No Sound and can't install Realtek AC'97 Driver

I have installed Windows XP on a Asus mobo that has an onboard sound with Pentium 4. All of a sudden I lost the audio yesterday. I think that I have done something but I dont have any info about it. When checked on Device Manager, then I am getting an exclamation mark on the Multimedia Audio Controller and a Question Mark on the Ethernet controler. I have downloaded and tried to install the Audio Driver from Realtek. But it goes along until the warning, unsigned driver, that you wish to contiue. I then click yes and it continues for a second and then halts and then the pc crashes and restarts. Can anyone please help me out? Thanks.

The ethernet controller is a device on your motherboard that connects to an input plug on the back of your pc, similar to a large phone connector, its used to connect by ethernet cable to othe pc's or to a modem. The driver for this can be taken from your motherboard website. In Device Manager right click on this device and remove. When the compter is restarted it should be reinstalled automatically, incase the ? remains then visit the Asus website and update the driver.

Since its a Realtek AC'97 device, then is this an HD sound device? If so then you might need to install the Microsoft UAA driver first, then install the realtek driver, after a restart. You can google for UAA, you will find it.

I am going to re-open this thread, as I too am having the EXACT SAME issues as the previous posters!!

ASUS PS4800D-X Mobo

I have tried the drivers from both ASUS and Realtek's websites, as well as several different AC97 drivers bundles from various drivers sites ..

All drivers ultimately end in the computer rebooting itself ...

CAN ANYBODY PROVIDE A SOLUTION??

I have $20 via paypal for anybody who can post a solution that WORKS!!

Don't know if this will help at all. I was having the same problem with the crashing after trying to install the AC '97 driver on a computer that I reloaded windows on (because I put a larger hard drive in). Before I started the project, I had checked the device manager to check what sound drivers, etc. I would need after the install, and it indicated that it had the Realtek AC '97 sound driver. After the install, I used a program called "Driver Robot" (found it when searching for the Realtek driver) to scan for & download whatever drivers I would need, and it downloaded the Realtek AC '97 driver for my computer. As I indicated earlier, all it did would crash my computer. After further research, I found a SoundMAX integrated digital audio driver that was apparently for a Gateway 500 series computer (which is what I was working on). It worked. Here's the link...
http://support.gateway.com/support/d...&uid=229973289
Not sure this will help anyone, if they are not working on a Gateway computer, but thought I'd mention it.

just do one thing

one ur pc side cover

look at ur ****in motherboard note down the model no. may be in black or white .

then type that in google with manufacturer name

i am sure u will not get every desired driver for ur computer

do one thing

open ur cpu from side if u r using a desktop else open up the base of ur laptop.
look in the manul how to open ur laptop base.

now
lok at ur motherboard now. there will be a model name or number writen .

mostly name is given

then note it down and then type that motherboard name in google search like this
download "ur motherboard name" audio drivers.

then go through some sites for it .
hopw this help

okay do one thing search for soundmax digital audio driver on google

these driver can work with any audio chip no need look for c media or realtek audio drivers

and download the *.exe file of these drivers so that u don have to scratch ur with device manager .

I'm having the same problem on my mom's computer... To avoid confusion:

I have visited the manufacturer's site directly (emachines) and downloaded the audio driver from there- same result (CRASH- not "your computer must reboot for changes) and still "no audio device is installed"

I have run the troubleshoot wizard from add hardware in the control panel- same result

My mom had purchased a copy of Driver Detective- through that utility I found two alternate sites for the driver- same result.

Also, I tried the built in system restore that comes with xp- It won't work. Upon reboot, it says there was an unspecified error.

Also, I tried to reboot from a disk. After selecting the correct drive in the F10 menu, it boots normally.

Only one possibility- zombie computer. It won't heal, it won't die, and it's eating my brains.

WOW. That is SO helpful. I in no way shape or form already did that.

Read posts before you reply to them, please!

download normal Soundmax drivers from old motherboards like D865PERL let them force throw add new hardware setup manager and force over the tab that says it is not recommended because it cant verify blablabla it will works
dont install realtek they wont work Your system will reboot

install soundmax drivers manually force them over.

