sound problem dragging on

Hi again folks
when i got this pc(from mother in law) it was a mess with numerous spy & adware.It had toolbars galore and more bingo sites than you could shake a stick at.
I managed a lot of it myself and what i could`nt manage got resolved via "Hyjack this".
When i got it it was SP1 but im sure (?)there was no sound on it at THIS time.I have seen many people who suffered sound problems AFTER installing SP2.but i do recall there was no sound PRIOR to SP2.

Anyway,at the time i knew even less than i know now so it`s no doubt down to me that things aint much better.
I figured at the time i had "c-media xear sound" so went off hunting drivers for this device and remember trying a few….All to no avail SO off to "another"forum(sorry)i had went and somehow i ended up downloading what i have HALF working now…Realtek ac97(wdm_a390).
Well i thought i was trying some other driver BUT it turns out to be this complete package which at first did seem to work..Anyway,it works ONLY if i keep uninstalling and reinstalling via device manager every couple of days because the sound just seems to vanish..

Anyway INSTEAD of continuing with that mess i began looking up my problem and found this……..

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread25517.html

Which got me even MORE confused than what i already was…(my father in law reckoned THE realtek on top of whatever the built in sound was , was probably more of a problem now.

I just want to hear the thing without all this hassle and although i have picked up a fair bit of experience in OTHER pc problems im not sure where to start here.

I tried uninstalling all things "realtek" again as well BUT it only goes and finds the thing again once i reboot.
With ALL the different drivers and realteak i initally had tried I reckon i`ve made a right old mess of things in that department……

And the more i read out there…the MORE fragging confused i get

WHERE do i start..pleeeease…..

Ps im now not even sure IF the "xear"sound was on here already or IF it was something i mabey ended up with after one of my many trips to driverguide..(it was 5-6 months ago now)

Can you give us a bit more information on what type of computer you got…? (i.e. Dell…HP….etc) and we'll get you fixed up.

Thanks a lot crow…..Well,it`s a Time pc………it`s actually a mish mash as far as monitor`s, keyboards & mice are concerned. Plus it`s got an extra hdd i stuck in it last week now. None of THAT matters though does it? Ive had all sorts of problems with it that ive always overcome BUT no different to our other pc upstairs. I gather "Time" have been in the widerness for some "time" so i suppose this things probably going to be just as hard to get parts for it as what it would if it were my grandads old buggatti.. Anyway..here`s what it say`s Time Computers AMD athlon™XP 2200+ 1.81GHz,224MB RAM And obviously i`ve put SP2 on it since salvaging it from the MIL…She had only had it 6 months from new BUT because of the most simple adjustments having been needing done in network connections for her swap to broadband she went out and got a NEW one instead…(yes i told her….this was a few years ago now…it lay in her cellar..unused and unloved….AAWWW

well… first off (and off the subject for one minute) 224MB RAM is not nearly enough for XP. XP requires 256 .. minimum… to run. However, it will run… just.. thats about ALL it will do. : ( Anyhow, what you need to do is look at the board itself and see if you cant find some numbers on it. can u do that for me..? (I cant seem to find anything on "Time" computers any were) And do you know if you have integrated audio or not..? (do you have a sound card or is integrated into the board itself).. Also, if you have integrated audio.. check in BIOS and make sure that audio is enabled.

Hi gee1,

In the event that you have difficulty identifying numbers on the MotherBoard and/or other components, you could run a scan with Everest, which will give you a complete readout of Hardware, Operating System, installed software, and some measures of current functioning, including temps and voltages.

Look in the menu item - MotherBoard for identifying information.

Everest 2.20 (free)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

To determine if you currently have problems with Device Drivers being corrupted or Disabled —
Right-click on My Computer - Select - Properties - Hardware
Press the Device Manager button.
Browse through the menu of installed components in Device Manager
Particularly - Sound, video and game controllers
If there are yellow or red warnings posted for items in Device Manager, you best remedy is to right-click on the item, then Select - Remove - Then reboot your machine to allow Windows to "find new hardware" and "install drivers for new hardware".

