WIN 7 - No Sound on AC'97

[Jalapeno]

Just like the title says.

Screens:






Icon in taskbar says: "No Audio Output Device is installed".

Yes, it's enabled in the BIOS. I uninstalled any previous audio drivers before trying to install this one:

http://download.cnet.com/Realtek-AC-97-Driver-Windows-Vista-Windows-7/3000-2120_4-10962344.html

So what's going on? Anything I'm not aware of?

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[dualsmp]

You need to make sure these dependencies are running (set to Automatic):

You also might want to start this service as well:

RPC Endpoint Mapper

I had no sound for a few weeks until I found out that these dependencies need to be running. I made the mistake of disabling too many services, and accidentally disabled a dependency. No amount of installing/uninstalling will make the sound work until these services are started. I must have installed 10 different variations of drivers and nothing worked until I started the above services. Hope this helps.

Edit: BTW I'm using the latest driver from the Realtek site for Win7.

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/

 

[Jalapeno]

Thanks for replying so quick!

Mine looks like this:

(Why are my gearthingies blue?)

Startup type is "Automatic" and

Service Status says "Started"

RPC Endpoint Mapper is "Started as well"



Still no go...

 

[dualsmp]

The screen capture I have for the dependencies I believe is for Vista. I just copied from another forum when I was having problems, so probably the reason for difference.

I would recommend to uninstall the drivers and reboot, then scan with driver sweeper. Just select Realtek and analyze. Then remove anything that it finds and reboot. Download the latest drivers from Realtek, install and reboot yet again.

Here is driver sweeper. I found it to be perfectly safe and used it plenty of times myself.
http://downloads.guru3d.com/Guru3D---Driver-Sweeper-(Setup)-download-1655.html

 

[dualsmp]

If that doesn't work I've also seen some people have success by updating the drivers from Windows Update so you might try that as well. Supposedly Microsoft have a new set of AC 97 drivers at Windows Update but I never tried it myself.

 

[Jalapeno]

I have the latest drivers from Realtek. Already went through the Windows Update path, no dice...

Now I'll try the Driver Sweeper. Just hope it won't wipe my Realtek NIC as well...

Did you install your driver through "Update Driver" or did you run the Setup.exe? (I tried both already)

 

[dualsmp]

Setup.exe should be fine, though I did it both ways as well. If it doesn't work after driver sweeper I don't know what else to try. You could also try Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider to see if it makes a difference. Some virus scanners report it as a virus but it is not. Avira reports it as a virus, but I set it to ignore.

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=dseo

Quite a few people have major problems AC 97 and Win7. Some motherboards just seem have more problems than others. If you Google Win7 and AC 97 you should find some other threads.

 

[Jalapeno]

Well, same thing...

I'll call it a night, thank you very much for your help so far, much appreciated. Maybe you'll have more ideas tomorrow...




PS I could have SWORN I had sound when I first installed Windows. Oh well...



Edit: I'll try your link tomorrow. I ran the WIN 7 Compatibility utility of course, and everything checked out fine. Beats me...

Thanks again!

 

[Jalapeno]

OK, since nothing has worked so far, should I give it a shot and try some VISTA drivers? Has anybody been down that road?

Open to (almost) any suggestions, let me know...

 

[dualsmp]

I went as far as installing the High Definition Audio Codecs when I was having problems, so using the Vista drivers should be ok. The HD drivers don't work so don't recommend going down that road. Driver sweeper even took care of deleting the HD drivers which don't uninstall properly from Add/Remove programs.

Just keep trying different drivers. There are some older versions floating around so you might try searching for them. I ended up deleting all my different versions when I finally got the latest Realtek version working.

Have you tired having Win7 fixing the problem for you? I tried that as well, but didn't work for me.

 

[Jalapeno]

I went as far as installing the High Definition Audio Codecs when I was having problems, so using the Vista drivers should be ok. The HD drivers don't work so don't recommend going down that road.

Yeah, I tried the HDs as well and found out they don't work.

Driver sweeper even took care of deleting the HD drivers which don't uninstall properly from Add/Remove programs.

