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15 Mar 09 - 05:48 AM (#2589163) Subject: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Murray MacLeod woke up this morning, found my sound was gone ... it was working last night, but today - zilch. the speakers appear to be powered up alright, at least I hear a crackle when I remove the relevant jackplug from the computer and reinsert it, so I assume it must be the driver gone faulty. I have no idea how to find out what sound driver I need to download, so could anybody help me out here, pleeze ?? Using Windows XP, broadband connection. |
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15 Mar 09 - 06:06 AM (#2589172) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: gnomad 1) I know this sounds obvious but you haven't just inadvertently muted the sound output have you? 2) You'll have tried simply re-booting? 3) I no longer have an XP system myself, but I remember mine as having had a system restore, do you have a restore point that works? Try >help, "restore" if you aren't sure where to find such info. These, or a combination, cured a lot of my little difficulties over the years. If not then maybe this refresh will bring along someone who actually knows stuff. I open the tech threads mostly in hope of picking up hints that whittle away at my own ignorance. Good luck! |
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15 Mar 09 - 06:11 AM (#2589174) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: eddie1 Hi Murray Hope you're doing well. How about the thread on the Oak? Memories! The bridge on my Lowden finally parted company with the top so I've had a repair, a refret job and a set up complete with cleaned and oiled fingerboard. WOW! Who needs amplification? To your problem. Try the simplest things first. Do you have any sound without the speakers being plugged in, ie from the pc's internal speaker? If so, the problem is with the speakers. Do you have any of the Windows "Bells and Whistles" associated with various actions? Chaeck the volume control - is "Mute" ticked for anything? For drivers try File Hippo Good luck Eddie |
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15 Mar 09 - 06:15 AM (#2589176) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Murray MacLeod thanks gnomad, and thanks eddie (hey, I never did like these pinless bridges !) I followed gnomad's suggestion and rebooted and that seems to have done the trick, how dumb does that make me look ??? |
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15 Mar 09 - 06:18 AM (#2589178) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Rasener >>how dumb does that make me look << Not at all. At least you posted your query and followed advice. Wish more people would do that. |
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15 Mar 09 - 07:20 AM (#2589205) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: gnomad Oh good, one of those things that effectively cure themselves. Glad I was able to help, but I'm gonna quit now, while I'm ahead. As for "dumb questions" I go with the Villan on that, dumb is not realising you need to ask someone to help. |
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15 Mar 09 - 08:02 AM (#2589231) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Little Robyn I have a similar problem. When I start up my laptop, I never know if the sound will happen or not. The icon at the bottom is there on the sound days but not on the silence days. We found a way to bring it back - I have to uninstall it using start, control panel system, hardware, device manager, sound video and game controls - look for anything that shows a red X or whatever it's called, we ask it to uninstall, then restart the computer. Or something like that. But I don't know why the computer chooses to turn off the sound when it's been working perfectly well the night before. If it's having a silent day, I don't bother unless there's something I want to listen to and within a day or two, the sound comes back all by itself. Robyn |
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15 Mar 09 - 08:40 AM (#2589256) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Austin P 3 places to look: 1. As Gnomad says look in Start>Accessories>Entertainment>Volume Control 2. Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager and Start>Control Panel>Sound to look at the status of the hardware 3. BIOS. Press the [del] key during boot (usuall del it may be F2 on yours. Check that the sound is enabled (usually found under PCI devices or similar). This assumes your sound is built into the motherboard, and not an add-card, e.g. a soundblaster. 4. Stick headphones in the green socket just to check it's not your speakers! If none of these work please post the make and model of your computer and I will try and help further. AP |
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15 Mar 09 - 10:40 AM (#2589317) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Bert I had this happen to e once. It was the sound built into the mother board that had failed. It took Best Buy six weeks to plug in a regular sound card under warranty. |
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15 Mar 09 - 11:00 AM (#2589327) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Murray MacLeod I appreciate your offer of help Austin and if the problem recurs I may well take you up on it. Unfortunately, the computer was custom built, and the original motherboard has been replaced and I cannot contact the original builder. I don't even know if it has a separate sound card, or whether the sound card is built into the motherboard (I know the previous one was). I am adopting the "crossed fingers" approach at present , it's worked for me all day today and hopefully will continue to do so. |
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15 Mar 09 - 01:37 PM (#2589430) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Stilly River Sage Have you gone into control panel and opened the Sounds and Audio Devices manager? It has a number of tabs to examine to see if any of them are accidentally re-set. I see in my HP a separate icon called Sound Effect Manager that addresses the various plug locations on this HP computer. If your computer was custom built you may not have something like this, but it doesn't hurt to look. SRS |
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15 Mar 09 - 02:07 PM (#2589454) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Austin P Murray: If it has a built in sound card the socket will be on the back panel along with all the other gubbins - usually next to the USB ports. If it's an add-in they will be in a row on the back in one of the horizontal slots underneath the main back panel. I build and repair computers, so don't hesitate to ask me for help! AP |
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15 Mar 09 - 05:28 PM (#2589596) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: JohnInKansas Little Robyn = I have a similar problem. When I start up my laptop, I never know if the sound will happen or not. The icon at the bottom is there on the sound days but not on the silence days. A common cause of something that flip-flops between working and not working is that recent versions of Windows (especially XP and Vista) always check during boot to see if everything is good, and if an "error" is found, System Restore automatically goes back to an earlier setup. If an earlier System setup is in the archive, and has a bad driver, the driver that doesn't work gets re-installed. While the system is running, even without rebooting, the OS may discover that a driver isn't working, and may substitute a new "default" driver that works. The "defect" that caused System Restore to bring back an old version may not necessarily be the driver that's causing the problem you see. A System Restore is mostly an "all or nothing" replacement of all the settings. When it goes to System Restore to fix a "real boot problem" it may restore something that contains another "minor error." The fix that sometimes works is, when the sound is working, simply turn of System Restore. Turning it off DELETES all the older backup versions of the system setup. Fix the sound problem, if necessary, then turn System Restore back on, and reboot. When you reboot with System Restore turned back on, a new backup copy of the system setup will be saved, and then the current setup will be the only one saved. If there's another error that was causing an old version to be brought back, the OS won't be able to bring it back, so it will look for another way to fix it. Either it will succeed and you'll never know that it did anything, or at least then you'll know why it kept going back to previous setup versions so that you can do something about the real problem. John |
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31 Mar 09 - 05:07 AM (#2601065) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Murray MacLeod the same problem occurred this morning, computer booted up but no sound. no problem, thinks I, restart the computer, all will be well, but alas no. so I went to this thread and read the bits about checking to see if anything was ticked "Mute" on the Volume Control, and there in the bottom left hand corner the box that says "Mute All " was ticked. I unticked it and all was well, but the nagging question remains, how did the box get ticked in the first place ? I used to be an "X-Files" sceptic, but now I'm not so sure ... anyway, thanks again to everybody on this thread. |
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31 Mar 09 - 07:31 AM (#2601130) Subject: RE: Tech: Help - computer sound has failed From: Jim McLean When I used to repair computers, a few years back, I sometimes found the sound card had gone. The quickest, easiest and cheapest repair was to use a USB 'sound card', smaller than a memory stick. It worked immediately and only cost a few pounds. |