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Solved: No Sound!

864 views 9 replies 2 participants last post by  gyclone 
#1 ·
I'm having a problem with the sound on my machine. Yesterday it was fine, nothing wrong at all, and today I've turned it on (from shut down) and there is no sound at all. It's not the speakers, I've tested them with an iPod and they work fine. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium and it uses realtek hd audio manager. When looking at the audio mixers it thinks it's playing sound, the green bar is moving up and down, but I can't get anything from the speakers or headphone jack. I've tried updating the realtek driver and restoring the system to an earlier time, but neither worked. I have literally changed nothing since last night when everything was working fine. Any ideas?

Thanks, any help appreciated!
 
#2 ·
Be sure to check both the realtek manager and the native Windows Volume Control (launch the full Volume Control from the Control Panel). It sounds to me like your sound may have been muted in one place, but possibly not the other. Although they are supposed to be integrated, I've seen similar problems before.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I think the problem might be a bit more complex; I've noticed that realtek involuntarily flicks between the 'speakers' option and the hdmi output. would it be an idea to reinstall the driver? I've tried updating it but that hasn't done anything.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, I'd give that a shot. Also, go into Device Manager and "Disable", then "Enable" the realtek device. Also, If you have a loose connection on your sound card, that could be making realtek think the speakers and headphone jack are no longer available, which may cause it to automatically switch to another output device.

This is one of those bizarre things that, even if you fix it, will probably be tough to ever know what caused it. Be sure to check the realtek site to see if it's a known issue, too.
 
#5 ·
no such luck. I reinstalled the driver, disabled, enabled. Still no change. I'm getting a constant faint high pitched whine from the speakers whenever the device is enabled but nothing else. I've tried to attach a video of the screen when viewing the audio manager. see what you think.
 

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#6 ·
The only thing really jumping out at me is the tray alerts stating that the audio device keeps getting unplugged then plugged back in. That really makes me want to believe that there is a hardware issue, like a loose connection, unless you were doing something else at the time. Also, some devices actually have a switch inside the headphone output that can get sticky.

I'd open up your machine (I assume no responsibility if you damage your system or void your warranty), blast all the dust out with canned air, disconnect the connectors for the audio card and blast them out then reconnect, look for anything loose. Try wiggling the wire vs. holding it still and see if that has any effect.
 
#7 ·
yeah, it screams connection issues to me too, but very unlikely as it's a brand new machine (no more than a month) and the inside is still squeaky clean. As it's still in warranty I think I may wind up sending it back and getting the supplier to take a look. Thanks for your help.
 
#8 ·
You bet, sorry I couldn't do more. I've been helping a lot of friends and clients who have bought new computers with Windows 7 recently and I've seen some really bizarre issues like this. It's easy to fall into the trap of blaming the new OS, but I've had just as many of the problems turn out to be hardware related as software. You might not believe some of the crap manufacturing I've seen inside of brand new machines. Missing support brackets, missing screws, disconnected fans, you name it. The fact that your machine is brand new makes it seem even more likely to me that it's hardware; it might just have taken a few dozen service hours for something to vibrate loose. Good luck!!
 
#10 ·
Oh, well, of course :) I'm a little embarrassed that didn't occur to me. Good thinking! Thanks for posting the solution, I think it might help someone else with whom I've been working.
 
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