Sound card replacement

[joycrusher]

hi,

my computer (an acer aspire 5100 laptop running on vista) currently does not have a working sound card. it was damaged by the great coffee spill of 2008 and i didn't have the funds to replace when i initially had it looked at. i still don't have the money to buy a new one, honestly, but i need sound for school reasons and am trying to figure out what affordable options are out there.

i have looked into various external sound cards and adapters but i am not sure if these would actually produce sound or if they are mostly used to enhance existing sound systems. i have also considered buying a new card and installing it myself (quite a frightening idea but i am a decent learner) but i am clueless as to what i should be looking for.

any suggestions or information on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

[BC_Programmer]

hmm, actually, I find it strange that a coffee spill would be able to damage the sound circuitry in your PC but leave everything else untouched. Is it possible that something else may be causing it to not function? Say, broken speakers and/or missing drivers?


External Sound cards do NOT require a working sound system- they are, in fact, their very own sound system. the "sound blaster Extigy" for example. The main disadvantages of an external sound system are cost, and of course the fact that it's yet another device to maneuver about your desktop


An Internal Sound card, which you also are considering, is both cheaper and more space-saving- not to mention often more powerful then an external solution. And aside from the removal/replacement of the case, It's actually quite easy .

Scratch the above- laptop sound circuitry is built in and cannot be replaced.


If your willing though it would be prudent to investigate the current sound system, as I previously said it seems odd that a coffee spill, or any sort of accident could cause damage localized only to the sound card, without damaging other components- my personal suspicion may be that the drivers are not installed or another configuration issue.

[Kurtiskain]

I agree with BC here, A missing driver seems to be what's causing the issue here.

Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Device Manager.

Once in there, are there and devices with a yellow triangle or red X on top of any hardware icon?

Is it possible just the internal speakers are damaged only? Can you plug headphones/speakers into the laptop to get sound?

Otherwise, if you are quite sure there is no way you can get sound out of it, there are some cheaper USB sound cards out there for the general home user. most of them just provide a speaker out, and mic in, and are about the same size as a largeish flash drive.

[joycrusher]

I was convinced that it was just a driver issue as well at first. Something similar had happened in the past when I installed a Vista update. But it just kept telling me that the driver was fine. Then, a couple days after I noticed the sound was not working, I began hearing an alien-esque noise coming from the speakers. That's when I brought it to someone. Thinking maybe it was the speakers (even though headphones and external speakers weren't working either...I was hopeful..) After having it for over 2 weeks, he called to tell me that he had taken the machine apart and discovered corrosion on one tiiiiny wire or soldered area in the sound card itself. He said he would not be able to fix it, unless I paid him $250 to install a new card. But you're saying that's impossible? Hm...ha..

When I go to the device manager it tells me that my sound system is functioning properly and that my driver is all nice and up to date. There are no red x's or yellow triangles. I also do not get any sound whatsoever when I plug in speakers or headphones.

Thanks for info on the external stuff though. I have a whole 30 bucks to my name (WOO!). Hopefully I'll be able to pick up at least a little noise for it. 

[BC_Programmer]

He said he would not be able to fix it, unless I paid him $250 to install a new card.

That doesn't make any sense- the sound circuitry in a laptop is built-in, not on a separate card, so I'm not sure if he's trying to pull a fast one or what.

try downloading Everest Home, run it, save the report, and attach/post in your next reply (up to Debug - PCI).

I've always found laptop sound to be mostly reliable, but when it decides to quit working, it's a huge pain to get the proper driver. Same for motherboard audio.

However, at the same time since it's integrated with the motherboard the drivers are often integrated with the chipset drivers, too- that is, the "Standard" driver you might find when searching google might load, but not be able to output sound (as is your situation). I'm purely hypothesizing here, however. But you've nothing to lose but time, and can possibly get sound back, so unless your short of time I think it's worth a shot. 

[Karnac]

Have a look in services and see if Windows Audio is enabled.

In the Run box type services.msc....make sure Windows Audio status is listed as started.

[BC_Programmer]

Have a look in services and see if Windows Audio is enabled.

In the Run box type services.msc....make sure Windows Audio status is listed as started.

Excellent! I've forgotten all about that, had the same problem with my audigy... simply refused to play sound... everything seemed find, driver was installed and working...

Found out windows audio service had been disabled....

[joycrusher]

Have a look in services and see if Windows Audio is enabled.

In the Run box type services.msc....make sure Windows Audio status is listed as started.

windows audio is listed and started. 

That doesn't make any sense- the sound circuitry in a laptop is built-in, not on a separate card, so I'm not sure if he's trying to pull a fast one or what.

try downloading Everest Home, run it, save the report, and attach/post in your next reply (up to Debug - PCI).

i have never used that before, so if i did it wrong, let me know. i attached the report it generated to this post... i have no idea what most of it means. honestly, i'm not sure i know what any of it means. nothing like a nice long report of gobbledygook to remind you that you are inadequate in the world of gobbledygook. 

thanks so much for the continued help.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[BC_Programmer]

hey don't worry, a lot of it is gibberish to me, to. I'm just really good at pretending. 


anyway- it lists your soundcard:

Multimedia:
      Audio Adapter                                     High Definition Audio Controller [NoDB]

This is the name that it uses when it doesn't have a proper driver- normally, for a laptop, it lists the manufacturer- my PC for example lists the motherboard audio as "realtek high definition audio device"


According to the Acer site, the Aspire 5100 has realtek audio too. Not sure if you got the driver off the site, but this is it:

http://www.acer.ca/acer/service.do?LanguageISOCtxParam=en&miu10einu24.current.attN2B2F2EEF=3751&sp=page15e&ctx2.c2att1=27&miu10ekcond13.attN2B2F2EEF=3751&CountryISOCtxParam=CA&ctx1.att21k=1&CRC=719687231


follow the boxes prompts, notebook, aspire, 5100, etc.
the first entry is the Sound Driver, give that a try.

[patio]

$30 Bucks will get you a decent new sound card...i'D stay away from eBay though.

[BC_Programmer]

$30 Bucks will get you a decent new sound card...i'D stay away from eBay though.

I'd say the same, but this is a laptop.

[patio]

Whoooops.....where's the door ? ?

[Quantos]

$30 Bucks will get you a decent new sound card...i'D stay away from eBay though.

What does a USB audio system cost?

[joycrusher]

http://www.acer.ca/acer/service.do?LanguageISOCtxParam=en&miu10einu24.current.attN2B2F2EEF=3751&sp=page15e&ctx2.c2att1=27&miu10ekcond13.attN2B2F2EEF=3751&CountryISOCtxParam=CA&ctx1.att21k=1&CRC=719687231

i have no idea how or why, but that worked. the built in speakers were clearly the problem, not the sound card itself (the guy who looked at it was obviously a real genius nice guy). i have no idea why installing the same driver before never worked before. i must have been wishing harder this time. or i got it wrong the first few times... eh. we'll just pretend it was a miracle. so thank you! you're magical! :]

[BC_Programmer]

Excellent! Must have  been an issue with the sound driver or something of that sort, I'm not sure what the tech was trying to pull but I doubt they even took it apart. Saved you your 30 dollars, anyway!