New Build, everything works except the sound. Advice please

garyhope

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2006
445
0
18,790
I've just finished my first ever build and it works, except the sound.

I've got this:

Asus A8N 5X
AMD X2 3800
Corsair XMS2048 3200
PNY Quadro NVS 440 PCIEX 16
WD Caviar SE16 2500KS
Samsung 16X DVD+R DVD
Sony IDE DVD-ROM
Samsung 1.44 3.5 floppy
Cooler Master RS 450
Cooler Master Centurion 5CAC-T05
2 AGM 19" wide screen monitors
MS XP Pro
NOD 32

I'm rather proud of myself that I researched, selected, bought and assembled all of this and it works after only a few mis connections and corrections on my part. (I'm an old guy, gimme a break. Please)

It pretty much worked from the git go except I didn't have the power switch on the case front panel connected properly. I fixed that, I was off by one pin.

Then the monitors were not getting any signal. I had the Y connector to the wrong output on the graphics card. It's got 2 and will run 4 monitors from one card. Changed that and bingo, the blue light came on, the fans turned and it runs cool to the touch. No dead pixels.

Now no sound even from the headphone connection on the front panel or from the I/O plugs in the back. There's one connector left in the case from the front panel, but the instructions from the mobo book, the case book or the power supply books are not very clear to me about where to connect the last of those tiny little connectors and pins.

The mobo book didn't even tell me to use offsets to mount the board. I'm glad I had enough sense to do that on my own.

I have some old speakers that I might try, but am thinking of new speakers, so,......

Will some 2.1 speakers (2 speakers and a sub) run from the mobo connections in back or do I need to get a separate sound card? Recommedations for cheap 2.1 sound cards?

This computer is used for online stock trading, mostly 2 D, no games, but I do like music.

Thanks for your time and ideas.
 

440bx

Distinguished
Jan 18, 2006
371
1
18,810
I've just finished my first ever build and it works, except the sound.

...
...

Will some 2.1 speakers (2 speakers and a sub) run from the mobo connections in back or do I need to get a separate sound card? Recommedations for cheap 2.1 sound cards?

This computer is used for online stock trading, mostly 2 D, no games, but I do like music.

Thanks for your time and ideas.

Congratulations!

First thing to check would be that your sound drivers are installed correctly. Go to device manager, ensure there are no items showing with a yellow exclamation mark (or a red x on them). If there are some, then the drivers need to be installed/re-installed.

2.1 sound cards... I haven't seen one of those in quite a while. Most cards now (the cheap ones) are 4.1 and those can be had in the $30 to $50 range.

Question for you, when you power up your system, do you hear some sound coming out of the speakers ? It is normal for the speakers to emit a "thud" when the system is powered up. Do you hear anything at all coming out of them or are they totally silent ? Totally silent would be a strong indicator that the sound chip on your motherboard isn't working at all.

HTH.
 
I've just finished my first ever build and it works, except the sound.

I've got this:

Asus A8N 5X
AMD X2 3800
Corsair XMS2048 3200
PNY Quadro NVS 440 PCIEX 16
WD Caviar SE16 2500KS
Samsung 16X DVD+R DVD
Sony IDE DVD-ROM
Samsung 1.44 3.5 floppy
Cooler Master RS 450
Cooler Master Centurion 5CAC-T05
2 AGM 19" wide screen monitors
MS XP Pro
NOD 32

I'm rather proud of myself that I researched, selected, bought and assembled all of this and it works after only a few mis connections and corrections on my part. (I'm an old guy, gimme a break. Please)

It pretty much worked from the git go except I didn't have the power switch on the case front panel connected properly. I fixed that, I was off by one pin.

Then the monitors were not getting any signal. I had the Y connector to the wrong output on the graphics card. It's got 2 and will run 4 monitors from one card. Changed that and bingo, the blue light came on, the fans turned and it runs cool to the touch. No dead pixels.

Now no sound even from the headphone connection on the front panel or from the I/O plugs in the back. There's one connector left in the case from the front panel, but the instructions from the mobo book, the case book or the power supply books are not very clear to me about where to connect the last of those tiny little connectors and pins.

The mobo book didn't even tell me to use offsets to mount the board. I'm glad I had enough sense to do that on my own.

I have some old speakers that I might try, but am thinking of new speakers, so,......

Will some 2.1 speakers (2 speakers and a sub) run from the mobo connections in back or do I need to get a separate sound card? Recommedations for cheap 2.1 sound cards?

This computer is used for online stock trading, mostly 2 D, no games, but I do like music.

Thanks for your time and ideas.

Congratulations on your new build. ASUS is notorious for providing non-working on board sound. Try opening the ASUS on board sound program from your desktop and just simply mess around with the settings. If you go online to the ASUS website and find you MB, there will likely be a new on board sound driver available. ASUS claims the new driver fixed the no sound problem. I had no sound on one of my ASUS boards recently. Fixed it by just...uhhhh messing with it. :D 8O
 

Dahak

Distinguished
Mar 26, 2006
1,267
0
19,290
you might just have to go into your bios and enable the on board sound.or maybe you need to install updated drivers.go to the manufacturers website and look up your model of board.if you get no help there,try typing the same info into google.one way or the other you will find it.good luck.

Dahak

EVGA NF4 SLI MB
X2 4400+@2.4 S-939
2X1GIG DDR400 RAMM IN DC MODE
2 7800GT'S IN SLI MODE
WD300GIG HD
520WATT PSU
EXTREME 19IN.CRT MONITOR
 

garyhope

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2006
445
0
18,790
You sir, are a genius.

Thank you, you were exactly right, the sound drivers were not properly installed. There were the big bright yellow question marks on the sound "devices" under device drivers.

I followed the instructions, got out my XP disk, loaded it and it fixed the drivers and now I have sound, at least through my headphones from the rear (mobo) audio port. The front of the case audio port still doesn't work, but I think that's a wiring connection that I have to take a look at tomorrow.

I'll scare up (or buy) a pair of speakers and I assume that they will work from the rear audio plug connections.

Thank you again.

Isn't Tom's a great place?!
 
It's a good suggestion but it is "step #2" in the process

Yeah I like that way of thinking. I had the same problem as OP with my ASUS P5LD2-VM 775 micro board with 8 channel built in sound. I just messed with it and one day...voila! Still works and I even have the front panel sound jacks working perfect on my Aspire micro case. Bought Logitech 2.1 speakers and it sounds great.