hp sound card problems

[Atec]

I own a hp pavilion xt926. the sound card is built in to the mother board. I don't know what I did to cause this, but the sound card isn't being detected by any programs, and windows media player says there is no sound card in the computer.

so I tried buying a new sound card. I installed it, drivers and all, and it still doesn't work. in control panel>system everything checks out, but it still doesn't work.

I'd like any help that anyone can offer.

thanks

-atec

[TwoRails]

HI Atec,

Welcome to PC Mechanic !!

I'm not a HP guy, but I'm sure you have to disable the on-board sound before installing a dedicated sound card. Did you look in the BIOS to see if there is a software switch to do this??

Also, HP's site may have a utility to diagnose the on-board sound.

TwoRails

[GaryRouth]

Hi Atec, (& Hi Two Rails)

Looks like your xt926 should be coming up on its 1 and a-half year old birthday? [they started shipping in June 2001]. 900mhz Duron, 40gb hard drive, lucent v.90 modem, 8x CDRW, Via KL133 graphics, Crystal onboard sound?

If all those specs sound like your machine, it's likely that it shipped with Windows ME (Millenium) as the OS. If you were happy with the sound you had before you added the new card, you can save money by returning the card to the store for a refund, and use the System Restore feature of WinME to get your sound back. Or you can keep you new card (which, if it's of any quality, will probably give you better sound than the onboard), but we'll need to fix up your system a bit first.
_______________
but you might not have a problem. before anything else:
1) check that your sound isn't muted
2) check your connections (if just 2 speakers, use the green line out plug)
3) check the power on the speakers
4) try the speakers on another computer/ try different speakers on your computer
______________
If those didn't help:

If you want to try getting your old onboard sound back:
1) Remove your new sound card (with the power off! & unplugged)
2) Uninstall the sound drivers in Add/Remove Programs
3) Boot into Safe Mode and make sure the card is absent from the "sound, video, and game controllers" area in Device Manager.
(Safe Mode = press F8 during startup. Device Manager = Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Device Manager)
4) Run System Restore, and choose a date (a "restore point") prior to your sound's disappearance.
5) Reboot.
You should have your onboard sound back as before. Make sure that under it's Sound controls, or "Mixer" that the main volume is not "Muted"

If you want to keep your new card:
1) Perhaps it's working, and your install went OK, but you have the volume set to "muted" in its volume controls. Do you have an icon in your system tray that looks like either a mixer or a speaker? Take a look to make sure.
2) If it's not working: enter your Bios Setup (press the key at startup that the banner message tells you will enter Setup) and disable your onboard sound. Most Hp motherboards don't require a jumper, you can disable the sound just by changing the setting in the bios called "On board Audio" or "Audio Codec" ...it might be a couple of menus in there, keep at it till you find it.
3) Remove any of your previous sound drivers from Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. Remove your new sound card drivers, too.
4) Boot into Safe Mode, and remove all your sound devices, (except the Wave Device for the Lucent modem)
5) On reboot, reinstall your new sound cards drivers. You should now have sound.

Post back if none of this helps
. . . Gary