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#1
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A7N8X-Dlx and win98se - No Audio - has me stumped
Can't get the soundstorm audio to work with win98se. I had an old
win98se install with older hardware when I installed the mobo, so I deleted the "enum" key in safe mode before the first win98se boot, then let win98 do it's thing to find all the new hardware, and np, all was found, but I get no sound, and attempting to open the nvidia control panel results in a "driver initialization error, reinstall" or some similar message. Device manager sez the nvidia audio devices are working properly, but the "multimedia" control panel applet reports no audio devices installed for playback and recording devices. Am currently trying to use the latest nvidia driver package for win98/me. I started out trying the latest Asus driver and had no luck with it either. I have done the following: -tried the "update driver" approach for the nvidia audio devices -reinstalled win98se over the existing installation -booted safe mode, deleted all audio devices for nvidia and let them all get redetected, and they DO get redetected every time, but it appears the driver still does not load/initialize properly -installed a couple of MS patches I found on the net for audio problems regarding wdmaud.sys and other dx related issues/problems -removed and redetected devices too many times to count All other devices in Device Manager are working ok. I have a dual boot system, and win2k works fabulously, so I know the hardware/soundchip works. I do have the 3com NIC and the SATA interface disabled, but this should have no bearing on my problem. I guess the fact that nearly all the mobo devices are on IRQ 5 or 11 is also a bit disturbing, tho ACPI and IRQ sharing should work properly if the drivers are written correctly. I've found some other posts on usenet where others have had the exact same problem, but found no real solution to the problem. Any suggestions/tips/ideas would be welcome. If I find a solution, I will post it. -- Best regards, Kyle |
#2
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On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 14:52:24 -0500, "Kyle Brant"
wrote: Any suggestions/tips/ideas would be welcome. If I find a solution, I will post it. Just get the realtek drivers right off their site. ------------ When your PC gives a little they give a lot. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/disco |
#3
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Why would I use Realtek drivers when the nvidia drivers are, or should
be, complete? My board has the MCP-T southbridge, not a realtek audio solution, tho I do understand my board uses realtek devices for output (codecs or D/A's). Do these realtek drivers work in conjunction with the soundstorm drivers or replace them? -- Best regards, Kyle "AJ" wrote in message news | On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 14:52:24 -0500, "Kyle Brant" | wrote: | | Any suggestions/tips/ideas would be welcome. If I find a solution, I | will post it. | | Just get the realtek drivers right off their site. | ------------ | When your PC gives a little they give a lot. | http://www.dslreports.com/forum/disco |
#4
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A LARGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!!!
OK, I fixed the problem, and cannot explain why, this worked. Here's what I transpired: I searched all over the internet and usenet for "no audio playback devices available" and found one fellow who had put a special registry file together to "rebuild" the kernel sound "mapping" info in the registry, and he listed certain devices that should show up in safe mode but do not appear in normal mode (this was in regard to an AC97 sound system). This gave me the idea to go back and review my setup. On a normal boot into win98se, I would see 2 Nvidia audio devices named (in device manager): -Nvidia Audio -Nvidia audio processing unit (Dolby digital) Then, I booted in safe mode, and noted that there were 3 Nvidia audio devices named: -Nvidia Audio -Nvidia audio codec interface -Nvidia audio processing unit (Dolby digital) Hmmm, now that's odd, why do I see 3 items show up in safe mode and only 2 in normal boot mode? I realize sometimes unused devices showup on safe mode (such as old hardware that has been removed), and yet, I was fairly certain I had booted into safe mode earlier and deleted all Nvidia audio devices in my efforts to fix this problem and the only devices present in the system should be those detected on the last "detection" process. Then, I opted to take the scientific approach, I guessed (a wildass blind stab in the dark) and deleted ONLY the "Nvidia audio codec interface" whilst in safe mode. On reboot, win98se found a new PCI audio multimedia device, and I pointed windows to the directory with the latest Nvidia audio drivers (2.41 is what I think I have for win9x/me) and lo and behold, the sound hardware works now. Thus, it appears there is some oddity in the driver installation process where all of the drivers are not installed, or, the wrong driver gets installed for one of the devices or some problem is created that windows cannot figure out on it's own (do you suppose this is the first time such a problem has occurred with windows, lol). Now, in