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rear port onboard audio not working

amheck

Golden Member
I've never had onboard audio not work, so I'm really not sure what to check.

The new system in my sig below was a present from my sister and brother-in-law. These are some of his left-over parts after numerous upgrades.

The system is running fine, except I can't seem to get an audio out of the rear ports. The Intel page for the MB mentions Intel HD audio, but in the control panel, I have 3 options: ATI HD Audio rear port, IDT Audio 1 and IDT Audio 2. On the ATI page, I can't seem to find anything for HD Audio drivers.

Everything seems to look ok - sound is enabled in the bios. It's not Muted, as far as I can tell. If I change the control panel to IDT Audio 1, I can get some faint sounds out of the headphone port on the top of the case, but I can't get the rear ports to work.

I also tried to install my Son's Fisher Price Cool School computer toy today. Hooked it up via USB, installed the software, and went to launch it, and I get a msg that I don't have a sound card and that it can't continue.

Assuming I can't figure this out and its easier just to buy a sound card, what is the best bang for the buck sound card? Hopefully something in the $20-$40 range. I do some minimal gaming and music listening.

Thanks!
Aaron
 
So let me get this straight... it was a left-over motherboard, as in it had been used before?

What may be happening is that in the previous case it was installed in, the front panel audio was hooked up. When you do that, you remove two jumpers from where the front panel connectors hook up. If you disconnect the front panel ports, you need to replace the jumpers. Find the headers for the front audio ports. It is a 2x5 block with one pin missing:

1-2
3-4
5-6
7-
9-10

8 is the missing pin. You need a jumper over 5-6 and a jumper over 9-10.

If you still can't get it figured out, then PM me. If you don't care as long as you have sound, I might have some random PCI sound card you can have for the cost of shipping (or free if you live close to 53144). If you want a better card than some random one, then you'll have to pay a bit. Maybe check the For Sale forums.
 
If Windows says "you don't have a sound card", then I don't think it's a jumper issue. But, just in case, REMOVE all connections from the two Audio headers on the motherboard. Right now, you just want the rear audio ports to work.

Things to check:
1) Sound system is enabled in the BIOS.
2) Intel .INF chipset drivers are installed. Without these, you may not be able to see the sound devices at all. The utility to install these drivers is here on Intel's site.
3) Drivers for the HD Audio system installed. Again, the driver is on Intel's site on the above page.
4) If the sound hardware is enabled and the drivers are installed, you should see the sound system in the Device Manager, and there should be no yellow error flags next to the sound devices.
5) A "final test" of the sound system is to open the "Sound" control panel in Windows. Select one of the system sounds and hit the "Play button". You should see it change back to a "Play icon" (sideways solid arrow symbol) in a second or so. Whether you hear sound or not, if the icon doesn't change for a second and then change back again to the "Play icon", then something's wrong with the sound hardware or the drivers.
 
hey guys, thanks for taking the time to reply. The IDT driver on Intel's site above did the trick. Everything seemed to check out before hand, too. #4 above, no flags next to any of the sound hardware. #5 above, yeah, that was how I was checking the sounds. I would actually plug in headphones to all of the ports in the back and try different windows sounds. It did come back to the play button.

But....I guess the re-install of the driver did it. Got a nice IDT mixer/control panel now. I don't know what the ATI HD Audio is for - maybe Blu Ray and the lossless audio codecs? It's still an available choice in the drop down menu for the default playback device in control panel, but IDT Audio 1 ids working, so I'm not going to mess with it and just leaving it as the default.

Thanks again!
 
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