Problems with audio... please help!

Nix · 6 Jul 2006 at 11:58

Hi, basically I left my flat on the 17th last month to go home, I left my computer on folding. A cleaner has since been in my room and had moved my PC to a side (how I know someone was in here).

I got back to my flat last night to find my audio is not working on my computer at all. It had played up in the past but disconnecting the front USB etc and rebooting without them, then with them again usually fixed this problem. It didn't help this time, and I'm stuck for ideas short of formating (something I really am unwilling to do). I have onboard sound.

So far I've tried:

Checking the bios, changing the onboard sound setting from 'auto' to 'enable' - didn't help.
Re-installing the audio drivers - didn't help
Playing around with all the connectors and rebooting - didn't help
Checked to makesure speakers are working, they are.
Checking the volume control settings which are all correct, the sound isn't muted.
System restore - didn't help.
Left the PC to cool down overnight and try again in morning - didn't help

I'm now all out of ideas, so if anyone can help I'll be really thankful.

I have: ASRock Duel Sata 939 mobo, AMD 64 3500+ overclocked, ATI x800 GTO 256MB, 120GB WD HDD (IDE) and a Lian-Li PC-7+.

Joe42 · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:02

You could try a second windows install to see if it is software or not, then if it isn't you won't have formatted for nothing.

$c8t@ · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:11

have you made sure the speakers are in the correct socket ? if someones moved it the cable may have come out, usually the first instinct of the culprit is to ram it in any hole they see first... best to check the obvious

Nix · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:14

$c8t@ said:
have you made sure the speakers are in the correct socket ? if someones moved it the cable may have come out, usually the first instinct of the culprit is to ram it in any hole they see first... best to check the obvious

Yep, tried it in the front audio socket too, even tried replacing the speakers with my headphones - no luck.

$c8t@ · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:18

i know you've made sure its enabled in bios, re-instlled drivers etc but have you checked device manager to see if its actually listed correctly and not got any problems / conflicts etc?

Nix · 6 Jul 2006 at 12:26

There's no conflicts.

UKTopGun · 6 Jul 2006 at 13:29

Maybe once you get it working you could sew the cleaning company for distress!

t31os · 6 Jul 2006 at 14:41

Could just be a dodgy socket, have you tried twiddling the wire around in the socket when you have something audioable playing, just to see if you get any short bursts of noise.

Short of repeating what everyone else has suggested and what you have already tried, the only thing i can think of is that you got a bodged board.

However you did say you tried the front audio ports. Perhaps i'm wrong, but i pretty sure when you wire front audio ports up on a PC, then the back ones no longer work, its one or the other. If you have wired in the front ports, maybe you've mis-wired them. Unplug the case cables for front audio and try the back ports again.

Dutch Guy · 6 Jul 2006 at 14:53

Not much left you can do :confused:

Check with services.msc to see it the Windows Audio service is enabled.

Nix · 6 Jul 2006 at 16:43

t31os said:
Could just be a dodgy socket, have you tried twiddling the wire around in the socket when you have something audioable playing, just to see if you get any short bursts of noise.

Short of repeating what everyone else has suggested and what you have already tried, the only thing i can think of is that you got a bodged board.

However you did say you tried the front audio ports. Perhaps i'm wrong, but i pretty sure when you wire front audio ports up on a PC, then the back ones no longer work, its one or the other. If you have wired in the front ports, maybe you've mis-wired them. Unplug the case cables for front audio and try the back ports again.

I've tried playing around with the sockets and even using the front audio, nothing's working...
The rebooting without the front audio connected was the first thing I tried.

Dutch Guy said:
Not much left you can do

Check with services.msc to see it the Windows Audio service is enabled.

I checked, it was already running, I tried restarting the service but still nothing

t31os · 6 Jul 2006 at 16:49

RMA the board, if the audio doesnt work its proberly best to just get the RMA rolling.

Have you tried stripping it down and plugging the essentials in but outside the case.

Nix · 6 Jul 2006 at 17:21

t31os said:
RMA the board, if the audio doesnt work its proberly best to just get the RMA rolling.

Have you tried stripping it down and plugging the essentials in but outside the case.

I'm going to give up on it for the time being, take a fresh look at it come September when I move into my flate. I only came down to my flat so as I could move my belongings to a new room, I'm going home again tomorrow. I might even consider getting a new mobo if money allows.

Nix · 6 Jul 2006 at 17:41

Is it likely that a soundcard may resolve the problem if my mobo's onboard has packed in?

t31os · 6 Jul 2006 at 18:06

If the motherboard is broken in some form or another, unless its humanly possible to see the damage, ie. a resistor hanging off etc, its hard to say wether adding a card will give any different results to what you have now.

Nix · 6 Jul 2006 at 18:08

t31os said:
If the motherboard is broken in some form or another, unless its humanly possible to see the damage, ie. a resistor hanging off etc, its hard to say wether adding a card will give any different results to what you have now.

I guess there's only one way to find out. I'll let you know if I ever get it working.

Thanks for trying guys, much appreciated.