AC97 sound on Soyo K7VTA Pro versus Win98SE?!

[Jonny5]

This is a continuation of a similar thread I started under "Audio and Video Problems forum".

I can't get the on-board AC97 audio on the Soyo K7VTA Pro to work under Win98SE. The system "beep" on initial boot-up *is* coming out of the speakers, though (so far this is the ONLY sound I've heard) which suggests at least the physical hardware is connected right.

I did not do a fresh Win98 install - but simply transplanted my HD (with Win98SE on it) from my older P233MMX system to the new AMD/Soyo system. The PnP seemed to work, as my old HW appears to have disappeared and is now replaced with the new stuff. I installed the Sound drivers that came with the Soyo board, and now I see something called "VIA Audio AC97 (WDM)" listed under Games, Sound devices in Control Setting.

Has anyone else had similar problems on the Soyo integrated sound Mobos? Any suggested solutions?


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"One good test is worth a 1000 expert opinions!"
- Von Braun

[hiredgoonz]

The system beep should not becoming out of the regular speakers, it may sound like it is, but that should not be the case...

I would double check all the cables to make sure they're plugged into the correct places...

Was there a cable of some sort that needed to be plugged in on the mobo itself? I have the dragon plus and there was a ribbon cable that had to be plugged in...

If the sound devices (VIA Audio, Gameport etc.) appear in device manager, they SHOULD work...

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When all else fails, read the instructions.

[BigBlue66]

Could you fill us in on what exactly you have done to test the sound?

Have you checked the BIOS to make sure the onboard sound is enabled? I think it probably is, but wouldn't hurt to check.

Have you plugged the speakers into the correct onboard connection? Have you tried the other connectors, just for troubleshooting's sake?

Have you plugged the audio cable going from the CD-ROM or CD-RW into the onboard CD-ROM connector? I believe Hired suggested this as well.

In Device Manager, is there a red X or a yellow splat beside the Via Audio AC97 listing?

Have you checked MultiMedia Properties in Control Panel to make sure all is well there? Have you checked the audio mixer to make sure the volume is not muted?

Did you have a soundcard installed with your P233 system? If so, have you booted in Safe Mode and removed all instances of that soundcard in Device Manager? Have you removed any associated drivers for the soundcard in Add/Remove Programs?

Cheers,

BB 66

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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

"From up on the roof top there came such a clamor, I ran to the window and threw up"
-- Tommy Smothers

[mjc]

I ask again, are you looking in device manager in SAFE MODE or normal?

If you have not checked in safe mode to make sure that everything is gone you could be having a driver conflict and it is not showing up...

You have the proper dirver installed now, also check in Multimedia applet in the control panel, on the first tab (audio) that the VIA shows up in the preferred devices for both playback and recording.......


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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Jonny5]

Yes - I have checked thew physical HW connection (several times now) plus tried plugging the speakers into the other two possible locations too.

I did reboot in SAFE mode and found ALOT of wierd stuff there (i.e. seemed all the P233 stuff was still hanging around!!!). It was at this point that I decided to re-install Win98.

30 minutes later the system was back up, but still no sound. However, this time, there was a yellow Exclamation under Device Manager. I used Device Manager this time to update the audio97 drivers (using Soyo Mobo CD as the source) and rebooted. Still no Windows sounds. However, at least now AudioCD playback is working (almost there!!)

This morning, I checked out the Soyo and VIA websites and they suggest there may be something funky with KT133A-based systems (using VT686B "Southbridge") which described my Soyo mb. Something about a BIOS change last year to fix some Soundblaster Live! versus VT686B issue - which unfortunately hosed onboard audio (hmmm....sounds familiar).

It won't be until tonight when I'll get a chance to update the Southbridge drivers, but this does sound promising...

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"One good test is worth a 1000 expert opinions!"
- Von Braun

[BigBlue66]

Hey yeah, there was a problem with the via chipset and the soundblaster. A fix is supposed to be found at www.viahardware.com. (http://www.viahardware.com.)

I am running the same chipset and a SB PCI512 but have no problems.

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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

"From up on the roof top there came such a clamor, I ran to the window and threw up"
-- Tommy Smothers

[Jonny5]

Argh!!! Still no dice! I did everything I thought I needed to do to ensure that my system had the "latest and greatest" BIOS and VIA drivers, even did a fresh install of Win98SE (from dos prompt even).

STILL NO SOUND!

I checked the VIA Arena forum and there is a thread on AC97 Integrated Sound problems which stretches back 6 months and has something like 600 messages! It would appear the combination of KT133A - 686B Southbridge - AC97 and Win98SE creates a fairly common problem!!

The best solution was to simply turn off integrated sound and go with a cheap SOundblaster card (i.e. PCI 128bit). I might do that yet, though this does strike me as being terribly wasteful!!

There was a "work around" mentioned that suggested NOT using the Win98SE specific drivers for the AC97 WDM drivers - but instead go with the Win9x audio drivers. I believe I might have (accidently) tried that last night but got a lock-up condition (another problem that was noted).

I think my next move is going to be to talk to Soyo directly - though I imagine they must be being deluged with tech calls!!!

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"One good test is worth a 1000 expert opinions!"
- Von Braun

[BigBlue66]

Hey Jonny,

I have had many experiences with onboard sound. Something tells me that even if you go to unimaginable depths to get your onboard sound working, you will wish that you would have just bought the cheapy soundcard and been done with it. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

In other words, onboard sound generally sounds like sheet. Although I hear some of the newer boards with onboard sound that supports like six speakers or something is nothing to be sneezed at.

Edit: Never mind. I was going to say thanks for the thread, because I have the exact same motherboard that I will one day use to replace an existing one and now I will know all the problems with the onboard sound. But, I never use the onboard sound anyway. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

Cheers,

BB 66

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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

"From up on the roof top there came such a clamor, I ran to the window and threw up"
-- Tommy Smothers

[This message has been edited by BigBlue66 (edited 01-29-2002).]