normal boot mode, I have 2 audio devices which are named: -Nvidia audio codec interface -Nvidia audio processing unit (Dolby digital) and the sound works as it should, Nvidia control panel works, I am quite pleased to have found a fix. The other device (Nvidia Audio) just disappeared. BTW, the names for the devices above may not be exactly accurate as I'm typing this in from memory at another puter, but what I have set forth is very close if not exact. Hope this helps those who have the same situation/problem. And finally, there is no need to d/l and install the realtek drivers if you own this mobo (A7N8X-Deluxe), as the realtek drivers are NOT required to get the soundstorm sound system working under win98se. The suggestion that the realtek drivers can be used to fix this particular problem may be true, but I did not take my experiment that far. -- Best regards, Kyle "Kyle Brant" wrote in message ... | Can't get the soundstorm audio to work with win98se. I had an old | win98se install with older hardware when I installed the mobo, so I | deleted the "enum" key in safe mode before the first win98se boot, | then let win98 do it's thing to find all the new hardware, and np, all | was found, but I get no sound, and attempting to open the nvidia | control panel results in a "driver initialization error, reinstall" or | some similar message. Device manager sez the nvidia audio devices are | working properly, but the "multimedia" control panel applet reports no | audio devices installed for playback and recording devices. Am | currently trying to use the latest nvidia driver package for win98/me. | I started out trying the latest Asus driver and had no luck with it | either. | | I have done the following: | | -tried the "update driver" approach for the nvidia audio devices | -reinstalled win98se over the existing installation | -booted safe mode, deleted all audio devices for nvidia and let them | all get redetected, and they DO get redetected every time, but it | appears the driver still does not load/initialize properly | -installed a couple of MS patches I found on the net for audio | problems regarding wdmaud.sys and other dx related issues/problems | -removed and redetected devices too many times to count | | All other devices in Device Manager are working ok. I have a dual boot | system, and win2k works fabulously, so I know the hardware/soundchip | works. I do have the 3com NIC and the SATA interface disabled, but | this should have no bearing on my problem. | | I guess the fact that nearly all the mobo devices are on IRQ 5 or 11 | is also a bit disturbing, tho ACPI and IRQ sharing should work | properly if the drivers are written correctly. | | I've found some other posts on usenet where others have had the exact | same problem, but found no real solution to the problem. | | Any suggestions/tips/ideas would be welcome. If I find a solution, I | will post it. | | -- | Best regards, | Kyle | |
#5
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"Kyle Brant" wrote in message
... | A LARGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!!! | | OK, I fixed the problem, and cannot explain why, this worked. Here's | what I transpired: | | I searched all over the internet and usenet for "no audio playback | devices available" and found one fellow who had put a special registry | file together to "rebuild" the kernel sound "mapping" info in the | registry, and he listed certain devices that should show up in safe | mode but do not appear in normal mode (this was in regard to an AC97 | sound system). This gave me the idea to go back and review my setup. | | On a normal boot into win98se, I would see 2 Nvidia audio devices | named (in device manager): | | -Nvidia Audio | -Nvidia audio processing unit (Dolby digital) | | Then, I booted in safe mode, and noted that there were 3 Nvidia audio | devices named: | | -Nvidia Audio | -Nvidia audio codec interface | -Nvidia audio processing unit (Dolby digital) | | Hmmm, now that's odd, why do I see 3 items show up in safe mode and | only 2 in normal boot mode? I realize sometimes unused devices showup | on safe mode (such as old hardware that has been removed), and yet, I | was fairly certain I had booted into safe mode earlier and deleted all | Nvidia audio devices in my efforts to fix this problem and the only | devices present in the system should be those detected on the last | "detection" process. | | Then, I opted to take the scientific approach, I guessed (a wildass | blind stab in the dark) and deleted ONLY the "Nvidia audio codec | interface" whilst in safe mode. On reboot, win98se found a new PCI | audio multimedia device, and I pointed windows to the directory with | the latest Nvidia audio drivers (2.41 is what I think I have for | win9x/me) and lo and behold, the sound hardware works now. Thus, it | appears there is some oddity in the driver installation process where | all of the drivers are not installed, or, the wrong driver gets | installed for one of the devices or some problem is created that | windows cannot figure out on it's own (do you suppose this is the | first time such a problem has occurred with windows, lol). | | Now, in normal boot mode, I have 2 audio devices which are named: | | -Nvidia audio codec interface | -Nvidia audio processing unit (Dolby digital) | | and the sound works as it should, Nvidia control panel