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General discussion

Troubleshoot PCI 128 Creative Soundblaster

Mar 10, 2004 7:41AM PST

P-III, Celeron 1ghz, 512 sdram, WD 60g hdd, Win XP Pro, NAV Corporate, Zone Alarm Pro. (No virus or parasites)

Problem: No sound.

Actions taken:

1. Power off to check connections.
2. Reboot, hangs after loading Windows XP, just before desktop comes up. Black screen with cursor frozen in center.
3. Power off, remove sound card (Creative PCI SB12Cool
4. Power on, computer boots normally.
5. Uninstalled drivers in Device Mgr.
6. Reinstalled drivers from Mfg. CD.
7. Placed the card back in the computer.
8. Reboot,same result, black screen with frozen cursor.
Question: Even if the pci sound card is defective, shouldn't the computer boot normally?
All posts appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Re:Troubleshoot PCI 128 Creative Soundblaster
Mar 10, 2004 8:43AM PST

Try another slot, then another card or that card in another machine.

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Re:Re: Found the problem.
Mar 10, 2004 2:40PM PST

Thanks, Michael, I took your suggestion, and after the third try in another slot, the computer booted and I was able to install the software.
Looks like a bad PCI slot. I didn't realize a bad pci slot would stop the computer from booting normally. Lesson learned.
Thanks, again to all.

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Re:Troubleshoot PCI 128 Creative Soundblaster
Mar 10, 2004 8:57AM PST

After installing card, you booted up and no problems? Correct? No errors? New install?

THEN, after installing the drivers, things went south?
XP had no issues with the driver install? No warnings?
Try the creative websites newest drivers.

Card by itself, OK? (before driver install)

Different pci slot might help.

What originally caused sound to stop, an update?
Some other new program added? A guess since no info on wether new install of sound card.

Leon Wisnensky

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Re:Re:Not a new install
Mar 10, 2004 9:09AM PST

This isn't a new install. The card is approximately 2-3 yrs. old.
The computer boots normally only after removing the sound card.

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Re:Troubleshoot PCI 128 Creative Soundblaster
Mar 10, 2004 9:01AM PST

If a new installation and old sound was onboard or another card be sure and remove those devices and if old was onboard disable in BIOS. Sounds as if the card is bad though and may be generating continuous interrupts or hanging the PCI bus.

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Re:Re:Not a new install
Mar 10, 2004 9:20AM PST

This is a three year old computer, which was working great yesterday. Nothing new installed. When I booted it today, there was no sound.
I have tried an alternate pci slot, with the same results.
I intend to replace the card, if necessary, but would like to troubleshoot before replacement.
The problem is that I can't troubleshoot the card unless it is installed.
If I install the card the computer will not boot.
Any ideas why the computer won't boot normally?
It seems that it should, even if the card is defective.
Thanks to all

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Re:Re:Re:Not a new install
Mar 10, 2004 3:39PM PST

Hi;
sounds like a driver or posible irq conflict. but could also be a bad sound card. usualy a bad sound card would not keep you from booting. just wouldn't detect or install drivers.

first I would remove card, then boot.go to device manager,make sure every thing to do with the sound card is removed. go to add remove programs uninstall all drivers for sound card. just to make sure go to my computer < C: < windows < system 32 < drivers, and remove any drivers related to your sound card. then shut down

Now install sound card, make sure you have a reliable driver handy for your opperateing system. boot up, the computer should boot and find new hardware. depending on operating system it may install a driver for you. if not either put disk in or point to the driver on your hard drive.

tip; always use the PCI slot furthest from the video card for sound. or atleast not the first one. remember some pci slots share irq's, even with the AGP slot. usualy AGP with 1st pci, 2nd with 3rd etc... sound and video usualy do not share well. check your manual for shared irq slots.

if this doesn't work I have other ideas.

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"If I install the card the computer will not boot."
Mar 10, 2004 8:29PM PST

That is, in itself the sign. Some won't take it as such and continue down the onramp into oncoming traffic...

The sign is simple.

1. The card is dead. Try it in another machine. Look for the other machine not booting.

2. If the card is not dead, then the suspects are:
a. The motherboard has developed a fault.
b. The power supply may have developed a fault.

It doesn't matter it worked yesterday. Today, the hall light is burnt out and if the bulb doesn't work elsewhere, you get a bulb that works elsewhere and put it in the hall lamp.

Got it?

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Re: Found the problem
Mar 10, 2004 11:18PM PST

Thanks, Michael, and all who posted. I took your suggestion, and after the third try in another slot, the computer booted and I was able to install the software.
Looks like a bad PCI slot. I didn't realize a bad pci slot would stop the computer from booting normally. Lesson learned.
Thanks, again to all.

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similar problem
Mar 13, 2004 2:31PM PST

not sure if this applies but a year ago I had a similar problem, I had bought a new MSI board for an AMD chip and installed win2000-- but my soundblaster card PCI 128 wouldn't work. turned out those older soundblaster cards had something going on with assigning irq's that was fine in win 98 but in win 2000 they started to get confused. There was a fix-- of re-installing windows (now memory is really fuzzy) as virtual (?) machine (??) instead of ACPI (or something like that-- anyway, at that point I decided to get a newer sound card, which i am very happy with-- can do soundfonts etc. --fj


AMD - board eiug