Scratchy audio and strange driver malfunction

[pmheideman]

Yesterday morning I woke up to discover that my computer's audio suddenly possessed a strange scratchy sound.  I leave my computer on  24/7 and had watched a movie on it the night before, so the distortion came as some surprise to me.  The distortion is definitely coming from the computer itself, as it remains even when I change the speakers.  I'm pretty sure it's not a problem of codecs, because I installed new codecs and the distortion didn't change, and furthermore it's present in every sound the computer plays, from the chimes that accompany Windows XP opening to the sound from internet video like youtube and it's even present in in-game audio on Dawn of War.  This seems to indicate that it's a problem with the card itself (I have SigmaTel integrated card).  It's not a problem with the port, as the scratch is present on both the inputs in the back and the headphone input in front.  I tried reinstalling the drivers, and here is where the really weird part starts.  I went to Dell's website and put in my serial number and it came up with my system specs and the original drivers for all my hardware.  When I downloaded the audio driver and tried to install it, it gave me an error message and said that "this is not the correct audio driver for this system."

Right now I'm ready to buy a new soundblaster USB card, but I thought I might as well check and see if anyone could save me 60 bucks with any suggestions of how to fix things.

[xavier]

If you have a on board sound [you should] i would uninstall your present card and try using the on board as a test

[pmheideman]

As I understand it, onboard sound is what I'm currently using.

[Broni]

You're not alone with that problem: See Here...
See also here: http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=1965 about one of Windows updates, which pushes incorrect driver.

[pmheideman]

Neither of the drivers linked to in that article install properly.  I get the same error message

[Broni]

Download, and install Everest: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
Open it, click Computer, then Summary.
In upper menu, go Report>Quick Report-Summary
Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.
Don't include anything under line Debug - PCI

[pmheideman]

--------[ EVEREST Home Edition (c) 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

    Version                                           EVEREST v2.20.405
    Homepage                                          http://www.lavalys.com/
    Report Type                                       Quick Report
    Computer                                          D9QHJF91
    Generator                                         Paul
    Operating System                                  Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
    Date                                              2008-11-05
    Time                                              08:26


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Computer:
      Operating System                                  Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
      OS Service Pack                                   Service Pack 3
      DirectX                                           4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
      Computer Name                                     D9QHJF91
      User Name                                         Paul

    Motherboard:
      CPU Type                                          Intel Pentium 4 630, 3033 MHz (15 x 202)
      Motherboard Name                                  Dell Dell DM051
      Motherboard Chipset                               Intel Lakeport-G i945G
      System Memory                                     512 MB  (DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM)
      BIOS Type                                         Phoenix (10/13/05)

    Display:
      Video Adapter                                     NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT  (256 MB)
      Monitor                                           Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB]  (M1P8470R00531)

    Multimedia:
      Audio Adapter                                     Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio Controller [A-1]

    Storage:
      IDE Controller                                    Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF
      IDE Controller                                    Intel(R) 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C0
      SCSI/RAID Controller                              SCSI/RAID Host Controller
      Disk Drive                                        WDC WD800JD-75MSA1  (74 GB, IDE)
      Disk Drive                                        ST350082 0AS USB Device  (465 GB, USB)
      Optical Drive                                     HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GWA4164B
      SMART Hard Disks Status                           OK

    Partitions:
      C: (NTFS)                                         71468 MB (15876 MB free)
      F: (FAT32)                                        476821 MB (221483 MB free)
      Total Size                                        535.4 GB (231.8 GB free)

    Input:
      Keyboard                                          HID Keyboard Device
      Mouse                                             HID-compliant mouse

    Network:
      Network Adapter                                   Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection  (67.80.136.19)
      Modem                                             Intel(R) 537EP V9x DF PCI Modem

    Peripherals:
      Printer                                           Fax
      Printer                                           hp psc 1310 series
      USB1 Controller                                   Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
      USB1 Controller                                   Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
      USB1 Controller                                   Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
      USB1 Controller                                   Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
      USB2 Controller                                   Intel 82801GB ICH7 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [A-1]
      USB Device                                        USB Human Interface Device
      USB Device                                        USB Human Interface Device
      USB Device                                        USB Mass Storage Device

[pmheideman]

So I searched this "Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio Controller [A-1]" which brought me here http://cr.am/framed.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownloadcenter.intel.com%2Ffilter_results.aspx%3FstrTypes%3Dall%26ProductID%3D2068%26OSFullName%3DWindows*%2BXP%2BProfessional%26lang%3Deng%26strOSs%3D44%26submit%3DGo%2521&ref=driverguide

So i downloaded that driver, installed it, and got to the end before I got an error that said "_Exiterror:error=device object not present, restart the system and run setup again."  In the course of installing, I got a "found new hardware" popup that said it found my HD Audio Hub.  So I restarted, and the new hardware popup came again on restart.  I opened Itunes, and my sound seems to work fine now.  However, I tried running that driver install again, and got the same message telling me to restart.  I'm tempted to leave it as it is for now, but any advice?

[Broni]

Try Intel site: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx, #7

[pmheideman]

That driver worked.  Thanks a bunch for the help.

[Broni]

Yes!!