Showing posts with label sound. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sound. Show all posts

Wednesday 19 November 2014

How to Install Old Soundmax Audio Driver in Windows 7

If you have an old laptop and install windows 7 on it, you may notice that your laptop have no audio. Sometimes device manager tells you it is installed and the volume bar work perfectly, but you can still hear no Sound. When you try to download the driver, your manufacture no longer provide updates for Windows 7, what is available only the old driver for Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Before we begin, Soundmax uses AC97 audio which is similar to Realtek AC 97 Audio. Try the AC97 audio first because sometime it did work on some model. Download Link

He is how to use that old Windows Vista or XP for Windows 7.

1. For this example we will install audio on IBM t42. First download your original XP Driver. (for t42 here is the driver: Download )

2.  Extract the driver file using 7zip or Winrar. Remember the path/location where we extract the driver file.

3. Now open device manager by click start and select run, type DEVMGMT.MSC

 
 2. Look at the audio controller and right and select update driver.




 3. Then select browse my computer for the Driver software

4.Click on browse and point to the driver folder we extracted ealier.

It will takes some time to find the driver file and install it. It will prompt i is not compatible but install it anyway.

Friday 31 October 2014

How to Fix No Sound/Audio From Speaker

No sound or Audio output from your internal speakers is a common problem for most devices with built in speaker such as Laptops and Tablets. Regardless what model your laptop is (Acer, HP, Compaq, Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba and etc), there is a common solution for this. Here I will point out the problems and how to solve it.

The Basic Setting You Need To Check First
1. Make sure your volume is not muted. Click on the volume Icon and click mixer, for best result max up all volume by using the slider.
Click on the mixer for more volume options.
2. Make sure you already install the audio driver. You can tell if your system does have the audio driver installed or not by checking the driver status on the device manager. Normally if your computer need an audio driver, it will prompt "no audio device installed" if you try to play any audio file.

3. Make sure your audio device is enable. You can do this by go to device manager and look at sound, video and game controller, make sure your audio is enable.

You can disable/enable your audio by right click on the audio device

p/s: If you are wondering why do people need to disable the audio? sometimes desktop user can get a separate Audio card, so they would disable the default on-board audio device, and of course this is optional.

4. I make changes to the setting, and Now the speaker does not work properly - Just use system restore to undo the changes, or click set to default setting on the audio setting (control panel).

Speaker does not work but headphone work 
The first thing to do is get a toothpick and stick it in the audio jack (gently wiggle it). This is because sometimes your audio jack sensors is jammed, and the computer thinks there is a headphone plugged in when there isn't. We use toothpick t unjammed it (you can use other object such as pin or needle).
If the toothpick does not work, try to set the speaker as default, you can read on how to do this here: http://laptop-driver.blogspot.com/2010/12/set-speaker-as-default.html

Headphone does not work, internal speaker work 
This problem is very rare, but in case it is happen to you first thing to do is make sure you are using the right jack. laptop normally have 2 jack, and desktop have 3 or 6 jack. For desktop the common color for audio jack is green. For laptop you will see a small icon located near to the jack which tells you either it is for headphone or for microphone.
Second, if you are using Realtek audio, make sure the jack setting is set to headphone instead of line out.
You can also try with another headphone, to make sure your current headphone is not the problem. Last but not least, sometimes you are using your mobile phone headphone/headset on your laptop and computer audio jack. Note that not all mobile phone headphone will work properly on laptop or desktop, sometimes you need to plug in halfway to hear the sound.

Speaker suddenly stopped/not working.
System crash, Windows update or Installing Third Party Software could interfere with your audio device. Windows update for example could install a new audio driver version, and it did install properly but the audio did not working (I get that a lot). So if your audio suddenly stopped working, there are 3 things you can do:

1. System Restore : We need to restore our computer back to where the audio is still working. This will also undo changes made by Windows Update or other software.
2. Recovery : Most notebook do have this option, for example Hp can use HP recovery manager, select hardware driver re-installation and select audio from the list.
3. Re-install the driver, try to re-install the drivers (original driver released by your notebook manufacture, not the latest driver by the device manufacture).

No sound from both internal speaker or headphone
Normally when this happen it means 3 things, your audio driver is not yet installed, your audio device is disabled or your internal speaker is broken. I already explain how to solve all this 3 problems above, to summarize the solution : Download and install audio driver for your computer, make sure your audio device is enable and if it is broken you need to replace internal speaker (You can't change notebook sound card), or get a USB audio card (it is cheap, about USD 3- 10 base on the model and functions). It is a plug and play device, which means you don't have to install driver, software or firmware, you just can use it right away.

