ok, i installed and ran the top 3, but i'm completely lost when i get to the motherboard page. Am i supposed to download the WinXP stuff from every category and run it?

No, I just provided the link so you'd have it. The "top three" were the important items. Stock XP drivers are fine, if everything is working fine. (I compare release dates of manufacturers drivers to the O/S drivers, and choose the newest.) With chipsets sometimes the manufacturers work a bit better as they're geared directly to the hardware, whereas XP stock drivers are generic. Also, the manufacturers drivers usually give you "more", especially when it comes to sound and video devices.

Example: XP is running your sound device, and you have sound. Fine. If you load the manufacturers drivers/software, you'll get all the "bells and whistles" for the device. Mixer, recorder, etc, which is usually much better than the O/S stock bare-bones working situation. XP's Recorder will only record up to sixty seconds of sound. The manufacturers recorder will record until you run out of disk space for the file. Same idea with the mixer. There's generally more options/finer control.

Same idea with the video. XP will run your video device, but nvidia gives you much more control with resolutions, colors, OpenGL, etc.

Same idea with monitors. XP will run it, however it's run at what is "safe" for ALL monitors. (Refresh rates etc.) 60 Hz will run any monitor safely, but yours will operate better and faster at 80 or 85 Hz. (<-- Example only, I haven't searched out this for your system. Use your monitor manual to check this.)

Same idea with the USB, NIC, etc.

When I work on a system, I'll download and save any and all drivers/utilities I can find for all the hardware. (That's why I had the initial Intel drivers pack I attached in my earlier post.) It was saved from long ago. However, even though the Intel ID numbers were correct, it wasn't 100% compatable with your motherboard Intel sound chip. The motherboard manufacturer (Asus)has "tweaked" the initial chip properties.

Hence I asked for your hardware report, which told me what motherboard make/model you had. When possible, I always use the manufacturers drivers for onboard devices, as opposed to generic ones. Intel even outlines this on their pages. They supply manufacturers with the device chips for use on many boards/cards. So they recommend you get the drivers from the manufacturer of your device/hardware.

XP is renowned for being able to get most systems up and running because of the driver collection that comes with the O/S. But you can make your system "better, stronger, faster" The BIONIC SYSTEM! ;>)

I hope I've made things a bit clearer, (and haven't bored you to death).

Do you have sound now?

P.S. If you don't really need two NIC's running, either remove the 3Com card and use the onboard (easiest, plus it frees up a PCI slot), or disable the onboard Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5702 Gigabit Ethernet Controller NIC in the bios or via a motherboard jumper. Either one will perform well as the specs are virtually identical; 10/100 etc.

Resources are being wasted running two if not required, and can (but not necessarily) cause "IRQ_NOT_EQUAL....." Blue Screens Of Death". (I just last week had one of these systems. Creative Sound Blaster Live! PCI card installed, and onboard sound was enabled too, giving the occasional BSOD. I had to pull the side panel and change the onboard sound jumper (Asus board) to Disabled. No more occasional conflicts.)

lol u didn't bore me to death and i followed most of that. I've installed the top 3 but still no sound :/

OK, I'll download and have a look at the motherboard manual to see if the sound device is controlled via the bios (and where within) or with a motherboard jumper. If the drivers are loaded, it must be disabled by one or the other means mentioned, or not functioning. ;>( Given the age of the motherboard it could be that the sound chip(s) have failed. If that's the case, a PCI sound card would give you sound.

OK, I suggest you download your motherboard manual as things will be easier to follow. (It's too large to attach here, 4.3 MB) Here's a direct download link;

http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...1133_p4g8x.pdf

Once it downloads (and opens in Adobe Acrobat Reader) click on (the Menu Bar) File, Save As... and save it wherever you like.

(See page 87) In the Advanced section of the bios setup, under I/O Device Configuration you'll see Onboard AC97 Audio Controller. Ensure it is set to Auto. The only other option is Disabled. See attached screenshot - untitled1) Use your arrow keys to navigate around, ENTER to select, and either arrow/enter, or the - or + key to change the value. You'll get the hang of it.

If it's already set to Auto, and there's no sound, and your speakers etc are known to be good, then the sound chip is cooked. You'll need a sound card.

Bah, its fried. I'll have to go get a new one then. Thanks for all of your help.

You're welcome.

i thought i'd check with you before i bought one, but wouldthis card work with my motherboard?

Yes. According to the system report you posted PCI slots #'s 2 & 5 are open. Just install the card, you'll get "New Hardware Found", then install the software (that should have come with the card).

thanks, browza. you helped me out too.


peace

Originally Posted by Dan Penny

That's exactly what I wanted. Try the attached.

Create a new folder named INSTALL. (ie; C:\INSTALL)

Unzip the two files. Place them into the above directory. (Once used they can be deleted from C:\INSTALL as the windows installer will copy them to the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS directory. Save the zip file though for possible future use again.)

Update the driver for the problem device. (In Device Manager)

Follow the prompts until you see "Have Disk". Click on that and point to the C:\INSTALL file location.

You may have to restart the machine.

Post back with your results or further questions.