I have a home-built Vintage AE-1 Barebone computer with the Asus K8S-MV/V motherboard with onboard sound SiS 7012. The 7012 drivers don't work and the Realtek AC'97 drivers have the same problems loading as stated earlier in this thread (blank screen, restart before completion). So, are there actually any solutions found out there?

I have ordered a different sound car, but in the meantime I would like to get the existing one working if possible. I already tried loading older versions of the AC'97 driver with no luck. I also tried loading SoundMax drivers after uninstalling the partial AC'97 drivers - no luck. The Gateway driver thing didn't work for my computer. BTW, I just re-installed Windows XP Pro SP2 on a new partition. I also updated my Bios to the latest version. So far, no luck.

Anyone?

I had the same issue here...
I solved it by going to windows update online, choose "custom updates"
then on the left you will see a
"Hardware - Optional" link. Choose the sound driver it recommends for your
integrated sound card and install....

Ok I have HAD the exact same issue but HAVE FIXED THIS ISSUE.

The problem is with pretty much ANY motherboard with AC 97 drivers for ONBOARD sound. You get to the end of the install almost (just after saying "Continue Anyway") and BAM blue screen.

Ditch those drivers. Download the Soundmax Drivers you were linked to earlier in this thread. Save those to a place you know youre going to be able to find them. (I will link the SoundMax drivers again soon, as I am having this problem AGAIN and I am relearning how to fix this problem as I go...but I want people to know NOW there is a fix and this is IT.)

Go to your Device Manager (if youre here you should know how to do this.) uninstall the drivers you have for your current onboard audio device.

Reboot your machine. Your compuer will find the hardware automatically and want to install drivers automatically. Dont let it. Cancel OUT.

After canceling out, go to your control panel and ADD NEW HARDWARE.

It should search and then it will give you a choice of finding the drivers automatically or letting you choose from a list. You want to choose from a list. Your RealTek AC 97 should be here...im sure im going to have to come back and edit this post to get this actually correct, BUT this is the jist of it. If youre doing any of the above youre on the right path.

If this doesnt work im sure the many of you have tinkering minds like me and will stumble upon the correct solution to the equation above..

After I edit this post and get it right...ill be expecting MY TWENTY DOLLARS! :)

Ok Ok here it REALLY is. Above was pretty close. Go to this website and download the SoundMax drivers
http://www.softwarepatch.com/utiliti...curity-dl.html

Then do like I said above. Go to Device Manager, Uninstall the drivers for whatever sound device you see.

Reboot - after reboot it will ask to add new hardware etc. CANCEL OUT. after canceling out go to "ADD NEW HARDWARE" in your Control Console.

You want to say "no not this time" and anything like that till you get to "I will choose a driver" or something like that. It will give you the three options of searching, searching a specific spot "where you can browse and such" or the 3rd option of "I will choose from a list" thats what you want to select and only that.

After that it will show you a list and it will say AC 97..select that and then install. Viola.

NOW This did not work for every system I tried it on, but many of them. I am currently looking for the correct SoundMax driver for this PC (some Asus OEM Board from an old HP.)

(best way to find SoundMax drivers specific to your board is to go into Bios and take off the quick boot option so you can see the boot screen. Usually this is a problem with OEM boards - even if not, the bios boot screen tells you the motherboard manufacturerer, you can go to that website and search "SoundMax" or "AC 97" and see what you come up with)

Wow like ALOT of e-DICKS you failed to re-read your own post to see what an ass youre being. So im not a PRO-Techarena poster.... The ONLY reason I registered was because ive seen this problem everywhere on google without a solution. So I took a few minutes to register and post a solution. I got to TechArena.in by way of google, with this being a top hit. Who cares how I got here...

The OP certainly knew WHAT PROBLEM I was refereing to.

And if youre such a "pro" techarena poster then maybe when you see a post you can look at the Thread subject...its right up there to the right..yep look right there see? Even Google chrome shows it...its even in the "RE:" section of my post.

Its a scientific fact that people are not half the a$$es they seem to be online. Its easier to be rude when there are no consequences for being rude and no rewards for being polite.

