Soundcard issues!

[mattM_-]

Alright so my buddy got a free, old Dell XPS desktop from his mom's boss. It's from 2005, and it came with Windows XP Media Edition installed on it. I uninstalled it and put Windows 7 32-bit on it, and it's working like a charm, except the sound!

Now, the computer recognizes the sound card in the BIOS, but there is no sound what so ever. The card is seated properly, I didn't notice any wires coming off it in the first place. There are 2 devices listed in the sound mixer, one being high def speakers which is disabled and not in use, and a S/PDIF digital audio connection thats enabled and in use and is apparently trying to play sound.

I gave him an extra SuprmemFX II audio card I had, seated it in the correct PCI slot, and needs drivers for windows 7 to recognize it.

I noticed that when we plug in headphones, or a microphone in the soundjacks, windows 7 doesn't ask what is being plugged into what port.

Is this a driver issue, hardware, software?!?!?!?!?!??!??!!?!?! :facewall:

 

[LeviTheDegu]

My first suggestion is to try this program:
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9740814

sounds like either a driver or compatibility issue.

edits:

What it probably is, is windows 7 knocked out a lot of things in the compatibility market, so what you *may* end up having to do, is have him install the Windows XP drivers, and run them in compatibility mode.

 

[mattM_-]

Alright I will give him the info, it's gonna take a few days to even be able to try. What is the exe that you linked me? I'm not worried bout security, just curiosity. I'll see if I can grab the drivers off Dells service tag because he doesn't have any original CDs that came with it.

 

[LeviTheDegu]

The Exe is an audio troubleshooter (from Microsoft.com)

 

[cool breeze]

I had a similar issue when I installed Win7Ult32 on my other PC.

You said that S\PDIF was enabled and hi-def audio was not. Also, that Windows was trying to push sound through S\PDIF to no avail.

Try the following and post the results:
- Disable S\PDIF (optional, but may help prevent further complications)
- Enable hi-def audio (device)
- Check the speaker plug. Ensure that it is in the appropriate jack. The hi-def audio device and S\PDIF audio device both output sound to the speakers through two different jacks. The jack for the hi-def audio device is (likely) colored with the industry standard light green. The S\PDIF jack will have a slightly different looking connector on the rear I\O panel, something akin to an RCA jack that you might find on a television.

If the speakers are currently plugged into the hi-def audio jack and are only outputting sound via the S\PDIF device, and therefore, the S\PDIF jack, then the speakers may well be connected to the PC, but no audio will play through them as the hi-def audio device is currently disabled.

 

[cool breeze]

To better illustrate the audio jack situation, here is a picture of a rear I\O panel on a somewhat typical motherboard.

The ORANGE colored jack on the left side of the picture, next to the PS\2 mouse and keyboard jacks, is the output jack for the S\PDIF audio device.

The GREEN jack on the right side of the of the picture is the output jack for the hi-def audio device, which needs to be enabled in Windows before it can deliver audio information to your speakers.

 

[mattM_-]

Found the correct driver from Creative pretty much. Works! Thanks guys for help