works, I am | quite pleased to have found a fix. The other device (Nvidia Audio) | just disappeared. | | BTW, the names for the devices above may not be exactly accurate as | I'm typing this in from memory at another puter, but what I have set | forth is very close if not exact. | | Hope this helps those who have the same situation/problem. | | And finally, there is no need to d/l and install the realtek drivers | if you own this mobo (A7N8X-Deluxe), as the realtek drivers are NOT | required to get the soundstorm sound system working under win98se. | The suggestion that the realtek drivers can be used to fix this | particular problem may be true, but I did not take my experiment that | far. | All right, this stuff always bugs me when it happens, so I went back and "printed to file" a list of devices in the sound controllers section of device manager, then booted in safe mode and printed a list of the devices, and here is the resulting lists (much detail about drivers and resources used is deleted, only the actual device names are set forth here): Normal Boot Audio Controllers/Devices: Device: Microsoft Kernel Audio Mixer Device: Microsoft Kernel System Renderer Device: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Device: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Codec Interface Device: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) MCP Audio Processing Unit (Dolby(R) Digital) Device: MPU-401 Compatible Device: Gameport Joystick I note that only 2 of the above listed audio devices actually appear visually in device manager of a normal boot, the kernel audio mixer an d system renderer and the "NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio" devices do not show up visually in device manager's list, yet printing the list reveals their presence. Can't explain why, some quirk of Windows, perhaps only displaying devices that actually use "hardware resources". In fact, that appears to be the case after reviewing the text file. And here is the safe mode device list: Safe Mode Audio Controllers/Devices: Device: Microsoft DirectMusic SW Synth (WDM) Device: Microsoft Kernel Audio Mixer Device: Microsoft Kernel GS Wavetable Synthesizer Device: Microsoft Kernel System Renderer Device: Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy Device: Microsoft Streaming Clock Proxy Device: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Device: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Codec Interface Device: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) MCP Audio Processing Unit (Dolby(R) Digital) Device: MPU-401 Compatible Device: Gameport Joystick Finally, I should share a link to the information that prompted me to give this "no sound" problem another go around, here it is: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winme/t1031527906 . This page discusses the exact problem I was having and one poster provides a link to another page http://www2.driverguide.com/uploads/...s18/19370.html where a "registry fix" file can be downloaded, and a review of the registry fix file reveals how the "extra" rendering/streaming kernel devices that appear only in safe mode are added back in for winme, and there is a suggestion this registry fix may also work with win98. The registry fix adds many of the devices that only appear in safe mode. Note: I did NOT use the registry fix to solve my problem. Finally, one might ask, "if I delete all the devices in safe mode, will this 'no sound devices available' problem re-emerge?" So, I did just that, booted in safe mode, deleted all the audio controller devices set forth above, and rebooted, and win98se was able to redetect my audio hardware, I pointed win98 at the appropriate drivers directory, and the sound hardware came back to life without a hitch on the very first boot into normal mode. If that don't beat all. Finally, I do recall that when I was originally installing the Nvidia drivers (using the setup program that comes with the driver package for 2.41) there were 2 long extended delays with a progress dialog indicating Windows was adding devices or updating the system (probably nearly 2 minutes for each one) and the delay was I guess my warning that things were not proceeding as they should. Thereafter, upon attempting to open the Nvidia nForce control audio control panel, I would receive the "failed to initialize audio driver, reinstall" message. I took the time to post all of this info because there are just a few who have had this problem and the solution is difficult and also perhaps dependent on the specific sound card solution in use. A reinstall of Windows does not fix the problem. Perhaps a format/reinstall would solve this problem, but I tend to avoid that approach at all costs as losing the installed programs and data is a pain. At least all have a possible solution to this problem, and usenet now has a detailed post for the benefit of anyone who might encounter this problem. HTH. -- Best regards, Kyle |
#6
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Kyle Brant wrote:
