Sound not working on Custom-built Desktop, W7

RainOrShine13

Honorable
Feb 10, 2013
20
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10,510
If anyone can help, I appreciate it!!

I'm getting no sound at all from my custom-built desktop PC. The speakers are not muted, I've updated the Realtek driver, motherboard driver, and performed all Windows updates. I get nothing, not even the OS startup sound.

The sound was working before I took it to a technician to replace my CPU and memory. At that time, he'd uninstalled Driver Detective (which had been popping up some audio driver incompatibility error, but the sound was still working) prior to new hardware install. He wants to wipe my Windows 7 OS and reinstall, but I'd like to avoid that if possible.

Sound properties state:
Realtek HDMI Output
ATI HDMI Audio
Not plugged in

Speakers are set as default

Realtek Digital Output shows as Ready

Realtek Digital Output (Optical) shows as Ready.

Anything I can try?? Thanks in advance!
 
Solution
So you don't know what an HDMI cable is, so I guess you are not trying to use EITHER of the HDMI outputs you listed. By the way, I did not think you have a sound card. I said I suspect you have a VIDEO card based on an ATI chip. That VIDEO card has its own separate sound chip, and it can put out audio PLUS video on its HDMI connector.

You say you have simply plugged your speakers into the green jack on the back. That's for the "standard" audio output from the mobo Realtek system. Then I have two suggestions.

1. Check which is your default audio output device, per my 3rd paragraph on the 15th. Make sure it is the Realtek system.
2. Realtak's output stages often have a unique system for flexibility on the output connectors (mine is this...

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
Your hardware list shows both Realtek and ATI HDMI audio output devices. Realtek, I'm sure, is part of your mobo, so I assume there's a HDMI output connector on the back of your mobo on its output panel. I assume that the ATI Audio out is part of an ATI-chip-based video card, with its own separate HDMI output connector.

So, which connector are you using to output audio? Are you expecting the audio to be on the connector on the video card, feeding to a monitor or something that has audio capability? Or, are you running an HDMI cable from the mobo's panel over to some audio system input?

Here's why this matters. Windows can only use ONE audio output device at a time, no matter how many pieces of hardware you have, and how many device drivers you have installed. You MUST tell Windows which output device to use - EITHER the mobo (Realtek) audio system OR the video card's own built-in audio chip. And that depends on where your audio output HDMI signal is coming from.

To set this, click on Start at lower left, and open the Control Panel to click on Sounds and Audio Devices. In that window click on the Audio tab. Its first box lets you select the Sound Playback default device from a drop-down window. Similarly, the second box lets you specify what is the default input device for recording sound. Adjust these to match where you actually plug things in on the back of your computer and reboot. That should fix the problem.
 

RainOrShine13

Honorable
Feb 10, 2013
20
0
10,510
I only have the speakers plugged into the green jack on the back of the computer, and Speakers are set to default. I don't know what the HDMI cable is? I don't have a separate sound card... thanks for helping me with this
 

scout_03

Titan
Ambassador
i suggest you this go to your motherboard maker link and download the audio driver for your motherboard since you use the internal sound chipset ,the other thing use this link with the translator and install the plug in ma config it will tell you what are the driver need to be update on your system and link you to them free http://www.touslesdrivers.com/
 

RainOrShine13

Honorable
Feb 10, 2013
20
0
10,510
I've already updated the Gigabyte motherboard audio driver and the realtek drivers prior to this post. Is there something else I can run in ma config? I don't really know what the ATI HDMI Audio is, since I've never connected the computer to a television, just to the monitor.

Interestingly (perhaps?) Device Manager/System Devices/System Speaker said "no drivers have been installed" but maybe that is just because I have no internal speakers...
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
So you don't know what an HDMI cable is, so I guess you are not trying to use EITHER of the HDMI outputs you listed. By the way, I did not think you have a sound card. I said I suspect you have a VIDEO card based on an ATI chip. That VIDEO card has its own separate sound chip, and it can put out audio PLUS video on its HDMI connector.

You say you have simply plugged your speakers into the green jack on the back. That's for the "standard" audio output from the mobo Realtek system. Then I have two suggestions.

1. Check which is your default audio output device, per my 3rd paragraph on the 15th. Make sure it is the Realtek system.
2. Realtak's output stages often have a unique system for flexibility on the output connectors (mine is this way, and I had a problem). First, with your computer running, unplug the speakers from that green jack and wait a few seconds. Now plug back in and check the screen for a message box. If I do this on my system, the box says it has detected that something was plugged into the Green output, and it wants you to tell it what that was. So you say is is the front pair of speakers. If you do NOT tell it, it will not put out any signal at that port, and you'll get no sound. If you wait too long, the message will disappear and you may never know you missed seeing it!
 
Solution

RainOrShine13

Honorable
Feb 10, 2013
20
0
10,510
Well, the good news is that the little popup message box appeared from unplugging/replugging the green output, and when I clicked Front Speakers, the AMD Radeon Graphics screen opened the AMD Vision Engine Control Center. Default Audio Device.

The bad news, I get: "Your displays do not support audio. Select another audio device from the list above" and I have no list above, just a light blue "monitor-looking" type screen with an * in the top left corner, and a circled 1 in the center. Although I'd asked the builder to allow the computer to have 2 monitors, I only am using 1 at the moment.

At the bottom are the Sound icons/options Realtex Digital Output (Optical), Realtek Digital Output, Speakers, and a grayed-out Realtek HDMI Output icon. But when I click Speakers or Realtek Digital Output, the "Apply" button is grayed out too.

So, is this a missing video card driver, or something to do with it instead of the mobo default? Thanks again all!