Newbie desperate for sound driver help

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miketheratguy

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Hey all, I joined here after seeing a very helpful looking thread by LookinAround. I would ideally love to chat with him/her, but perhaps someone could help.

Long story short, I have a Compaq cq 50 215nr that I switched from Vista to XP last night. I'm TOTALLY new to this, I only did this with a friend's help and install disc.

Things work fine except for the sound. I get a LOUD beep when messages pop onscreen but nothing else. I looked into it, all day, and have found a wealth of contradictory information. I'm totally confused and frustrated.

I found a site, which as I am new I can't link to, but found it by googling "Is the Compaq Presario CQ50-215NR Notebook PC only designed to use Vista?" and saw a post with many XP drivers for my specific machine.

I installed everything in order. My problems began with MS UAA, which prepared an install wizard but then quickly disappeared without launching one. Dunno if it installed. Tried again, same thing. I moved on to the audio driver, wound up being Conexant 221 apparently. I tried to install that and it wouldn't work, it said "Driver installation failed. Could not find the MEDIA device for this driver". I tried to install it manually using device manager, and it looked like it was installing only to stop and say that it can not work, and gave me a "Code 10", whatever that is.

So in other words, the two audio related drivers that people seem to agree are meant for this machine to play sound in XP, are not working. And I am totally confused as to what to do. The reason I was hoping to catch LookinAround is because I saw a 2 month old thread that provided someone with a specific, custom driver that worked for another person's machine, so someone who knows what they're doing, and has the patience to help someone TOTALLY new at this, would be absolutely awesome.

Can anyone please help me?
 
Hey miketheratguy :wave:

Don't know that i can predict the same result as the other thread you referred to (every machine can be different) but will give it my best shot!

Let's start with this
1) What XP Service Pack level is installed?
2) Could you provide me the links (other then MS UAA driver) to the drivers you found/are trying to install
3)
  • First make sure all your devices are connected and powered on
  • Click Start->Run, enter: msinfo32. Click the + sign next to Components to expand it
  • Click Problem Devices. Anything appear?
  • If yes, click on it, Ctrl-A to select all, Ctrl-C to copy it, Ctrl-V to paste into next post
 
Oh awesome, thanks for the fast reply! I have been near tears trying to make this work. Literally.

Okay I am almost sure the install was XP Service pack 2. There was a time during this when I was told how to open the registry editor, and when I did, the binary showed 002 and not 003, so I guess this corroborates my belief that it's SP2 (I can log on later tonight and confirm when I have the disc in hand).

I would love to provide links but the site won't let me as I am brand new. I found it by googling "Is the Compaq Presario CQ50-215NR Notebook PC only designed to use Vista?" which resulted in a same-named thread. I clicked on it, and several posts down there is a user who goes through a list of a dozen or so drivers. I downloaded and attempted all of them, having problems around the MS UAA and Conexant areas. Most of my other devices seem to work okay. The touchpad works minus the dedicated vertical scrolling, and a few of my games work as well (such as Oblivion) though one, Bully, quits because it says that I need a directx9 compatible sound card. Which I guess must be related to this issue because it worked fine in Vista.

I tried the msinfo suggestion. Here is what it said under Problem Devices:

Conexant HD-Audio SmartAudio 221 HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10DE&DEV_0002&SUBSYS_10DE0101&REV_1000\4&7CC389&0&0301 This device cannot start.



I will be leaving Gateway now to drive back home so there will be a lull. But I will be back online to respond again in about half an hour and in about 2 and a half hours time I will be able to stay online to communicate directly. Just trying to let you know that you definitely have my attention, but I need to log off and log back on once I get home before I can respond again.

THANK YOU for taking an interest in helping me!!!
 
