Sound - The plot thickens - 6 Port, no less.

[Loose rivets]

Anyone know about 6 port sound. Downloaded Adobe and fired up the huge manual, but it assumes I'm a schoolboy, and know about these things.

Pin settings on the motherboard talk of "sensing", but they don't say sensing what. If it's sensing the wrong thing, that could explain the intermittent nature of the fault.



If you have the integrated HD sound with 6 ports on the motherboard (I do) you need to use the Realtek HD Audio Manager software that came on the motherboard install CD. You need to configure the ports using that software.

I just sold a five speaker kit on Craigslist for $20. Didn't want it cluttering the place up.:ugh:

[Bushfiva]

Basically you can plug devices in, and it will try to work out what they are (sometimes it needs help). If you have the appropriate devices, it will offer you sound modes beyond stereo including 5.1. Realtek's got a couple of chipsets with slightly differing features. I use the SPDIF connector for my audio.

[Loose rivets]

Cats...Thanks for that. I have in fact got the manual, it was just finding Adobe pdf reader without :mad: add-ons that was delaying things. Finally got that.

Will scrap the other thread to save bandwidth, now knowing a bit more about the subject.

Bushfiva Thanks again. So much I don't know.

I put SPDIF into Goog-oil and there is a plethora of info. I was linking my T/V to a Sony hi-fi, but it was rather a crude hookup. Now, with a complex sound system, I suppose I'd better do it properly.

How to Use The SPDIF Connector Available on GeForce Video Cards | Hardware Secrets (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/600)

Samsung have finally carted my 'new' 46" telly away, with the promise of financial compensation. Loooong story. I'm trying to use 24" monitor to watch movies until we get back from the UK and get another telly. About ready to roll, apart from the sound.

Of course, there could still be a fault, but the sensing is the most likely thing causing it to sulk.

I did not imagine the sound being the most complex problem to commissioning this PC

[Bushfiva]

Are you using the Realtek drivers and applet? When you plug a speaker or mic in, a window should pop up asking you what it is, and if it's a speaker, give you the option of choosing its location in a multi-speaker setup. If you're using SPDIF to you amplifier, you may have a wired, optical or both connectors on the back panel. It's (usually) a plug'n'go solution. The driver package can be downloaded from Realtek, and is more recent than the W7-supplied driver.

[Loose rivets]

Thanks Bush for the heads-up on the specific software.

What I can't do is find a Foxconn file that calls this menu without unpluging and plugging in again. Small price to pay, but an exe would be handy during testing periods.


I get this menu, and so far the sound has worked. Mind you, it did for days anyway, so I'm not counting my chickens.

The mic is weak and muffley - and there is nowt on the right channel. Vol at 100% and +20db boost with the slider to L makes it usable. I guess its looking for a right mic.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/walnaze/Memuwithlegs.jpg

[Loose rivets]

It really says little but this. I would like for instance to make the mic input mono, but what these plug connections mean is beyond me. 100 page manual as well.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/walnaze/Audiosnip.jpg

[Bushfiva]

While the Realtek HD Audio Manager is open, click on "i" bottom right then on "display icon in notification area"

[Loose rivets]

Oh my goodness! I'd done that, but what I hadn't done is right click on it. Thanks again.


Sound is not too bad now, but being down in the wilderness, I'm reliant on Skype for a pub replacement. I like to be free to wander to the fridge for a beer while nattering to folk round the world.

[Loose rivets]

After exactly the menus described above popping up when the speakers were put in, tonight it just sat there. Dumb insolence.


Reinstalling drivers and jumping up and down...all made no difference. We watched a filum on me laptop.:ugh:

Here I am at 02:00 sparrows, and total silence still.

Before, sure enough, just pugging the speakers caused a second menu to go over the one above. It stated that it had detected the speakers being plugged in. On the picture above, the correct socket blinked. Kool.

Nothing registers, and it says I only have a digital output. No speakers.

It really does smell of a hardware/heat thing, but that's old fashioned thinking I know. There are NO JUMPERS ON THAT F_AUDIO plug, and no information AT ALL of what to do with that plug.


About ready to scrap this MB...t'would be very defeatist though. :ugh:

[Bushfiva]

It should only say you have digital output, if you're connecting something to the SPDIF connector (wired or optical).

