My problem started when we tried to play a sound on the computer after having
no previous problems. The system suddenly rebooted and since then we have had
no sound. I have done various permutations of installing, re-installing, etc.
to no avail. Windows 98 has recognized the new hardware and installed the
appropriate drivers. According to the Device Manager, all drivers are in and
"working properly", but no sound comes out. I've removed the Voice Modem
device driver so the only sound components are for the card.
The card is a SoundBlaster AWE 64 and I am running Windows 98 with 80MB of
RAM on a 133MHZ Pentium. When I go to multimedia in the control panel, the
Audio tab is completely grayed out so I cannot select anything. I know that
the card is OK because I used the Diagnostic tool that came with the card and
it tests fine (sound in 8-bit, 16-bit and synthesized sound).
I am totally clueless and at the end of my rope. Any suggestions?
Scott Sekerke
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
See if there is any help in this article:
PSS ID Number: Q140334
Article last modified on 01-22-1999
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows 95
- Microsoft Windows 98
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
=======
This article lists troubleshooting steps to help you troubleshoot
problems
playing wave sound (.wav) files in Windows. The following possible
problems are
addressed in this article:
- Program-specific problems
- Playback device not configured properly
- Mixer settings not configured properly
- Hardware not configured properly
- Damaged wave sound files
- Compression-related problems
MORE INFORMATION
================
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
If you cannot play .wav files from a specific program that you use in
Windows,
check to see if the same problem occurs when you play the file from
another
program. For example, if you are attempting to play the file from a
third-party
program that is not included with Windows, try playing the file from
Media
Player or Sound Recorder. To start Media Player or Sound Recorder, click
the
Start button, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to
Multimedia, and
then click Media Player or Sound Recorder.
If the problem occurs only with one particular program, the files
associated with
that program may be damaged, or the program may not be configured
correctly. To
resolve the problem, contact the software's manufacturer. If the problem
occurs
with multiple programs, the problem may be caused by one of the other
issues
addressed in this article.
PLAYBACK DEVICE NOT CONFIGURED PROPERLY
If you cannot play .wav files in Windows, or if .wav files are not
played at the
proper volume, you may not have a playback device selected, or the
playback
device that you have selected may not be configured properly. To select
and
configure a playback device, follow these steps:
1. In Control Panel, double-click the Multimedia icon.
2. In the Playback box, click the playback device that you want to use
in the
Preferred Device list, and then move the Volume slider to the value
you
want.
NOTE: If you are using Microsoft Windows 3.1 drivers with your sound
card, the
sound card should still appear in the Preferred Device list. However,
the
card will not appear in Device Manager.
3. In the Recording box, click the playback device that you want to use
in the
Preferred Device list, and then move the Volume slider to the value
you want.
4. Make sure that the speakers are properly connected to the sound card,
and
that the speakers are turned on.
MIXER SETTINGS NOT CONFIGURED PROPERLY
If you cannot play .wav files in Windows, or if .wav files are not
played at the
proper volume, the mixer control settings may not be configured
properly. You
can use the mixer control program included with Windows to adjust the
volume for
playback, recording, and voice commands. If you are using Windows 3.1
drivers
with your sound card, you must use the mixer control program included
with the
sound card to adjust the volume for playback, recording, and voice
commands. If
your sound card does not include a mixer control program, or for
information
about using the mixer control program included with your sound card,
please
contact the sound card's manufacturer.
To configure mixer control settings with the mixer control program
included with
Windows, follow these steps:
1. Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Accessories,
point to
Multimedia or Entertainment, and then click Volume Control.
NOTE: If you have more than one playback device installed in your
computer,
make sure that the proper device has been selected before modifying
the mixer
control settings. To do so, click Properties on the Options menu, and
make
sure that the proper device has been selected.
2. Make sure that the Mute All check box below the Volume Control slider
and the
Mute check box below the Wave slider are not selected, and that the
Balance
sliders for Volume Control and Wave are in the center of the scale.
