Sound advice

[oumahexi]

Hi Guys

I have a small problem with my computer. It got struck by lightening on Saturday, not long after posting a comment on the "are you an atheist" thread

OK, so the power supply was cooked, we've replaced that but there's no sound. I keep getting a message to say that there is no software for the sound card. So, I reinstalled the software for the sound card, but still no joy. Finally, we removed the sound card to see what would happen, this time the screen resolution changed, so it must be an audio/video card, and we got a message to say that there was no audio/video card installed. OK, we put it back so at least we just don't have sound at the moment.

I've also checked the actual sound, through sound and audio devices on the control pannel, but everything is greyed out, indicating that there's no sound associated with the computer.

Personally I think we were lucky that so little was affected, but now I'm asking, should we buy a new audio/video card or could it be something else. My husband has checked the circuitry on the audio/video card and can't see any obvious breaks in any of the circuits.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[rsmonkey]

If your power supply was cooked then that means you wernt using surge protection power sockets, thus unless the lightning hit a seriously grounded piece of metal, which i doubt then potentially you have to consider that every electrical item in ure pc has fried... the fact that it hasnt is remarkable however their are a couple of questions.

1. Are your speakers plugged in? have you tested them on a device other than ure pc.
2. When you talk about Audio / Video card you are talking about these as seperate entities and physical cards? i.e you have a Sound Card & and Video Card plugged into seperate slots on your pc's motherboard?
3. Power surges do have the tendancy to wipe a CMOS settings thus restoring your bios to factory settings. Do you have onboard, motherboard sound? IF you do & you have a Sound Card Plugged in then this explains your predicament. Go into your bios and burn your onboard sound off...

i have a million other questions but lets start with these...

 

[Wayne Cramer]

I'm assuming that since you were struck by lightening you voted that YES you are an atheist.

 

[Fifty2One]

My machine at work is deaf-mute also coincidal to a lightening strike even though the hardware techies are 100% absolutely sure that it can not be the reason the sound card is not recognized by their marvelous computing device. They sent a replacement card which I dutifully installed and when I relaunched the pc... nothing changed.
The techies then offered to check it out for me remotely... nothing changed but that reason was because they kept losing the connection because it is dial up and were not willing to send a techie out and would I be willing to send the pc to them. So the pc is still deaf-mute because they were not going to send a loaner while they did the warranty repairs. It dragged on back and forth for a while and then the help desk was nixed and they sent all their tech troubles to a call center in a far away land where they were further confounded by the trouble that was impossible. This has now reached the point where I was last told "I am sorry, your warranty has expired on your pc" even though it was reported during the warranty period.
Some things are not worth persuing and my pc is quite happy being deaf-mute and actually I rather enjoy the peace and quiet. By the way it is a short in the motherboard that is making this happen and not the sound card in my case.

Computers dont like lightening strikes, I have a draw full of dialup slowdems that have been cooked at home from ground strikes in spite of various spike protective devices I have installed which also includes two UPS' that have fried during storms.

 

[Vassago]

Just because a computer is struck by lightening does not mean the peson did not have a surge protector! Surge protectors do not stop lightening in ANY instance. They are made to protect against line surges and spikes, but cannot possibly stop even an indirect lightening strike.

That being said, you may have fried more than you think. Video cards and sounds cards are separate components. If you are having issues with both, it may be your motherboard ports that have been fried. It sounds like they are not detecing your hardware correctly. I hate to be the one to say it, but it may be time for a new computer to prevent loss of data, etc...

It's important to understand that you run a risk with any electrical equipment being plugged in during a lightening storm, even if the unit is turned off. Lightening can travel down any line, be it power, phone, cable, etc... I know it's not rational to unplug EVERYTHING during a storm, but it's the risk pretty much EVERYONE takes during storms.

 

[oumahexi]

I'm assuming that since you were struck by lightening you voted that YES you are an atheist.

I didn't actually, I voted "who knows?" LOL. Now I do, I'm off to church speak to you later

 

[oumahexi]

If your power supply was cooked then that means you wernt using surge protection power sockets, thus unless the lightning hit a seriously grounded piece of metal, which i doubt then potentially you have to consider that every electrical item in ure pc has fried... the fact that it hasnt is remarkable however their are a couple of questions.

I did have surge protection, it's not the first time it's happened in this house Also, when I seen the storm coming over the hills I switched the computer off, switched the broadband connection off and switched the screen off, stupidly thinking that would do it, with my surge protection.

Two weeks ago I bought a set of phones for the house, these were another casualty of the strike.

We had the cable guy in yesterday to investigate, it seems that the lightening actually hit the cable, he says he'd never seen anything like it.

1. Are your speakers plugged in? have you tested them on a device other than ure pc.

Yes and yes, nothing wrong with either headphones or speakers.

2. When you talk about Audio / Video card you are talking about these as seperate entities and physical cards? i.e you have a Sound Card & and Video Card plugged into seperate slots on your pc's motherboard?

