# sound disabled...but not



## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

Hello all,
The other day I installed an additonal 256 mg RAM, and noticed the next day that my sound wasn't working. The function key that operates the mute and volume wasn't working at all. The other function keys worked just fine.
I went into the control panel, to sounds, speech and audio devices, clicked 
on sounds and audio devices, and everything in the volume tab was grayed.
I went to the device manager and it said my audio card was working 
properly. I disabled it, then renabled it. No luck.
I then uninstalled it, restarted the computer, Windows reinstalled it, but still 
no sound.
I tried to update the drivers, but Windows said I had the latest driver and 
it couldn't find a better one.
I went to the BIOS to check the sound card there. Its status showed OK.
I also went to system restore, using the system disk that came with my 
notebook. Afterwards Windows reinstalled all of the latest updates. Still no 
sound.

Here is my system info. Please help...
I have an Acer Aspire 3000 (tried their tech support - no response)
Windows XP home, SP2
AMD Sempron Processor 2800, 1.6 Ghz, 512 RAM
the audio card is an onboard Realtek AC'97

Thank you,
Rochelle


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

you could use the add/remove icon in the control panel uninstall the audio drivers there and then reinstall from the mobo drivers disc.

if it still doesn't work, you could take out the memory stick and see does the sound come back.

one last thing, you could disable the chip in the bios and startup windows. restart windows and re-enable it to see what windows does with it. i'd try them in that order to see can you get the sound working again.

you were wondering about viruses, what anti-virus software do you have and is it up to date? AVG is free and gets good reports - if you have none.


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## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

*tried*

Freddy, I tried all that you suggested and everything appears to be the same.


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

how about the antivirus software? if you have some installed, make sure it's up to date and scan the HD for viruses.

when you were in the sounds and multimedia panel, when you clicked on the audio tab, what were the prefered devices listed (if any) in the drop down menus?


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## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

I do not have virus software, but I have scanned the drives with the basic scanners and they don't find anything.

In the audio tab it lists the one device: the Realtek AC'97.


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

its possible that some files are corrupted. the fact that the volume bar is ghosted and yet realtek is shown as a playback device. goto start and run. type cmd in there and ok. on the command line type
sfc /scannow
leaving a space between c and / press enter and this will check system files.

with the antivirus i'm not sure what scanners you were using, but i've always used an installed anti-virus program to scan a HD. AVG is free and works well. before you install it i'd run vcleaner to clear the system of any major viruses and then install AVG. then make sure it's uptodate by right clicking on the icon on the taskbar







and going to update. then right click on c:\ and scan for viruses.


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## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

OK, installed AVG, scanned, no viruses. Also scanned the system files and found no problems.

This may help: when I installed the memory chip, I neglected to remove the notebook's battery. Could that have zapped something?


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

it is possible that damage was done because the battery wasn't taken out, but since everything is powering up the last thing i can think of is a bios update.

i had a look at their website and the aspire 3000 is listed, but the product line has been discontinued. having said that i did find an bios update on the website, but i'm not very good with updating the bios, only having done it once myself.

you can get your current bios version by using pcwizard or some other similar software.


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## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

I found this information on the Acer website, and followed the instructions to flash and update the bios. Afterwards there was no difference. They recommended I call their technical support number, which I guess I could do as a last resort.

Thanks for your help Freddy.


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

the very last thing i can think of is doing a repair install of the OS. before you do so make sure you have backed up any info on the laptop first, while a repair install shouldn't effect any software installed or personal files created, better safe than sorry.

to do a repair install boot from the XP disc and choose setup, ignore the first repair option. then choose the second repair option and it will go through the process of correcting the current install. you might have to reinstall some drivers, when i did it with win2k i had to reinstall the video drivers, but wait and see.


