BleepingComputer.com: No Sound: No Audio Mixer Device Available, No Attempted Fix Works

Hi all,

I've been trying to fix my computer for the last 4days now and have trawled google and all the sites its led me to for what seems like forever. Anyway, heres the problem:

I do not have a separate sound card;
it is integral to the board (ASUS A8N SLI deluxe)

I had sound on Saturday morning, I fell asleep and someone else used my comp and when I woke up, no sound, no master volume in the system tray and no audio device detected.

When I try to play, from the hard drive, an mp3 or mpg, for example, I get no sound.
(I do get the video from the mpg or wav, etc.) I get:

"Windows Media Player cannot play the file because there is a problem with your sound
device. There might not be a sound device installed on your computer, it might be
in use by another program, or it might not be functioning properly."

When I try to play something from the RealTek player I get: "Cannot play back the
audio stream: no audio hardware is available, or the hardware is not responding.
(Error=80040256)"

From RealPlayer I get "Cannot open audio device. Another program may already be using
it. "

I have recieved this message: Cannot play back the audio stream: no audio hardware is available, or the hardware is not responding. (Error=80040256)

and also been told there is no audio mixer available.

From the Sounds and Audio Devices in the Control Panel I have all 3 elements (Sound
Playback, Sound Recording and MIDI....) in the audio tab as: No ...... Devices.

In the Device Manager the Audio Codecs and the Legacy Drivers say the Device is Working
Properly.

In Administrative Tools, under Services, there is NO service labeled Sound. There
is a service entitled Windows Audio: It is "Started" and "Automatic"
There is also a Plug and Play Service that is also "Started" and "Automatic." (I
could list those that are "Disabled" is necessary.)

I have gone to ASUS's main site for their drivers, no difference. I've been told by the comp that 'there is no audio mixer

I interupted the boot to get to the BIOS menu and there was no where I could "enable"
any audio device.

Please Help


Thanks.

hm there should be somewhere in your bios to enable/disable onboard audio...i would give that another check first.

you said that device manager says that its working correctly - what exactly is working correctly?

goodluck.

4ward_tristan, on Nov 1 2007, 12:42 AM, said:

Hi, I've checked my bios and the onboard sound is already enabled.

Sorry if I didn't clarify abut the device manager, it's saying my legacy audio drivers, Audio Codecs, Media control devices and some video devices are all working properly (there is no exclamation marks in the the Sound, Video and game controller tab) it simply does not detect the realtek in any section.

Hey there mate, you problem sounds to me like your audio driver has gone astray. According to the model of your motherboard (ASUS A8N SLI deluxe) it would appear that the onboard sound is provided by Realtek ALC850, 8-channel from nForce4 SLI AC'97 feed.

Do you have the original audio drivers for you motherboard? If so reinstall the drivers, if not look here.

Hope that helps

FireKracker, on Nov 1 2007, 03:01 PM, said:

Thanks for your reply. I have been to the Asus site and got that driver. This is what happens when i try to install it:



I'm currently using a very, very old Creative Soundblaster sound card and have disabled the mobo's onboard sound and it worked instantly. Does this mean my sound on the mobo hardware is ruined or is it just a software fault?

Thanks.

Ahh I forgot to ask if you had an alternative sound card. Enabling the motherboard sound and trying to use the soundcard would obvisouly cause conflict. It's like two people standing next to you and both of them shouting in either ear!!

This is a common mistake, all you have done is to 'turn off (disable) the motherboard's audio' this hasn't caused damage. So if your old soundblaster packs up, remove the card and enable the motherboards' sound again!

Hope that works!

FireKracker, on Nov 2 2007, 10:37 AM, said:

Ah, I meant that after numerous attempts to fix the sound onboard I kinda gave up and disabled it and then put the sound card in.

It wasn't installed whilst trying to fix the problem of no sound from mobo.

Cheers.