It's custom built and I understand that it's all on one card. Further tests show that the sound chip has been blown on the card

3. Power surges do have the tendancy to wipe a CMOS settings thus restoring your bios to factory settings. Do you have onboard, motherboard sound? IF you do & you have a Sound Card Plugged in then this explains your predicament. Go into your bios and burn your onboard sound off...

i have a million other questions but lets start with these...

Yes, me too. There seem to be more things wrong as we investigate. Can't get on line anymore either, even though the cable has been repaired.

 

[Rich]

I did have surge protection, it's not the first time it's happened in this house Also, when I seen the storm coming over the hills I switched the computer off, switched the broadband connection off and switched the screen off, stupidly thinking that would do it, with my surge protection.

Two weeks ago I bought a set of phones for the house, these were another casualty of the strike.

We had the cable guy in yesterday to investigate, it seems that the lightening actually hit the cable, he says he'd never seen anything like it.


.

It's actually quite common in this country, the only true way to protect equipment during a storm is to unplug it, including phones. It's also a good idea not to use the taps, sink etc., during a storm, in fact the safest place is probably to sit in the car

 

[statsman]

Is that before or after it was sawed in half?

 

[Fifty2One]

Sounds like you've been involved with Tiny! Actually, that's not fair, I think one support company is as bad as the next. My broadband supplier does that with their support - out source it to a far off foreign land. How moronic is that? They expect people with thick Scottish accents to comunicate with people who's possibly third language is English and have never heard a Scottish Accent before (or Geordie or any other heavy accent). Then they charge you premium rates for speaking to someone with whom it takes you a minimum of five minutes to get to understand your name and who insists on saying it over and over again until they get it right because it's such an unusual surname. Not content with that, the self same companies wonder why their customers riot in the streets about their services, nothing at all to do with their customers all being Rangers supporters lol.

You would expect that in Ontario, I've seen some fantastic lightening storms out there, almost as beautiful as the ones we used to see in southern Africa. The last place you'd expect this to happen is in down town Scotland.

Hahahaha. It is even more frustrating with English as a third language trying to talk to a techie who has English as a second or third language. I think these companies are moving their HelpDesks to the cheaper labour areas not just to save labour costs but also to further frustrate the clients so they stop whining about defective products.

I dont know a Scottish accent but we have a dear friend who is from Wales and that is a difficult accent to follow for us. But aparently it is us who have the accent and not her

 

[Rich]

Is that before or after it was sawed in half?

I guess it would come down to a 50/50 chance instead of absolute certainty

 

[oumahexi]

Hahahaha. It is even more frustrating with English as a third language trying to talk to a techie who has English as a second or third language. I think these companies are moving their HelpDesks to the cheaper labour areas not just to save labour costs but also to further frustrate the clients so they stop whining about defective products.

I dont know a Scottish accent but we have a dear friend who is from Wales and that is a difficult accent to follow for us. But aparently it is us who have the accent and not her

OK, so after a very long chat on the phone to India I discovered that the weather there can sometimes reach 50 degrees in the summer and they don't really understand too much more than that in English. And face it, I speak the Queens English, she was born in Scotland after all.

The solution, I was told, buy a new USB cable. So I did, quick trip to Maplan before it closed, and only after being assured that Virgin would reimburse me the money to replace THEIR faulty cable.

I get home, that doesn't work. I phone back, this time I get a Scottish accent. Sounds much more promising, although I'm forgetting that so many Scottish pupils leave school these days without the ability to read or write and obviously end up working on the other end of my telephone line.

"We'll charge you £75 for a replacement modem" he says. "So just to be sure, can you get a friend with a laptop to come round and connect to see if it's the cable or the modem". £75 for what? To replace hired equipment that is faulty through no fault of my own? I don't think so! So I explain to him that he has two choices, get someone down to fix it or get someone to come round and remove all their equipment, after all Sky are always offering better deals, and I do miss Stargate. At this point my husband takes over. He's an obvious water sign, always looking to smooth things over. He agrees to get my mother-in-law's computer to check it out.

So, off we go to the dragons den, borrow some equipment and find it still doesn't work. Another phone call. Bearing in mind this is costing me, the free service they provide only starts on the 1st of June! "No" says the voice on the other end of the line, another Scot from the University of Tongue. "We don't support USB any more, you need to get yourself an Ethernet cable" By this time my blood is so hot you can see it bubbling below the skin. Again, husband takes over, he's learned to take my curses a little more seriously than most over the years. He agrees that we can go to Asda or Tesco for this new cable to make our hired equipment work.

An hour later, we get back to find that the ethernet cable works on the mother out-law's computer but not on ours. Obviously Thor or Appolo or who ever threw that bolt at us on Saturay had a far better aim than we gave it credit for.