1) We'll try to get this tackled. But have patience. I will continue to follow-up / follow-through with you. But also expect "lulls" at times as understand this is all volunteer work so I can investigate/reply as time allows. Will sometimes reply quickly. Sometimes can be days. But will keep you updated as best i can
2) And as to continuing a coupla hours from now: i'll probably be in bed and asleep! ;)
3) Sounds like your first order of business is
  • Run Windows Update over-and-over until it finally tells you there are no more updates (open IE explorer. Must be IE (not firefox). Click Tools->Windows Update.
  • Make sure you are running SP3 (and install SP3 if offered it)
  • To verify your SP level, rt click My Computer, then Properties. It will tell you what SP level is installed
  • When you run Windows Update, click for Custom updates. Note that hardware and software updates will be listed as optional. Be sure to install ALL hardware updates. Software updates are up to you if you want to install (doesn't matter to me)
  • Once you;re done with all the update stuff, restart and do the msinfo32 thing for me again
4) Did you do any registry edits? or just use the editor to view things? (i need to know if any registry customizations have been made

/* EDIT */
And if are going SP2 -> SP3 See [post=126038]USB Device Problems? Check for Windows Updates[/post] (read the starting portion about SP2 -> SP3 advice)
 
Don't worry, patience is not a problem. I was just trying to make sure you knew that I was interested and grateful for the help, and wasn't the kind of guy to ask and run. :)

Anyway yeah, I'll stay in touch because apparently the rest of my computer seems okay, and I've seen posts of others who have this model working, so I can live with taking some time to learn. Again, I appreciate the help so it's cool.

Here's the msinfo- I installed all updates that I'm aware of and included SP3. Here's what the latest msinfo said. And no, I only looked at the regedit once when suggested, I never dare to edit anything there.

Conexant HD-Audio SmartAudio 221 HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10DE&DEV_0002&SUBSYS_10DE0101&REV_1000\4&7CC389&0&0301 This device cannot start.
 
OK. So a brief overview as i see things just now:

1. fyi.. Your computer motherboard comes with an integrated chipset. Sometimes one needs to change chipset drivers when switching between Vista and XP. But, at this time, we have no reason yet to believe there's any issue with your chipset drivers so we'll leave them as is.

2. As for your sound card, i'm guessing it's also an integrated chip on your motherboard
  • The "problem device" starts with HDAUDIO (this is the "device enumerator" portion of that cryptic looking ID string: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10DE&DEV_0002&SUBSYS_10DE0101&REV_1000\4&7CC389&0&0301)
  • As you guessed, this device is your sound card (the integrated chip)
  • It's a High Definition Audio device (it meets new digital sound standard)
  • There's currently a driver installed for it but the installed driver won't start
    • The device name you see is coming from the currently installed (but not working) driver
    • just another fyi: The cryptic ID is what's important. Not the device name that appears (the device name is kinda an "after-the-fact" comment once the right driver is finally found and installed. It;s those cryptic IDs that control the driver selection process and NOT the device name (is why many people are confused if they find a driver that matches the device name but it doesn't install is cuz doesn't matter if name matches if the right IDs don't match it will never install!)

For your sound to work correctly, there are two devices that are important (each with its own driver)
1) One is your sound card which we see from above has a problem with the currently installed driver
2) Other is the bus controller that connects the sound card to the rest of your computer. (This is the MS UAA device you came across while trying to install the sound card)

Let's start with the following:
=> [post=695314]Click to see this post[/post](and note the jpg attached to the post)
=> Follow same instructions to open Device Manager , then change the view to see both the MS UAA Bus device entry and your sound card immediately beneath the MS UAA device
=> Rt click MS UAA Bus device, click Properties. It says Device Status=Working Properly, yes?
=> Your sound card entry beneath it will show a yellow icon (because of its error status)
=> Rt click on sound, Properties->Driver tab and tell me what it says for the driver's info: like the company, version number, date, etc.
 
Okay, took the advice and looked up the altered version of device manager. It indeed showed this:

-Microsoft UAA Bus driver for high definition audio (says it's working properly, yep.)
Audio device on high definition audio bus (yellow question mark)
Conexant HD Audio Smartaudio 221 (speaker with yellow exclamation point on it)
Modem device on high definition audio bus (yellow question mark)


I'm not sure what you meant when you said to right click sound. I didn't know where you meant. But if you were referring to the Conexant driver that should be working, the properties of the driver are this:

Driver provider: Conexant
Driver date: 1-21-2008
Driver version: 3.47.0.0.
Digital signer: Not digitally signed

Location: 65535


Does any of that help? If not tell me what you need.
 
