No sound AT ALL from laptop-tried everything!

[activa]

Gateway 400VTX with onboard sound, Realtek AC97, 5.10.0.5320 driver. I get no sound, although everything checks out fine. In fact, I can boot Knoppix, but I get no sound with it, which obviously rules out a driver problem.

I think this must mean that either the BIOS is screwed up, or the onboard sound circuitry is fried, or there's something wrong with the jack, which is not sending sound to the internal speakers or the external speakers. Any way I can test any of these? Any other possibilities?

 

[ski]

If there is no sound at all, even when playing an audio CD:
-Make sure the sound adapter is enabled in BIOS.
-Check all speaker connections and wires, make sure the speakers are turned on, and adjust the external volume control on the speakers.
-Make sure that the sound adapter's output(analog or digital) is properly configured for the speakers.
-Try the speakers either on another system. If sound is heard, then the speakers are ok. If no sound is heard, then the speakers are bad.
-Plug headphones directly into the sound card. If there's no sound, then the sound adapter is probably defective.

If there's sound from a music CD:
-Check 'Device Manager/Sound, Video, and Game Controllers' for any IRQ conflicts or problems with missing or corrupt drivers, etc.
If an IRQ conflict exists, then manually assign a free IRQ to the sound card.
If there's a driver problem, then remove the sound card from Device Manager, restart the computer, reinstall the drivers.
Also, make sure the sound card is assigned 01 for DMA(Direct Memory Access) in Dev. Mgr.
-Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel/Multimedia/Audio, make sure the sound card is selected in the 'Preferred Device' window under 'Playback', click the volume control icon next to the 'Preferred Device' window to adjust volume settings and make sure the Mute box is unchecked, click the Devices tab and click the + by 'Audio Devices' and make sure the
circle is checked for 'Use Audio Features On This Device', and the box is unchecked for 'Do Not Map Thru This Device', click the + next to 'Audio Codecs' and make sure there's a
long list of codecs(MS, etc.).
-Make sure the volume control is properly adjusted in the sound card's software(if applicable).
-Make sure there is a drivers=mmsystem.dll entry in the system.ini file.
-If all of the above are ok, then the sound adapter may be bad. Install a sound card.

 

[activa]

ski, thanks for the ideas:
1. I couldn't find any option in the BIOS (Phoenix) to enable or disable the onboard sound. Am I missing something?
2. It's a laptop, and I've tried both internal and external speakers (I know the external speakers are good, I'm using them on another system right now).
3. I've tried system restore to a known working point, re-installed drivers, and there's no conflicts or other problems listed. Besides, isn't that immaterial if I have the same problem in Knoppix (which doesn't use any of the drivers in Windows)?
4. It's a laptop; I guess I'll have to get a USB or PC card audio device. Any other ideas?

Thanks again.

 

[activa]

Interesting...

1. I found somebody else with exactly the same problem.

http://www.mytechsupport.ca/helpwithpcs/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5190

2. Sound suddenly came back-extremely scratchy, basically unusable, but it's definitely there. It acts exactly the same way in Knoppix, so it's definitely a hardware issue.

At the thread above somebody thought it was a melted wire (the machine gets REALLY hot). Makes sense to me. Do I dare open it up and try to locate the problem?

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[macten88]

I've also got a Gateway 400vtx and no sound. I've tried just about everything but no luck. Is there anything in the registry that may have to be cleared out? Other wise it has got to be a hardware problem....

 

[paparazi]

Differant driver?
From Gateway:

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=3501337

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[macten88]

Thanks for the reply paparazi. Unfortunately it didn't help. Looks like this is a hardware issue.

 

[activa]

Definitely hardware, as I get the same result in Knoppix. Interestingly, about two weeks after my sound died, it came back but as unusable, distorted sound. I now have to plug in a jack to mute it if there's something on playing sound.

I did buy a cheap USB audio card for $12, but it's a pain to use (so I don't).

The sound is much better from my Mac anyway ;-]