Sound is Gone

OK, having cd sound is not necessarily an indication that the card is good. Most cd roms (of that era) have a headphone socket on the front and you could plug in headphones and get sound from a music cd. The cable that passes the sound to the speakers is attached to the sound card, but there could be a pass through which allows the sound to be directly output to the speakers. What I am saying is, despite having cd sound from the speakers, it is possible that the card is faulty.

Now that you are in safe mode, you should uninstall any creative software from add/remove programs and remove the sound devices from device manager. When you reboot to normal mode, does windows ask for the driver again or does it install it automatically?

At Dell, there are 3 possible drivers. Checking the CT4780 against Creative labs model list helpfully says "Dell OEM" and calls it a soundblast live. Dell, as you can see here has 3 different names, which are probably 3 different products, but which one is which is not obvious.

I did find [url=http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/acc/9624P/En/index.htm]the documentation for the card[/urll] but it has been of no help.

So one of two things can happen. You install each of the drivers (removing them in safe mode) and see if one works or you buy a new cheap sound card - one based on the cmedia 8738 chipset will be fine.

It is my understanding that ALL Sound Blaster Live cards used the same driver for each OS- there is only one actual driver at that Dell site despite 3 entries - the Creative Labs SB AudioPCI 64V - the other two are add-ons (bass and slider control and diagnostics utility).

CCT all RETAIL Live cards do, however, the ct478x series was OEM and the drivers are not on the creative site. This card is a nightmare to get going right.

Part of what I was trying to clarify is that there is only ONE actual driver at that Dell site NooNoo - not 3.

If it doesn't work after a add/remove and re-install, then the generic would be worth a try.

OK, right I see what you are saying, my bad.... Unfortunately there is no "generic" creative does not have a driver for this card because it is OEM.

This might be due to the vxd/wdm snarl up... during windows 98 /98se lifecycle, microsoft changed the way drivers were written. New drivers where written using the wdm whereas the old drivers remained vxd. The way around this was to load the windows 95 drivers because 95 did not support wdm drivers, it had to have the vxd type. Fortunately, Dell has the 95 drivers as well.


PC Rookie try these drivers having uninstalled Creative liveware from add/remove programs and the drivers from system in SAFE mode.

If these don't work either, the card needs testing.

http://www.directron.com/sbtsp6c.html



New sound card, with drivers=$8.99

:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

OK, right I see what you are saying, my bad.... Unfortunately there is no "generic" creative does not have a driver for this card because it is OEM.

This might be due to the vxd/wdm snarl up... during windows 98 /98se lifecycle, microsoft changed the way drivers were written. New drivers where written using the wdm whereas the old drivers remained vxd. The way around this was to load the windows 95 drivers because 95 did not support wdm drivers, it had to have the vxd type. Fortunately, Dell has the 95 drivers as well.


PC Rookie try these drivers having uninstalled Creative liveware from add/remove programs and the drivers from system in SAFE mode.

If these don't work either, the card needs testing.

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Okay, here is the update. I restarted in the safe mode and removed the creative software. I restarted and installed a downloaded driver...
z513den (Rel A01 Drv:4.05.1143 Audio Drivers Creative Soundblaster PCI 64V Version 5.13d for Optiplex GX100 & GX 110 On Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition.) I was prompted to restart. Now, do I need to go back to Add? & put the drivers, codecs, etc. back? I had already downloaded Dell's recommended drivers for my card & OS. I will try the Win95 version next. I will have to download it & work on it later.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MobilePCPhysician

http://www.directron.com/sbtsp6c.html



New sound card, with drivers=$8.99

:)

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I know that sounds like the "easy way out" of this mess, but what if the card is good & I just don't know how to configure everything? Making everything compatible solved my other problem (with screen resolution & color). :rolleyes:

How much time do you want to spend on a sound card that is known for this problem?

You need to check that the codecs are all installed - if they are then nothing needs to be done. I assume that you still have no sound other than cd sound through the speakers?

If the 95 driver doesn't work, the card needs to be tested.

Well, sadly, I have more time than money to throw at this problem. I have $95 invested in the system right now. If I take it too a computer repair, the bench fee is $60 minimum & that is just for setting it on the bench. I just simply can't do that. If the card is bad, I will just have to find one at a surplus or "junk store" where old computers are routinely dismantled and pieced out. I am really not convinced that the card is bad because the system runs. The old machine I dumped gave me an error message when I tried running the grandkids programs meaning it couldn't even find the sound card & the program ended. Used parts are reasonable, but you can't always find the one you need. There is one such computer graveyard about 10 miles from me. You can buy manuals, discs, drives, etc. I bought a floppy drive for $2.50.

Well, spend some time here and try everything: :)

http://tinyurl.com/txxul

Just checked the graveyard & drew a blank today. They had everything BUT!

I have been to your link before & tried all the steps that I identify as being appropriate to the computer & system that I have. So far nothing has worked. I downloaded a sound card utility from Dell that I haven't tried so far.

The 95 driver doesn't work?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

The 95 driver doesn't work?

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I haven't downloaded it yet. I couldn't tie up my phone line yesterday & I am not home this morning. Will try it later though & report results.

ok... remember to uninstall the old creative devices in safe mode and the creative live ware from add/remove programs also in safe mode.