why can I only hear the audio test in my thinkpad and nothing else?

#1 MaryBet82

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Posted 16 April 2010 - 10:40 AM

thinkpad x41 w/ 1.5 RAM, 1.6 Pentium M, SoundMAX Integrated Digitial Audio

Lenovo has a utility called toolbox which tests the cpu, hdd, display audio, etc. Audio is known to be poor on the thinkpad. I can't hear instructional videos on the web or via usb dvd drive. Sometimes I can mostly hear a youtube music video. Yet when I run the audio test in toolbox the sound is loud and clear.

How does the test do that? What is it using that regular web sound apps and dvd sound can't or don't? Is there something I can configure?

mac 10.6 on macbook pro
WinXP sp2 on Dell 380 w/ 512 MB RAM- currently dead in the water
WinXP tab ed sp 3 on Thinkpad X41 w/ 1.5 GB RAM - lemony flavored
Win2K Sp4 on Sony VAIO GXR600 w/ 512 MB RAM - currently blue screening

#2 meuchel

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Posted 22 April 2010 - 10:28 PM

usually a manufacturer hardware audio test will test the card directly bypassing the audio controls.
sounds to me you have a volume control out of wack.
i would check to make sure nothing is muted in your volume controls and make sure everything is turned up, not only in the app but in the mixer as well.

#3 MaryBet82

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Posted 25 April 2010 - 01:19 PM

Thanks Meuchel,

If there is a setting on low somewhere I can't find it.

I have two choices when I RClick the volume icon in taskbar. Volume Control has Volume, Wave, SW Synth & CD Player - no mutes and all at max volume. The 2nd choice takes me to the Control Panel Sound and Audio Devices Properties applet. Every volume control accessible is set at max except for voice recording, which is set low. Yet I can't hear Narrator. [I haven't set up Windows Media Player again since the recent reformat/reinstall]

When I did a search for audio updates at lenovo thinkpad downloads and drivers site I got no hits. Going thru all the available downloads manually I found one driver update [smwdm.sys] listed, but the version [5300] matches the one already installed. Which is good because there were "no available downloads" on following the link.

Previous google searches for thinkpad x41 audio only turned up threads w/ the complaint of poor sound and no solutions and I thought the integrated audio or speakers must be poor. The hardware test makes me think it might be fixable.

Could I be missing an audio codec or something? I know nothing about audio x to check the mute box.