Help! I've just moved and screwed up my computer sound!

Factual Questions
1

OK, here’s the deal. First of all, I’m not really here. I don’t dare go into any of the other fora, because I’ll get hooked in and never finish the rest of my unpacking etc. But I’ve just moved from my house to an apartment half the size, I’m trying to get everything reduced and working, and while my computer is hooked up and running, the sound system doesn’t work. This is a 2006 Dell Dimension E510 Media Center edition with Audio Codecs, Legacy Audio Drivers, and Angel II MPEG Device, whatever that means. (I was an Oracle programmer - I don’t speak hardware or device driver)

First I tried the speakers. They didn’t work, but I think I had them wired slightly wrong. So I was trying nothing - just wanted to get sound, any sound - what the computer comes with when you don’t add any speakers or anything. So I’m messing around on control panel (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing), go to Sounds and Audio Devices, and somewhere I can’t find anymore, I told it that I didn’t have speakers, but had nothing at all. Then at some point later, still not having any sound at all, periodically rebooting, I grab a little pair of headphones I happen to run across in my desk and plug them in, and suddenly at somepoint I hear a click that is, in fact, a computer-generated sound effect rather than a noise. Hallelujah!

So, across the room I have a far superior set of headphones on loan to me from my mom that may or may not be usable in my computer and my TV, so I go over to see if they are usable for my computer. They are. I come across and plug them in and see what I get. Nada - the headphones apparently don’t work anymore - static in one ear, and silence in the other. So I pull them out and put them away, then decide to plug in my nice speaker set, which I proceed to do. This time I get the wiring right. I know this because when I touch the head of the jack that plugs into the computer, I hear it through the speaker loud and clear. However, the computer isn’t having any.

Naturally, I do what any other long time Windows user does; I reboot. It comes back up, but I still have no sound. So it’s back to control panel, and Sounds and Audio Devices. Except that now I can’t find wherever I told it I had no speakers, everything is greyed out on the Volume tab, the Audio tab, and the Voice tab. As best I can remember, the Hardware tab seems to list the same devices, and it seems to think all devices are operating correctly. And remember, for about five minutes there, I did have sound through my little tweedly headphones. It’s just that a) I don’t have any confidence that I could get it back and b) I’d like at least some bass in my life.

Does anyone who is better at hardware and configuration than I am have any ideas as to where to go from here? I do have disks from back when I got the computer to re-install, but the drivers do seem to be there, so I’m not sure what the point would be in re-installing them. Somehow my settings have gotten off, but I don’t know how to repair them.

ETA: Thank you for any help you may offer. I’m really, really grateful.

ETAA: Just re-tried the tweedly headphones. Whatever I had that allowed them to work is gone. I screwed it up somehow.

2

OK, anticipating advice, is it F10 or F8 to boot in Safe Mode, and how then would I test the sound once in it? I’m not sure how to generate a sound when up in Safe Mode.

Also, I am no longer under waranty and I am very, very poor, so calling Microsoft or Dell is not an option.

3

Assuming you’re using XP (and I think you are), go here:

Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio (tab), then see what’s showing in the top drop-down menu (“sound playback”). If something’s there (*** *** Audio, probably) then you probably disabled your sound card in the device manager.*

To fix that,

Control Panel > System > Hardware (tab) > Device Manager (button)

Then go down and click the + next to sound, video and game controllers. Something should have a red X next to it, meaning it’s disabled. Right click, click “enable”, reboot, and see what happens.

*If nothing’s there, I think you’ve uninstalled your sound card drivers or onboard audio drivers, so you’ll have to Google for your audio drivers and download the appropriate ones.

ETA: If you want that board speaker beep, all you have to do is turn off all the Windows Sounds. (Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds > switch to “none” in the drop down) Or, you can turn off the Windows Sound service, but you probably don’t want to mess with that.

4

I also have a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED MB according to an email registration receipt I have, dated 5/2/06. But that’s not showing up in any of my hardware lists. Is it possible that a wire was loosened when I carried my CPU across the street when I moved? (I moved across the street and up a flight of stairs - doesn’t sound like much, but it was a huge job nonetheless)

My own ignorance is killing me here, because I’m not sure where this should be showing up. I’m looking at the Control Panel: System: Hardware, and then each individual branch there, and I’m not seeing anything that says Creative or Sound Blaster or Audigy. That being said, I’m not 100% sure that’s where I should be looking. MB seems to me to stand for motherboard, and I seem to remember that the Sound Blaster is a sound board, but it’s been quite a while.

5

Its possible that if its a separate card it came loose in the pci slot You normally open up the box , locate the card and gently press it back in. If your unit is sealed and under warranty, then removing the seal voids that warranty, so leave that alone for now.

However thats not what I was going to mention, if you have a physical sound card in there, and a sound card embedded on the motherboard , you might want to check your bios settings when the computer boots up, I think you hit esc slightly after you hit power and see whats enabled.

