Hello,

My sister was given a Panasonic CF-29. The volume wasn't working. My sister wants to see if I can fix the problem. When I open up ITunes, I get this message that Audio/Video playback may not operate properly. I click on play & the song does not play. Windows Media Player said it couldn't play because there is a problem with my sound device. My speakers and headphones work on my PC. Realtek 97 and some other version of Realtek was installed last week. I'm not sure what happened, but neither of these programs are under Add/Remove programs. I tried to do a restore to when these 2 programs were installed but I was unsuccessful.


The Sound & Audio Device properties- Volume, Audio & Voice tab are greyed out.


Sound video and game controller in Device Manager- All devices are working properly. And all say Unknown location. The devices are: Audio Codecs, Legacy Audio Drivers, Legacy Video Capture Devices, Media Control Devices & Video Codecs.


I tried to download drivers at Panasonic and Realtek. They made me download Drivertool and Driverupdate. Neither of these programs said I had to update my sound drivers. I tried to do a system restore to before I installed these 2 programs & I was unsuccessful. Maybe something is wrong with System Restore? Also Driver tool & update both say that the sound device is unplugged which isnt true. I turned on my speakers and turned the volume high. When I hook it up to the laptop, I get a big noise.


My sound driver is Sigma Tel C-Major Audio. I updated the driver yesterday via Driverupdate & still cant play songs with ITunes or Windows Media. I downloaded Realtek today. I cant find it under All programs but I see it in Control Panel(Add/Remove programs). I went to C:\Programs and copied the shortcut from their to the desktop. Nothing happens when I click on the shortcut. I tried to download Sigma Tel today. And I get some error about no hardware is connected and to restart my PC. Same thing happened even after I restarted the PC.


Windows Audio is set to Automatic. I have installed some updates from Windows Update. There are no more updates. And now the only day I can try to do a restore is today. I went to BIOS and pressed F2 repeatedly and I got a noise. I don't know how to check to see my sound is disabled or not in BIOS. The only thing I see related to Sound is Microphone Jack: PC. Pressing FN+F5 and the other combination didnt make a difference.


Any ideas? I dont have the restore factory settings CD that came with the laptop. And I dont have the Windows CD. I pressed F11 after booting my laptop. It made noise and then Windows booted. Please help.

Hi JL and welcome.

Any errors in Device Manager? In the BIOS, typically under Integrated Devices, make sure the sound, if listed, is enabled.

See if this helps: No sound in Windows

Hi,

Thanks for writing back. No there are no errors in Device Manager. There is no option in BIOS to enable the audio. I did some troubleshooting on my own and found that:



XP does not recognize a sound card. I am not sure if the laptop has a sound card. I never opened up a laptop case. So I prefer not to open the case unless I have to. I bought an external sound card and XP doest recognize it. My PC recognized the sound card. I connected a USB mice and an IPod and XP didn't recognize it either. So there is a problem with USB port. According to ITunes, the previous owner connected their IPod 2 months ago. So the UBS port was working 2 months ago. Any ideas? Will an internal sound card fix the problem? I already updated the chipset. And uninstalled all the devices under USB System controller in Device Manager.

Notebooks have integrated sound - the "card" is built into the motherboard. You cannot add an internal sound card to a notebook. If no USB devices work, and no errors in Device Manager, and you have already reinstalled drivers, then I am afraid you are out of luck as it appears the motherboard is bad. It can probably be repaired if taken to a shop, but I am not sure that would be cost effective.

I might just buy a docking station so I can use the external sound card. Thanks for your help.

Well, that may work, depending on where the docking station connects. Often, a docking station simply extends (like an extension cord) the existing ports. So I recommend you try before you buy, if possible.

did you install the drivers for your system ?

you will need to reinstall drivers for your sound card, you can get the realtek driver from Realtek or you could try C-Media AC97 driver download for C-Media 9738 Sound cards or onboard chips. As for un-installing your driver detective s/ware - adware, you should try revo uninstall Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download - Uninstall software, remove programs, solve uninstall problems..