If you're in XP, your sound card shows in device manager, but it doesn't work...

I just played this game with a SB Audigy2 ZS, and there's NO info on this that I found, so hopefully it'll help folks with all manner of sound card...

The scenario:

You start your computer and have no sound. The sound card is properly installed on the motherboard, its drivers are installed in Windows XP, and the card shows up in Device Manager without an exclamation or red 'X' to indicate a problem. Worse, Device Manager reads "This device is working properly." when you open the driver's Properties page. So, it looks fine but doesn't make a peep, and any software you start that uses the sound card complains that no sound card is installed.

You check in Control Panel, specifically the "Sounds and Audio Devices" applet, and it reads "No Audio Device." However, it is there and is installed!

What's goin' on!?



Here's the answer that nobody seems to mention anywhere:

Turn on the Windows Audio service, which you'll likely find is disabled or set to manual for no apparent reason.

Here's the fix:

1. Right-click "My Computer" and click "Manage" to bring up the MMC.
2. In the LEFT pane, click the + to the left of the "Services and Applications" entry, to open the list.
3. Click "Services".
4. In the RIGHT pane, scroll down to the "Windows Audio" entry. Scroll right and you'll probably see it set to "Disabled", and that, boys and girls, is why your sound card no workie even though to spent X hours trying Y things and installing drivers Z times and got nowhere.
5. Right-click the "Windows Audio" and click "Properties" to bring up the service's property panel.
6. Change the "Startup type" setting to "Automatic", and OK your way back out.
7. Close the MMC and reboot the computer.
8. When you finish booting and log back in, head into the Control Panel's "Sounds and Audio Devices" applet, and poof, your sound card is showing now!


Amazingly enough, I found this little snippet of info in reference to DirectX sound issues, but it fixes the mysterious "it's installed and showing but I can't use it" problem. As near as I can tell, WinXP will disable the Audio service if it encounters weirdness like driver conflicts, but won't indicate it did so and makes no mention of it in the XP documentation or troubleshooting system.

Broadcast this tip far and wide, folks!

oO

So I hate to break it to you & all ... but that means the driver didn't 'take' & ain't 'right' ;) .. something stopped it probably because its 'breaking sharing rules' or 'whatever' as you quite righly accept ...

Maybe this is a permanent 'fix' - you are again quite right; if the service 'windows audio' is off, then no sound, no matter what else you do ! - but IMHO you are just storing up trouble for later (that service got turned off because windows detected it couldn't 'properly' share its resources, plug & play turns it on when it finds a sound type device but also it turned it off because something in the driver wasn't 'just so'), as a temporary fix, yes, but still hang out for a driver that turns the service on itself when 'plug & pray' fires & the s/c gets detected or its drivers renewed ..

You are, of course, quite correct with regard to this being ostensibly a protective measure. However, from the digging I've been doing on this WinXP will switch the service off and not bother to turn it back on, EVER, even after any existing problems that tripped the action are corrected.

Once WinXP switches the service off, it won't reactivate it, doesn't mention that it has been turned off, and offers nothing to indicate this step was even taken. So basically folks sit there and spend hours upon hours trying to fix what is basically an already fixed soundcard (usually fixed after the first or second PCI slot swap) and not getting anywhere at all.

Now if WinXP would pop a dialog up to tell you the service was disabled due to a problem - an action that takes ONE line of program code to implement! - this wouldn't be such a p.i.t.a. But the apparent approach is "no, let's just quietly switch off the service, not say a damn thing, and leave the user guessing..."

oO

If the driver where correctly written plug & pray should really do its stuff ... its a tip I've known for a while, but like I say, really you want an improved driver - while I'm generally happy to blame Billy Boy for all the software ills of the world :D - I don't think this one's his fault ;)

However the whole issue of services & just what does what, how, when & with what dependencies & what ought to be on & what not etc - is indeed something that windows xp being supposedly for home as well as business use wants covering much better - it seems blindingly obvious to me that to get sound you need some service on, but then again I know about windows driver model, (which btw may actually mean the service is meant to be off - you only 'need' windows audio service on for a WDM style sound driver - but if you have to 'bodge' it with an old style vxd type driver {9x ones} then I'm 99% sure its not actually needed ;))

But overall definately a tip I ought to have shared, but you did it for me :)

yep ,
I have the same problem - xp will not giv me any sound even though everything is in order. Though i go into control panel and sound and nothing inthe sound section's just blank. But everything is installed. !

Seems to be alot of this going around giving this link to this guy lets see if there is a result.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

Seems to be alot of this going around giving this link to this guy lets see if there is a result.

