Suddenly lost sound

[tomyrush]

Win XP, service Pack3 with all fixes current. Have old Altec Lansing sound setup that has been literally working for years - only one green light on one speaker that has always been on. Got the altec lansing on my first dell rig, probably to or three rigs back.

Am I going to have to tear sound system down and try on another box, or is there a set of diagnostics I should try first.

I have set several Utube volumes all of the way up and I get picture but no sound.I shut off Adbloc plus for my sound test and it did not make any difference. Running Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.12) Gecko/20101026 Firefox/3.6.12 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729).

I have never done much of anything with sound so I am not sure how to go about debugging.

Thanks

Tom

[HansV]

Make sure that you haven't muted either the overall volume or individual volume settings.

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[tomyrush]

When I look at sounds in control panel - where yours says Realtec Audio output, mine says:
No Audio Device, and everything else on that page is grayed out.

I do not ever remember "Installing any kind of sound system", I just plugged everything in and it worked.

Tom

[HansV]

The "No audio device" might mean that the Sound service is not running any more. Try the following:

- Select Start | Run...
- Type the following command, then press Enter or click OK:

services.msc

- Scroll down to Windows Audio and double-click on it.
- Make sure the Startup Type is set to Automatic.
- If Service Status is not "Started", click Start.
- Click OK.

This is what it looks like on my PC:

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[tomyrush]

I went to Windows Audio and the service was stopped. I started it, and the status says started.
Still no sound - do I need to reboot?

I went to Logitechs web site and when I said Download Drivers - they tried to sell me another copy of "Driver Detective" - which I already own. I ran Driver Detective and found Sigma Tech high def Audio Codec and found no problems.

I will try rebooting and see if that fixes problem.

Tom

[HansV]

Make sure that the service is running after you reboot.

[tomyrush]

Rebooted - service is running - still no sound.
I did get the wierd windows sound when I was shutting down - so it must be a programming problem.

Two weeks ago I installed Soluto - which is a program to monitor and time startups

Is there a startup task I might have killed using Soluto?

Tom

[HansV]

Is there a startup task I might have killed using Soluto?

Possibly - but you're the one who can answer that, not I...
By the way, does the sound control panel still say "No audio device", or has that been solved now?

[tomyrush]

Sound control panel still says NO AUDIO DEVICE
Service.msc shows "Started"

I can't find anything that I deleted using Soluto - they give you an opportunity to run a program after startup in an attempt to speed up boot time. did not delete anything - just postponed several items = don't know how effective it is.

Going to bed (4am) I will continue in the morning

Hans, thanks for your help

Tom

[HansV]

Another thing to try:
- Activate the Audio tab of the Sounds and Audio Devices control panel.
- Make sure that your audio card is selected as Default device in the Sound playback section, and not a modem or some other device.

[ChrisGreaves]

Sound control panel still says NO AUDIO DEVICE

I "lost" my sound a few weeks ago after I rebuilt my system.
My fault.
I had loaded the VGA drivers but not the Audio drivers from the Z-100 CD that came with the laptop three of four years ago.
I wasn't thinking clearly at the time that I re-loaded the system.

If you have the OEM driver CD it might be worthwhile re-installing some basics from that?

[tomyrush]

Hans, that worked - modem was the default device - changing it to my sound card stopped the graying out of the volume stuff - I can hear again! getting cataract surgery next week - so who knows what will happen when I can see and hear at the same time.

Thanks
Tom

[HansV]

Great. Good luck with the cataract surgery!

[BobH]

And here I thought you had just forgotten to put your hearing aid in!

[HansV]

And here I thought you had just forgotten to put your hearing aid in!

What?

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[stuck]

Sigma Tech high def Audio Codec

I'm at work so I can't check this right now but I've a feeling my home PC has Sigma Tech audio driver...

I broke my audio driver and ended up with no sound because I installed a driver update offered to my PC by the MS Update site. Once I uninstalled that version and went back to one provided by Intel the sound returned.

Ken

[viking33]

Sigma Tech high def Audio Codec

I'm at work so I can't check this right now but I've a feeling my home PC has Sigma Tech audio driver...

I broke my audio driver and ended up with no sound because I installed a driver update offered to my PC by the MS Update site. Once I uninstalled that version and went back to one provided by Intel the sound returned.

Ken

Another case for not using the MS driver updates.
Always best to use manufacturer's drivers.