My First PC: No Sound! Help!

[TotalNovice]

Before building a monster HTPC, I decided to try a simpler PC first. Overall, the experience has been highly rewarding thus far. I was shocked (but not as shocked as my wife!) when it booted the Windows install CD the very first time.

Major Problem: NO SOUND!

I thought my motherboard (MSI K8T Neo-V) had a built-in sound card, but now I'm not sure. I thought the presence of a speaker jack on the back of the mobo indicated the presence of an on-board sound card, but I'm doubting it now. Also, mobo manual mentions "6 channels software audio codec RealTek ALC655. - Compliance with AC97 v2.3 Spec. - Meet PC2001 audio performance requirement."

First off, does anyone know if this mobo does have built-in sound?

I've tried the front headphone plug... no sound (I plugged the front panel audio plug on to the audio connector on the mobo after removing 2 jumpers). No sound from the rear plug with speakers or headphones.

I installed the audio drivers from the CD that came with the mobo.

Volume is turned up in Sounds control panel and nothing is muted.

In Device Manager, "RealTek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller" appears enabled.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Here's my setup...

Xion Solaris case

MSI K8T Neo-V motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 2GHz CPU

1GB DDR DIMM

160GB Maxtor HDD

HP DVD+/-RW CD burner w/ LightScribe

Sony 1.4MB FDD

ASUS AGP video card (bottom-of-the-line)

Linksys Wireless-G PCI adapter

Windows XP Home

 

[vnf4ultra]

Yes, that board has built in audio. Do you have the cable connected to the proper jack on the back(line out/headphone)? Are there any instructions in the manual about setting jumpers for the front panel or rear audio jacks?

If all else fails, it could be a defective audio chipset on your board, in which case, you'd either rma the board(get a replacement), or keep it and buy a cheap sound card to get audio.

 

[Peddant]

In the Sounds and Audio control panel,is the realtek the preferred device for sound output ? You should be getting sound.Check the BIOS and make sure AC`97 or whatever is enabled.

 

[TotalNovice]

Yes, that board has built in audio. Do you have the cable connected to the proper jack on the back(line out/headphone)? Are there any instructions in the manual about setting jumpers for the front panel or rear audio jacks?

If all else fails, it could be a defective audio chipset on your board, in which case, you'd either rma the board(get a replacement), or keep it and buy a cheap sound card to get audio.

I'm slow! What cable are you referring to? There is a plug from the front panel of the case (it has 10 holes, with #8 filled in)..... that matches perfectly with the "Front Panel Audio Connector" labelled "JAUD1". Description in manual says "The front panel audio connector allows you to connect to the front panel audio and is compliant with Intel Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide." and "MSI Reminds You... If you do not want to connect to the front audio header, pins 5 &6, 9 & 10 have to be jumpered in order to have signal output directed to the rear audio ports. Otherwise, the Line-Out connector on the back panel will not function." (Obviously, I removed those jumpers)

Thanks for your help!

I'm thinking about picking up a cheap PCI sound card and see if that helps. Would I just need to plug it in a PCI slot and install the drivers or is there more to it?

I've got too much time invested in it to RMA it... well, not really, but I hate the thought of it!

The manual is NOT very helpful.

 

[Peddant]

I'm thinking about picking up a cheap PCI sound card and see if that helps. Would I just need to plug it in a PCI slot and install the drivers or is there more to it?

My C- Media 5.1 soundcard cost $20.It sounds fine to my untutored ears.Unless your an audiodophile or gamer,you don`t need to spend much more.And yes,you do just plug it in to PCI,then install drivers.

 

[vnf4ultra]

I was referring to your cable to the speaker/headphone, but you have to connect the front panel connector to the mb correctly as well, which it seems you've done. It seems your board disables the rear port if you connect the front panel port, so make sure you're using the front panel audio out port.

If you need a sound card, you can just get a cheap one for less than $20(usd) shipped online, like this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829117105
Or get a cheap one at your local computer/electronics store.

 

[TotalNovice]

In the Sounds and Audio control panel,is the realtek the preferred device for sound output ? You should be getting sound.Check the BIOS and make sure AC`97 or whatever is enabled.

Thanks for your help. I checked in BIOS and the status AC97 is listed as "auto" (choice is "auto" or "disabled"). RealTek was the preferred device for sound output.

I was referring to your cable to the speaker/headphone, but you have to connect the front panel connector to the mb correctly as well, which it seems you've done. It seems your board disables the rear port if you connect the front panel port, so make sure you're using the front panel audio out port.

If you need a sound card, you can just get a cheap one for less than $20(usd) shipped online, like this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829117105
Or get a cheap one at your local computer/electronics store.

I just bought a sound card at local Wal-Mart ($29)... Creative Sound Blaster Live 24-bit. Didn't seem to work. I unplugged the plug from JAUD1 and put jumpers on pins 5&6 and 9&10... now I get output from new sound card from the rear line out! I'm gonna try removing the jumpers and putting front panel plug back on... if it doesn't work, I guess that will tell us something. Thanks for your help!

 

[mailpup]

I've used a couple of MSI motherboards that come with onboard sound. As the manual says, you can choose to remove the jumpers and connect the front panel sound jacks or leave the jumpers on to use the back panel sound jacks but NOT both. One or the other.

Plug your headphone or speaker plug into the green jack.

 

[TotalNovice]

I've used a couple of MSI motherboards that come with onboard sound. As the manual says, you can choose to remove the jumpers and connect the front panel sound jacks or leave the jumpers on to use the back panel sound jacks but NOT both. One or the other.

Plug your headphone or speaker plug into the green jack.

I guess that might explain some of it... I guess I misinterpreted what the manual meant. I didn't realize you had to choose one or the other. Is this pretty much standard on mobos?

The manual didn't state clearly what you just said.

From manual:
"If you do not want to connect to the front audio header, pins 5 &6, 9 & 10 have to be jumpered in order to have signal output directed to the rear audio ports. Otherwise, the Line-Out connector on the back panel will not function."

I interpreted this to mean: If you don't use the front panel connector, you must use jumpers to use the back, but if you use the front panel connector, you don't need the jumpers to use the back.

Obviously, it didn't say that. It probably would have been clearer if the manual said "Use the jumpers for the back to work or use the front panel connector for the front to work".

I guess I'm squared away now. I don't really want to mess around with taking out the Sound Blaster and seeing if the on-board audio works!

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[vnf4ultra]

So are your speakers connected to the sound card line out or the motherboards rear line out? They should be connected to the sound card line out, if you have the soundblaster installed.