Well done. is all the info i need for now. but will take me a bit to go prowling around/searching online to find the data i'm looking for. will get back to you (not likely till tomorrow tho)
 
oh. there is one more thing you can do (in case i can use all the info now rather then have ask for it later after i go look around for the pertinent data).... If you go back to Device Manager and look at each of these you said you saw:
Audio device on high definition audio bus (yellow question mark)
Modem device on high definition audio bus (yellow question mark)

If you rt click on each, select Properties->Details you'll see another of those cryptic IDs for each one. I believe each of them will also start HDAUDIO\

Could you either (whichever you find easier)
a) capture screen shots of each of the IDs or
b) carefully write them down into your next post so i can see them
 
Okay here's the audio device on high definition audio bus:

HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_5051&SUBSYS_103C360A&REV_1000\4&7CC389&0&0001


And here's the Modem device etc etc:

HDAUDIO\FUNC_02&VEN_14F1&DEV_5051&SUBSYS_103C360A&REV_1000\4&7CC389&0&0002



Those longs of code were gotten in the device's "details" tab, hope that's what you needed.


Thanks again for the help, looking forward to a reply whenever it comes.
 
Windows XP Professional version 2002 under system properties. No mention of x64, and I was pretty sure this was 32 bit anyway so it seems true.
 
just an update:

i think i see what's going on. And your problem has been (I think) a matter of getting things installed and working in the right sequence.

I think should have some instructions for you by tomorrow (if not still maybe even later tonight)

Of course, "it ain't over till the fat lady sings" or, in your case, when you can actually hear the sound of the fat lady singing! ;) so more for you later...
 
Heh. No problem. Looking forward to your suggestions.

Just a heads up: I tried to install everything in the order that was presented on that page where I was linked to them. I should now be able to post a link to that specific page if you haven't seen it yet:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/psg/board/message?board.id=OS&thread.id=2064

At first things went fine until that MS UAA. Again, the biggest issue I had there was that the MS UAA install wizard window popped up, telling me that it was getting ready to launch the wizard. A bar filled up quickly, the window was open maybe 2 seconds, and the window disappeared. I have yet to see the actual proper MS UAA install wizard. So from there I wouldn't be surprised if this is why the following problem, the Conexant audio install, did not work. Or was giving me a code 10 and telling me the device can not work. Whatever.

Honestly, I'd be ready to do another flat out install of XP if it comes to that. Of course I'd rather not, but if I must then I can try. Because I really do wanna hear that beautiful fat lady, not this startling, miserable, LOUD apple iie aggression beep.

Lemme know what you have in mind. Oh, I should also point out that when I first startup my computer, I still get the little windows offering the new hardware wizard like 3 times. And on this site I've noticed that sometimes my text entry seems to jump around- I'll be typing fine and then suddenly the cursor is halfway back in the paragraph I had just finished, causing. me to overwrite text until I notice. Not saying you have to address these, but thought they might be pertinent to tell you. Also, I have not installed the driver for my touchpad yet, I didn't want to continue after the sound issues, so my vertical scrolling control is missing but I'm guessing that's due to the driver needing the update?

It's fine, one thing at a time. Just thought it might help to know I guess.
 
So, as fyi I think your problems were related to either one or both of
  • Gettting the MS UAA driver to install correctly
    => This driver must be patched into XP SP1 and SP2. MS has it packaged into SP3. So installing SP3 assures its there and installed correctly now (as you can see it is now)
  • Getting your all chipset drivers installed and working correctly
So do the chipset first then we'll follow-up with other stuff as needed (if still need be/doesn't correct itself on its own)

Fyi… your data indicates
=> your computer uses a Nvidia chipset (including an nvidia chip needed for sound)
=> Conexant chip for the modem/sound as well

So let’s try the following
1) Start in Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs
=> Check for any program entry that might be about your sound and/or modem.
=> If you see one, click to remove it. (there may or may not be anything listed there)
=> Note any CD/DVD/Media programs (e.g. from Roxio or Nero) are OK. We're just looking for anything that might be about sound
=> Feel free to ask about any entry if not sure

2) Then go to Device Manager and rt click the sound device entries w/the yellow icons, select Uninstall (no worries if you don't see the uninstall opition which might be the case for yellow question marks vs. the yellow exclamation point which should have that option)

3) Click to download and install the Nvidia chipset drivers for XP . Then reboot for good measure

4) Look again in Dev Mgr under MS UAA device
=> Does it still list 3 devices with yellow icons?
=> Or maybe just 2? Or maybe even none?
 