Declan

6

To check your BIOS, hit escape when you see the Dell splash screen during the boot sequence, and it will clear the splash screen so you can see what button to press to enter the BIOS setup thingy. If it’s going too fast, hit escape and then hit Pause/Break.

ETA: If your headphones worked, I don’t think your sound card is the problem, though. It does occur to me, however, that if you have onboard sound AND a separate sound card, you may just have plugged everything into the dead sound jacks (the ones for the onboard sound) instead of the connected ones.

If you look at the back of the computer, do you see one set of sound jacks in a series of little horizontal panels, and a different set elsewhere?

7

Yes, I’m sorry; I thought I said that I had XP.

No, nothing’s disabled. The top drop-down in my sound panel is Windows Scheme. I’ve never seen a “*** *** Audio” type one - maybe that comes with a software package I don’t have or something.

If I uninstalled any drivers, would I have been able to get the sound in my headphones for that few minutes? And how could I have uninstalled drivers by moving my computer or by telling the computer I didn’t have speakers? I mean, I’m not a configuration expert, but I’m not just clicking things at random here, either. I’ve been a programmer since 1978, and on micros since 1980. I just don’t see how I could have done it. Lost a hardware connection, yes. Set a config value wrong, absolutely. Uninstalled a driver? Not so much.

I’m not sure what the board speaker beep is. Do you mean the default noise when you don’t have speakers? And doesn’t it have a bit wider range of sounds than just a beep? I’d think the default would be a tad more sophisticated than that, but I could be wrong; it’s been so long since I haven’t had speakers that I honestly don’t know. Come to think of it, it probably only can beep without speakers.

Thanks for trying, RNATB! Please continue!

8

What am I looking for when I check my BIOS settings? Here’s where you have to be very explicit, because here’s where I get very stupid. I have no idea what to look for.

ETA: As I said earlier, I am no longer under warranty. That expired about four months ago, so there is no question of voiding the warranty.

9

OY , if your not comfortable poking around your bios ,leave it alone for now. Go to start->control panel->system->hardware tab and see if you have any ? when you go through those.

Declan

10

I edited that after you read it, I think. I meant the Audio tab, not the Sound tab.

Probably not, but you said you were clicking through stuff trying to tell if there were no speakers. Since the drivers may be part of your system drivers (if you have onboard sound), you might just have disabled them rather than uninstalling them, which is a lot easier than uninstalling.

The board speaker beep is… well, a beep that comes from the motherboard’s speaker. It’s the only sound you’ll usually get if you don’t have Windows sound enabled. Dells might have a wider range of native sounds, but IME you only get the one (usually plus a couple more that mean “Eeek! Overheating! Shutting down, yo!” and the like)

11

No question marks. But, as I mentioned, no trace of the Sound Blaster either.

Thanks, Declan

12

It seems to me to be pretty obvious where this is headed. I think I’m going to have to open her up and press gently but firmly down on all of my cards, since I don’t know off hand which is the Sound Blaster, although I may be able to figure it out once I’m in there. This is not urgent, so I don’t have to hurry.

Is there a compelling reason why I should not do this? As I have said, the system is no longer under warranty, so that is not an issue. I have opened a computer before, albeit not in several years. I even installed a mother board about ten years ago. But I’ve really lost touch with this kind of thing in the past five or more years, and have only minimal memories off the top of my head. I’m sure a lot will come back to me as I’m working on it, and I don’t think I’ll kill the computer.

What do you think?

13

Not really. I used to do it all the time back when I didn’t know what I was doing - I learned by building my own systems.

There shouldn’t be more than one or two cards in there, anyway. It will probably have onboard ethernet. You might have a PCI wireless card, a graphics card, and/or a sound card. They’re pretty easy to tell apart; if you look on the outside, you can see what sort of connectors each one has.

14

Sorry I was gone so long; I was hooking up my TV and video equipment, which all went well. OK, I’m going to try that. Obviously I will be out of touch for the nonce. If you never see me again, remember me in your thoughts. Gobama!

15

OK, thank you all for your advice and your bearing with me.

I opened the case (that in itself required research, because heaven knows where the documentation is at this juncture - some box somewhere, no doubt - but, hey, times are better: no screwdrivers required anymore!) and jiggled and pushed. It’s not a card, but a little rectangular cube thingy that almost appears to be welded on to the mother board. It was patently apparent which device it was, because it was the only one near the sound jacks on the back of the case, but I’ve never seen a device like it - it looked much more like a small, mishapen drive than it did a card, in that it’s a little metal box rather than a plastic card with metal squiggles and resistors/capacitors all over it. (Thus having exposed the depths of my technical understanding :D) Never having opened up one of those metal boxes nor speculated as to the contents of them, I’m now wildly guessing that they may contain, among other things, plastic cards with metal squiggles and resistors/capacitors all over them.

