AC'97 Sound

[Mojo]

I recently upgraded to Vista after replacing my busted up old motherboard with a Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe. Windows recognised all the sound and installed without a hitch, or so I thought. No sound from the rear speakers :(. So I browse over to the Realtek site and download the latest x64 Vista drivers and install, still no joy. Windows recognises it fine and doing a speaker test all the right sound comes from the right place but when I play and audio/video file the sound only comes through the front speakers again. When I try to configure the speakers through the Realtek GUI to 6ch speakers (5 satellites and a sub) it wont keep the settings. Everytime I browse away from the spaker page it resets it to 2ch speakers. It wont even do the "Auto-test" thing to get the sound coming through all the speakers. :(

I have tried removing the Realtek software and just installing the drivers but to no avail, even through device manager installing the drivers doesn't work as Vista seems to put on the Realtek software too.

Surely someone here has experienced something like this, and hopefully some up with a solution. Any ideas?

[Mojo]

Ok small update. Uninstalled and reinstalled and also installed the HD codecs and now I have noise coming through the back speakers but it's all distorted and scambled. Was like that before and after installing the HD codec and still there after removing them.

[Archaon]

If the rear sound works in the driver sound test, but not the programs you're using, I'd check whether the programs are actually set up to use the rear speakers. A lot of programs come set to use stereo by default, which isn't what you want.

[Mojo]

I have now tried configuring WMP speaker but it just takes me to the windows speaker setup which is correctly configured to 5.1 and works as tested before. :( not tired any other programs, though I had a quick look at Media Player Classic and couldn't see any speaker config for that.

On an even more confusing note when I booted it up this morning the distorted noise had stopped coming through the rear speakers and no I get nothing again, other than when I test the speakers through the sound setting in control panel.

[Mojo]

Pfft, wont be reinstalling that, got home today and was greeted with a BSOD and a corrupt Vista install :( I'll stick with XP for now I think.

[Cable Monkey]

So you are confident it is not a hardware issue?

[Mojo]

The sound or the BSOD? No, so if XP craps out too then I will suspect that.

[Cable Monkey]

The BSOD. My suspicion would be the hard drive so another install cycle and a thorough check should confirm it is ok. I admit to some bemusement about peoples issues with Vista, but in so saying I tested it on 3 machines. A 2.6 gig P4 laptop died the death of a thousand cuts with it on, a Turion/ATI laptop was ok with 32 bit version but horribly unstable with the 64 bit flavour and an 875P chipset Shuttle has been as stable as a rock. It now resides as my only OS on my desktop, though I am sticking with XP on the 875P folding machine I am building.

[Fireblade]

I admit to some bemusement about peoples issues with Vista...

Your admission that you've experienced problems with it yourself... on different systems, and with different versions of Vista at that... is a contradiction of your bemusement at other people's issues with Vista :confused:

As you've discovered first hand... Vista can be 100% A-OK on some systems... yet fall apart at the first hurdle (installation) on others?
It can be 'problematic' (at best), even on systems which are loaded with the very latest hardware!
That's not the fault of the end user - nor the system on which it's installed - since the system is likely to have been running the previous OS without a problem?
So the problem(s) obviously lie within Vista... somewhere... and it seems to be pot luck just now, whether it'll run fine on your system, or not?

I've actually bought the retail version of Vista Home Premium myself... but there's no way it's being installed as my primary OS at this stage!
Nor is it being installed as the only OS on the system - as/when I decide the time is right to try it! I'll be dual-booting for sure!
But it won't be installed as the primary OS, until I hear far more encouraging reports about it's stability... on the majority of systems!
If that means waiting until the first Vista SP... so be it :rolleyes:

It could turn out that it runs just fine on my main system?
But it's the fact I even have this uncertainty about installing it, which is discouraging me - and others.
I/we shouldn't have that concern with a new OS from the world's leading OS/software developer :(

[Cable Monkey]

I'm bemused because I tested it first and used only where it worked ok. Microsoft have been at pains to provide beta and RC versions, readiness testing software and a long run in to release that some manufacturers have taken advantage of to produce software and drivers that work. However it obviously doesn't matter about those that haven't bothered because we still end up blaming Microsoft.

I'm bemused because Mojo is choosing to rip Vista off his machine because of what may be a hardware issue. My instinct and experience would be to confirm one way or the other before deciding.

I'm bemused because I, you and many others old enough have been through this with XP, and it all turned out OK in the end.:confused:

Just to clarify, my view is Vista is an operating system and works with your hardware by having drivers that 'talk' to the hardware. This part of developement is a 2 way process and when this fails, resulting in compatibility issues who do we blame? My experience was a BSOD loading XP on my first ever self build. It was just an experiment so I reverted to 2000 until the XP compatible bios was released by Asus. Exactly the same XP disk then loaded up flawlessly. I have to say I am happy with Vista. Perhaps I could be less than satified if 2 out of 3 examples I tested did not perform, but my experience tells me that it is too soon to blame the boys from M$ just yet... :)

[Mojo]

I did have problem when XP first came out, I seem to remember it having awful support for USB, so when it came out I waited for about a year before I made the transition between 2000 and it. I had hoped since there were lots of people bleating about how excellent and stable and secure Vista was I'd give it a bash a couple of months after its release, but with my HW config it seems to be a bit unstable. If the BSOD does end up being related to my hdd, or my XP install craps out then I will give Vista another go on one of my other hdds, but for now I am happy to stay with XP and maybe when SP1 comes out (I heard roumers of the 2nd half of 2007 is anyone heard this?) I'll give Vista another go.

I didn't exactly "rip" Vista off my machine, it was going to require at least a repair so I thought I'd go back to what I knew to be stable, for now at least.

I don't nessecarily blame MS, it may very well be due to some 3rd party drivers, but they only third party drivers I installed were my sound drivers, everything else was detected and installed during the Vista install, so if it was one of them that caused the BSOD then that kinda leads me to beleive MS is to blame.

[Cable Monkey]

What is your hardware config? Is the board on a Vista approved list, and are there any issues with the chipset a la Nvidia 3 series or the VIA chipsets, both of whom have been slow with driver support?

Edit: Seen your first post describing the board.

Apologies for the use of the word 'ripped', removed would have been more appropriate!:)

[Mojo]

Heh no need to apologise. :)

The audio drivers were supposed to be the approved release ones. Dunno if that one is approved as the Asus site seems to only list AM2 chipset boards, however only the "BIOS Tool" is listed as Vista compatible :( like I say I'll leave it for a bit and try again when i can get a full set of Vista listed drivers.