Okay I did what you said to the best of my ability but I don't think anything whatsoever changed, actually.

First I went into the control panel and removed one or two softwares. Conexant audio was in there, and when I tried to remove it it said it was already gone, so just delete the icon. Ok.

Next went into device manager and right-click / uninstalled everything yellow. There were a total of 3- the 2 audio bus hd blabla and the conexant audio a little further down.

Downloaded and installed the nvidia link you provided. I may have already had the exact same one, I'm not sure- it asked if I wanted to overwrite my same-named files. I just said yes to all so I don't know if anything was changed in that particular download, I can't be sure.

But then I started getting options on top of options. Nvidia asked if I wanted like 6 components installed, so I just said ok. As it was installing one or 2 other wizards popped up asking if I wanted to install them so I waited until the Nvidia installer finished and said yes. Nvidia required a restart, I said okay, when it started back up I still got the same "found new hardware" wizards that I've been getting for days, clicked them to cancel, when Nvidia came back on it asked me to install more components, required a second restart. Near the end it told me that setup would be cancelled because I have no NAM support, and I felt like our boys back in the 60s when Nixon screwed them over. Lol. Little joke to stop me from hitting my head on the pavement here. There was another moment where it warned me something about SATA and RAID and setting my bios....I have no idea what I was supposed to do, I just told things to keep going. Next, okay, etc.

When the computer came back on, it went to the same story. The icons that were yellow with question marks and exclamation points are the same as they were before. And the new hardware wizards that have been popping up at startup for days still did, and I still cancel them because they never worked in the first place and I don't know what they're trying to do.

So to summarize, here's what occurred: Elimination of one or 2 audio software programs.

Right clicking and uninstalling of yellow-icons in device manager.

Download and install of nvidia file you linked me to.

All kinds of stuff was installed, or attempted installed, or overwrote pre-existing stuff. I'm so confused at this point I couldn't tell you what's new, but it honestly looks as if nothing was changed in any way.


So I'm sad because the way you phrased things made it sound like this should have taken care of the problem. Frsutrated, not at all with you because you're trying to help and I appreciate it. Frustrated because I got rid of vista because of situations EXACTLY like this in the first place, and I'm starting to really tire of my laptop.

But I'll still await your next suggestion, you know more about it than I ever could.

PS: This could be relevant, I don't know. But the microsoft UAA shows up in device manager under the heading of system devices. I don't know if this means it's working but I know I saw it there before, no yellow marks. Still that way. The yellow icons are under "Other devices", until I try to install that conexant driver or whatever and then that gets it own exclamation point under sound, video, and game controllers.

And since it may help, the driver details as of right now:

MS UAA
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0774&SUBSYS_360A103C&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&38


Other device on HD audio bus
HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_5051&SUBSYS_103C360A&REV_1000\4&7CC389&0&0001


Modem device on HD audio bus
HDAUDIO\FUNC_02&VEN_14F1&DEV_5051&SUBSYS_103C360A&REV_1000\4&7CC389&0&0002



Your move, lol.
 
ARGGHHH.... Windows often doesn't make life easy. (I often like to quote someone on here who once said "Who needs a hobby when you have a PC?!"

Yea, i was hopeful that the last instructions would resolve some of the basic issues and (yes) i believe the chipset driver i gave you was the same one you probably tried installing before..

As to why you see the Hardware Wizard thing happen..

