Problems with my sound card driver

[megabyte]

I recently updated my sound card driver CMI3738/C3DX PCI (C-media) and the update did not work out too well.

I had backed up the old version of this sound card driver and reverted back to it after the update did not work out. Now the system sounds work as normal but all software that used the driver once (i.e games and windows media player) freeze and stop responding when I try to start them up.

I tried reinstalling the driver about 20 times, I reinstalled several of the software that does not respond but no such luck. Windows recognizes the driver as working correctly but I guess the software does not.

ANY IDEAS? What should I do?

[megabyte]

Thanks for your help Brutus. I tried what you suggested but once again no such luck.

Thanks anyway

[Miz]

Check in Control Panel>Multimedia>Audio tab to see if the sound card is selected as the "Preferred Device" in all fields. If not, select it from the drop-down list and click OK to save any changes made.

There is spyware out there that will change the preferred device to the modem and that may be the underlying problem.

If that's not it, where did you download the new drivers? If you got them from the Windows update site, that might be the problem as well. See if you can find drivers on the manufacturer of the sound card's site and download them.

In addition, if you used a download manager when you got the drivers the first time, (or even if you didn't), it's possible the drivers got corrupted during the download. If you got them from somewhere other than the Windows update site, try downloading them again.

[megabyte]

Now that you mention it Miz, I did get it from the Windows Update site. I heard that there were some critical packages out there and when I updated to them, I downloaded the driver too.

That was the update I removed and then after I reverted back to the old backup (and it did not work on software) I tried 3-4 other drivers for that sound card which I got from driverguide.com. They did not work either as they gave me no sound at all. SO my best choice was the old backup as it gave me system sounds but did not work with software.

Also I should mention, C-media (Manufacturer of the Sound card) did not have the drivers or any updates.

By the way,
I did not use a download manager and I am running
Windows 98SE on this computer.

[Miz]

According to C-Media's site, they design and manufacture sound chips, not the sound cards themselves.

That means you need to find the manufacturer of the card, not the chip.

If the sound is integrated on the motherboard, we need to know either the make and model of your computer or the make and model of the motherboard.

If you don't know anymore than the C-media chip number you've already given us, download and run Everest or Belarc Advisor. Either one will give you the information we need to help find the correct drivers for the sound card.

Also, look in Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs to see if any of the sound card software is installed there. If so, uninstall it and then try reinstalling the old drivers.

[Miz]

Ahh...I thought the point of a help forum such as this was to get different ideas from different people who have different areas of expertise.

However, I will withdraw from this one.

I don't accept PMs or email because I want to keep it all on the board so others with the same or similar problems can benefit.

Since the help mega is getting is apparently being kept private, I had no way of knowing that I was intruding.

[Miz]

Originally posted by BRUTUS
This was established so that attachments where useable.
The results will be posted here and i'm sure Mega watches for other posts.I have the means now for sshot examples.
Just a way around "no attachments" not members advice.
We did want more input from you.
Since your so secret and private,good luck when you need help this way.

As I said, I don't accept PMs or email because I want to keep everything on the board so others with the same or similar problems can benefit.

It has nothing to do with being "secret" or "private." I accept messages from board moderators and administrators.

[megabyte]

Calm down everyone. I appreciate the help from all.

[Miz]

Don't worry, megabyte, I'm not upset. I was merely trying to explain to Brutus that keeping the troubleshooting steps and, hopefully, the final resolution to a problem, on the board will help other people with the same problem.

Did you ever get things fixed with your sound card?

[megabyte]

I am getting there, Miz. Brutus has been very helpful in helping me solve the problem.

Thanks for asking.

[Miz]

If Windows system sounds play but audio CDs do not, take a look here.

Test your speakers by plugging them into the headphone jack on your CD-ROM drive and playing a music CD. This bypasses the sound card.

Open the Multimedia utility in Control Panel (Start>Settings>Control Panel) and select the Audio tab. Make sure that your soundcard’s Playback device is selected in the Playback section.

Open the System utility in Control Panel and select the Device Manager tab. In Device Manager, open the Sound video and game controllers branch. Click on the name of your sound card to select it, then click on the Properties button. In the Sound Card Properties dialog box, select the General tab and verify that Disable in this hardware profile is not checked.

On the Start menu, point to Programs, Accessories, Entertainment, and then click Volume Control. In the Play Control window, click the Advanced button below the Play Control Volume slider. In the Advanced Options for Play Control window, if there is a check mark in front of Digital Output Only, then digital output is enabled. (Note: If there is no Advanced button underneath the Play Control Volume slider, click Options, and then click Advanced Controls.) If it's not checked, check it. If it's checked, uncheck it. If that doesn't fix things, go back and set it the way it was originally and try some sound again. Sometimes toggling things will set it right.

[megabyte]

Miz, thanks for the ideas.

Audio cds work fine. Playback device is selected. The device is not disabled in the playback section and there are no advanced controls in the volume control options at all. So I dont know about the advanced options.

Still the sound does not work. Any ideas?

[Miz]

Usually, the advanced controls aren't displayed by default, you have to click on Options (in the upper left hand corner) and then click on "Advanced Controls" to enable them.

Have you checked in Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices>Sounds tab to make sure there are sounds selected for various system events?

While you're in that window, click on some event in the upper pane, makes no difference which one, which activates the "Browse" button. Click it and it should open C:\Windows\Media where the system sounds are kept. If there are no wav files in that folder, we've located the source of the problem

If the Windows default sounds are in that folder, click on the Windows XP Startup.wav (its a long one so you'll have time to make sure the volume is up enough) and see if it plays.

[megabyte]

Maybe I should explain this a bit. The system sounds work fine but most games and windows media player do not work/play any sound files. Games and WM Player stop responding as soon as their icon is clicked upon.

Other media players I have play sound files but they and windows media player both give me an error saying "CM8338 card not detected" when attempting to play midi files even though I know the device needed is the CM8738 which I am using right now. After Brutus and I went through several tests on this issue the problem might narrow down to a midi problem within the device.

Also advanced controls is greyed out under options and windows detects the device and all its components as working properly.

[Miz]

Well, I can only tell you what I would do.

I would determine the exact manufacturer of the sound card. I would download their drivers.

Then I would boot into Safe Mode, go into Device Manager, double click on the sound card it thinks it has, then go to the Driver tab, find all the drivers listed under Details and rename them by substituting .old for the file extension (so you can find them later if you need to change them back). Finally, I would remove the sound card from Device manager.

Then I would boot into Normal mode, point the New Hardware Installation Wizard to the folder where I had the new drivers and see if things work as they should.