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## saywot (May 14, 2006)

*no sound acer aspire 3000*

hi guys i've also just installed extra memory to my aspire 3000 and now lost sound. i've followed you advice but still no joy, have you managed to resolve the problem and get sound back??

many thanks




freddyhard said:


> the very last thing i can think of is doing a repair install of the OS. before you do so make sure you have backed up any info on the laptop first, while a repair install shouldn't effect any software installed or personal files created, better safe than sorry.
> 
> to do a repair install boot from the XP disc and choose setup, ignore the first repair option. then choose the second repair option and it will go through the process of correcting the current install. you might have to reinstall some drivers, when i did it with win2k i had to reinstall the video drivers, but wait and see.


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## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

The tech at Acer figured I fried my sound card by not removing the battery during installation of the additional memory. I just bought an external USB sound card to listen to music and movies. I guess that's the best I can do next to replacing the motherboard. Hope yours is fixable.


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

thanks for posting back with your solution rlm4040. it's a pity that the sound chip was damaged, but live and learn.


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## tommybigman (May 24, 2006)

hey freddy and that other guy wanting to know about the sounds card. Well i got an acer aspire 3000 notebook, and from the first week i've gotten it to right now, the sounds card has often deleted itself from the system. I'v still got the standard 256 ram you get with the system when you first buy it, and i keep loosing my sounds card as well, so its not because you didn't remove the battery when you installed your exctra ram and fried it, thats not it. i was reading another forum on this topic and another guy posted that the soundcard often deletes itself, thats the flaw with the computer, which i think, is a pretty big rip off...the only way, and i mean the only way i found a way to get the sound card back was to do a system restore back, like, 2 months, it seems like whenever you install anything onto the aspire, somthing bad happens...its a shame, cause its such a nice little computer.


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## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

I tried doing a system restore, and that didn't work either. It wasn't that the card was deleting itself, because it showed up everywhere it was supposed to. It even operated correctly. There was just no sound. My external USB card is working just fine though. Who knows, maybe someday it will magically work again.


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

(IMO) it does sound like the acer has a problem with the sound chip. it could be the same fault that the pair of ye have witnessed, but presented itself in different ways. the chip is getting disabled or isn't producing sound through what is either poor manufacturing or a logical error.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I don't know if not removing the battery would be the cause, as I have swapped my RAM in my Aspire 3000 with the battery in and I have no trouble. It sounds like the RAM may be the problem. Does it go away if you put the old RAM back in? Also, try downloading drivers from here:
http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/fo....com&siteid=7117&areaid=2&formid=3394#results
Search for your model.


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## wonderlandave (Feb 27, 2007)

*another sound card bites the dust*

Hi guys, 

I may have read this thread a little too late. I too upgraded my Ram and my sound is not working as well. The device manager shows everything is fine but still no sound. I don't suppose there have been any updates since then?
OH..and just a quick note...i DID remove the battery and still no sound!


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi,

If you remove the RAM you added, does the sound come back? This is strange. The audio chipset on Acer Aspire 3000 laptops is nowhere near the RAM, so I doubt it could have been damaged. Does it come back if you Run Windows Update and get the latest audio driver?
http://www.sis.com/download/
Download: Windows XP > Audio Driver > SiS 7012
Also, do you have a sound device in Sounds and Audio Devices? And do you have the Sound Effect Manager (AC'97 control panel) in the control panel?


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## wonderlandave (Feb 27, 2007)

*still nothing*

Hey Matt, i have tried updating the driver and yes i do have sound effects manager in my control panel. It just won't play sounds for some reason. Is there any way of changing the sound card in this laptop? Or will I be limited to external sound cards?
Oh...and i tried the link you posted previously for the SIS PCI Audio driver update? It wouldn't complete the install. This error message appeared.

-536870397 Fail to install audio driver for windows XP.


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## rlm4040 (Jun 29, 2005)

I get the same error message when I try to install the audio driver from SIS...


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I just tried the driver, and it gave me that message. Strange. You can try the driver from Acer, that should still work.
http://global.acer.com/support/download.htm

Here is one of the best external sound cards IMO:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102174

If the new RAM is removed and the computer goes back to its original configuration, does the sound work?


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