Some info on those yellow icons
A yellow exclamation point means that Windows found a driver but the Driver Status indicates an error (which might be for many reasons including Windows found a driver but the WRONG driver or something stops the driver from running)
A yellow question mark means that Windows can't even find a driver for the device in which case it often prompts to see if the user can point it to one (via the Hardware Wizard)

And manually pointing Windows to the location of each missing driver might be what we end up doing to fix things if the Nvidia install package isn't doing it for us, for some reason, it would seem)

As for next steps, I'll probably have you install some tools that'll dump all sorts of device and hardware driver detail automatically for me. But may also take several days with the long weekend coming up.

In the meantime, i'll point you to a tool you might find handy in XP sometimes. One example is copying these darned Device IDs as you probably found XP doesn't simply let you copy paste. See this post Is just a handy tool you might want to check out if ya feel like it.

Sorry will still take a bit longer but am still hoping to get all this resovled. But probably a few days before my next post. Have a good weekend!

/* EDIT */
A coupla follow-on comments:
1. i checked and NAM is nVidia's Network Access Manager. Not sure why it's complaining (or yet know if we care) but funny comment tho in your post :haha:

2. The yellow icon is a helpful "visual" alert of a problem.. but to check on a device status for certain (as well as see/report specific Device Status error code) rt click the device, select Properties. On the general tab look at the Device Status to see if Working Properly or gives the error code number
/*EDIT2*/
And note: By default, when you open Device Manager, you will see MS UAA device under System devices and your sound devices listed elsewhere. To see them all together you need to click View->Devices by Connection (look back instructions in my earlier post). And in your case, the things under "Other Devices" are devices that Windows has no drivers for and so is not quite sure what to list them under.
 
So here’s the scoop.

I looked at the nVidia link I gave you to try and it was the same as the one you used before from other forum. Not certain why it’s not working for your case. But we'll move on..

If you look on your computer I believe you’ll find a C:\Nvidia folder exists. This is where Nvidia (by defualt) uncompressed all the Nvidia install package files before it attempted to install them. We’ll try manually installing some of those files via Hardware Wizard (if h/w wizard pops up automatically, i want you to cancel it. Only use it when you manually invoke it as follows)

First, you need to reconfirm something. Open DevMgr, View->Device By Connection. You should again see MS UAA listed with the 3 sound device entries directly below it
1.Rt click MS UAA device Properties->General tab to confirm Device Status is OK
2. I'm guessing those 3 sound entries under it still all have yellow icons (i.e. errors). As you reported before, only one starts with HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10DE. (note it starts HDAUDIO and contains 10DE) For that specific entry
=> Rt click Update Driver
=> H/w wizard appears.
+ Click No not this time, then
+ Install from sepicifc location,
+ Don’t search, I will choose,
+ when it shows devices just slelect Show All then Next,
+ then click Have Disk,
+ then Browse to C:\NVIDIA\nForceWin2k\15.24\IS\HDAudio and select file nvhda.inf
+ then keep hitting OK till Windows tries to install using that file


What happens? Does that help at all (with the device we just installed by hand?)
 
D'oh! I had no idea you had written, I chalked off the whole weekend because I figured you'd be gone. Sorry, I've been sitting here with a soundless computer, not even knowing.

Anyway, alas, the newest trick did nothing. Well, it DID shut my computer down. Opening the Dvmgr did report that supposedly the UAA is working. And there were 2 yellow question marks, the same as before (audio and modem drivers hd audio etc etc). I navigated to the specific file in question by telling the installer I'd do it manually, and it tried to install. At first it seemed to go well. Then suddenly I got a blue screen saying "Windows has encountered a problem and needs to shut down" to protect me or something. It then did so before I could finish reading the first sentence. Upon restart, I see no change to my current status quo, unfortunately.
 
Several things to cover..

But first, on the one hand certainly no worries about taking time to respond! Tho on the other hand, just fyi, you should normally receive an automated email notice from TechSpot when the thread is updated with a new post. If you’re manually checking for the thread for updates all the time, then you might have a TechSpot setting incorrect for thread notifications

As for your problem
At the moment, I’m just as puzzled as you as to why you’re having such a hard time with these installs :confused:
  • The nVidia chipset drivers look like they should match your system
  • But just as important (and significant to know) these appear to be the SAME chipset drivers that others have reported working just fine for their same system as you have
  • Not to mention the specific driver I had you try to manually install is a spot on match for the hardware device it was supposed to have updated (vs. your crash!) ARGHHHH
  • (btw.. that’s why I was originally optimistic with that very first nVidia chipset install attempt. That it would fix your problems once we had MS UAA and other stuff installed and working for sure before hand... )
But Windows can be a pain. And like I said at the start, things can be different for different systems so we’ll keep looking to see what’s your specific problem.

