NO SOUND!

I have not had sound since late November. I'm running Windows XP SP2 and I believe the problem started when I downloaded SP2. Some undefined time after I would start up my computer, my sound would just stop. When I would check the Device Manager, it would show Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer with a yellow exclamation point over it. So, I would uninstall it, reboot my computer, and have sound again. A little while later, sound would disappear. I got so sick of doing this every time that I just disabled Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer and rebooted my computer. When I went back into Device Manager to enable it, it was GONE! Now I can't hear ANY sounds-not even the Windows start-up sound. My computer won't even register that I have an audio device. I have tried everything from getting a new sound card to updating my sound card drivers and editing the registry. Still no sound. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to get sound back on my computer? I really don't want to have it fixed at a computer place where they'll charge me hundreds of dollars!

I so far havent heard of SP2 creating any problems with sound, so I doubt that has anything to do with anything.

Question, were you using onboard sound or a sound card before? If the computer was with onboard sound and you removed it from your hardware list, you need to get the CD that came with the motherboard that has the setup files for activating your onboard sound again (probably downloadable from their website).

Whats the status of your computer now? Do you have a new sound card or what exactly?

I was using my onboard sound, Realtek AC'97, when my sound disappeared. I bought a new sound card (and promptly returned it) to see if I could get sound using that, but I couldn't. Now I'm back to my original onboard sound. The only thing I disabled was Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer. I have a Compaq computer, which means that it didn't come with CD's to install things such as Windows XP and my onboard sound. I've tried fiddling around in BIOS, merging a file into the registry, basically everything I could think of to try to get my sound back. Oh, and I've also tried reinstalling my onboard sound. It's the darn Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer that's the problem! Any suggestions?

When the icon has the yellow exclamation point over it, right click on it, propertys, and see what error code it is giving you.

I had done that, and I believe it gave me error code 3. However, Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer does NOT appear in the Device Manager anymore.

Try downloading this driver and installing it:

http://drivers.soft32.com/driver/downlo ... 24553.html

Then go to add remove hardware and use the wizard to look for new hardware devices

I tried it, but the site wouldn't bring up anything to download.

ftp://152.104.125.40/pc/ac97/alc650/wdm_a356.exe

Really stupid question, have you tried going to Add New Hardware to see if the AC '97 option has been disabled? Or manually try and add the new hardware again?

Sorry about that -- I didn't actually try the download link.

Basically search for a Realtek AC97 driver and install it. Then do the search for new hardware and let it detect your audio devices again. Hopefully that will put you back in business.

You might want to see if Windows Update detects the driver you need for it. That's how I've gotten it in the past.

Good Mirror:

http://members.driverguide.com/director ... b9709e2be3


If it asks,
Username: drivers
Password: all

OK, guys. I've tried installing new drivers for my onboard sound, but I still don't have any sound. I don't believe it's the drivers for it that's the problem because I can play MIDI's but not anything associated with Wave files (because I need my Wave Mixer to work.) When I open Winamp, for example, it won't even play a song. It's not that the song is playing and I just can't hear it; it actually give me an error message:

"Bad DirectSound driver. Please install proper drivers or seelct another device in configuration. Error Code: 88780032"

I should also mention that the Sound and Audio Devices in the Control Panel says "No Audio Device" and everything is greyed out under Device volume and Speaker settings. It also shows that I have no playback device. I'm using the most recent DirectX version and all of my onboard sound drivers have been updated. I'm getting really frustrated with not having Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer show up in the Device Manager. All I want to do is enable it and get sound back-it's been a quiet 4 months!

Thank you so much for trying to help me solve this. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I didn't mean to discourage anyone with my last post...

I'm just currently out of ideas. Not discouraged. Hopefully you'll get your answer here.

I'll need a second opinion on this suggestion as I'm not sure if it may help or hinder the problem. Would it make any sense to clear and reset the CMOS? I'm just assuming since its onboard sound it should have *some* effect on bringing the default sound back to life. This is just thinking out loud, so someone please chime in on that thought!