C-Media Sound Driver Conflict

So how do I rule that out (or verify it)?

I would think so too actually, except for that fact that upon my fresh XP installation (when all this happened) the sound WAS working and then as I installed more drivers and other things it stopped at some point (although I unfortunately don't know when). Plus I still get random BSODs, some of which seem to have to do with a device driver conflict I believe. And I wasn't getting these before the sound stopped working.

Here's the latest dump by the way:

View attachment 28100

one thing i know with the error message is about the onboard sound chip.
if your onboard sound's driver is CMI8738,then your sound chipset should be:

CMI8738/6Ch or 4Ch C-Media Technology.

please download Everest Free Edition HERE,install & run the program.when done,navigate to > Multimedia > PCI/Pnp Audio.

lets see what sound chip you have with the string value.

likewise go to device manager,navigate to >Sound,video and game controller.
find the onboard sound & that should match the value with the result from everest.

right click the onboard sound > properties.
on the details tab,you will see the Device instance ID.
the string value would be like PCI\VEN_xxxxx so & so.

post it back here as well as the result from everest (sound ).
providing those informations,we will see the real sound chipset that you have.

Here's a curious thing. Everest works fine except that it brings up a blank screen on BOTH PCI/Pnp Audio and Windows Audio. See View attachment 28115 .

Also, I don't seem to have an onboard sound listed under Sound,video and game controllers in Device Manager (and this is with the hidden devices being shown). I have a screenshot listed above on posting #7 that shows it.

So what does that mean?

My motherboard manual lists this as the onboard sound chip for what it's worth: CMI8738/6Ch C-Media Technology.

Also, I have triple-checked, and my onboard sound is definitely enabled in my BIOS.

just as i thought & that would explain it all.your sound chip not being detected.

ok,please go to Start > Help & support.under Pick a Task,select keep your computer up-to-date with Windows Update.

Download all that it tells you to download (updates) & install.

after installing all the updates,Run the driver CMI8738_WDM_0639XP & dont forget the basic things before you proceed in istalling the driver."8738 in Motherboard".if thats the default then leave things unchanged.

I try to keep my updates current, but I checked for updates and there were three. None of which were high priority. 2 software (Root Certificate and Silverlight) and 1 hardware (VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter).

I tried to reinstall the driver again with the appropriate selections, but it still hangs like before.

Thanks so much for your help turbo1/kimsland...I really am at a tight spot!

What next?

One option is to really confirm what you have
Please download Unknown Devices
http://www.halfdone.com/ukd/UKD_14-20_Beta.zip
Also update the detections from right clicking on this, and selecting Save As:
http://members.datafast.net.au/dft0802/downloads/pcidevs.txt
Unknown Devices helps you find what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are

Full info here http://halfdone.com/ukd

Nice program.

Here's the results in a .txt file View attachment UnknownDevices.txt .

Well I did get something from this.
McAfee installed, I wonder if you are able to fully un-install (temporarily of course) this product then try the audio driver install again
Note: you will require all your registrations - so forth, actually better to have it ready for re-install.

Also I started searching around for drivers again, but gave up thinking you have a few already ! But I came across a board (I closed the page without copying the link) that stated that he could not install the Soyo CMI8738 fully until he removed all USB devices (he thought it was keyboard - and attached a PS2 keyboard) and successffully installed them.

The drivers still concern me a little, I think you may want to search for a few others with your Windows version - I usually use driverguide.com that site is very good, but I have never posted a link because free registration is required to download the drivers (using your email address) you may want to check that too, as a first reference to these drivers Soyo Technology Corp Ltd CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio for your Windows.

Well there's another 3 ideas !

I would like you to continue posting here to, ie don't format or not respond, I'd like to know the really simple answer to all this !!

Okay...well I did the online driverscan on DriverGuide.com and it says that I have the latest driver for CMI8783...

Now I'm on to trying the USB issue...will post back.

And McAfee after that !

I may be away again (I'm in and out a lot, but I like letting people know)

I'll check replies later - you know the reply that says I solved it

I removed all USB devices and tried to reinstall the driver but it just hangs like before.

And as far as the McAfee goes...I had this problem BEFORE I had it or any other virus software installed. (As a general rule I reinstall all device drivers first before software when I do a fresh install.)