3. Move the Volume Control and Wave sliders at least halfway to the top
of the
scale.
NOTE: If the Volume Control and Wave sliders do not appear, click
Properties
on the Options menu, and then click the Volume Control and Wave check
boxes
in the Show The Following Volume Controls box to select them.
You may need to adjust the current Volume Control or Wave slider
settings to play
.wav files at the volume level you want.
HARDWARE NOT CONFIGURED PROPERLY
If you cannot play .wav files in Windows, or if .wav files are not
played
properly, your sound card may not be compatible with the type of .wav
file you
are attempting to play, or there may be a resource conflict between your
sound
card and another device installed in your computer. To determine whether
your
sound card supports the wave sound file format you are attempting to
play,
contact the sound card's manufacturer.
For information about determining if there is a resource conflict
between your
sound card and another device installed in your computer, please see the
following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q133240
TITLE : Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager
DAMAGED WAVE SOUND FILES
If you cannot play .wav files in Windows, or if .wav files are not
played
properly, the .wav files that you are attempting to play may be damaged.
To
determine if a .wav file is damaged, right-click the .wav file in
Windows
Explorer, click Properties on the menu that appears, and then click the
Details
tab. The Audio Format line should contain information about the type of
compression used to compress the file, the sound quality of the file,
and
whether or not the file is in stereo. If this information is missing,
the .wav
file may be damaged.
If the information on the Audio Format line is not missing, attempt to
play other
.wav files that are compressed using the same type of compression as the
.wav
file you are attempting to play. If you can play other .wav files, the
.wav file
that you originally tried to play may be damaged. If you cannot play
other .wav
files that are compressed using the same type of compression, try to
play .wav
files that are compressed using a different type of compression. If you
can play
these files, the problem may be related to the type of compression that
was used
to compress the .wav file you originally tried to play.
COMPRESSION-RELATED PROBLEMS
Windows includes 32-bit versions of several common codecs, including
Adaptive
Delta Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM), Interactive Multimedia Association
(IMA)
ADPCM, Groupe Special Mobile (GSM) 6.10, Consultative Committee for
International Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT) G.711 A-Law and u-Law, and
Truespeech from DSP. These 32-bit codecs are installed by default during
Windows
Setup, and are used by multimedia programs even if a 16-bit version of
the same
codec is available.
For information about troubleshooting audio codecs in Windows, please
see the
following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q141801
TITLE : Troubleshooting Audio Codecs in Windows 95
--
Regards
Ron Badour, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
Tips Page: http://members.xoom.com/rwbadour/
Knowledge Base Info: http://support.microsoft.com/support/a.asp?M=S
Try this:
Boot into "safe mode"
go to the Device Manager
remove your sound devices. You may well find several duplicates there.
reboot to normal mode. You should automatically detect the device, and install
drivers. It might even work this time.
jay
Scott Sekerke wrote:
> Ron,
>
> Thanks for your suggestion, but I've tried all the things listed to no
> avail. I cannot access the Audio tab in Control Panel/Multimedia because it
> is grayed out because something in the computer doesn't think I have a sound
> card installed. Ditto for sound-based programs such as Sound Recorder --
> the error messages I get are ones that say you have no audio card available,
> use Add New Hardware... But the card is there, it works, but Win 98 just
> doesn't see it. I've reinstalled and reinstalled, but the Audio tab in
> Multimedia gives me the bad news every time -- the computer is blind when it
> comes to this card. And it used to see it no problem.
>
> Regards,
> Scott Sekerke
--
Jay Plesset
Netscape Communications Corp.
Any opinions are my own, not those of my employer.