If you click on any connector that has lit up, it will let you select what you've actually plugged into that socket.

Under "speakers", do you have "stereo" selected?

You need to tell me your motherboard again. The F_AUDIO typically provides front-channel audio when you're using high-definition audio (typically anything above stereo). There may or may not be two jumpers on a couple of the pins (and your reference to jumpers confuses me). They're typically unamplified, so won't drive a speaker directly (again, I don't remember your motherboard).

[Loose rivets]

Hi again.

It's a Foxconn A7GM-S AM2 = 780G RT

I'll get the link to the Manual pdf when I fire it up.

I made the assumption that the row of pins was home to jumpers - if needed. Is it possible that it's a connector for the front? (other connectors are shrouded at the sides while these pins are unprotected.

Nothing is in any other output.

The Speakers tab showing in the picture is not there...but the Digital Output (with the little black box) is there.

The rather grand display above does not respond to the speakers (amplified) being plugged in. These are the same ones that worked before, but are modern speakers required that have some sort of feedback that lets the system know what they are?

I'm about to rip the sound system out of my old computer. (hauling wires out from behind me desk etc.,) as a logical next step. It occurs to me that I'm placing too much trust in the fact that the other ones used to work intermittently.

Will check that now. 10:34 Central time (GMT -6 )

[Loose rivets]

This is with Altec speakers. However, these are also quite old.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/walnaze/Soundproblem.jpg

[mad_jock]

Are those speakers USB?

For the digital out put you need to take the digital out via fibre optic output and then take it into an amplifier.

I have the same realtech audio on my laptop. Using usb speakers and everything works fine.


everything configured on the speakers page.

If you have pluged the speakers in via a jack in the blue 3.5mm port you have to set it up differently

edited to add just plugged it into a surrond sound DVD player amp using a fibre optic and scared the crap out myself with Oblivion

[Loose rivets]

They are just 3.5mm jack. However, the system has worked fine - for a time. When the plug is put in, the socket symbol on the right, blinks (used to blink) just as Bush mentioned.

Indeed, when I followed Bush's instructions on loading the sound menu system, it worked for several days, leading me to believe that it had solved the problem. Then it just stopped - with no other device having been plugged in.

If it were just a case of buying more modern speakers, I'd go with that, but I'm still uncertain what's causing the intermittancy.

Oh, one thing. When the Windows Volume control is raised, one can see the green bar bobbing up and down when music is playing.

[mad_jock]

Have have a sneaky feeling you have a hardware clash with something.

Mine does that when I have a set of usb speakers plugged in then I plug in a extenal usb hard drive.

Disconnect the hard drive properly ie through the taskbar. Swear at it and then they start working again.

[Loose rivets]

EDITED IN LATER. A byproduct of the reversal of plug-sensing below, was that it kicked the speaker detection into gear. I put the plug in the back and it worked. However, the front kept reporting that I was putting a speaker into it. 30 secs, then again. that sort of timing. I guess that's why the wire was hidden under the M-board!!!!!

Is the detection just a switch on the plug or is it a kind of plug and play intelligent sensing?



It gets worse!


Took mother board out cos one of the ribbons to the front panel was trapped under it. I'd been meaning to rebuild it, but time.......!

Ribbon freed and joints checked to rear connections with a X10 loop. Ribbon plug clearly marked F_Audio Never been used.

Plug it in to socket marked thusly. It can only go one way round. The system detects a Microphone before anything plugged in.

I put speaker in the green front plug and menus pop up all over the place. When I pull it out, they tell me I now have a speaker in the front.
:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:


Please help me refrain from putting it in the nearby canal.

[Bushfiva]

The detection on the analog ports simply monitors for some kind of impedance, and from the impedance guesses what is likely to be present.

I think, as well as discovering the cable that was never connected to the F_Audio, you may have another cabling error in there. Assuming you have front and rear audio connectors, I'd check they all go to the right place. In addition, somewhere on the Realtek > device advanced settings check whether you have "mute the rear output when a front headphone is connected" (I'm working from memory) deselected. I guess a mis-wiring on the fron ports might mute the rear ports otherwise.

