Internal sound undetected A7V880

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

My problem is that I can't install the internal soundcard (soundmax/VIA
vt8237), running winxp. The hardware is undetected by windows. I've tried
all released BIOS, I have replaced the motherboard (tested 3 different
boards), tested without PCI cards installed, latest VIA drivers. I've also
asked ASUS support two times, both times I got the same reply, if their
suggestion doesn't works (not overclock which I don't and latset VIA which
already was installed) I should get a replacement motherboard. Well, I've
tried three so far....



Have anyone else had the same experience or have any suggestions.? Should I
try with a fourth board or wait for ASUS to acknowledge this as an error
(new BIOS update or new motherboard revision).?



Thanks in advance.

 

[Paul]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <0uQEc.854$Z57.327@nntpserver.swip.net>, "Roni S"
<roni@mbox318.swipnet.se> wrote:

> My problem is that I can't install the internal soundcard (soundmax/VIA
> vt8237), running winxp. The hardware is undetected by windows. I've tried
> all released BIOS, I have replaced the motherboard (tested 3 different
> boards), tested without PCI cards installed, latest VIA drivers. I've also
> asked ASUS support two times, both times I got the same reply, if their
> suggestion doesn't works (not overclock which I don't and latset VIA which
> already was installed) I should get a replacement motherboard. Well, I've
> tried three so far....
>
>
>
> Have anyone else had the same experience or have any suggestions.? Should I
> try with a fourth board or wait for ASUS to acknowledge this as an error
> (new BIOS update or new motherboard revision).?
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance.

There are many downloads you can try.

For starters, a driver needs to know about the Southbridge
type and the AC97 codec type. The AC97 standard has a base
set of registers, so sometimes you can get basic functionality
with the wrong driver.

That being said, start by downloading the Asus supported driver:
http://www.asus.it/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=A7V880&Type=All

The soundmax.zip file on that web page, has a .inf called smwdmVI3.inf,
whereas a driver designed for the ad1888 used on the p4r800-vm has
a .inf called smwdmATI.inf. So, for a driver to work, I would expect
to see the "V" for Via in the .inf file name.

There are other files in the ad1888 directory, but as I said, ones
for other Southbridge chips probably won't work.

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/audio/ad1888/ (don't bother)

If the soundmax.zip file in the download directory doesn't work, consider
that the A7V600-X is claimed to use an ad1888 chip as well. The
A7V600-X has a VT8237 Southbridge, so this means the hardware should be
identical to your board (for the purposes of finding a sound driver).

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=A7V600-X&Type=All

Now, what is strange, is the download for that board, points to:

http://www.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/audio/ad1980/WDM_3663.zip or
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/audio/ad1980/

and the contents of the SMAXWDM directory would appear to be the same.

So, there are a couple of places to look for drivers.

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socka/KT880/A7V880/SoundMAX.zip
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/misc/audio/ad1980/WDM_3663.zip

Have fun,
Paul