Now, all that said, a couple things before moving on
To prevent XP from auto-restart on a crash (so you can read crash screens and manually restart)
- Rt click My Computer->Properties->Advanced Tab
- Click Startup and Recovery Settings button
- Under System Failure
=> Check write an event to System Log
=> Uncheck Automatically Restart​

Also, before continuing, question is: Do you use backup software? Have you backed up your hard drive before we continue?
At minimum you want to be sure you've backed up all your files and folders but i personally strongly urge you invest in backup software that can not only do file/folder backups but can do a "ghost" image backup of your hard drive.

A "ghost" image back not only assures conventional file/folder recovery but also gives you the option to simply recover the current disk image at time of backup. This assures that even in worst case you should be able to recover your complete installation on the disk. Personally, i use Acronis True Image 2009. IMHO It's the best $50 buck investment you can make in your computer to help avoid disaster.

If you buy it online (vs. a box version) first thing to do is create a bootable Recovery disk. Allows you to boot directly into Acronis and recover a disk image if your computer can't boot from a current/corrupt boot image​

And as for next steps
1) make sure you got things backed up (ghost image backup is best - if you need assistance as to how to use Acronis, lemme know)
2) Will take me awhile, but I'll follow up with instructions that will to dump alot of your internal systems data about your system to hopefully let me see what's going on inside your system preventing all this from working (no guarantees, but hopefully, it can reveal where problem is for your system) But it potentially means a lot of diagnostic work ahead to try and figure out your problem
 
To tell you the truth, I copied everything important off of this laptop and onto a 500 gb hard drive so I could then do a flat-out fresh wipe and start from scratch. At this point, as it was last week, I would be in no danger if something happened to the memory of this computer and still have the installation disc I used to wipe and install XP. So unless the computer gets to a point that it won't even turn on and let me install an OS, I'll be fine.

In fact I was going to ask if I should. Hearing someone who KNOWS about this stuff confirm that I'm using the right drivers is disheartening. Could something have gone wrong in the install? Did the drivers I used, as linked on that page way back, somehow screw me up?

If there are better options first I'll pursue them, but if this SHOULD be working then I'd be open to starting over and installing, in whatever order you advise, only the drivers you suggest I install. I dunno, I'm concerned that nothing is working.

But I do keep seeing posts here and there of others having sound problems with this machine. And there was some debate over whether having service pack 3 makes it not work, or maybe it was SP2, I can't recall- I just remember seeing pages of people trying tricks like this to overcome the same problem I'm having- the drivers work except for this one stupid one for sound, and it lookes to the other people like X depended on Y depended on Z to get it to work, and the service packs screwed things up even worse, yada yada.

Anyway I have to run but I'll respond when I can go through the newest steps in more detail. Until I come back though, please pop back in anytime that you have new ideas or questions. I'll do what I can to send you data that can help or whatever. And thanks for continuing the effort.
 
On the one hand, i don't know the specifics of what it is about your hardware/software that's causing all these issues but will pass along a couple comments/opinions

I know there's been ALOT posted in many forums about XP SP2 vs SP3 vs sound issues.

One heads up about all those posts:
=> MS UAA bus driver is required to be installed for stuff to work (as you've read before)
=> For XP SP2 this required installing a MS hotfix
=> Before the official XP SP3 release from Microsoft, there were many "pre-release" SP3 versions that people installed even before SP3 was "official"
=> All the "pre-releases" of SP3 didn;t include that MS UAA hotfix (as well as missing other stuff which is why they were "pre-releases") and anyone who installed a pre-release version had problems subsequently getting MS UAA installed AFTER they did a pre-release
=> That's why you may have read about (just one example of warning/fixes) of "registry patches and checks" to have check/change registry values indicating SP2 vs 3 and changing between the two so people could get that darned MS UAA patch to work (it sounds like you actually referred to reading a similar fact in passing, yourself, in one of your earlier posts)

The above (plus more) makes it important that if you're reading about SP2 vs SP3 you need make sure you're reading about the official SP3 release which finally came out May 6, 2008 and INCLUDES the MS UAA patch (so realize if you're reading anything earlier then that date!)

