Realtek AC97 has no sound

[Chrisxs5]

I came back to my previous job to find my PC had been scavenged for parts. It is a bare bones system. Running XP, with 1.6 gig processor and now 1 gig memory. The speakers work, tested with my MP3 player. The sound did previously work, everything appeared to play fine, just no sound. Took note of the Drivers (Realtek AC97), downloaded and then unistalled all sound drivers. Reinstalled and everything appeared to be fine. When I went to ensure that Realek was the default device all my options are now grayed out.

Any ideas for me to try?

Note, I am on a domain and Everest will not run and my motherboard does not have a sticker on the visual side. Not interested in taking it out to look at the back side.

[musksnipe]

AC'97 is sometimes confused to use specifically Realtek drivers.
In truth AC'97 can use several audio codecs, depending on the manufacturer of the motherboard.
Without knowing the actual motherboard, it's hard to tell which codec you really need.

Does Device Manager> Sounds Video, And Game Controllers show the driver has installed properly? (NO question mark)
What shows in that list?

You can also find your motherboard ID with:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
or
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

[Chrisxs5]

Thank you for the cpuid, I had forgotten about that one.

The drivers were correct, I am now on my 4th sound card and the issue continues to be the same for each one. Everything appears to be fine but cannot select the default device to use. All options are grayed out, but no conflicts.

[musksnipe]

Have you checked to make sure that Windows Audio service is running?
Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services.
Make sure it is set to Automatic and that it is started.
You can right click the service and choose Properties to change the settings.

EDIT: Also make sure that your chipset drivers are installed first, then reinstall your audio, if starting the WIndows Audio service doesn't work

[Chrisxs5]

The services was the first thing I checked. I did go back and make sure all the dependencies were fine tho. I did re-install the chipset drivers and they are completely up to date now.

But still have the problem

[musksnipe]

Just to be sure that you have the right driver, would you post your Motherboard ID?

You said your PC was cannibalized. Is it possible that someone installed and removed an add-on card?
Check that your BIOS is set for onboard sound (enabled).

Is there a volume icon on your task bar?
If not greyed out: Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices:
On the Volume tab:
Make sure "Place volume icon on taskbar" is checked.
Click Advanced just below that. Make sure no Volumes are muted.
 

[Chrisxs5]

Mainboard General Information :   
Manufacturer :   Unspecified
Product :   P4M266A-8235
Version :   Unspecified
Serial Number :   Unspecified
Support MP :   Yes, 1 CPU(s)
Version MPS :   1.4

Chipset General Information :   
NorthBridge :   VIA P4M266 (VT8751)
SouthBridge :   VT8235 PCI to ISA Bridge

 NorthBridge Information :   
Architecture :   Northbridge
Manufacturer :   VIA (Elitegroup Computer Sys)
Revision :   00
Bus Speed :   99.8 MHz
FSB Frequency :   399.3 MHz (QDR)
V-Link Bus Width :   8-bit
V-LinkRate Speed :   8x
V-Link Host Clock :   66.97 MHz
V-Link Speed :   535.76 MHz
V-Link Bandwidth :   4286.08 MB/s
AutoDisconnect :   Yes
DownStream Priority High :   No
UpStream Priority High :   No

And I do not have the volume icon in the tray, the box is unchecked and the option is currently disabled (grayed out)

[musksnipe]

We might have got to the right drivers.
Your board has VIA chipsets, which mostly use VIA audio.
I think you should uninstall the Realtek driver.
(As I said before, AC'97 gets confused a lot to be Realtek and that is not always the case.)
Try a reinstall of your chipset drivers: (the 4 in 1 driver)
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1070
Then install this VIA audio driver:
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1010&SubCatID=105

[Chrisxs5]

OK, that did appear to work either. BUt I can see now under the Audio Controller Properties it says

Status: Driver is enabled but has not yet started

 

[street1 (RIP)]

Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio.

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/OTHER-SOUNDCARDS/Microsoft-UAA-Bus-Driver-for-High-Definition-Audio.shtml

[musksnipe]

I may be wrong but I don't believe that AC'97 is HD audio.
Try uninstalling all your drivers in Audio, Video, and Game Controllers, except for the Legacy drivers.
Then shut down and reboot.
They should all reinstall. that will should also resolve any IRQ conflicts if there are any.

[therat83]

dude im having the same problem...realtek ac97 must be a faulty driver or something cuz ive been searching forums accross the internet the last couple days and alot of people are having the same problem...it worked fine before but when i installed update to realtek driver sound starts for a secound and then stopps...its weird. i never had a problem likt this one ive tried downloading previous drivers and now they dont work eather. when i start my computer it tells me there are incapatable sound drivers installed and i uninstalled them and reinstalled them and others and still no resalts. i did have windows xp orignaly but i thought an upgrade wouldent hurt so i installed vista basic. it worked for about 2 weeks then when update came everything with sound stopped working and the videos i watch skipp now and they never did that before...im very confused!

[smeezekitty]

did you make sure you have the latest driver
also taking parts out of somones computer makes them
an @$$

[therat83]

yes ive reinstalled all drives and there all upto data...i dont know why. i took the computer apart and the sound card is built in to the mother board i guess...but it worked before i installed this realtek ac97

[Sesko]

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=23&PFid=23&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#AC

Hope this helps