So, it seems we need a new mother board. Ah well, it could've been worse, at least I can access my data that I hadn't backed up for how many months? On the shopping list with the mother board is definately an external drive to keep frequent backups. You just never know who you'll upset in this life, and if they have the power of lightening behind them, it's always best to be prepared.

 

[Alisa]

I didn't actually, I voted "who knows?" LOL. Now I do, I'm off to church speak to you later

So does that mean that god doesn't mind those who are sure he doesn't exist, as long as they are decisive about it? That he only punishes the indecisive?

 

[Fifty2One]

OK, so after a very long chat on the phone to India I discovered that the weather there can sometimes reach 50 degrees in the summer and they don't really understand too much more than that in English. And face it, I speak the Queens English, she was born in Scotland after all.

The solution, I was told, buy a new USB cable. So I did, quick trip to Maplan before it closed, and only after being assured that Virgin would reimburse me the money to replace THEIR faulty cable.

I get home, that doesn't work. I phone back, this time I get a Scottish accent. Sounds much more promising, although I'm forgetting that so many Scottish pupils leave school these days without the ability to read or write and obviously end up working on the other end of my telephone line.

"We'll charge you £75 for a replacement modem" he says. "So just to be sure, can you get a friend with a laptop to come round and connect to see if it's the cable or the modem". £75 for what? To replace hired equipment that is faulty through no fault of my own? I don't think so! So I explain to him that he has two choices, get someone down to fix it or get someone to come round and remove all their equipment, after all Sky are always offering better deals, and I do miss Stargate. At this point my husband takes over. He's an obvious water sign, always looking to smooth things over. He agrees to get my mother-in-law's computer to check it out.

So, off we go to the dragons den, borrow some equipment and find it still doesn't work. Another phone call. Bearing in mind this is costing me, the free service they provide only starts on the 1st of June! "No" says the voice on the other end of the line, another Scot from the University of Tongue. "We don't support USB any more, you need to get yourself an Ethernet cable" By this time my blood is so hot you can see it bubbling below the skin. Again, husband takes over, he's learned to take my curses a little more seriously than most over the years. He agrees that we can go to Asda or Tesco for this new cable to make our hired equipment work.

An hour later, we get back to find that the ethernet cable works on the mother out-law's computer but not on ours. Obviously Thor or Appolo or who ever threw that bolt at us on Saturay had a far better aim than we gave it credit for.

So, it seems we need a new mother board. Ah well, it could've been worse, at least I can access my data that I hadn't backed up for how many months? On the shopping list with the mother board is definately an external drive to keep frequent backups. You just never know who you'll upset in this life, and if they have the power of lightening behind them, it's always best to be prepared.

Having only dialup available way out here in the colonies is sometimes so so very nice, the fancier the product - the more there is to go wrong. I avoid all the hassles of many glitches caused by the advanced technology and dial up modems are still only $25.

A few friends of mine are ranting about one of the major service providers "throttling" the traffic online so it takes almost 10 minutes to download a video, all I could think of was maybe the same technology could be reversed so my bandwidth could be whipped up to download a video in less than overnight.

 

[oumahexi]

Re: Sound advise

You're not going to believe this but I still don't have any sound on my pc. I've tried uninstalling the soundcard driver and re-installing it, but it won't re-install. Is it safe to go into the registry and delete it from there then start a re-install?

The only help I can get online advises to reinstall Windows XP, but, happy days, we didn't get an installation disk with our pc. Grrrr

 

[redneckgeek]

Re: Sound advise

You're not going to believe this but I still don't have any sound on my pc. I've tried uninstalling the soundcard driver and re-installing it, but it won't re-install. Is it safe to go into the registry and delete it from there then start a re-install?

The only help I can get online advises to reinstall Windows XP, but, happy days, we didn't get an installation disk with our pc. Grrrr

Check your television. Do you have sound there?

(Just making sure you haven't suddenly gone deaf)

 

[oumahexi]

Re: Sound advise

Check your television. Do you have sound there?

(Just making sure you haven't suddenly gone deaf)

Sorry, you'll need to type louder, I can't hear you

 

[Fifty2One]

Get a new card and try that... or enjoy the silence of no pings, pongs, beeps, bells, whistles or other annoying audio cues... or is it queues...

Here is a trouble shooter for the 1.0 version for sound lol

 

[GaryPanic]

If all else fails - try your home contents insurance , if the PC is of value then you might consider a claim - check you policy, for excess /deductables (franchises - though i doubt if you'll have one of these on a home insurance )

 

[oumahexi]

OK, this issue is now resolved. 50 was right, the best resolution was a new sound card. The problem was that when I replaced the motherboard it came with an onboard sound chip. The sound chip installed before all the necessary service packs were in place so the choices were to either reinstall windows - way too much hassle, or splash out on a £10 sound card, which broke my poor wee Scottish heart, or would have if I hadn't left it in that safe place nobody can ever find.

Result though, I can now hear stuff on my computer! Next step - Skype!