Now even after all i say above, there's still value in trying to rely on /understand others' experience (especially as you're trying to downgrade a system to XP on a system that doesn't "officially" support XP)

So reattempting the XP SP2 install and then very carefully doing things in a specific order MIGHT make the difference (just fyi.. i;ve seen cases where someone happened to install a Logitech web cam which turned out to be the problem preventing their sound install. As to why... was because the Logitech driver is buggy AND one driver can sometimes impact another driver even tho the 2 seem independent of one another). Of course, i don't know that this applies at all in your case other then Windows (and buggy s/w you might have installed along the way) may have subtle nuances and impact other things on your computer.

So i think first attempting a reinstall (before we try going the route of dumping / analyzing your Windows internalls) makes more sense... but will have to post back to give you more info on that process (Understanding please that this is all based on my "best guess" and can't assure how this "unofficial" install will work for your specific case - tho of course it would seem others have shown success so hopefully you can eventually have success too!)
 
Ah I see. That SP2/3 argument makes a little more sense now. Very confusing before.

That link you gave brought me to a page about defragging. Was that intentional? If so, should I do something there? Anyway I believe what I installed was the correct SP3 because I went to the windows update page using IE and got it there along with many other bits.

I have no problem waiting to reinstall windows. Get back to me with however you want me to dump my info, I have never done so. I haven't gotten that ghost image software or whatever- I'm broke so I can buy nothing right now- but if I am currently all set to dump info for you, just tell me how when you're ready.
 
WOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!! I got it working!!!!!!

I decided to continue my search for answers, which up until now hadn't done anything but continue to confuse. I stumbled on a page I'd been on once before, at the beginning:

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service...47626+1243650830267+28353475&threadId=1279418


On this page they talk about my specific model, so I thought it would help. I don't know how I missed it before, but at the very bottom of the page is a post where someone links 3 rar files that, when put together, are supposed to be all the drivers needed. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I downloaded these and figured I'd first try installing the audio device, and if that didn't work try installing everything. Again, with a messed up computer and a boot disc nearby, what did I have to lose?

So I tried the audio installer first, thinking it wouldn't work. It looked exactly the same as what I'd gotten before. Same name, maybe even same file size, etc. I don't know.

I installed it according to the readme provided. It started the installation process and I expected it to crap out saying there was no MEDIA device, as it had done before. I was surprised to see it finish successfully. It even showed up in device manager, no yellow icon, saying this device is working properly. Huh!?!?

So I restarted the computer and expected another headache. I literally did a double take when rather than the obnoxious BLOOP, I heard the pleasant turn-off chime of Windows XP. I reiterate: What the hell?????

I have no idea what was different, other than the way I opened device manager which shouldn't be relavant. Could it be that this driver was tweaked, since the person in question was going through the same process as myself? I'm totally confused now...But I HAVE SOUND!!!!!!!

Anyway if you want to stick around a bit and see if you can help me understand what the difference was, as well as put your own confusion at ease, I'd still be happy to send you what you need to see. At the same time, now that the problem is licked, I'd understand if you have more important things to do. Let me know, I'm still grateful to all your effort either way.
 
WooHOOOO! and Congrats! :grinthumb

When i have a chance this coming week i'll take a look at the driver file that seemed to work for you (and compare it to the other one) to see if i can see why the difference.

In the meanwhile. download and run DriverMax. Very handy freeware tool. Use it to backup all your current drivers (use the export function). That way, in worst case, you have a file you can keep on your backup drive with a copy of all your current (and working! :) ) drivers!

(btw.. job well done! as well as having the perseverance to hunt down and find a solution!)
 
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