7.1 Channel External USB Audio Sound Card Adapter

Only One side of The Speaker is Working (Left/Right)
First of all, check your jack (make sure you plug the speaker properly (external speaker). Next is to check the audio balance (right and left) on your audio manager, example I am using realtek Audio so I just need to open realtek Audio Manager and Set the slider in the midlle between left and right.

If you have other problems with your speaker do let me know in the comment section below.

Sunday 12 January 2014

No sound after Windows Update and Upgrade

Windows updates and Windows upgrade sometimes may mess up with earlier driver configuration for your audio. Updates and Upgrade normally installed a newer driver, update the driver to the latest version that they think best for your system or re-configure the audio configuration and setting. So what to do if this happen?

First Step
Make sure you have installed the audio driver first. You can obtain the driver from the manufacture site. Example, if you have HP laptop you can go to http://h20180.www2.hp.com and select support from the menu. Navigate through each option available to look for your model and download the necessary driver.

What if there are no driver for my audio in the manufacture site?
Post your laptop model in the comment section and I'll give the download link for your audio driver.

I already install audio driver but resulting in error
Normally this refer to compatibility issue, sometimes manufacture only release drivers for certain Operating System. What i would suggest is to look for device update on the hardware manufacture site like Realtek etc. If you need help on this do let me know.

Check your Audio Setting
Make sure you have the right setting for the audio, sometimes windows update made changes to the setting.  For Windows 7 select manage audio device from control panel - hardware and sound, you will see several option and select speaker as default or test which work for you.



Realtek user have the advantage of using the audio setting by using the Realtek HD Audio Manager. Make sure you select the right option for the audio jack.





System Restore - Undo Changes
System restore let you revert back to previous state where the audio is still working. This is the easiest and the best solution to the problems. There are many restore point available to choose so select the date where the audio still working. If you need tutorial on how to perform system restore you can read here.

Why there are no restore point available?
You need to turn on/activate restore point to use it. By default windows already enable this option for C drive. Sometimes if you have optimization software such as tune up utilities , it will disable this option to give you more disk space. Remember that windows reserve some space on C for system restore.

Uninstall Updates
If your audio and sound not working after updates then you need to remove those updates. You can do this by:

1. Click Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then, under Programs and Features, clicking View installed updates.

Click the update that you want to remove, and then click Uninstall. Administrator permission required If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

 Select updates that you installed which cause the audio not working after the update installation. To see the changes you may need to reboot first.

Uninstall Upgrade
Removing SP1 from Windows 7
  1. Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Programs and Features.
  2. Click View installed updates.
  3. Click Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932), and then click Uninstall.
    If you don't see Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932) in the list of installed updates, your computer likely came with SP1 already installed, and you can't uninstall the service pack. If the service pack is listed but grayed out, you can't uninstall the service pack.
Remove windows 8.1 on windows 8
There are no option to remove windows 8.1 from windows 8 unless you are using windows media center. You can do this by using system reset (similar with system restore describe above).

Remove windows XP service pack.
Let me clarify that the best Service Pack base on my experience is SP2 which seems the most stable whenever it comes to installing drivers. To remove (downgrade you windows XP service pack you can do it by:
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. Copy and then paste the following command in the Open box, and then press ENTER:
    appwiz.cpl
  3. Click to select the Show Updates check box.
  4. Click Windows XP Service Pack 3, and then click Remove.
  5. Click Finish to restart the computer after the removal process is complete.
If you still have problems with your audio do let me know in the comment section below.

    Sunday 19 February 2012

    Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver 6.0.1.6461

    Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver
    Date: 2011-11-18
    Version: 6.0.1.6461
    Size: 115.61M
    File name: SP54986
    Download : Direct

    Compatibility:

    Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic (32-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (32-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise (32-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Starter (32-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic (64-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise (64-bit), Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit),Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit),

    Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 7

    Fixes and Enhancement:

    - Fixes an issue where the system displays an error message and delays opening the Games folder. - Fixes an issue where the system emits an unintended noise when the Enable OmniSound Exp and Bass Back Exp options are enabled during audio playback.

     - Fixes an issue where the stereo mix feature is disabled after the Realtek Audio Driver has been installed.

    Monday 13 February 2012

    IDT 92HD81B1X 6.10.0.6265 Windows XP

    Driver Type: Audio
    Name : IDT 92HD81B1X @ Intel 82801IB ICH9
    Version : .6.10.0.6265
    File size : 11.21MB
    Operating System :
    Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit


    Download

    Help Locating windows version 32-bit and 64-bit

    Installation:
    1. Download the drivers.
    2. Run the drivers files until installation finish.
    3. Restart After Installation.