Anyway, the upshot was that there was no change. I still don’t have sound. Nor do I see any ready way to remove the current Sound Blaster and replace it with a different one. This was an in-factory option, and I have a sneaking suspicion it was soldered in.

So, here’s the situation. The computer is three years old. Everything works perfectly except the Sound Blaster, which would appear not to work at all - the computer can’t even see that it’s there. The computer is no longer under warranty, nor is the Sound Blaster itself (you can’t even find reference to its version on Creative’s website).

I am very poor, having fallen dramatically from better times (I used to make about $80K/year) because of disability. I have zero income, and the only capital I have is the proceeds of the sale of my house, which has to hold me until I’m able to get Social Security, which in its infinite wisdom has, of course, turned me down twice already. This is about $30K, and my hearing is not until the spring, with no guarantees then, of course. I can drive short distances only, but there is, for example, a Best Buy and other tech repair services within my range on a good day. I am technically competent for a lay person, which is to say I can do the basics, but I am not a technician.

What do you recommend? Should I try to find a new Sound Blaster of the same model, although they haven’t been marketed for several years, somehow rip this old one out and stick that one in myself? A newer model? Or is it too high risk to let me, a novice in this area do this stuff myself (including the drivers), and better to turn it over to a local expert? I can probably get the parts for about $30 according to the Creative site. I could manage that. But what do you think it would cost to get a tech to do something like this for me if I take a CPU to them?

The big problem is that the Sound Blaster Audigy MB thing isn’t shaped like most contemporary sound cards, even the immediate replacement, the Sound Blaster Audigy SE. Most sound cards are in a line. Their jacks are in a row like:

Blue Green Black Orange

Mine is:

Blue Green Pink

   Black            Yellow

And so I’ve got five little holes in my case for sound plugs in those positions. What do I do about that?

Is there some way to get inside of the Sound Blaster and fix the puppy???

I’m going to be involved in move-related stuff the rest of the day, or at least most of it. I probably won’t get back to this post until late in the day or tomorrow. I’m sorry. But I thank you very much for any advice you may give, even though I won’t respond immediately. You guys are my only salvation; I have no where else to turn, and I really can’t afford the money or the time involved in replacing my CPU right now, plus it’s ridiculous - I shouldn’t have to replace my entire computer because my sound died! I shouldn’t have to replace the darned sound because I carried the silly computer across the street, for that matter, and that’s all I did! This is really annoying.

16

You shouldn’t have to remove the old one at all; if you stick a new one in one of the PCI slots it will work just fine; since the system isn’t detecting the old one, you won’t even have to disable it.

Sound cards are really, really cheap as computer bits go - here’s a serviceable one for $10:
http://computers.pricegrabber.com/sound-cards/m/4071363/st=product/sv=title/

17

Okay since there is no question marks, then all your devices are working including your sound blaster as far as the computer is concerned.

Did that dell come with system restore disk(s) or an oem xp disk? What happened with me is that for what ever reason windows would not recognize my bluetooth dongle so I had to download a little utility program.

So I’m betting the same thing happened with your sound card.

declan

18

It came with a system restore disk, but again, I don’t buy that this is a software problem. I find it much more plausible that it is a hardware problem caused by the move. Bits don’t usually get scrambled by movement, but wires or connections that are ready to go can get loosened in a move.

What in the name of all that’s holy is a “bluetooth dongle?” Also, if your computer flat out can’t detect a piece of hardware, how is a utility going to help you? Because that’s what appears to be happening.

I went through re-installing my OS earlier this year. It was a nightmare. I don’t want to go there again. I would a hundred times rather buy a new sound card and install it - so much easier.

Really Not All That Bright, I have a couple of empty slots. I’m going to be near a store tomorrow; I’ll see if they have a very cheap sound card, and if not, I’ll come back and buy the one you recommend. It never occurred to me that I could just put in another one, but of course you’re right. It’d be a little kludgy, but it would work. I assume that the driver comes with it, but if it doesn’t, I also assume I could download it from the Internet?

You know, your user name is not very accurate. :slight_smile:

Thank both of you so much for helping out. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

19

I don’t think I’ve ever bought a (new) component that didn’t come with its drivers, but yeah, they should be readily available via the Creative website.

20

If you google sound card disapeared you would notice that this problem is not unknown, the irratating thing is that there is more questions than ansewers, so more research has to be done.

Bluetooth is what makes the world go round when you want to communicate with various devices and your computer, the dongle is just a usb device adds bluetooth capability to a computer that has no onboard bluetooth.

My problem was the windows services had somehow turned off bluetooth, so that the little B was grayed out ,but the computer said that the hardware was fine , no issues. So after searching , there was this utility that forced services back on and problem solved.

From the research that I have done , the problem wont go away. However ten bucks is a cheap way of doing things so why not.

Declan