All Sound Disappeared

**Nada** · November 2nd, 2005, 08:00 PM

I have an old Intel Pentium w/MMX (32 MB RAM) running Windows 98SE with a DSL 896 Kbps connection. Until a few months ago I had sound-- I'm not really sure when it stopped because I usually have it turned off and only turn it on to play music, etc.

But one day I turned on the sound and it wasn't there. I've been troubleshooting like crazy ever since, but everything seems to be in order. I don't get any error messages, the sound APPEARS to play, and I do have video for movie clips, etc. (but again, no sound).

Device Manager tells me that everything is working properly (but obviously it lies), and when I try to "Update Driver Files" in Creative Sound Blaster 16 Plug and Play, it tells me that I already have the best driver(s) installed (which is another lie because they're dated 1999!).

Windows Update shows no updates for my sound card. My speakers are plugged in securely and turned on. Ditto for all of my other connections.

Don't know whether it means anything, but when I compared the drivers shown in Device Manager with those found by DriverGuide Toolbox, they were MOSTLY the same, with 3 exceptions:
DM shows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MMDEVLDR.VXD but DGT doesn't.
DGT shows C:\WINDOWS\Inf\SB16AWE.INF and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\SB16AWE.CAT but DM doesn't.

The entries they have in common (all located in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM) are:
CSPMAN.DLL
SB16.VXD
SBFM.DRV
SB16SND.DRV
WFM0200.ACV
WFM0200A.CSP
WFM0201.ACV
WFM0201A.CSP
WFM0202.ACV
WFM0202A.CSP
WFM0203.ACV
WFM0203A.CSP

Has my sound card just died? And if so, why don't I have the yellow "!" in Device Manager? Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

**TripleRLtd** · November 2nd, 2005, 09:10 PM

Welcome to WD Nada.
When a card dies (stops working) but still is recognized by the OS, then there will be no exclamation point.
Give this a go: remove the drivers and software in safe mode and reboot. Let's see if windows redetects the sound card and asks for the drivers. Reinstall them and then let's see.
btw: you are SURE the speakers work, right?

**sonofswift** · November 3rd, 2005, 02:51 AM

I've been caught out by Windows muting the volume. Not sure about 98 but with XP, in control panel is a Sounds and Audio Manager. In the Volume tab there is an Advanced button. Make sure none are muted (except maybe the microphone). You can also get there from the speaker icon near the time (bottom right of Windows).

**Nada** · November 3rd, 2005, 02:57 AM

Thanks for the prompt reply, TripleRLtd! No I'm not absolutely sure the speakers work. I'm just ASSUMING they do because they did before-- not exactly solid criteria. How can I find out? I only have this one computer. Is there a way to test them, or do I need to take them over to a friend's house and see if they will plug into her computer?

**Nada** · November 3rd, 2005, 01:14 PM

I'm sorry I didn't see your reply before I wrote the above reply, sonofswift. Yes, I have checked everything that is accessable through the volume icon, as well as Control Panel > Sound and CP > Multimedia. Nothing is muted-- all the volume controls are at mid-range. I've also gone through the Windows 98 Help > Sound Troubleshooter and tried everything they suggest there. But thanks for the input.

**NooNoo** · November 3rd, 2005, 01:58 PM

Test the speakers by plugging them into a walkman socket... they are powered so it will work... test the sound card installation by plugging in headphones from the walkman into the speaker socket.... the headphones/speakers go in the green socket... right?

**pbolduc** · November 3rd, 2005, 05:57 PM

I guess I should have read the full case before posting what I thought the problem was. I see you're already running a VXD driver, thats a good thing. Creative has stopped making drivers for those old creative cards so 1999 as a date stamp is probably the latest/most current driver.

