Recalcitrant Sound Problem

[ololiuqui]

Hello.

I'm having a difficult problem with getting sound to work on my computer and haven't been able to make much headway on my own.

My computer, a Dell 4550 (running Windows XP Home Edition, 512 MB RAM), stopped working during a storm a month ago. I figured it must have been hit by a surge, even though it is on a surge protector. I was able to get it working, with the assistance of trips to two different repair shops, after replacing the motherboard, power supply, CD-ROM and the control panel (power button on front).

However, my sound still does not work. I originally had a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card. I replaced it with a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 to no success and finally a USB Turtle Beach Audio Advantage device (thinking the problem might be due to some sort of IRQ or PCI conflict or problem). Nothing has worked so far.

The computer detects the sound card (whichever one is attached) in Device Manager. I have tried reinstalling / upgrading drivers on the sound cards including clean installs between installations. While troubleshooting the computer, I flashed the BIOS to A08 from A00 from the Dell website. I have not installed motherboard drivers or chipsets, but the new motherboard appears to be (and was bought under the assumption that it is) identical to the old one. I cannot tell for certain if there is integrated sound on the Phoenix-made motherboard (it seems that Dell sold the motherboard used in this model under two configurations, with or without integrated sound), but I am leaning to believe that there isn't. Whatever the case, there is no BIOS option to disable onboard sound not plugs in the back for speakers/headphones on the MoBo itself.

The following applies to troubleshooting with the SB Live! Card:

a) I've run Belarc Advisor, and it detects the soundcard.

b) I've run the Sound Blaster-supplied diagnostic program. It detects the soundcard, but then fails the tests for "Wave Driver", "MIDI Driver", "Mixer Driver", "DirectSound 3D Driver" and "Mixers Setting Check".

c) Running dxdiag (Direct X Diagnostic toll) gives this result:
--Under "Sound 1" and "Sound" 2 tabs:
-----"Modem #2 Line Playback (emulated)" [Sound 1 tab]
-----"Modem #3 Line Playback (emulated)" [Sound 2 tab]
--Under "Music" tab:
-----"Default Port Acceleration: Not Available"
-----Pressing the "Test DirectMusic" button gives this error:
-------"DirectMusic test results: Failure at step 6 (Activating the IDirectMusicPort): HRESULT = 0x8878000a (the request failed because DirectSound resources, such as the priority level, were already in use by another caller.)

d) Results from "Sounds and Audio Devices" under the "COntrol Panel:
---Under "Volume" tab:
-----"No Audio Device", device volume scaler and options greyed out
---Under "Audio" tab:
-----options for "Sound Playback, Default Device" are only: "Modem #2 Line Playback" and "Modem #3 Line Playback"
-----under "MIDI music playback, Default device": greyed out and "No MIDI Playback Devices"
---Under "Voice", again I have only the choice of "Modem #2 Line Playback" and "Modem #3 Line Playback" no Soundblaster (or other sound device)
This is the situation whether or not the Phone Modem is in PCI slot #1. Soundcard is currently in PCI slot #4.

e) I have tried using SoundBlaster tech support (via email), but they have not been able to offer a solution.

++++
I'm really at my wit's end here, and would appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed and/or speculation on the cause of my audio problem.

 

[ololiuqui]

One other point:

Under my Device Manager, sound and audio devices I have no option for "Multimedia Audio Controller".

 

[CycloWizard]

Probably beyond my abilities to diagnose, but what exactly are the symptoms? Does it just not output any sound to the speakers? Does it give some sort of error message?

I had a comp go down in a storm with an SB Live! in it. When I turned it back on, it would reboot every time it tried to play a sound. That was bad.

 

[ololiuqui]

Well, the computer runs fine. At least most applications do. Just that there is no sound to the speakers and no sound to headphones. I am pretty certain that the speakers work because, when I had the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card still installed, it's diagnostic program somehow communicated with the speakers and I got a series of pulse noises which was the expected result.

Whenever I try to run an application that involves sound, I will either get no sound at all (e.g. iPlayer, Windows Media Player) or will get an error suggesting that another application is using the sound already (e.g. volume control, specific SoundBlaster applications).

 

[CycloWizard]

Did you uninstall the old sound card before trying the new ones? Sounds like you might have conflicting drivers vying for the application's attention.

 

[ololiuqui]

I did unistall before reinstalling. Is it possible that the uninstall might not have sucessfuly cleared out everything in the registry or elsewhere? If so, how can I tell and how would I proceed?

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: ololiuqui
I did unistall before reinstalling. Is it possible that the uninstall might not have sucessfuly cleared out everything in the registry or elsewhere? If so, how can I tell and how would I proceed?

The best way to check your registry (run--> regedit) is to search for the company name (just search for 'Turtle" if your previous card was Turtle Beach) and delete everything that mentions Turtle.

Like I said, this is probably beyond my expertise, but this post also serves as a bump. Hope that helps.

 

[ololiuqui]

Okay, I've searched my registry and HD for everything with "Turtle" or "Cruz" in it. Quite a lot of stuff. There are a couple folders that appear to be empty in the registry that I am not being allowed to delete. Also, under settings, control panel, I am still getting an icon for the turtle beach card.

<Rebooted at this point>

All of the errors for sound with the SoundBlaster are still the same. I'm well over 100 hours of my time now trying to figure this problem out!!

 

[CrispyFried]

Have you tried pulling the modem out and uninstalling the drivers for it, then trying the sb? I dont think it will really solve it but its worth a try.

What errors do you get with the usb sound card?

 

[ololiuqui]

I've already tried the modem removal and deletion of drivers. Unless there is something atuck in the registry somewhere.

I cannot remember the errors I got with the USB sound card. The USB sound card was getting power and blinking okay, so I'm sure it was not damaged. I am afraid to test it again in light of drivers and registry issues and me not having a clue about this stuff.

I just did a Windows XP Repair Install, and except for it being a pain to add in all the security fixes, it did not alter the condition at all.

I'm thinking I will have to find another HD with WIndows on it and test its ability to get the cound working. I may need to wipe a HD entirely, reinstall Windows and see if that works.

Is it possible that a MoBo could exist such that it simply wasn't compatible with any sound card whatsoever?