K7S5A problem(?)

[peartree]

I just got an ECS K7S5A. It seems to be a good mobo, though it suffers the usual Taiwanese->English woes. The problem is the onboard sound. No sound. I downloaded the drivers for Windows XP and XP says the thing is working fine, but I don't get any sound out.
The real question here is how to figure out if it's a software or hardware OR BIOS problem. The BIOS is dated 4/2/01.

===> Never assume ANYTHING <===

**** Home of Obsolete Hardware ****

 

[jlanka]

if you slick on sounds and audio devices -> sounds -> choose a program event (in the control panel), is the play button greyed out?

If so, it's probably some software issue. One thing I stupidly did a few weeks back was to disable the Windows Audio Service. (in the name of better performance) duh.

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[peartree]

Nope. The Play button is normal and active- when I click on it, it shows that it's playing the sound. The only thing is- nothing comes out to the speakers.


===> Never assume ANYTHING <===

**** Home of Obsolete Hardware ****

 

[tilepusher]

Hey P,

3 questions(that may seem stupid to you), that I have to ask: First, Have you "Enabled" the on-board sound in the "Bios"?

Second, Are your speakers plugged into the right socket, & plugged into the wall A/C socket as well?

Lastly, is your windows volume control turned on/up?

You most likely know all of that simple stuff, but I got to ask. Good Luck

Peace Out....................tile

god knows your entire system setup & he would answer your questions if he could just stop laughing

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Why you have bought ECS mobo? The name ECS stands for cheap price and problems.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Ok, you just made an idiot of yourself. ECS is among one of the leading Taiwanese companies that provides value oriented motherboards. The K7S5A just happens to be a contraversial board, although ECS does provide other motherboards, if you didn't know that.

"When there's a will, there's a way."

 

[peartree]

Well, since I'm an idiot to stay inside my budget, then I suppose that the bank loves idiots . It fit my budget and I'm generally very pleased with it. If I can't find an answer, then it'll go back to the supplier for a new one. I just figured that if someone knew of a quick fix, it would save me a trip.

Unless, of course, you'd like to donate a better board?



===> Never assume ANYTHING <===

**** Home of Obsolete Hardware ****

 

[peartree]

Yeah, sorry, got those bases covered


===> Never assume ANYTHING <===

**** Home of Obsolete Hardware ****

 

[Spitfire_x86]

In reply to:
---------------------------------------------------
Ok, you just made an idiot of yourself. ECS is among one of the leading Taiwanese companies that provides value oriented motherboards.
---------------------------------------------------

Your second sentence missed one word. The correct sentence is following-
"ECS is among one of the leading Taiwanese companies that provides value oriented problematic motherboards."

ECS is not the only company in this category. There is another Taiwanese company like ECS. It's Gigabyte. ECS sucks value conscious buyers and Gigabyte sucks enthusiasts.

 

[Croaker]

I am happy with my 2 K7S5A's. Most problems with the board are with the power supply and the person installing the board. It is not the best motherboard but it is a good low cost non-VIA board. There is a bios at ocworkbench.com dated 7-31-02.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

good motherboard + normal psu
requires little more than
ECS motherboard + hi-end psu

So why ECS?

 

[Spitfire_x86]

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Spitfire_x86 on 08/05/02 04:16 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[camieabz]

Instead of repeating yourself (you obviously don't like ECS, as you stated in other threads), why don't you try to solve the guy's problem?

"Hey there! My car won't start Mr Mechanic."

"Not my problem. You should have bought a truck."


Easy to criticise. Harder to help.

<b><font color=blue>~ BIOS SETTINGS: Fast, Hot, Unstable...That ought to work. ~</font color=blue></b>

 

[camieabz]

Don't have a manual on me, but I remember there was an AC97 codec? enabling option, and an onboard modem somewhere nearby.

I enable the first and disabled the other. Have you?

<b><font color=blue>~ BIOS SETTINGS: Fast, Hot, Unstable...That ought to work. ~</font color=blue></b>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

If your soution does not solve his problem, you should consider that his ECS motherboard is bad like many people's.

I hate all companies that make profit by sucking people with attractive features and cheap price and finally give people bad experience with their product. ECS is just a company of this kind.

 

[camieabz]

Heard you the first time.

<b><font color=blue>~ BIOS SETTINGS: Fast, Hot, Unstable...That ought to work. ~</font color=blue></b>

 

[tilepusher]

Hey P,

I think you might have to call your retailler & RMA the mobo. I had 2 ECS mobos, the first one still works great, the second one was a DOA. If you get a K7S5A that runs, they are the best mobo's for the price............but they have had more than their share of problems. Good Luck

Peace Out...............tile

god knows your entire system setup & he would answer your questions if he could just stop laughing

 

[peartree]

Yep

===> Never assume ANYTHING <===

**** Home of Obsolete Hardware ****

 

[peartree]

Yeah, that's what I figure. It goes back tomorrow. A shame- outside of that, it runs fine.

===> Never assume ANYTHING <===

**** Home of Obsolete Hardware ****

 

[Spitfire_x86]

I am right. His mobo is bad.

ECS sucks Ass

 

[Spitfire_x86]

If a mobo does not run 100% properly, it is not fine.

 

[camieabz]

Well my cousin's one is still running fine after 8 months, and guess what, it ran fine the night I built it. I used Crucial RAM and a 400W PSU.

Perhaps some of their mobos are duff. Some of everyone's mobos are duff.

Your attitude is "I can't make it work the way I want it to". My attitude is "What does it need to work, and am I prepared to do it?"

All my systems have Crucial or better RAM. All my AMD systems have 400W PSU. So for me I didn't have to do anything new.

<b><font color=blue>~ BIOS SETTINGS: Fast, Hot, Unstable...That ought to work. ~</font color=blue></b>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Why you will go for ECS? The only reason is to save money. If they require more expensive memory and power supply the overall system cost doesn't decrease. MSI KT3 Ultra runs fine with no name 300W psu and Kingston Value Ram (PC2100, CL2.5). If the costs are same, what is better choice?

Certainly a better motherboard.

 

[camieabz]

You telling me you would rather go for cheap generic RAM and a cheap PSU on a more expensive mobo?

Lets clarify this. You would rather chance the loss of power and instability of generic RAM against the likelyhood of a working system with quality RAM and a 400W PSU?

Like I said before, I use Crucial and 400W anyway, so what difference to my preferences did choosing a K7S5A make?

I've nothing against opinion, but you're saying all their stuff is crap. Not so. Plenty of satisfied users. Of course people want to save money. I could have spent 3 times the money on a mobo for no extra performance gain. There's no instabilities here, and there's more cash in the pocket of my customer.

<b><font color=blue>~ BIOS SETTINGS: Fast, Hot, Unstable...That ought to work. ~</font color=blue></b>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

People in my country (Bangladesh) go with Hynix, Kingston or Samsung ram and no name 300W or better psu for a high end or mid range mobo and run their systems without instability . (P4 and XP systems)

Generic Ram is not available in my country.