermittent" in these cases, because the modem is capable of supporting a small subset of sound file types - those are played, the rest are not.)

I have repeatedly "repaired" computers with grayed out sound controls and "No sound device present" in Control Panel's Sounds and Audio Devices Properties sheet, but with Device Manager's "Sound, video and game controllers" reporting that audio codecs, drivers, and devices were OK.

In these cases the problem was NOT that the drivers needed updating or the OS needed to be repaired or reinstalled. The problem was fixed by changing the default device for sound playback on the Audio tab of the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties sheet back to the appropriate sound device.

I remember that not even a reboot has been needed after this simple change.

Of course, when an OS has been trashed and the hard drive wiped, replacement of sound drivers will be required after reinstall of the OS, in many cases. I had one of those, too, only two weeks ago. And when an OS version is upgraded, it may be necessary to install new drivers.
Jim Pivonka - THANKS!!! Your above answer was exactly on target! I had this problem "no audio device" and I had uninstalled programs installed in the last 6 weeks and was just about to do a System Restore back about two months. I googled the terms and found this thread and your very correct answer = " was due to miss assignment of the Sound Playback "default" device on the Audio Tab - usually to a modem speaker, instead of the sound card." I changed it back from my modem to my sound card and "like Magic" - it was fixed.

Many Thanks. :up:
TG

:)
 
#26 ·
Just to let you know that I also had this problem after installing XP Pro.
It seems that after the previous crash, somehow the drivers were wiped or corrupted.
Anyway the `Everest` tool in the earlier posting was brilliant, and I was directed to the home site for my drivers.
I had no problems loading and installing, and my sound is now better than ever.
Thanks all.

Regards

Chris
 
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