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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Did it finally eat it?
Did it finally eat it?
2007-10-25, 8:58 PM #1
Symptoms: I can't hear **** out of my computer. Vista reports a soundcard is present and working yet when I do "test sound" I hear nothing or I get "failed to play back sound."

Sound card is an Audigy. Damn thing is old. I think I haven't upgraded this since last millennium. I swear it was working one moment then next, I hear nothing.

Did the sound card finally eat it? Did I **** up my system?

If I it needed that I acquire a new sound card, what is a good one. I'm no audiophile, but I would like to hear Symphony #45 by Haydn in good quality. And it has to work with Windows Vista.
Attachment: 17632/comp_stats.png (51,820 bytes)
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2007-10-25, 9:07 PM #2
Load a linux livecd and see if it works there?
2007-10-25, 9:16 PM #3
Originally posted by Cool Matty:
Load a linux livecd and see if it works there?

If this livecd does not detect or play back sound, is that a definitive answer that my sound card if FUBAR? I remember some hairy moments with sound & Linux before which I care not to repeat.

Ergo I ask if said livecd will detect soundcard off the bat, because if I have to spend 45 minutes dicking around with ALSA config files, screw that.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2007-10-25, 9:20 PM #4
Audigy support in recent distros (like Ubuntu) is pretty much foolproof now. The ONLY problem would be if you have onboard sound turned on at the same time.
2007-10-25, 9:22 PM #5
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
a new sound card, what is a good one


auzentech x-fi
2007-10-25, 10:07 PM #6
Yes, that would work quite well.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2007-10-25, 10:31 PM #7
They're on super secret hyper-omega backorder. I have one on order, waiting for the next production run. You should hop on this too jg
2007-10-26, 1:32 AM #8
did you check the speakers are plugged in/on and that the volume is on/up

Sounds stupid but it can be the simplest things..
2007-10-26, 7:07 AM #9
I like your hostname.

But, yeah, if you do boot up a Ubuntu disk or something I would recommend disabling your on-board sound since that could be messy. But the hardware support for Ubuntu is crazy compared to even 2 years ago.
Naked Feet are Happy Feet
:omgkroko:
2007-10-26, 7:13 AM #10
Gondors in flames.
2007-10-26, 7:24 AM #11
Are you sure the speakers are plugged in?
2007-10-26, 7:43 AM #12
I tried to install ubuntu 7.10 tonight.

When I boot off of the LiveCD it hangs. After a few minutes it causes my computer's case speaker to make god awful noises.
2007-10-26, 7:59 AM #13
Addendum: iTunes or any other music player will not play songs. I hit the play button and it does nothing.

Maybe somewhat related but there is a service that is constantly running at ~40% CPU. Anybody know how to get the service running under svchost.exe?

Edit: Ooooh this ain't good.
Attachment: 17641/awol_service.png (80,062 bytes)
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2007-10-26, 8:20 AM #14
Did you try deleting the sound card and letting it reinstall? Also, did you make sure the card didn't become unseated for some reason?
2007-10-26, 8:22 AM #15
If it's an old audigy, you may want to try some of the hacks that have converted the original Audigy into an Audigy2/Audigy4 or whatever. Like, it may not really do anything, but it just sounds like it's a driver issue, so it's worth a shot.
"His Will Was Set, And Only Death Would Break It"

"None knows what the new day shall bring him"
2007-10-26, 8:57 AM #16
Geeze, your drivers are screwed up! Trying uninstalling and then doing driver cleaner in safe mode before reinstalling.
2007-10-26, 9:19 AM #17
Originally posted by Cool Matty:
Did you try deleting the sound card and letting it reinstall? Also, did you make sure the card didn't become unseated for some reason?

I did check that. I popped the sound card out and looked for any blown caps or scoring on the card. Had it blown a chip, I wouldn't have noticed with the smell of smoke in the air.

Starting to suspect something foul with either driver or some service(s). When a service takes 150M of your memory and upwards of 80% of your CPU, something isn't right. I had to turn the computer off.

I'm going to try deleting the sound card when I get home. But yeah, like I said, I had sound one moment then none the next.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2007-10-26, 9:32 AM #18
Remember driver cleaner. Creative has the worst driver support I have ever seen. You have to use driver cleaner to properly reinstall.
2007-10-26, 10:41 AM #19
Process Explorer

Good for diving deeply into the processes.
Naked Feet are Happy Feet
:omgkroko:
2007-10-26, 9:40 PM #20
Update: Disabled/Renabled devices, no joy. Removed device, tried to install drivers for said devices, no joy. Turned on on-board sound, no joy...yet. I haven't restarted.

This is the last time I dick around with Windows services. Yes, I ****ed around with some services to try to coax some performance for some games since they were running very lethargically. As was the rest of my system.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2007-10-27, 1:06 AM #21
Delete that svchost.exe that was taking up so much processor time and memory. Either it'll restart your PC (harmless, really) or give you better performance.

As for the sound issue, my suggestion is to uninstall the software, then reinstall it.
D E A T H
2007-10-27, 8:32 AM #22
Originally posted by Dj Yoshi:
Delete that svchost.exe that was taking up so much processor time and memory. Either it'll restart your PC (harmless, really) or give you better performance.

As for the sound issue, my suggestion is to uninstall the software, then reinstall it.


Except most of them won't even let you kill them.
2007-10-27, 8:36 AM #23
i have a live 5.1 and it just stopped working recently. then i was getting crashes with certain processes. xp told me the problem was with my sound card. i dl'ed the 'fix' from creative and it worked until i plugged in my logitech 350's. then nothing. i took it out, uninstalled everything and then did a reinstall with the original driver cd. works again.

i had similar symptoms. card was there and recognized but it wasn't working.

is it possible windows updates are effecting creative cards? probably not but try a full reinstall of the sound card.
2007-10-27, 9:02 AM #24
Originally posted by Darth Evad:
i have a live 5.1 and it just stopped working recently. then i was getting crashes with certain processes. xp told me the problem was with my sound card. i dl'ed the 'fix' from creative and it worked until i plugged in my logitech 350's. then nothing. i took it out, uninstalled everything and then did a reinstall with the original driver cd. works again.

i had similar symptoms. card was there and recognized but it wasn't working.

is it possible windows updates are effecting creative cards? probably not but try a full reinstall of the sound card.


here is an explanation of your problem


[QUOTE=Darth Evad]creative cards[/QUOTE]
2007-10-27, 9:07 AM #25
Live 5.1s and the Audigy series are no longer supported because the X-Fi has been released and all Creative users should want to upgrade. If you wish to continue using your existing Creative soundcard with an updated software package*, send $20 to Creative for a free** driver CD. Please note that Creative hardware, software, packaging and couriers may cause passive or active interference with Creative competitors' and other products.***
2007-10-27, 9:18 AM #26
About the Auzentech X-Fi: While I do have the $ to drop $230 for this sound card, what makes it worth $230? I don't have a spectacularly great sound system.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2007-10-27, 9:27 AM #27
230$?
Is that thing like the 8800 of the sound card market?
2007-10-27, 1:05 PM #28
Originally posted by Cool Matty:
Except most of them won't even let you kill them.

True but then if you can't the point is moot.
D E A T H
2007-10-27, 1:20 PM #29
I got my sound back! I did a system restore to when I remember having sound. My current working theory is that a Windows Update bricked my sound. Bad Microsoft.

Also the rogue service seems to have gone away. Looks like the system is back to normal.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.

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