Unfortunately, that didn't work either. Thanks for the help though. The
problem isn't in having the computer recognize there's new software; it's
the fact that even though there are no conflicts in Device Manager and the
card is a functioning card, the dang thing still isn't recognized by
programs, et alia (Control Panel/Multimedia, Sound Recorder, etc) as being
there -- it's like I don't have a card installed, but the computer
recognizes all the drivers -- very strange. I also tried my old card, but
it didn't work either, that's why I think it's a system issue and not a
sound card issue.
Scott
Scott
jplesset wrote in message <36FC1DB1...@netscape.com>...
>Scott:
>
>Try this:
>
>Boot into "safe mode"
>go to the Device Manager
>remove your sound devices. You may well find several duplicates there.
>
>reboot to normal mode. You should automatically detect the device, and
install
>drivers. It might even work this time.
>
If windows still does not detect your sound card, you may need to
redirect windows IRQ steering so that you can manually assign IRQs to
the sound device through the BIOS. I'll provide this information if
needed...for now, try reassigning the slot as an ISA slot.
Please advise if this works.
benice
sbw95up.exe 316,013 bytes 7-2-98
2. Run the file (double-click) in an empty directory to unzip it.
3. Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, System icon , and click the
Device Manager tab.
4. Go to the "+Sound,Video,Game Controllers".
Click the "+" to expand the listings.
5. Highlight any listings for the sound card, click Remove.
6. Go to start, shut-down, and select restart in Ms-Dos mode.
Note: press Enter after each instruction below:
7. (type) cd\windows
8. (type) del awe*.*
9. (type) cd\windows\system
10. (type) del sb*.*, wfm*.*, csp*.*, and cif*.*
11. (type) attrib -h \windows\inf
12. (type) cd\windows\inf
12. (type) ren drvdata.bin drvdata.xxx
(type) ren drvidx.bin drvidx.xxx
(Note: these 2 files will be rebuilt at startup)
13. Reboot the computer into Safe Mode
(press and hold down Ctrl key)
How to Start a Windows 98-Based Computer in Safe Mode
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q180/9/02.asp
or
edit the Msdos.sys file
[options] BootMenuDelay=10
Contents of the Windows Msdos.sys File
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q118/5/79.asp
14. Once booted go to START, FIND, FILES OR FOLDERS and do a search for
the following files and delete any that you find:
WFM200.ACV
WFM201.ACV
WFM202.ACV
WFM203.ACV
SB16SND.DRV
SBFM.DRV
SB16.VXD
CSPMAN.DLL
CIFMAN.CRL
CIFMAN.DLL
AWEMAN.DLL
AWEMAN32.DLL
SBAWE32.DRV
SBAWE.VXD
16. Go back to the Device Manager and see if you find any listings
for the sound card in ANY of the expandable sections.
If you find any, remove them.
17. Reboot the computer. (screen message- New Hardware Found)
18. When it asks for win98 cd or diskette, do not insert it.
19. Instead browse to the folder where you placed the SBW9xUP.EXE
20. Let the Hardware Wizard obtain the drivers from there.
Once it installs the drivers and finishes booting to Windows, you should
have everything installed correctly. Unless you have a hardware conflict
(usually IRQ5 being used by another device)
Note: The SB AWE 64 cards run best at: IRQ 5, DMA 01, DMA 05
--------
To Add Additional Components:
1. Open the Add New Hardware icon, click Next, (next screen)
2. Select NO to auto-detect new hardware.
3. In the "Type of New Hardware", scroll to and highlight:
Sound,Video,Game Controllers, click Next.
4. Scroll to the Creative section, and select desired components.
5. Scroll to the Microsoft Audio Codecs section, and select desired
components.
6. Reboot, and return to the Device Manager
"+Sound,Video,Game Controllers". Click the "+" to expand.
There should be 3 listings:
Creative Awe64 16bit Audio
Creative Awe64 Wavetable MIDI
Creative Gameport Joystick
7. Highlight Creative Awe64 16bit Audio, click Properties
Click Settings tab, and select both options.
