My first time on these forums, so hello everyone. ^_^

Right, this is bit of a long one so I'll try and make it as short as possible. I've had this pc for 4 years, which I got in pieces and put together myself (not reformatted it once since then, haha), it was my second pc, the first was a really poor ready-built one, about 8 years old now. Anyway I put it all together with a few minor problems, but it all worked fine and has been fine since then. I'd finally worked up the courage to reformat it (which I did yesterday morning), I've had mobo driver issues (crashes), internet connection problems and one or two other things, got through all of that and finally I'm left with no sound, heh. Before I did the reformat EVERYTHING worked fine, no sound issues whatsoever, so it's not down to leads being broken or hardware having worn out (unless it's literally happened overnight).

I've been speaking to a friend that's relatively competent with computers and he's stumped; He's convinced I need to install a Realtek 97 audio driver, as that's what he thinks is in my pc (he's unable to see the pc in person, so is going from screenshots etc). The pc is instant on keeping ATI -and- Sound Blaster drivers on here, I've got a "Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit" driver that came with the pc (which again I'll make clear, came in pieces, so was probably with the motherboard). I've not got an external sound card.

Here's the RAL scan thing;

-------------------------------------------------------

OS Information:
PropertyValue
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition|C:\WINDOWS|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
Service Pack 3.0
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS


Processor:
PropertyValue
Current Clock Speed 2211
Description x86 Family 15 Model 31 Stepping 0
Manufacturer AuthenticAMD
Name AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label Bank0/1
Capacity 536870912

Bank Label Bank4/5
Capacity 536870912

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~1024 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 1023MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model WDC WD36 7GD-00FLA1 SCSI Disk Device
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 37013760000 (~34 GB)
Number of Partitions 1


Installed Printers:
PropertyValue
Name Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Port Name XPSPort:
Default True
Driver Name Microsoft XPS Document Writer


Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD
Model
Name Base Board
Part Number
Product MS-7100
Serial Number
Version 1.0


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Name Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Release Date 20041231000000.000000+000
Version Nvidia - 42302e31


Monitor:
PropertyValue

Keyboard:
PropertyValue
Description USB Human Interface Device

Description HID Keyboard Device


Pointing Device:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Razer
Name Razer Pro|Solutions


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Realtek
Description ATI HDMI Audio
Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1002&DEV_AA01&SUBSYS_00AA0100& REV_1000\5&16CE81E&0&0001


Video Card:
PropertyValue

DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue


Modem:
PropertyValue
Model Nokia 6300 USB Modem
Name Nokia 6300 USB Modem


Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator USB0

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation PCI0
Slot Designation PCI1
Slot Designation PCI2
Slot Designation PCI3
Slot Designation PCI4
-------------------------------------------------------

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Welcome to D-A-L.

Go here; http://drivers.softpedia.com/progDow...oad-64543.html and download and install the driver.

Post back with your results and any further questions.

Hey, thanks for the warm welcome. At what state should the pc be in when I install that? The last thing I did was uninstall everything (audio AND graphics drivers), rebooted and installed what Windows's Install Wizard told me needed to be installed (which of course, didn't work). I then installed the driver you linked above, which didn't work - Should I remove everything (graphics/audio), THEN install the driver you linked?

Lets establish a couple of facts and go for a fresh start.

Before, during, or after the fomatting of the machine, did you do anything to affect the machines bios settings? ie; Reset to factory defaults, change the cmos/motherboard battery etc?

The DAL Scan shows a Realtek ATI HDMI Audio device (which I'm assumming is an onboard sound device), however you make mention of "Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit" driver media which you obtained with the machine.

I've not got an external sound card

Is there a sound card (Sound Blaster Live! or any other) in a motherboard (PCI) slot? I ask this (and about the bios) because if the machine has been reset to factory bios defaults, and there is an "add-in" sound card which your speakers are plugged into, there will be no sound until the add-in cards drivers are installed.

If an add-in card exists, the onboard sound should be disabled in the bios, and then the proper drivers for the card should then be installed.

Since my last post, I downloaded a BIOS update from MIS's website (it does an auto scan and tells you what updates are available), that didn't work so I decided to reformat again - Since then I've tried these combination's from a fresh reformat;
Windows > Mobo Driver > Windows updates (SP2+3) > Audio Driver ("Sound Blaster Live!") > Anything the "Found New Hardware" Wizard came up with > ATI Graphics Driver.
Windows > Mobo Driver > Audio Driver ("Sound Blaster Live!") > Windows updates (SP2+3) > Anything the "Found New Hardware" Wizard came up with > ATI Graphics Driver.
Windows > Mobo Driver > Audio Driver ("Sound Blaster Live!") > Anything the "Found New Hardware" Wizard came up with > ATI Graphics Driver > Windows updates (SP2+3).

I've not touched the battery or anything on the pc itself (ie inside the case) since before my initial reformat, which is when it still worked... So it's not a hardware complication.

There's nothing in any of the PCI slots, after digging out my mobo's manual (I'll quote it) I now know; "The mainboard is equipped with Creative CA0106 chip, which supports the brand new Azalia specification" and after close inspection I saw that it's located very close to the PCI slots, it's roughly an inch (2.5cm) square and a millimeter or two high, off of the mobo (it says "Creative" on it as well). I've got no idea where the ATI Realtek's coming from, and as you probably guessed, my pc knowledge is pretty limited.

The speakers are plugged in to a socket in the main block that comes off of the mobo (and lies flat at the back of the case - Also contains the Mouse/Keyboard etc sockets).

If you want me to start over fresh with another reformat, just say, done enough of them in the last 3 days that one more isn't likely to kill me. Thanks again for the help, much appreciated.

Edit: Some pictures of the pc, to help show how it looks;




I hope my skillful circles helped show where the sound card (second pic) and speaker cable (third pic) are, haha.

Fixed it - I must've been mistaken about sound working just before the reformat. I took two cables out (that connected to the top [front] panel, which has never ever worked for me), I assumed they were useless... After going through the manual reading every detail it said "Note, if you're not using the front panel, these sockets must still be linked up to direct sound to the rear panel"... Sorry for wasting your time Dan, thanks anyway though.

Help is never a waste. ;>) Glad you got it going.

I'll close this thread as the issue is resolved.