Did you note where I said the rear audio connectors probably can't, depending on the motherboard, drive speakers directly? They'd need powered speakers or an amp. Maybe if you're plugging speakers in directly you're causing the system some problems.

OK, I looked at the manual: the rear audio connectors are on the back panel (duh...) and you've now connected the front audio. Do headphones work or not in the front audio jack (front, as in front jack on the case, not as in front set of a surround system)?

Read some more: the outputs on the back are line-level, so they won't drive speakers directly without barfing.

And... a third edit. Just in case, the motherboard header marked "speaker" is for the tinny PC case speaker, not for any kind of external audio.

In BIOS, HD Audio should be "on" (but I believe that's the default). As you said you don't have an "audio" tab, I'd check it all the same.

[Loose rivets]

Thanks so much for the huge amount of work you've put into this - mad jock as well.

It's late, and I'll re-read the post tomorrow. But I'm uncertain about the impedance and stray voltages that my speakers might offer to the system.

Both types work well with another computer.

Both have some sort of internal amplification, the bigger being mains powered, the smaller 4 X AA cells, I guess aimed at the laptop market.

The rear plugs are on the M-Board and covered in a tin box. I've examined the solder joints to the M-B very carefully.

The front plug's 'instructions' to the Realtec software seems to be totally back to front. It's hard to get behind the bezel to inspect the pluggery but I'll guess I'll have to. At least putting the ribbon cable back seemed to bring the Realtec Speakers section to life. For now, I've pulled the ribbon plug off again to stop the repeated triggering of the menu.

That really is a very odd fault, and I know curiosity will get the better of me and I'll have to delve. However, the crisis in aviation right now might severely limit my time...we are booked to come home fairly shortly, with talk of much longer extensions to the ban. :ugh:

[Bushfiva]

Self-powered speakers like yours should work fine.

[Loose rivets]

Thanks again for all the input, and I'd not intended to ask anymore dumb questions, but I happened to call a pal in Ireland just as his guru was working on his kit. I mentioned my problem and he said words to the effect that there may be a multiplicity of unwanted drivers lurking. He was obviously a big systems man and so far, hadn't had much to do with W7, but he suggested turning on "Show Hidden Devices" in device manager.

It didn't reveal any new files, but I'm not skilled enough to know if I'm not jumping to conclusions as to where they should be.

Any thoughts on this line of logic?



It is defeatist, but I'm ready now to A/ Get a sound card. B/Get some kit that will interface with the 'Realtek Digital Output'. (HMDI) or C/ Do a 250lb version of Riverdance on it.

[Bushfiva]

He might be thinking about unwanted/competing codecs, since they effectively "bid" to play an audio stream, and Windows will never stop you adding another codec. Drivers, on the other hand, are pretty good at not doubling up since that's detected during installation.

The piccy you posted earlier with the Altec speakers shows you have nothing plugged in, and the motherboard doesn't have a SPDIF digital audio connector, which I suspect is incorrect. I'm beginning to suspect a hardware problem, but your description of the bar bobbing up and down suggests both the hardware and drivers are fine. Er, I suppose the speakers are known to work??

[Loose rivets]

Yep, speakers are fine and indeed buzz with a wet finger on the 3.5 mm plug.

Several items have been tried, with a DC resistance ranging from 3ohms to 16k. Right now it is totally un-responsive.

As an old on-the-bench valve tekkie, I'm really inclined towards a hardware fault, but the stacking up of unwanted code does seem very logical. Nothing I can find with a Mk8 AVO I'm thinking.

Below is something that I thought might be an interesting thread, but I'll leave it in here for now.

The idea was that I could uninstall the Windows offering and then stop it being re-loaded on start. Then load the Realtek drivers from the DVD. Not that this would kill the current crop of detritus.

Indeed, the Realtek install says that it is overwriting the existing offering.


W7 is extraordinarily good at finding drivers. But can I stop it?

The Start-up menu shows the Applications of course and a few third-party drivers, but the basics seem to be hidden from the user.

In this case it does pertain to the problems I'm having with sound, but it does occur to me that it might be useful to know how to contain Window's enthusiasm.