SNIP! Yeah... I noticed that the 3rd, hidden device didn't update to the newer drives when I updated them... this was using some Asus driver set that was not published to their website, just before the nForce 3.13s came out. (I think it had the 3.66 audio drivers, which are the latest official nVidia release) If you go to View - Show Hidden Devices in device manager you will see them all there (I think you'll see all the ones you would see in safe mode too) I have been told by somebody on nForcersHQ (that was either a mod or driver beta tester) that that could cause problems (and it does seem to make sense) - you experienced them. If you are having sound problems, view the hidden devices and confirm that all 3 Nvidia sound devices have the latest, or at least the same, version number. Additionally, the control panel almost always needs to have the same version number as the drivers as well. Ben -- I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String... |
#7
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"Ben Pope" wrote in message
... | Kyle Brant wrote: | SNIP! | | Yeah... I noticed that the 3rd, hidden device didn't update to the newer | drives when I updated them... this was using some Asus driver set that was | not published to their website, just before the nForce 3.13s came out. (I | think it had the 3.66 audio drivers, which are the latest official nVidia | release) | | If you go to View - Show Hidden Devices in device manager you will see them | all there (I think you'll see all the ones you would see in safe mode too) | | I have been told by somebody on nForcersHQ (that was either a mod or driver | beta tester) that that could cause problems (and it does seem to make | sense) - you experienced them. | | If you are having sound problems, view the hidden devices and confirm that | all 3 Nvidia sound devices have the latest, or at least the same, version | number. Additionally, the control panel almost always needs to have the | same version number as the drivers as well. | | Ben | -- | I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String... | Win9x/me does not provide a mechanism for viewing hidden devices like win2k and xp, hidden devices are only viewable in safe mode afaik. -- Best regards, Kyle |
#8
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Kyle Brant wrote:
Win9x/me does not provide a mechanism for viewing hidden devices like win2k and xp, hidden devices are only viewable in safe mode afaik. Ahh yeah... my bad. There are still people using Win98? :-P Ben -- I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String... |
#9
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"Ben Pope" wrote in message
... | Kyle Brant wrote: | Win9x/me does not provide a mechanism for viewing hidden devices like | win2k and xp, hidden devices are only viewable in safe mode afaik. | | Ahh yeah... my bad. There are still people using Win98? :-P | grin yup. Got 2 machines used primarily for work (word processing, spreadsheet, occasional graphics scanning) running k63+ CPUs at 550 or 600 MHz with win98se, and they are plenty fast for such uses. Didn't see winme as a worthwhile upgrade, and win2k or XP will surely "break" my voice/fax software. Also, I hate to toss all my old ISA cards (particularly controller based voice/faxmodem cards that are used to answer phone and receive faxes on 2 telephone lines) in the dumpster just to have a faster word processor system. However, my router machine (shares cablemodem), server machine (client file machine and shares dsl line with network) and game puter all are running win2k. BTW, the sound problem I resolved was on my game puter which is dual boot win2k/win98se, and win98se is still faster with some games, though win2k is a bit "smoother". -- Best regards, Kyle |
#10
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Kyle Brant wrote:
grin yup. Got 2 machines used primarily for work (word processing, spreadsheet, occasional graphics scanning) running k63+ CPUs at 550 or 600 MHz with win98se, and they are plenty fast for such uses. I was using a PIII 450 up until a couple of months ago. Was fine for me (had 512MB of RAM) Didn't see winme as a worthwhile upgrade, and win2k or XP will surely "break" my voice/fax software. Almost certainly, since the way it deals with COM ports is different... depends how it works, really. Also, I hate to toss all my old ISA cards (particularly controller based voice/faxmodem cards that are used to answer phone and receive faxes on 2 telephone lines) in the dumpster just to have a faster word processor system. Not with you on that. However, my router machine (shares cablemodem), server machine (client file machine and shares dsl line with network) and game puter all are running win2k. BTW, the sound problem I resolved was on my game puter which is dual boot win2k/win98se, and win98se is still faster with some games, though win2k is a bit "smoother". I remember once trying WinNT when I had Win95 with Quake3 (or maybe it was the original Quake, hmm, doesn;t seem right as that was DOS based before GLQuake came along) and it blew me away it was nearly 50% faster I think... albeit without sound :-P I migrated to Win2K when Win98 was being unstable - I'd open up 10 pretty memory hungry files in various applications (Word, Excel, Acrobat etc.) and it would keel over and die... reboot, repeat about 4 times and then installed Win2K. It seems a lot more stable - memory management is considerably better. Not looked back since. I guess it comes down to what you use it for... if it works, why change it? Ben -- I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String... |
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