No sound, and maybe some more serious probs? Help!

[Ken90630]

Edit: Think I've got a handle on this now. Will prolly know for sure tomorrow, so no need to reply unless I re-post in a panic. Thanks, All.

So I'm working on a friend's computer today (PC clone with Win98SE) .... Yesterday he had no sound from his old, cheapy Creative Labs speakers. Speakers were plugged into correct jack on rear panel, they had power, but no sound. I power off, put my handy-dandy anti-static wrist band on, open up the case, and check the sound card. It's loose, I deduce. 😀 (The guy's grandson had taken the machine into a local computer shop for repair beforehand, then maybe jostled things around a bit when bringing it back?)

Anyway, I re-seat the card in the PCI slot, screw down the bracket, and power back up. Voila -- it's alive. Sound from everything -- during Windows startup, when playing a CD via Windows Media Player 7.1, and sound from a Web site. I look like a hero.

Then Mr. Murphy and his confounded law intrude on our happiness. The phone rings at 10:30 this morning. It's my friend, calling to say he has no sound again. Doh! I express chagrin and tell him I'll pop over in about a half hour.

I get there and confirm his diagnosis. No sound. Speakers are connected in back. I open up the case again, with my anti-static wrist band lounging on the carpet next to the machine instead of on my wrist. I reach in and push on the sound card. Not loose this time. I take it out anyway for a visual. No leaking caps or obvious burnt traces or anything. Card looks immaculate. I then realize my earlier mistake of not wearing the anti-static band and immediately put it on. I re-install the card and all heck breaks loose.

Now I get nothing but a black screen upon power-up. Hard drive not making a sound. Sits there like that for a good minute or two. I unplug the power cord to shut down, then power up again. Same thing. I remove the sound card. I power up again, and this time I get a BSOD with some long "fatal exception error." I power off again by pulling the plug. I power up again and go into Safe Mode. Well, at least something works. :roll:

Things work, with no apparent problems. I shut down, re-install the sound card, and now the machine hangs at startup. Gets to the big "Windows 98" screen (with the flag) and stays there for what seems like an eternity. I power down again, remove the sound card, and power up. Whew -- all is well (except no sound, of course).

The sound had been working the other day after I had re-seated the loose sound card (and I was wearing the anti-static wrist band at that time). Tested it rather extensively. After I left, something went wrong overnight.

It's a Creative Labs sound card, approximately 4 or 5 years old (no model # on it). Guy is running Windows 98SE, and recently had the computer in a repair shop to remove a nasty worm and do a fresh format of Windows.

Any ideas, anyone? Do sound cards ever die slowly, that is, fail like this? And could I have caused the new probs today by frying something this morning when I pushed on the card without my anti-static band on (and yeah, I was sitting on carpet at the time :disgust: ). I've ordered a new sound card, but am not 100% confident it's gonna fix everything. This guy & his wife are super nice and I feel terrible that they're having these problems with their machine. I'm not a computer repairer by profession (as you prolly guessed), so I don't have experience to fall back on here. Any thoughts from you builders out there would be much appreciated. 🙂

Ken

Edit: Oops -- forgot to mention I installed a Zone Alarm 5 firewall the other day (the same day I got the speakers working by re-seating the loose sound card). But I tested everything, including the speakers, before I left and everything worked great.

 

[amdskip]

I would try a different pci slot with the new card. Did the computer shop patch his machine with all the latest drivers and windows updates along with anti virus software?

 

[Ken90630]

I would try a different pci slot with the new card.

I tried that with the existing card. Sorry, I forgot to mention it in my post. My bad. 😱

Did the computer shop patch his machine with all the latest drivers and windows updates along with anti virus software?

Yes and no:

Drivers -- No, but it shouldn't matter 'cuz he swears the sound worked fine before the computer went into the shop. Besides, I got sound too yesterday without doing anything with drivers.

Windows Updates -- The shop didn't, but he assures me he stays on top of them. I didn't have time to check that today (he had to leave for an appointment, so I had to leave too). Again, though, I had sound yesterday, so I can't imagine how Windows Updates could have anything to do with the prob.

Anti-Virus -- His grandson supposedly put it on the machine right after he got it back from the repair shop. I checked today, and his last full system scan was on October 18. I asked if he wanted me to do a full scan today, but he said no, he'd do it later. But if a virus was at play here, why would it only affect the sound card? Everything else on the system works fine.

 

[mechBgon]

If he did go to Windows Update and happened to get a new audio driver, that could be the cause. You might ask him if he manually selected a new audio driver, since Windows Update won't auto-select anything but Critical Updates for the download list.

Sound cards can die, however. 🙁 I have a working Soundblaster Live! Value I'll mail you if you want it. PM me where to send and I can probably have it on the way tomorrow... if I can master the folding of those darn USPS boxes at any rate 😕 Wait, which flap-- aaack! 😛

 

[Ken90630]

If he did go to Windows Update and happened to get a new audio driver, that could be the cause.

Yeah, but he would have had to have done that between the time I left late yesterday afternoon and this morning, 'cuz I had sound when I left yesterday. Right? And I don't think he did. When he called this morning, he said he had just turned the computer on and got no sound. I'm 99% sure he didn't download any new drivers overnight. 🙂

As for your offer for the card, I'll PM 'ya right now. As usual, you are the man. 😎

 

[kuljc]

sorry I didnt' finish reading your post... (it was too long for me this late). Well anyways here's a couple of things I've gotten:

1) it's a really old computer and the sound card was having problems and probablly just died anyways

2) pci sound cards are about 15-20 bucks

3) want a sound blaster ___ I can't remember what it was, but it's simple and I'll stick it in my comp to make sure it works. give me a PM, pay for shipping, and since it's to help out some nice people (you wrote that right) i'll send it to you just for shipping. Warning, no cd for installation will come w/ it so you'll have to get the drivers off the internet. 🙂

sound good? LMK. and tell them you got it from some nice guy on the forum named Jay.

 

[Ken90630]

Hey, Jay,

No need to apologize for not reading my entire post -- I sometimes try to get everything said in my intial post so as to give the requisite detail and not have a half dozen questions to answer, and that can make for long posts. They can be a challenge to even a saint's patience or attention span, I suppose. 🙂

Having said that, however .... Before you, MechBgon replied to me with the same offer you made me and I PM'd him about it. To make a long story relatively short (for a change), I'll just tell 'ya that my friend and I decided to stick with the new SB Live card I ordered for him yesterday. After eating the shipping charges we wouldn't be able to recoup if we returned it, plus a 15% restocking fee, we'd be in this for nearly half the price of the new card anyway. And, I can report that FedEx just dropped the card off a little while ago -- nearly exactly 24 hours after I ordered it. (And this was "standard ground shipping" -- no "overnight" or "next business day" stuff. Very impressive.) So I'm headin' over first thing in the morning to install it.

Thanks a lot for the offer though. Had this transpired a bit differently, I'd definitely have taken you up on it. 🙂

PS: To all you SB Live card haters out there, I know, I know, I know it's not the greatest sound card going. But this guy is in his seventies, not a 'serious listener,' and just wants sound -- any sound -- to come out of his cheapy speakers. And he doesn't want to spend much. A quick, easy, passably decent solution was called for here. 😛