Losing system audio. (Revisited - still an ongoing problem)

This has been a bit of an annoyance, but, I'm working right along then,seemingly at random, all of a sudden I no longer get system audio sounds on Win98se. I've checked drivers and they seem to be good. It's really only system audio and only affects standard system sounds and ICQ sounds (all of which I believe are wav files).

Doesn't affect anything else. CD's, Media Player, Quick Time, WinAmp, etc...everything else still plays audio just fine.

Rebooting takes care of the problem. Any thoughts on what's happening? Like I said it's just an annoyance, but I'd like to correct it if possible. I'm using SoundMAX Digital Integrated Audio and as stated the drivers are fine.

Thanks.

I used 98se for years and i still cannot fiqure it out. I have had so many problems with it. I am so happy i have xp now. What exactly are you doing when you lose it?

Wish I could tell you Cuerock. I have paid close attention for the last month. Sometimes it's after a java applet runs. Just after I posted above I lost it again and I only had my browser open. It's so inconsistant I just can't pinpoint it to any one thing. Eventually I'll upgrade the OS, but for now it works very efficient for me except for this.

I have had the same problems with Javas using 98se. I think that it is athing with that. Javas will load and about 5-10 minutes into it it just freezes on me. Thank God those days are over!

I use to have that problem a few years ago, someone gave me a file to download and it fixed it. I'll try to find that file for you, it was on the 98 cd.

Thanks, but no need really. I got rid of that PC!

that's always a great option.

It's goofy. I know those lock up problems. Don't laugh at me but the one computer I still use primarily for storage is a P150 -- Java stuff would shut me down almost in a heartbeat. I don't even think it was Win98 so much as the slow processor. And Flash? Forget it (although I still have Flash MX installed on it -- I don't know how I didn't just pick it up and throw it against the wall!). I've tweaked it as best I can and given what I use it for it still runs 24 and 7 and stores most of my data files.

The weird part on this computer which is a 1.1 ghz Intel Celeron is that this problem completely inconsistant. If I could pinpoint what is going on when it happens, I could fix it...but it's just a friggin random thing. The last time it happened all I did was just open a new browser window, and there wasn't any Java on it. *shrugs.

Oh, well...I'll live with it. I do reboot on occaision anyway just to clear the system hooks. No biggy. Thanks.

Yeah i did have a pentium 2. That is like a child reading an adult book! I am happy with the PC I have now nothing like an upgrade. Windows 98se does have alot of quirks though. It is not that bad but it is just a hassle to me i am not that patient.

I'm reviving this question as it is still ongoing for me. I've become nearly convinced that this has something to do with J2RE. It has been at such random times that it's been hard to pinpoint.

Here's a rundown:

When this happens, I lose all system audio sounds (which I know are wave files). For example, like with IE, when you click a link, you'll hear the "click" sound. Another with ICQ I know all those sound files are wav files, and when this problem occurs, I have no more sound on ICQ.

Now if I try to play a CD, or run an mpg or something in Media Player, I get that sound just fine. I'm using a SoundMAX audio card and when this problem is happening, I can run the test feature there and it works fine.

Here's what just happened.
I had roughly four windows of IE open. I've had as many as 30 and still no problems. But earlier I visited the weather channel website. One of the pages was running a Java Applet, and I have IE set to use Sun's J2RE vs. M$'s Virtual Machine for Java.

So, that initiates J2RE. Now, the sound doesn't disappear immediately in most cases, and it didn't in this one either. In reviewing a link from another post, I was surprised to discover I had no sound from http://www.2advanced.com/flashindex.htm (which I normally don't have any problems with Flash audio). So I made an assumption that the audio there is a wav file. In addition, all my system audio had disappeared again.

Now, going into troubleshooting mode, I closed all open browser instances, which I know also closes J2RE, and closed ICQ -- so nothing is open. Restart IE -- and system audio is back. Go to 2advanced, and I can here their audio now.

Here's the kicker. That doesn't always work. In most cases I have to log off and log back in to restore system audio. And in extreme cases I sometimes have to do a full reboot (all though the log-off/ login is usually sufficient).

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Now, I'm pretty convinced if I switch back to VM, this problem will disappear, but I would prefer to solve this, because I like J2RE better.

Anyone know anything about any bugs with J2RE regarding this?

could it be some existing JS that is stored in your cache? Maybe if you removed that you would not have to reboot. If so that still does not solve the problem though

Well, here's the kicker. I just made the effort to make another careful observation again. I just lost audio again, just prior to reading your post (I think -- or immedieately afterward was when I noticed.). All I was doing prior, was I had three IE windows open and this time J2re was not active. The only thing I was doing that had to do with audio was viewing the 2advanced.com site and unflux.com site. Next thing I know system audio is gone again.

Close IE. Reopen. Audio is back.

It's so random I just can't put my finger on it. Didn't have to log off this time to get it back, just close and reopen IE.

If it is random like that, I would think that it would have to be a hardware problem, which is weird because you are playing cds and other media fine.

I know. That's what's frustrating me. It just seems to be system wav files that are affected.

Update. This just happened again, less than two minutes ago. J2RE was not active or enabled. I have 7 browser instances of IE open at the moment and two instances of ICQ Instant messages to two contacts, although at the moment my ICQ status is disconnected. However that doesn't stop the ad rotations in ICQ. I'm using ICQ 2003b and to the best of my knowledge there are no more current releases than what I have. I went to view a post at OZZU and all was well. I went to view another post and system audio was gone again. That was the only thing I did that changed *sighs.

The only things that happened was I went to view a different post at OZZU, and there is a possibility that the ad rotations changed on ICQ.

Closed everything, reopened IE -- no system audio.
Went to control panel sounds and multimedia. Tested all the wav files. No audio. Went to the soundmax panel and tested the audio -- it was working fine. Logged out (not reboot - just log out - log back in) - audio back to normal. It's just the system wav files that go belly-up on me.

I know it seems like I'm ranting about this, but I'm determined to solve it.

//Added notes. I've used this sound card in this computer for over a year with DOS 6.22, Win 3.1, Win 95, Win 98se, NT4, Win2k, NT Server, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 server and Redhat 8 operating systems and never had a problem with system audio.. The only thing that changed was a reformat and install of this Win2K OS. This is the same disk I used to install at work. Both machines have the identical service packs and windows updates, both run the same version of ICQ. I believe the sound cards are different, but I can't recall off the top of my head what the sound card is at work.