Anyways thanks for helping me hijack my own post with this BS. I hope all TechArena people arent like this. I was thinking about checking out the rest of the site.....

"Crashing when installing AC 97 fix"

Here is another fix I found when the above didnt work on another rig im building.

Download Everest (a PC tool that determines your chipset, audio drive, etc..)
Install and Run - Expand the "Computer Option" then click "Summary"..

Look down and find the "Multimedia" Section and then the "Audio Adapter" under that. After that it should say what your Analog Device is and all that. Heres where you take note...from HPs website where the Audio Driver is located..."For support of Intel ICH1 chipsets, download SoftPaq SP21180.
For support of Intel ICH2 or ICH4 chipsets, download SoftPaq SP24482.
For support of Via686 chipsets, download SoftPaq SP19397.
For Windows NT 4.0 support, download SoftPaq SP24497.
For OS2 support, download SoftPaq SP24498
For support of Linux, visit Alsa for the latest supported drivers "

After finding out which SoftPaq you need (SoftPaq = SP****) just google search the SP and number youre looking for.

Installation Instructions
1. Download the SoftPaq to a directory on your hard drive. The file downloaded is a self-extracting executable with a filename based on the SoftPaq Number listed on at the top of this document.
2. Execute the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions.
3. After the files have been unpacked, you may delete the self-extracting file downloaded in step 1.
4. To install: Execute the setup.exe file unpacked in step 2; The default location is C:\swsetup\SP24496, unless otherwise modified during step 2.
5. After the installation is completed, you may delete the directory created in step 2 if you wish.

Most times step two isnt needed, but sometimes it is. The crashes are from not having the correct driver SP.

There was another note I saw that said if you have ICH2-4 you want SP2460 or higher if you had something else you wanted SP2400 and lower? >shrug< couldnt find it, but the above was an even better find I think.

Enjoi SOUND!

Except the guy who gave his solution 3 months ago (or just about any solution in this thread.) writes his post just as I did mine with the solution and no qutoed "problem" yet doesnt get the "idiot" treatment...that was so gracefuly removed (thank you.) - tho it sucks that the rude parts of that post were taken out and my response to the rude post was just lumped into my solution "reply" with the edit button removed so I cant fix it.

If a mod. could please remove the portion of my above post that is a direct reply to another post being "rude" that would be great. Thanks

But really anyone with this problem is going to google "cant install AC 97 drivers" or "computer crashes when installing AC 97 drivers" in which case google will direct them to this forum post (its on the first hit page.) and they will know that my solution is to their problem.

I guess I dont know what the other form of this site looks like since I still access it thru my fav. list. But if its anything like what I see, the topic of the thread is also up and to the right.

Anyways. At any rate. If anyone is STILL having the same issue even with the above fix, post letting me know as ive figured out several workarounds to the problem of crashing when installing the RealTek AC 97 drivers.

The OP you *think* will know what you are talking about hasn't responded to
this conversation in 2 years. ;-) Even the latest response was 3 months
ago - by someone other than the OP, and they were giving their solution, not
asking for a solution.

Thanks for you post, I follow exactly your post but couldn't figure out the the "add new hardware" phase since the give me the list of hardwares... please, help again.

When you reboot its going to find the new hardware and ask you if it can install drivers and all that but you want to cancel out of that.

in Windows XP
Go To START - Control Panel - Add New Hardware (u may need to turn on classic view?) When you run the Add Hardware it will ask you if it can find the right drivers for you, click the option on the bottom, you want to tell windows where to look, if it gives you the option at anytime for Windows to search for and install it manually or Install manually from a list, install manually from a list. It should show AC 97 on that list. From there you can add the hardware, drivers will start to install, it will tell you the drivers arent signed, continue anyways and keep going from there.

Sorry I dont have exact wording on what windows tells you. Without installing some new hardware and writting down what it says, I cant really get to those menus.