Perhaps a bad sound jack or a dirty connection? You can always boot the system up in safe mode and check for ghost drivers. Not all resource conflicts show up in the device manager. You may want to just load the system up in safe-mode and manually remove the sound drivers from the device manager one by one under sound and game controllers then restart the computer and re-install them over again. Sometimes the creative driver lets you share resources with an LPT port. I'd make sure that option isn't checked off under the driver properties of the sound card. Maybe just make a mental note of what your sound card resources are then go through each device in the device manager and see if any ones share the same ranges.
Goodluck.

**pbolduc** · November 3rd, 2005, 06:31 PM

Just from my past experiences I would never rely on or use any windows update device drivers. Always go to the manufacturer of the chip or the card for support.

**Garak** · November 4th, 2005, 07:33 AM

Sounds like a dry joint to me.... (no pun intended..)

**slgrieb** · November 4th, 2005, 06:19 PM

Nada, I have to agree with TripR; your sound card has died. Newer, better ones are only $7 or so. Of course, it could be a speaker problem, but the sound card is much more likely

**slgrieb** · November 4th, 2005, 06:25 PM

Uh, Garak, BTW, I think we have fallen into one of those chasms that separate American English from English English. Dry joint??

**NooNoo** · November 5th, 2005, 05:10 AM

On a solder joint, most often a pin, and the solder sits around the pin, but does not actually make contact, it is known as a dry joint. Often pins move, the solder doesn't so over time you end up with a loose pin, but of course you cannot see it because the solder appears to be in place. Resoldering is the only option.

**Nada** · November 6th, 2005, 01:16 AM

Wow! All this help is really great.

NooNoo, that was great info about testing speakers-- I don't have a Walkman, but I plugged them into the headset plug on my TV instead and they work fine, so I've eliminated that possibility. Thanks!

pbolduc, I am going to check the shared resources, although I do think they're okay since I haven't added/changed anything in a long time. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't trust Windows Update drivers (or WU anything, for that matter).

Garak, I would never in a million years have thought of a dry joint (because I never heard of it), so I've learned some new things today. And I appreciate the sites for hard drive diagnostic tools-- I'm always up for good utilities, so I'll probably try at least one of those.

slgrieb, yeah, you're probably right about the dead sound card-- now all I have to do is figure out what to buy for a replacement. And thanks for asking Garak for clarification about the dry joint. What NooNoo said about it makes sense, but I would never have known what it was. I hope that's not the problem because I've never soldered in my life. But I'll check for it when I open up the computer to find the sound card part number (I assume I'll need to know that to find a replacement, even though I'll probably be buying a different one). How do I figure out what kind of sound card to buy that will be compatible with my Model T... er, my Intel Pentium MMX?

I think what I may try first is what TripleRLtd suggested earlier: removing the sound card drivers and rebooting to see if reinstalling them fixes the problem. Does that HAVE to be done in Safe Mode? It's okay if it does, I was just wondering... I've done that with other drivers in regular mode and it went okay.

Thanks again to all for the great suggestions!

**NooNoo** · November 6th, 2005, 04:23 AM

OK, you can buy a new sound card - I would suggest the cheapest cmedia 8738 chipset you can find... bells and whistles are not going to be helpful here.

BUT before you write off your old sound card (and frankly it is wayyyy past it's use by date) you may want to try getting it going again. If you have another computer, try it in there. Or...

Safe mode, in safe mode you can't hear windows scream. Unistalling stuff in safemode is likely to be a cleaner uninstall because most of the files are not in use. On a box that age, safe mode is easy to get into... nowadays you have to be almost pressing F8 before you turn the machine on they are so fast!

If you end up replacing, you could buy a second hand card from the likes of ebay if you prefer. I have a few sound cards that are good if you want one.

**Nada** · November 8th, 2005, 06:39 PM

"Can't hear Windows scream." That's a good one. I tried uninstalling (in Safe Mode... no screams)/reinstalling the sound card-- no luck. So it's replacement time. You said you had some good ones. I'm guessing that finding a NEW replacement sound card for my Model T would be near impossible (and rather silly for such an old machine) so, yes, thank you-- I'd like to take you up on your offer. What do you have and how much do you want for them?