So, I hate to say it but I'm kind of back to square one. I really don't want re-install XP...

Uninstall all the sound again in add/remove in device manager (also show hidden devices from view in the device manager toolbar)

You really should try another sound driver download for your OS (i keep forgetting to look - i think Xp) from driverguide

Once I had a strange one like this, I installed another sound card, then uninstalled the sound card, then the original sound card worked.
Something must have reset somewhere

Hmmm. Maybe more minds may help here.

kimsland,

I started second guessing myself as to whether or not I really had McAfee installed or not when I was trying the sound drivers before. So I bit the bullet and uninstalled it and tried to install the sound drivers then (note that all USB devices were still disconnected). Alas, same thing happened with the hang on install.

So, I uninstalled all the sound in device manager again (which was only the mciqtz32.dll actually). And then tried three separate C-Media Sound Drivers:

cmi8738_WDM_0639XP (the one you linked to from downloads.com earlier)
cmi8738_win_xp_0644
cmi8738_w2k_xp_me-630

You can find the latter two here on Soyo's site SY-K7VSoyo Dragon+

The first one gives me the nice "8738 in motherboard" box to choose from first...and then installs and hangs.

The second one just gives the

message and closes. And the third one is similar to the first but just skips straight to the hanging without asking me for the "8738 in motherboard" selection box.

Whew. Thanks for hanging in there with me!! What's next?

after reading your unknown devices,it appears that:

Sound, video and game controllers (19/5/0/0)
Audio Codecs
CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device
C-Media Electronics Inc CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device
Soyo Technology Corp Ltd CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device

and after getting through to your boards manual,you have the SPK5 Audio Connector Card & One Flat Cable for Audio Card.

in C-Media site,none was listed as CMI8738 for mainboards except CMI8738 for PCI sound.

as im thinking that you need that SPK5 to run the C-Media 6 channel solution.

lets have kimsland suggestion,un-install the sound driver in Add/Remove or you can run the un-install program that comes with the CMI8738 driver.

install again the sound driver using your motherboard's CD.
if nothing happens,use the one you downloaded from C-Media (CMI8738_WDM_639XP) driver.

but this time when you double click the setup.exe,before you proceed with the installation,tick the radio button that says "8738 in sound card (rear speakers jack individually)".
your SPK5 card has the sockets for CENTER/BASS,REAR_L/R,OPTICAL_INPUT,SPDIF_INPUT,OPTICAL_OUTPUT & SPDIF_OUTPUT.

this feature is already a functionality of a PCI sound card.

try it.

Okay, I tried to un-install the sound driver/applications that I have.

However, when I click on any of the "Uninstall.exe" files for any of the CM8738 drivers nothing happens.

Also, when I try to uninstall the AudioRack application (either through the Add/Remove Menu or the Program Menu shown here View attachment 28125 ) I receive this screen View attachment 28122 . Now, no matter what I check off (the default is all of them), when I click continue the screen just flashes and the prompt comes back up. It will do it indefinitely until I click on the Cancel button.

Also, when I choose "Uninstall Device Drivers and Applications" from the Program Menu (see screen shot above) and try to uninstall the driver I receive this View attachment 28123 .

So it seems like I don't have a driver installed, but I do have AudioRack installed and can't uninstall it. Isn't that a problem?

Anyway, I continued onward and tried to install the driver from my mobo CD. Everything looks like it installs correctly, it asks for a reboot, but when I reboot nothing has been installed. So then I tried the CMI8738_WDM_639XP driver as suggested, but with the option "8738 in sound card (rear speakers jack individually)" checked instead, but I receive the same result...the hang.

Hmm...

you cant have a fresh install of the driver unless you solved the un-installation problem.

this maybe the conflict now,your sound chip not being detected.that's why it hangs.it cant find anything.

find something that will un-install the driver,use a third party utility software that can be downloaded free.

With turbo1's help I've managed to completely uninstall AudioRack with Revo Uninstaller and then ran CCleaner afterwards to make sure that everything is really gone. I've also tried a few more versions of the CMedia driver but none complete installation...I mostly receive the ""Our audio chip provides mult-speaker surround..." error listed multiple times below.

I also tried another install of AudioRack (thanks for the file turbo1), but alas, I simply receive this error on install View attachment 28172 .

Still stumped.

New sound card sounds good !
Also may help (as stated above)