Asus a8ne onboard sound ,updated drivers still no audio!

I have installed updated ac 97 driver from the asus site for vista, it says the device is working properly.The volume controls show there is volume and when i play music in win media player although there is still no sound output.I tried a few sets of speakers nothing?tried a sound blaster live card it wasn't compatible with win 7. I would like to find a fix instead of buying a new sound card or going back to xp..any ideas!!