New Sound Problem - No Audio Device / Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator

[JeremyI]

Hello everyone,

I just installed Service Pack 2 for Windows XP a few weeks ago and have been without sound ever since. The Sounds and Audio Devices Properties says "No Audio Device".

Although I learned about the workaround involving copying machine.inf to another location, removing the "ExcludeFromSelect=*" line, and loading the driver using this modified file, it doesn't work in my case. Every time I try it, the Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator reverts to being disabled.

When the Add Hardware Wizard is through, I get the message:

----- "The software for this device is now installed, but may not work correctly."

----- "This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)"

I also get a Code 31 error in the properties for the enumerator. Can anyone help, please? Thanks.

Specs:
HP Pavilion 734n
AMD Athlon 2400+
1.5 Gb RAM
80 Gb hard drive
WinXP SP2
Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller

[wilson]

Hey There

I recently formated and reinstalled windows XP. Everything was fine untill I installed service pack 2. It corrupted, (or did something bad) to the "Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator" in the System Devices. Thus, windows can no longer detect my sound blaster and I have no sound. I have a code 31 which says the "drivers for this device could not be loaded"

I know the problem is not with the sound card or the sound card drivers becasue the sound card was working fine before AND after I installed the sound card drivers. It only became a problem after installing service pack 2.

In addition, I uninstalled and reinstalled the system device "Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator" and the problem remained.

If ANYONE knows what this problem is or how to fix it please let me know.


SYSTEM:
Dell workstation
1G PIII
640 memory
Cd/Dvd drive
Dvd burner
Soundblaster live!
2 external firewire hard drives as well.

All the best
Wilson

[warlocke]

have you tried to reinstall the sound card drivers after you upgraded to sp2? from what i understand this is a common issue with alot of addon cards, i my self had this issue with my video card lol and simple reinstall of the driver fixed

[JeremyI]

At last!

Below is a link to the solution that finally worked for me when I was dealing with the "No Audio Device" issue (I had a Code 31 error "Windows cannot load the drivers" even after re-installing the Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator).

The first time I tried it I was unsuccessful and I don't know where the hangup was. The second time everything worked perfectly! So, just a few things I'd recommend keeping in mind:

- Do back up the files that it says to delete, and create a restore point before beginning the registry editing steps.
- Search all components of the registry--keys, values, data--and remember to highlight "My Computer" so that the entire registry is searched. Repeatedly choose "Find Next" until no more hits come up.
- When I began the sequence of reinstalling the Enumerator, the Add Hardware Wizard automatically detected and re-installed my sound driver. I uninstalled the sound driver again (after the Enumerator was installed and before restarting), just in case.
- I don't think there is literally a string "PnP software enumerator" anywhere in the registry. Try "enumerator", although I do not think this part is necessary.

Wilson, it does sound like you have the very same variant on this common problem that I did. Warlocke, this one is much more complicated than just needing to reinstall the sound card drivers--for those suffering this problem, the drivers are there, working correctly and activated, no problems reported. It's just that Windows does not recognize them and reports "No Audio Device" in the Control Panel under Sounds and Audio Devices Properties.

Good luck!

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1106055897?s

[upslims]

I was RIPPINNG my hair out trying to solve this problem. I am not computer savvy enough to start screwing around with the registry but I called microsoft and they had the solution. The tech I dealt with never heard of the problem but had me do this...
1. go to support.microsoft.com and download the service pack 2 for IT professionals and programmers (once at the site you will see "search microsoft.com for ...) and search for service pack 2. Using IE it will be the 3rd search result that pops up.
2. save it do your desktop
3. uninstall all your anti-virus (norton, zone alarm...) security programs
4. reboot and get into safe mode (hold F8 during restart)
5. install from safemode and voila!

I hope this helps because I was going nuts trying to fix this. Oh, if this doesn't work call microsoft tech support at 888-346-5229. I told the guy the problem and he said since it was their software affecting their software the I would even get remote assistance for free. Good luck.

[upslims]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that you have to do a fresh reformat. I noticed that when you have just windows sp1(w/o service pack 2 on yet) that the plug and play enumerator is there. so that is when you go to the website and follow the steps above. so if your enumerator is missing or corrupt start fresh. Hope this helps.