Yep, good little program. I like it!

Just keep trying different drivers. There are some older versions floating around so you might try searching for them.

That's what I'm doing right now. Pain in the a$$ - finding them, installing, uninstalling, re-booting a gadzillion times...

Have you tired having Win7 fixing the problem for you? I tried that as well, but didn't work for me.

One of the first things I did. No dice.

I asked my buddy today (who was with me when I first installed 7) and he said we defnitely had sound then. So something must have gone haywire during the following Windows updates that shot the audio drivers.

I also uninstalled the AC'97 "hardware" through Device Manager. On re-boot, Windows does find it again and attempts to install it. It says "Downloading Software", then "Installing Software", until it quits and displays the message in my first screen shot again. Actually Windows tries to install drivers every time I re-boot. How can I prevent this? My thinking is those drivers might interfere with the ones I'm attempting to install.

Where are those Windows drivers downloaded to? Does anybody know?


I never thought getting sound out of this box could be so time consuming. Almost as bad as finding LINUX drivers... :biggrin:

 

[dualsmp]

This should stop windows from updating from the internet. Click on Device Installation settings:

My Win7 install went pretty smooth until I got to the sound drivers. Win7 didn't pick up my video card, network card, and sound. The video driver I had to hack and insert a text line to get it to work, the network card I had to use and XP driver, then the sound I hit a roadblock.

Luckily I am dual booting with XP, so I could go and boot into a fully functional system, otherwise I probably would have gone nuts with the sound driver. Every once and awhile I would boot into Win7 to work on the sound after about 6 or 7 attempts over about 3 weeks I finally solved it. It is almost like working on Linux, it kinda gave me flashbacks of installing Gentoo.

 

[Jalapeno]

My Win7 install went pretty smooth until I got to the sound drivers. Win7 didn't pick up my video card, network card, and sound. The video driver I had to hack and insert a text line to get it to work, the network card I had to use and XP driver, then the sound I hit a roadblock.

My install was a breeze, everything worked until the sound issue crept up.

Luckily I am dual booting with XP, so I could go and boot into a fully functional system, otherwise I probably would have gone nuts with the sound driver. Every once and awhile I would boot into Win7 to work on the sound after about 6 or 7 attempts over about 3 weeks I finally solved it. It is almost like working on Linux, it kinda gave me flashbacks of installing Gentoo.

I hear you! I too have a fully functional XP installation to fall back on, so now I'm doing exactly what you did, boot into 7 to work on the sound every now and then.


OK, I'll try those Installation Settings next. Let you know...

 

[MrChad]

In Device Manager, go to your sound controller. Right click and go to Properties, then select the Hardware Ids property under the Details tab. Let's verify exactly what sound hardware you have.

 

[Jalapeno]

In Device Manager, go to your sound controller. Right click and go to Properties, then select the Hardware Ids property under the Details tab. Let's verify exactly what sound hardware you have.

Here you go Chad:



Hope this helps...

 

[MrChad]

What make / model motherboard do you have?

 

[Jalapeno]

ABIT IT7 MAX 2, Socket 478

 

[Nothinman]

I had to run around the Internet looking for AC97 drivers for my notebook when I did a Win7 install too. So much for Windows being easier to get working than Linux...

 

[Jalapeno]

Tell me about it...

By any chance, do you remember which driver "did" it for you?

I have lost count. :biggrin:

 

[Nothinman]

Not really and it was for a Dell Latitude notebook so I doubt it would even install for you.

 

[Noid]

Did you check your event messages?

If you click the sound icon in the task bar, and try to turn it on the event manager should tell you whats going on if its a services problem.

I was turning off alot of the services once, and the sound requires 4 services if I remember correctly. And, yes, you need the EndPointMapper service.

I had some issues with my audio install also. I also used the drivers at Realtek.

Called REALTEK_XP64(A3.72).zip

That contains ( wdm64_a372.exe )

Version 6.0.1.6293
Dated 9/16/2008

Yes, this is the XP 64bit driver installed on my Win7 x64.
On the AsRock mb in my sig.

I believe I unzipped it, then did a manual install. (Have Disk)