Sound Problems

[birdstrike]

Having just had the hard drive replaced on my laptop (runs XP), when I try to play DVDs using Power DVD the picture is fine but the sound, although audible, is badly fragmented.

All other sound applications - playing CDs, listening to radio etc - are perfectly OK.

Any suggestions as to how to cure this (nothing too technical please !) would be very welcome. Ta.

[bnt]

My guess is that it has something to do with your DVD drive's connection, and its ability to deliver the data quickly enough. Have a look at the following setting.
- right-click on My Computer, select "Manage" (This opens "Computer Management"
- select Device Manager, then open "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers"
- You should see entries for "Primary IDE Channel" and "Secondary IDE Channel". I'm assuming your DVD drive is attached to one of these IDE ports - obviously, I can't see from here, but you can check the drive's properties.
- open Properties of "Primary IDE Channel". Under the "Advanced Settings" tab, you should see two boxes, "Device 0" and "Device 1.
- Each has a setting for Transfer Mode, which should read "DMA if available" The "Current Transfer Mode" box below that should say something with "DMA" in it, or "Not Applicable" (meaning nothing is attached to that port).
- If you see "PIO" anywhere, there's your problem. If "Transfer Mode" says PIO, then change it. If "Transfer Mode" says DMA, but "Current Transfer Mode" says PIO anyway, you must have an IDE driver problem or some bloody old hardware.
- Do the same check for the Secondary IDE Channel.

[birdstrike]

bnt

Many thanks for the suggestions, have tried what you said and unfortunately 'PIO' does appear in the secondary channel. Back to the drawing board for me, but thanks again.

[Binoculars]

To save starting a new thread for something I'm sure has a simple answer, my new XP laptop plays wmv files in negative format, resulting in a psychedelic display. The same files are fine on my other computers.

I'm sure there is a simple answer which will be waiting for me when I get out of bed in a few hours!

[Binoculars]

But then again......:(