[Bushfiva]

I realise this may be blasphemy to many people, but I've never found Windows to be particularly bad at managing its drivers. In fact, I've always found it to be good. On the occasions things have gone wrong, it's tended to be me trying to "fix" something.

It does begin to seem like a hardware problem. I'd normally discount that, though, as the audio side is generally pretty robust. And the absence of an audio tab suggests drivers or hardware. So headphones in the front don't work?

In another thread you're reading, the Microsoft Fixit Center for XP is mentioned, but you're on Windows 7 I believe. Perhaps you should visit Microsoft Fix it Solution Center (http://support.microsoft.com/fixit), and follow the links for audio problems.

[Loose rivets]

On the occasions things have gone wrong, it's tended to be me trying to "fix" something.

Yes, times ten. It really is looking like a clean install will be needed. I've lost me Hibernation, I assume while trying to move the partition, and now XP emulation refuses to load. Corrupt, or am I about to find out another disadvantage to OEM? It was the sole reason I upgraded to Pro, so I hope they don't have rules that I don't know about.

The emulator worked perfectly with Beta RC.

I'll keep going, but watched a movie on the laptop and 24" screen tonight. Sound was perfect into the same speakers I've been trying. It's really just become a battle of wills, but there's so much to do before going 'home' . . . that's if there's any clear air to convey us. I'll have to put toys on hold.

Having said that, I've sent off for a USB to 3.5mm converter, though I've no notion how one tells the system to send the sound to the port. Another learning curve. It's only $9 and free postage, so no great investment.

Three weeks without a telly. Samsung finally sent me a cheque/check for total compensation. I just don't know what destructive forces are emanating from me, I've defeated Sony, Samsung, and Mercedes in the last few years, so this home build is a mere bagatelle.

[Loose rivets]

I'm just thinking aloud, but if any light bulbs come on over any heads, let me know.:bored:

(Without question, the plug to the F_Audio is the correct way round, and the rear set are hard-wired to the mother board)


The new 3.5mm USB device goes. It also pulls up the Realtek menu!

But still, the front is confused with back when the menu activates!!

In, (plug pushed in) is confused with out!!!

Stereo mode doesn't go, but Quad and 7.1 does. On test, it misses out the two front speakers or more, but gives a blast on the rear two!!!!

That's about as back to front as this system could get.

There are a several large transistors near the sound output...easily big enough to drive small speakers. There are also several hefty chokes and close sizable electrolytic capacitors. Very audio-ish.

Something has to be blindingly obvious...right there in front of my eyes. I can't see into the 3.5 mm plugs to check the connections. I've tried with a watchmaker's loop, but it's inconclusive. They are encased, so can't see behind.

Surely, the prime plug (Green) has to be stereo output: Case + two connections, having worked in the past. But are the others all Case + one pin? ie a plug for each speaker. Alternatively, do some setups use a stereo plug out, but only one side when a single speaker is connected and two when two are connected?


I think this would go if I could reason out what's it is thinking. :rolleyes:

[Bushfiva]

In the pop-up menu, have you decoupled the front and rear sockets, so the system treats them all independently?

The chokes and things are probably the CPU power supply regulator.

In case you're tempted to go in with a soldering iron, be aware that it's not a two-layer motherboard: it's got around 5 internal layers, too.

[Loose rivets]

No, the last motherboard that I repaired had nand gates to reset the memory. An Opus, I think it was.

I might however tack a few wires to the SPDIF digital audio connector pins on the board. Scope them, before connecting anything. It's the last shot really....oh, except the MS trouble shooting. I'll try that when sober.

The gizmo worked for about 10 mins, then there was a CLICK , followed by a total shut down.

You can see why I think I'm jinxed. But I beat the system. See JB.

The chokes and things are probably the CPU power supply regulator.

As I watched my silent movie, I did come to the same conclusion.

I plugged the device in again after the film and it worked. However, the sound was scratchy just as before. On the laptop it was as good as it gets on small speakers.

[Loose rivets]

I don't believe it!

While fidling about with the scope, the sound on this thing suddenly worked as per the menu. No known reason for it to do so, but it did.

On smaller menu showed a tick box with Front instead of Rear, but what the heck, the stereo mode was running for the whole evening. See what tomorrow brings, but it might just have been that huge click, clearing something. Wishful thinking that:)