Enable onboard sound without deleting drivers?

Question

I recently installed a graphics card that is too big for the motherboard so I had to pull out the sound card (time to upgrade my mobo) but I don't know how to enable the AC97 onboard sound; the BIOS options are Disable/Auto - auto just automatically selects the damn soundblaster card!

The problem is I'm not sure where I've put the installation CD for the sound card and it's an OEM version so the normal software for a Creative Soundblaster card is no good. If I can't find the disk and I delete the software the card will be bin fodder. :-(

Answer 1

hi mate

to enabled the onboard sound/audio realtek ac-97 sound device you need to restart the pc and then press "delete"(or the appropriate key) to enter the set-up(bios) and then you need to go to "intergrated peripherals" and then to the "onboard pci device setup"

in there you will see a entry for "ac-97 audio"(or words to that effect),you then need to change this from disable to enable,and then you should go back to the main bios screen and most importantly save these settings by pressing "save and exit set up" which will save all your changes to the cmos(the bios permanent memory)...click yes to agree to this and the pc will then save the changes and restart

upon restart your pc will boot as normal and then you should be able to hear the windows welcome music,however in some pc,s you still may need to install the realtek ac97 audio drivers/high defenition drivers

you can download the realtek ac-97 drivers from http://www.realtek.com.tw/DOWNLOADS/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false,however if you allready have sound there is no reason to install these,only install these if you still have no sound even after enabling the ac97 audio

note: in your case were this no enable you should allways go with "auto" which basically means it will go with the most suitable setting for your pc

also if problems persist you should then investigate the chance of there being a audio driver "conflict",this is a common problem which happens when two or more devices end up with the same "irq" or interupt request"

to change a interupt request due to a conflict you need to :

Right click on the device in the list (see above) and then select properties.

Click the Resources tab.

Remove the tick from the Use automatic settings option.

Select a non-conflicting configuration from the pull down box.

Click OK

You may find you cannot manually change your IRQ settings (the Use automatic settings will be greyed out), this is usually related to the ACPI function used by Win XP.

To resolve conflicts with PCI or ISA cards try manually setting them in your motherboard's BIOS or try a different slot for the newly installed device, you will usually find that by changing the slot you will change the IRQ channel as well.

any problems let me know

good luck mate !

Answer 2

Download and install the first two files (AC97) then restart.



EDIT: You should be able to use a downloaded driver if you identify the model number of your card. The model number is generally on the card in the top left hand corner; however, it can also be located on an IC chip on the card as well.

Answer 3

Hi. Do you know the make/model of your computer or the name of the sound card you have currently installed? Creative Labs make a lot sound cards for computers . . . you might just have to download the newest drivers. If you're using Windows XP, you should be able to tell by going to Start ==> Control Panel ==> Perfomance and Maintenance ==> System. Click the hardware tab and click "Device Manager." Click "Sound, Video, and Game Controllers". Is there a yellow question/exclamation point next to any of the entries? Let me know, and I should be able to figure out your issue.