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Ooooooo ! I'm so bloody confus-ed ... Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

I'm sure this links to another thread which then links back to this ? :knife:

The answer anyway is to try & turn the service 'windows audio' on if its off .. as 'a temporary fix' then hang on for a driver which leaves the service on like it should be ..

Yah ed, but we know windoze doesn't turn on the spooler when you install the printer sometimes either... I would lump it in that class of "interesting anomalies" :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

Yah ed, but we know windoze doesn't turn on the spooler when you install the printer sometimes either... I would lump it in that class of "interesting anomalies" :D

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Yup & you can cheat that too (turn that on !) - its something to do with plug & pray & ennumerated device classes {which you'll be very glad to hear, I shan't waffle on for 6 pages about !} - but that's not interesting , nor an anomalie ... just 'pants' drivers or a rubbish installer :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by confus-ed

Yup & you can cheat that too (turn that on !) - its something to do with plug & pray & ennumerated device classes {which you'll be very glad to hear, I shan't waffle on for 6 pages about !} - but that's not interesting , nor an anomalie ... just 'pants' drivers or a rubbish installer :D

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Oh, I won't argue AT ALL as to whether Creative's installers are junk. Gads, I wrote a better installer with Delphi than that cobbled-together bodgefest they use for their hardware drivers. And don't get me started on how big the base install is...

Great hardware, if you have 400 megs of space for the drivers and -required- apps...

oO

(Edited to fix a typo.)

Win xp pro can't seen to find my sound card drivers and when I have tried to manually download them that doesn't seem to work either. Device Manager lists it as Analog Device AD1816 with a "yellow question mark" beside it. xp didn't like my modem so I had to buy a new one. Also didn't like my cam. Does this mean I have to buy a new sound card too?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by layla_just_layla

Win xp pro can't seen to find my sound card drivers and when I have tried to manually download them that doesn't seem to work either. Device Manager lists it as Analog Device AD1816 with a "yellow question mark" beside it. xp didn't like my modem so I had to buy a new one. Also didn't like my cam. Does this mean I have to buy a new sound card too?

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So Welcome layla :) .. I now have Eric Clapton running loose in my head ! :D

No I don't think it does mean you 'have to' buy a new card .. off the top of my head I'd say that's a Turtle Beach Sound Card .. The Drivers gonna be here (somewhere ! I hope ) ... we just need to figure out which 'variation' it might be :)

Try this utility Aida32 & see if you can identify 'it' with that ..

& (though its a bit late now) FYI there's a tool on the xp cd which tests all your hardware for 'readiness for xp' which you really wanted to run before you pressumably upgraded .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by confus-ed

So Welcome layla :) .. I now have Eric Clapton running loose in my head ! :D

No I don't think it does mean you 'have to' buy a new card .. off the top of my head I'd say that's a Turtle Beach Sound Card .. The Drivers gonna be here (somewhere ! I hope ) ... we just need to figure out which 'variation' it might be :)

Try this utility Aida32 & see if you can identify 'it' with that ..

& (though its a bit late now) FYI there's a tool on the xp cd which tests all your hardware for 'readiness for xp' which you really wanted to run before you pressumably upgraded .

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Hi confuse_ed I love the ole EC hence the name

Aida32 identifies the sound card as:
ADS7180 Analogue Devices AD1816 Sound Controller, and
ADS7181 Analogue Devices AD1816A Sound Controller

Tis a long sad story about how xp came to be installed. I did not do it myself and I have been riddled with viruses ever since.

This 'identification by remote control business' can be a frustrating process.. grrr ..once we know 'correctly' it should be easy ;)

I've bethought myself ! :rolleyes: .. lots of folks used that chipset too like dell & hp etc on 'proprietry' soundcards of their own .. (both onboard the motherboard & as seperate cards) ... its 'oldish' (so not in current use I don't think).

Can you give me/us any more clues ? so make & model of the original computer if you know - I don't want to give you a big list of 'could be's' & 2 gig of downloads to keep trying & make you more confus-ed ! ;)

I had the same problem with another sound card ( it seems not to depend on that), and found the solution in another discussion list. I am late with my proposal, yes, but others will possibly be late like I was and stumble across it then, and... since it helped me, I will spread this hint here as well:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1066427444

The first hint you stumble across there could fix it in case you as well deleted the PnP device enumerator by accident, just because it was reporting problems. It won't be automatically reinstaled, as it seems, and yesss.... reinstalling it in was the trick my case.
How?
Follow the ling and read what they say there...

Cheers
and have a nice 2005
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