8. Open the Multimedia icon, Audio tab
Playback: Awe64 Wave Out [220], click the Advanced Properties button
Click the Speakers tab, select your Speaker setup
9. Click the Performance tab, set Hardware Acceleration to: Full
Set the Sample Rate to: Good (click Apply, if needed).
10.Make sure you have Direct-X 6.1 installed via "Windows Update"
Next, click Start - Run (type) dxdiag
Once opened, run the Tests from the various tabs.
---------------------------[The End]-----------------------------
Custom Concepts Electronic Support Center
"Troubleshooting Self-Inflicted User Problems"
http://members.aol.com/Knows98/index.htm
Please post replies to this Newsgroup
<sc_se...@my-dejanews.com> wrote in message
news:7deek5$as7$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com...
> Hello All,
>
> My problem started when we tried to play a sound on the computer after
having
> no previous problems. The system suddenly rebooted and since then we have
had
> no sound. I have done various permutations of installing, re-installing,
etc.
> to no avail. Windows 98 has recognized the new hardware and installed
the
> appropriate drivers. According to the Device Manager, all drivers are in
and
> "working properly", but no sound comes out. I've removed the Voice Modem
> device driver so the only sound components are for the card.
>
> The card is a SoundBlaster AWE 64 and I am running Windows 98 with 80MB of
> RAM on a 133MHZ Pentium. When I go to multimedia in the control panel,
the
> Audio tab is completely grayed out so I cannot select anything. I know
that
> the card is OK because I used the Diagnostic tool that came with the card
and
> it tests fine (sound in 8-bit, 16-bit and synthesized sound).
>
Thanks for all your help, but none of the solutions provided have worked. I
even got another sound card (this time PCI) and the same thing occurs. The
drivers install perfectly, but the multimedia tab is still gray no matter
what else I do. I read on another newsgroup of a person that had the exact
same problem, but the solutions he was given I had already tried (or tried
as a result of reading the thread). I'm not sure where to go from here.
Scott Sekerke
If BIOS does see the card, then please provide some information about
your MB, BIOS and the other PCI devices installed in your system. If
BIOS sees the card but Windows does not, then you clearly have a
resource problem, e.g., not enough IRQs to assign to the card. This
can be cured by fiddling with the IRQ Steering feature in windows. I
had a similar problem with my Soundblaster Live Value and a Reel Magic
MPG card, which I solved by changing the IRQ Steering settings.
Once you provide this information, I think we'll be able to solve
this!
benice
Open Add New Hardware Wizard, click Next, after 98 builds a Driver Base,
click *No* to auto-detect, click Next, click Next, scroll down to the Sound,
video and game controllers, highlight , and click Next, from the *Select
Type of Hardware* panel, scroll to *Creative* (left pane), highlight, look
in the right pane for the *extras*, select *Creative 3D stereo*, click *Have
Disk* direct the Wizard to the location of the downloaded SB AWE64 files.
Click Next, and let the Wizard install the selection. Reboot, repeat the
above process, this time select *Creative Advanced Wave Effects*, and so on
and so on, until you have all the desired components you want.
Open Device Manager after each component to check for conflicts. If you get
a *Driver not found* message, that means the Wizard can't install properly
due to a conflict with another device. Resolve these conflicts before
proceeding.
Check your Autoexec.bat, is there a *SET BLASTER* line there ?
If so does it read: SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6 E620
The above is the *default* settings. If there is no line there, open a
Windows Dos box (type) SET (and press Enter) you should see a SET BLASTER
line there.
How to Install and Remove Codecs and MCI Devices in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q142/7/31.asp
keep up informed on your progress ......
Custom Concepts Electronic Support Center
"Troubleshooting Self-Inflicted User Problems"
http://members.aol.com/Knows98/index.htm
Please post replies to this Newsgroup
Scott Sekerke <vlbe...@surfline.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:eO2RmbZf#GA.261@cppssbbsa03...