If Windows cannot find the appropriate Driver, you may have to download it from the Manufacturer's website after you determine the manufacturer from the information generated by Everest.

Best Regards

By the way, if you need additional assistance with identifying hardware or drivers on this machine, you can "highlight", copy and paste the information found in Everest for the specific hardware or driver, directly into this forum thread in a reply.

***and if the XP installation is something you installed on this machine, don't forget to go get the Chipset Drivers and install.
(ChipSet Drivers often contain the drivers for integrated/onboard sound, video, Network Interface, and the like)

Sorry it took some time to get back….Anyway im not sure if this was the right number you wanted……… …301253 00317. But while looking around in there i found a little squre chip in there with RTL8101L 2A15851 251f So i suppose this pretty much tells me what sort of sound i have I know about device manager and sometimes a c-media entry shows up but the driver never installs but most times the realtek is there(which one though eh) The whole thing is a mess as far as sound and audio is concerened. God only knows what i downloaded thinking it was what i needed…….IF i uninstall ALL entrys related to c-media AND realtek it seems to find 2 or 3 of the things when it comes back on…. I aint touching nothing for now

SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS FIRST EH……………………SORRY

Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 62-2002-001199-00101111-040201-KM266A$GA7VKMLS_7VKMLS F4
Motherboard Name Gigabyte GA-7VKMLS

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type DEC Alpha EV6
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 133 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 267 MHz
Bandwidth 2133 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type SDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 133 MHz
Effective Clock 133 MHz
Bandwidth 1067 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type VIA V-Link
Bus Width 8-bit
Real Clock 67 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 267 MHz
Bandwidth 267 MB/s

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1
Expansion Slots 3 PCI
RAM Slots 2 DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 210 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset KM266
Extra Features EasyTune III

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Information http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Produc…roduct_List.htm
BIOS Download http://tw.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Suppor…S/BIOS_List.htm

Reaktek is your answer…


If you havent yet… go to Gigabyte and download your drivers. Click this link for your boards drivers

This is what I found:
http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboar…?ProductID=1407

Sound — Integrated AC97 audio [motherboard_driver_audio_realtek_whql.exe]


Here's a link to the Picture of your motherboard, (from my browsing, so confirm for yourself)


[external image: Posted Image]

Ooops! Crow already provided the link above. Sorry, Crow.

Hi again guys,cheers for helping out.Well things have went from bad to worse with it`s own drivers it seems. This one is WDM_3.86 (the one i was using was WDM_3.90)..When it got right to the end of setting up(it`s the exact same process as other one)it just stopped. Again i tried and it done the same as the one ive got..could`nt find driver So i run it again and it copied over itself and i got a bsod just as it was about to finish this time.

Use Control Panel - Device Manager to "remove" the old driver before installing the fresh copy

I had…….i`d uninstalled it there,in add remove programs AND removed it`s file from programs…..The only place it would still have had a mention is in the registry… Sorry…..i got rid of the old one but still have it`s installer here(in case)

How about your Chipset Drivers?

Well…the plot thickens Not sure there was anything wrong with my chipset drivers(not sure what these are)BUT i went and got the one from that link,tried to install it and got this c:\windows\system\config.nt the system file is not suitable for running ms-dos or microsoft windows applications. The old realtek is (3.90) is working just now(tried it again too)but i know that i`ll bootup tommorow or lthe next day and it`ll be off OR telling me it cant find the driver. The new one(proper one)just did the same when it did`nt give me a bsod.. I dont think it`ll matter precisely WHAT one i use they`ll both do the same so it`s something stopping it finding its own drivers. I remember my zonealarm popping up telling me…..some regedit key….was trying to prevent "soundman" from loading up at startup BUt i did`nt allow whatever was trying to stop it. As i said …the things a mess and was a lot worse than this when i got it.

Gee1, Please run a Full Test over at PCPitstop.com and post a TechExpress link to your Results so we can have better information on how to help. Best Regards