Sound card/PCI problem - New Build

[RotoRX]

Hello all,

I finished my 2nd ever build yesterday and I've ran into some problems.

Here are the components.
MOBO: ASUS M3A78 AMD770
CPU: AMD Phenom 9850
PSU: Corsair 750W
VIDEO: GeForce GTX 260
RAM: GSkillz 4gb

I had everything installed and the computer booted fine and I installed windows XP pro. I updated all the drivers (video card, mobo etc, windows update etc). I shut the computer down and tried to install a new Soundblaster Xi-FI xtremegamer PCI card. When I reboot my computer it "Finds new hardware" but the sound card is listed as a "PCI device". When I have the soundcard installed in any PCI slot (I tried them all) this happens, as well as my video card is no longer recognized (doesnt show up in device manager) and under device manger > system devices, 2 of the "PCI Standard PCI-to-PCI bridge" have yellow icons with ! marks I've searched all over google for answers. I've tried manually installing drivers, removing the video card, sound card and reinstalling etc.. Do I have a bad MOBO?? I've read about the paint that these soundcards can be (not as simple as install soundcard, insert CD etc..) but is this an atypical case where its hardware related?

**The BIOS has not been updated - could updating the BIOS potentially help?


Any suggestions PLEASE!

Thank you

[not important]

A PCI card should show up as a PCI Device in Device manager. It is possibly that the sound card is defective.

[shadowpr]

Did you install the newest sound card drivers from creative?

[gamechief]

uh yeah i had this same problem on an older build the sound card is defective i had to get another one and that fixed the problem

[RotoRX]

hmm...

I initially had an older xtreme gamer card that I tried to installl and this problem occured. So I went and bought a brand new one yesterday and I have the same problem.

Can I conclude that the MOBO/PCI slots are working correctly because they do recognize the PCI device (sound card)?

How come when I have the sound card installed it jacks everything up and doesnt allow the computer to recognize the video card? I get super slow scrolling and choppiness when scrolling down a page on the internet etc. Then I try and go into NVIIDAs control panel and it doesnt show that I have a video card installed.

Thank you!

[RotoRX]

Originally Posted by shadowpr Did you install the newest sound card drivers from creative?

Yes, but when I try to install them it states "A supported device is not installed on your system" or something to that affect

[RotoRX]

Originally Posted by not important A PCI card should show up as a PCI Device in Device manager. It is possibly that the sound card is defective.

Having it show up as a PCI device is step one..so if the card actually worked it would show up as a Sound Blaster sound card etc..?

[RotoRX]

Arghhh

I took an old (Working) Sound Blaster Audigy SE card from an old computer and I am running into the same problems...what the heck is going on.

[glc]

Have you disabled the onboard sound in the bios?

Before installing a sound card, have you tried using the onboard sound? Today's onboard sound devices are actually quite good.

[RotoRX]

Originally Posted by glc Have you disabled the onboard sound in the bios? Before installing a sound card, have you tried using the onboard sound? Today's onboard sound devices are actually quite good.

I believe I disabled it correctly.

In BIOS I diasbled the "HDaudio"

I may uninstall everything later and try the onboard sound to see if that works. However, I don't want a faulty mobo if the PCI slots dont work correctly ya know?

But its really puzzling me because the PCI slots work enough to recognize something is installed but it doesnt install the card correctly etc. I know it isn't the soundcard because it has worked...what else could it be? BIOS update? I'm gonna try the onboard sound tonight when I get home from work

Thanks!

[glc]

A bios update sure wouldn't hurt.

By the way, the HD Audio in my new build sounds better than the SB Live 5.1 in my old machine.

[RotoRX]

I am currently at work but will be trying the above recommendations when I return home. A few things

a) when I go to ASUS for bios updates...is it good practice to just download the most recent (the first) BIOS and install it?

b) I will try the onboard sound but I am big into music and games (call of duty, crysis etc..) and I will double check the ability to install a different PCI device (USB hub) to see if that will isntall correctly. Because if it does not I am definitely following through with my RMA at newegg

Thanks again and any more suggestions are appreciated!

[jdeb]

I will probably get hammered for saying this but...

I never update bios until I encounter a problem... One of the problems though is the description of the Bios Fix are usually not descriptive enough... I usually email the manufacture for a thorough explanation and most of them never respond... The only one that has responded in the past has been Foxconn, the rest are pretty pathetic. That has been my experience. Tyan has been pretty good too.

[flanzig1]

If you installed all the motherboard drivers from the included CD, the on-board drivers have probably been installed. Would try to uninstall anything for the on-board sound(with the SB card removed). Then try to instal the SB card.

[RotoRX]

Originally Posted by flanzig1 If you installed all the motherboard drivers from the included CD, the on-board drivers have probably been installed. Would try to uninstall anything for the on-board sound(with the SB card removed). Then try to instal the SB card.

OK..question. Under device manger > sound controllers etc..if it shows "legacy codec (or something like that" and 3 or 4 other audio type things does that mean the on-board audio is installed? So if the on-board audio is uninstalled and no sound card the sound controller should be blank?

Thanks

[glc]

No, it's going to have the codec and a few other things even with no sound devices.

[RotoRX]

Thanks for all the info guys..I have removed my video card and processor from the new build while I ship the mobo back to newegg for a replacement. I have installed the video card and processor into my old computer (m2n sli-deluxe mobo) for the time being and to keep me sane lol

I will upadate when I get the new mobo and try the build again

Thanks