RealTek AC97 OnBoard Audio Driver (ver. 5.10.0.5650) - no sound

I just built the system listed below and everything seems to be fine, except for the audio - there is none. I've noticed from browsing this site and others there seems to be a pretty widespread, if not serious problem with the AC97 audio drivers - especailly when running XP.

I had audio problems with the first indtall of Win XP Pro but chalked that up with problems reading the CAB files on the XP disc I had. I exchanged the XP Pro disc for another and nuked everything and started over. This time, after unchecking the digital audio selection on the CD Burnrer Properties I got audio temporarily.

I installed a game though and the video and audio were both really distorted, so since I didn't really have any data stored - I nuked everything again.

After formatting and another re-install, no audio whatsoever and I've tried everything. All connections are good, all mutes and volume controls are ok, everything is connected via analog and digital is turned off. All audio devices, drivers and monitors indicate that I should have sound, but I don't. Doesn't work off the hard drive, CD's or Internet. The speakers work fine with my old PC.

As I said, I've seen multiple reports on multiple sites regarding AC97 Onboard audio problems and most aren't too pretty - many say that disabling onboard sound and installing a PCI Card doesn't help. They seem to also indicate that it stems from drivers developed by VIA.

I've seen several reported fixes, but not for Gigabyte boards. Does anyone out there know of anything? I like the system and surely don't want to go through the problems of disassembling it and RMAing the board, but I don't want weeks, if not months of going without sound (timeframes that I have seen).

Any help will be greatly appreciated.


Win XP Pro
RealTek AC97 OnBoard Audio Driver (ver. 5.10.0.5650)
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 MoBo
Athlon64 3000+ CPU
512MB OCZ PC3200 RAM
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
30GB Western Digital ATA HDD
160 GB Seagate Serial ATA HDD
Sony CD Burner
Antec 550W True Power PSU

I realize now my AC97 wasn't developed by VIA, but Realtek, wasn't sure at first. Here are some more detailed specs on my system.

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180 (IE 6.0 SP2)
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard:
CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 1800 MHz (9 x 200) 3000+
Motherboard Name Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce3 Ultra, AMD Hammer
System Memory 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award Modular (11/25/04)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter RADEON 9600 Family (Microsoft Corporation) (128 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON 9600 SEC Family (Microsoft Corporation) (128 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon 9600 XT (RV360)
Monitor Optiquest Q71-3 (ZF93401641)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter nVIDIA MCP2-S - Audio Codec Interface

Welcome to the forums crewdude

1] Before trying to solve the problem, why dont you just disable the onboard audio and go for a decent PCI Audio Card, much easier and better audio.

2] http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard...0Ultra-939.htm
Seems its a Realtek Chip (drivers on the link)
You must have the drivers on the MB CD already?

Thanks for responding and I really am impressed with the site.

I tried re-installing the Drivers on the CD and when they did not work I tried downloading the latest drivers from Gigabyte's site, I deleted the CD drivers and installed the ones from the site.

I am going to go out and pick up a sound card to try, I was just waiting a little while to see if anybody had any other ideas first.

Thanks again.

I`ve had this problem now for a couple of months.
I dont think a PCI card will help.
Look at this url:

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp

In my case its all to do with the "Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator" in System/Device Manager.
This may require re-installing.
This gives me back my sound but on re-boot its gone again.
There is loads of info on this Enumerator on various forums.

Realtek is just not good. I've had it on 3 of the last 3 boards I bought and I disabled it every time. I just use my audigy and have had zero conflicts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silencio

Realtek is just not good. I've had it on 3 of the last 3 boards I bought and I disabled it every time. I just use my audigy and have had zero conflicts.

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Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses and suggestions. I've been out of town for a few days and haven't had access to post.

I went out and got a fairly inexpensive Sound Blaster card as a workaround and it's working fine. I was just going to use the onboard AC97 as a temporary solution and then go to an audigy card later anyway.

The system's running great now.