RealtekAC'97 and sound card not working

[rivrbyte]

WinXP PRO/32bit/P35 Platinum with Realtek sound card onboard.


I knew this would be an all day thing, but never would I be this frustrated in trying to get my sound back after reformatting the HD. After in stalling the OS (WinXp 32 PRO) I inserted the MSI utility and drivers CD and FIRST installed the Realtek ALC888/888T codec. Re-booted, I then went to Control panel, Sounds and audio devices, but under voice and audio, there was no Voice or sound playback.

So I ventured over to Device manager and under OTHER DEVICES, and next to "PCI Simple Communications controller", had a yellow exclamation next to it, then down the list under "System Devices", there was yet another yellow exclamation point. No yellow signs next to Sounds. The speakers are plugged in right. When I try to play a song in Winamp,"No sound devices found, buy a sound card or install proper drivers"

This MSI P35 Platinum has a 2-channel to 7.1 Realtek sound card onboard already.

I went into add/remove programs to look around and noticed a program "Microsoft High Definition audio package K8888111", I also saw listed, the "Realtek AC'97 Audio" and "Realtek High definition Audio Driver."

I deleted all reference of these Realtek everything, rebooted, and went to MSI's website and the only download was the High Definition Audio driver which I downloaded again. But to no avail. Never had this much problem with a sound card.

I thought maybe that Microsoft audio package might be the culprit, but it warned me that several apps will not work with out it.

Thanks alot. Happy New Year! :-)

[Shinma]

Suggest using current drivers listed at the MSI website rather than those shipped with the CD.

Typical installation order:
Operating system, Service Pack (if not already slipstreamed), Hotfixes, Chipset drivers, VGA drivers, LAN, Audio...

[photolady]

Install the chipset drivers will cure the "PCI Simple Communication controller" problem.

[rivrbyte]

Thanks,

Shinma and Photolady,

I do not have SP3 just the sp2. So maybe I never had the HD, which I had thought, but sounded pretty good without it. When I upgrade to Windows7, I'll get the HD then, but seriously for now, I just have the two channels. Maybe my problem is I downloaded something I never could use and that is creating a conflict, which was the Realtek High Definition audio.

Thanks! btw...excuse me what is slipstreamed? is is SP3?

So all I need is the chipset drivers off the CD and AC 97' audio codecs from the MSI site to get this to work again?
thanks again

[photolady]

I would get the drivers from MSI because the drivers on the cd are usually older than what's on the net.

Slipstreaming is putting the os and any SP on one dvd in order to install both at the same time. Plus if you ever need to repair the OS, it will usually tell you you have the wrong disk if you've installed the SP after you installed the from the original disk.

I use AutoStreamer to do this.

[rivrbyte]

After installing windows XP, when I inserted the MSI Drivers and Utility CD, this is what I installed.
1) INTEL INF UPDATE
2) REALTEK NETWORK ETHERNET DRIVER
3) BROWSE CD, under Drivers> sound> REALTEK AC'97
4) REALTEK HD AUDIO DRIVER (2.3)
I rebooted each time it instructed me. Went back to Control Panel,>Sounds,and still, no sound card installed, nothing in VOICE or SOUND,VOICE.
__________________________________________________________________

Yes I did install the INTEL INF Update chipset utility,once from the CD, and another from live update4 online. I still have those two yellow bangs,Pci simple controller, and Other devices.

I went to the MSI website, and saw this information for the MSI P35 Platinum Socket 775 P-4 Motherboard under
AUDIO -
Audio Chipset integrated by Realtek ALC888 /ALC888L
Flexible 8 channel

I inserted the MSI CD and looked at the following lists:
Sound:
Adi,C-media, Realtek,and Sigmatel
REALTEK:
5391,ALCxxx,HD,and Linux
UTILITY:
Adobe,AMI,Award,MSI,Winbond, and Yahoo

Here is that MSI link to my motherboard>
http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=pro...=&prod_no=1212

In Add/Remove programs, There is a microsoft KB888111 HD Audio driver listed. I guess that's part of the system and shouldn't mess with that.
I contacted Realtek support and they want to know the model name of audio chip in my system.They said,
"You can try to read the model number of audio chip on your motherboard.
The model number starts with "ALC" and followed by a number.(e.g. ALC 650)"

I thought the model name is REALTEK and the Integrated Audio chip is CODEC Chip integrated by Realtek® ALC888/ALC888T....is this correct? I wonder why he did not read my message, unless he's looking for another number. This chip has to be installed first, then the Realtek HD Audio Driver. (according to the manual)

Chip integrated by Realtek® ALC888/ALC888T

Is it ok to keep reinstalling over the INF and realtek HD audio files? I'm almost certain this is a easy fix, but can't find it. I'd like to start over again going down the correct install order,but without reinstalling my OS, apps, and software again. Thank you!

[rivrbyte]

I would LOVE to thank all of you who chimed in to help me resolve this issue..Much appreciated!


MSI P35 Platinum / WinXP PRO 32 SP2/ Intel Quad 6600 Core2/ PC6400- 3.3GBDDR / NVidia GeForce 8600GT PCI-E /REALTEK HD AUDIO onboard sound.

************************************
If anyone has suffered what I have in the last week or so of not having any sound after a WinXP reformat, try this, it worked for me.

Start Windows XP in safe mode (slam F8 a bunch while the computer is starting up, until you see a menu)
Open Hardware Manager, and find this: "Microsoft UAA bus driver"

Delete it, and any other audio devices, including the one you're trying to install (Not the codecs) and restart, back into another safe mode. Run the setup.exe again, and tell me what happens.

Edit: If the "Microsoft UAA Bus Driver" doesn't want to uninstall, right click it, and disable it, restart into another safe mode, and then try to delete it.

******************************************************
Here is the setup.exe file (WDM_R240.exe) (v.2.89) (79.9mb) WinXP 32/64 (there are other O.S.’s there)

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/
Go to Realtek - DOWNLOADS> COMPUTER PERIPHERAL ICs> High Definition Audio Codecs (Software)

They also have the AC’97 Codecs (software too, but I never used that for this fix)

[photolady]

That's an unusual fix but I'm glad you worked for you. I was running out of ideas and had never had this problem.

Where did you find the fix?