Thanks for your help I too have been struggling with this problem since re-installing XP. I have followed the first method but get the same problem. I uninstalled the audio hardware, and then followed the installer just like it says, but even then upon installing the driver I get the blue screen. I have downloaded 3-4 different drivers, but to no avail.
After installking Everest I foind my specs to be as follows:

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name JOHN-PC
User Name John

Motherboard:
CPU Type Mobile Intel Pentium M 735, 1700 MHz (17 x 100)
Motherboard Name Asus M6000Ne Series Notebook
Motherboard Chipset Intel Odem i855PM-333
System Memory 512 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (09/06/04)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9800 (64 MB)
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9800 (64 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Mobility Radeon 9600/9700 (M10/M11)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-1]

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801DBM Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CA
Disk Drive ST9160821A (149 GB, IDE)
Disk Drive JetFlash Transcend 4GB USB Device (3 GB, USB)
Optical Drive TOSHIBA ODD-DVD SD-R6372 (DVD+RW:4x/2x, DVD-RW:4x/2x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:16x/10x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 39997 MB (33921 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 112619 MB (112449 MB free)
Total Size 149.0 GB (142.9 GB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Mouse Logitech PS/2 Port Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet (192.168.1.4)
Network Adapter Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection

Peripherals:
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - USB Controller [B-1]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - USB Controller [B-1]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - USB Controller [B-1]
USB2 Controller Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-1]
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device
Battery Microsoft AC Adapter
Battery Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
Battery Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery

Then Itried your second method and downloaded SoftPaq SP24482 from the Compaq website through google...and ended up upon installation with the 'Soundmax' software, but no apparant driver and still not sound...so I don't quite know what to expect here.
Could anyone shed any light on the matter? I would be very grateful, thanks very much.

SOLVED! Uninstalled multimedia audio controller (Realtek AC97 Audio) from device manager, removed driver from add/remove programs, deleted realtek ac97 entry from program files, scanned registry with CC Cleaner (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner), downloaded SoundMAX Audio Driver version 5.12.01.3665 WHQL from http://support.asus.com.tw/download/...Language=en-us and IT WORKED!

NOTE: THE ONLY WAY THAT I FOUND THE CORRECT SOUND DRIVER WAS TO SEARCH IT BY THE MOTHERBOARD MODEL (everest & aida reported that I had sis 7012 audio & belarc reported Realtek AC97).

Here is a report from Everest:

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name HOME-B9AD3A097A
User Name Mary

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Celeron, 2000 MHz (20 x 100)
Motherboard Name Asus P4SP-MX (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset SiS 651
System Memory 480 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award Modular (09/01/04)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter SiS 651 (32 MB)
3D Accelerator SiS 315 Integrated
Monitor Samtron 96B/97B [19" CRT] (H2RT402116)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter SiS 7012 Audio Device

Storage:
IDE Controller SiS PCI IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller D347PRT SCSI Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive ST340823A (40 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive Generic DVD-ROM SCSI CdRom Device
Optical Drive SONY CD-ROM CDU5221 (52x CD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 11061 MB (4282 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 27103 MB (16748 MB free)
Total Size 37.3 GB (20.5 GB free)

Input:
Keyboard Enhanced Multimedia PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant mouse

Network:
Network Adapter SiS 900-Based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter (192.168.1.1)
Network Adapter WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface (188.24.155.104)

Peripherals:
USB1 Controller SiS 7001 PCI-USB Open Host Controller
USB1 Controller SiS 7001 PCI-USB Open Host Controller
USB2 Controller SiS 7002 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device USB Human Interface Device

I played with this for hours then I found out an easy way which won't cost you a penny. go into the realtek website www.realtek.com/downloads here you will see a list of different downloads. My computer is XP so I worked along the line to a column marked 1 and pressed the GO disc. From here I just followed the instructions and I now have sound from Realtek AC97. Good luck.

Thank you very much. Your no sound solution worked for me. this post is old but I really appreciate it. Finally I have sound.

I am seriously computer illiterate. And have no sound on my computer, i am in Device Manager, and Multimedia Audio Controller asks to reinstall the driver, so i do so gives me an error:

Realtek AC'97 Audio has not passed the windows logo testing to verify compatibility with Windows XP, and if i continue it crashes and reboots everytime! So i am stuck at this point on what to do...


PLEASE HELP!!! :(