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General discussion

Sound Card Driver Problem!

by Lauren Belle Jul 9, 2007 10:14PM PDT

i re-installed windows xp home on my computer cos the folders were all over the place and it was very slow. as i bought it from someone who nows lives interstate i have no disks for the motherboard or anything like that.
my problem is that when i reinstalled it all my drivers went missing/were wiped. i managed to find the graphics card driver from intel and now that works fine but ive been working on the sound card driver for days and i cant make it work.

basically if i open control panel > system > hardware > device manager there is a yellow question mark next to Multimedia Audio Controller. i have tried running dxdiag and i cant find out what brand/make my sound card is but seeing as the graphics card was inbuilt with the motherboard i assume the sound card is too.

as i understand it from trawling the net, i have to install the driver for my motherboard. problem is, i cant seem to find my mobo type anywhere on the Intel site and their damn motherboard identifier tool page wont even open for me. from rebooting my system, this is the information i can gather:
Chipset: Intel 845GE
AGPSet BIOS 8GEM667K F2
ST340014A

i have tried downloading and installing a similar motherboard audio driver (AC '97 ADI) and also an Intel Corp ADI SoundMAX Audio Driver. The first one, once unzipped, shows a exe file but once its run it says 'Cant find driver. Reboot system and try again' (which ive done, numerous times!) the second one will look like its going to work and at the last minute it does that same thing and the installation cancels. I have also tried going into device manager and updating the driver with the update hardware wizard, manually selecting the folders i saved those two downloads in but that doesnt seem to recognise them and the autosearch thingo cant find any suitable drivers.

please help me, im going crazy!

Discussion is locked

8 Posts
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Here's all the motherboards with that chipset on them.
by James Denison Jul 9, 2007 10:33PM PDT

You can look at these and see if you can find yours.
http://mbsg.intel.com/mbsg/compare.aspx?orgID=0&aryAttrID=88
You can open the computer if you are able and look inside to see what chip is on the motherboard. The sound system is separate chip from the 945ge controller and graphic chip.
You can look at those who manufactured the various intel boards and see what sound chips they each use on their Pentium boards. That will give you the choices. If you wanted more then you'd need to look on the motherboard and find some identifier and run it through Intel site to try and find the driver files for it.

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audio is integrated on that chip.,
by James Denison Jul 9, 2007 10:48PM PDT
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no audio download
by Lauren Belle Jul 9, 2007 10:59PM PDT

thankyou james but i dont see an audio driver download anywhere on that list, unless its called something different and i havent noticed it?
i was on that intel site for hours tonight and thats where i downloaded an audio driver for a similar motherboard type that didnt work. elsewhere on the site it says that intel no longer have their latest audio driver for public download cos there were so many versions.

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Windows sound system
by James Denison Jul 9, 2007 10:36PM PDT

Go to Add/Remove programs icon in Control Panel and make sure you have loaded the windows sound system. You can have the correct sound driver files and unless windows sound system is also loaded you won't have sound.

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windows sound system?
by Lauren Belle Jul 9, 2007 10:54PM PDT

thanks, i think i have found the motherboard manufacturer and im currently downloading the audio driver form their site. looks like it might take a while so i wanted to check the windows sound system while i wait but im not sure what you mean. in add/remove programs there is nothing called windows sound system. only the few programs ive installed since i rebooted windows (flash, msn, etc)

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Go to the Setup section
by James Denison Jul 9, 2007 11:10PM PDT

There you can see what windows system programs you have loaded. Probably in a section called Multimedia. If you don't see those checked, then do so and Windows will load them.

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PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
by Lauren Belle Jul 9, 2007 11:59PM PDT

the first link was the best one, i found the motherboard manufacturer and downloaded their audio driver. it took about an hour to download and the sound is fairly tinny but it installed easily and it works. thanks for your help!

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(NT) Glad to hear it!
by James Denison Jul 10, 2007 12:05AM PDT
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