Windows 7: Problems with SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio on ASUS P5Q Deluxe

Whitehooder · 12 Feb 2013

I am back with another problem.

Recently I have been experiencing total silence from my speakers, I have tried reinstalling the drivers I got from the Asus website several times but with no more success. Currently the drivers do install without any problems, however under the output devices catalog in my Windows 7 system i can not set it as my default device, neither I can disable any devices so I am starting to think that this might be a problem related to Windows itself. When I go into the properties of my speakers and press the "Levels" tab I am shown a completely blank page with a single grey line over it (probably a separator which should be there). I have tried setting up my "Audio Repeater" to play on the device but all it returns is a "Undefined external error" which I believe means it cannot play any sound. I am not able to change any settings for frequency and the Control Panel from SoundMAX does only tell me that all devices are disabled.

DxDiag

Thanks in advance

fireberd · 12 Feb 2013

Set up the PC with ONLY the soundmax and analog PC speakers connected to the speaker jack on the PC. Do not have other USB headsets or whatever connected. Just the basic system. You will probably also have HDMI audio (from the video card). Do not have any HDMI cable attached.

Try this to determine if the sound will work OK. You may have to either reinstall Soundmax or go to the Device Manager, RIGHT click on the entry for the Soundmax then LEFT click "uninstall" DO NOT check the box to also uninstall the drivers. Restart the PC and when Windows starts it will detect and reinstall the Soundmax sound.

Whitehooder · 12 Feb 2013

Quote: Originally Posted by fireberd

Set up the PC with ONLY the soundmax and analog PC speakers connected to the speaker jack on the PC. Do not have other USB headsets or whatever connected. Just the basic system. You will probably also have HDMI audio (from the video card). Do not have any HDMI cable attached.

Try this to determine if the sound will work OK. You may have to either reinstall Soundmax or go to the Device Manager, RIGHT click on the entry for the Soundmax then LEFT click "uninstall" DO NOT check the box to also uninstall the drivers. Restart the PC and when Windows starts it will detect and reinstall the Soundmax sound.

I did what you said, but with no surprise I was told that spotify could not play music through the device. The driver is installed correctly and I am sure I've chosen the right one. I have had this device working before so I am starting to wonder whether it might have been an update that caused it. Anyway, thanks for your suggestion, keep 'em coming

Edit:
I still can't set the default playback device or disable any of the output devices from the Playback Devices list. The buttons are there, but they just don't do anything.

fireberd · 12 Feb 2013

Spotify. That still says its not the basic sound and basic Windows media player. You have to get it (I know painfully) back to the basic system, no extra programs running including any IM programs, etc. If theere are items still running in the Notification Area (lower right) exit out of those.

If this is a Dell model, I used to do a lot of support on the Dell forums and if there is no Dell support in this model for Vista/Windows 7 you are looking at possibily never getting it working or working correctly.

Here is what was posted by a user with a Dell Dimension 8400 (only XP supported by Dell). I don't know if it will work for others. It was posted on Win 8 but Win 7 is the same.

Quote:

Upgrade scenario:
I upgraded my (ancient) Dimension 8400 from XPSP3 to Windows 8 Pro (32 bit) via a clean install.

Result:
Windows 8 Pro installed all necessary drivers except my 16 bit integrated sound drivers (and printer).

Post Installation Activity:
Tried a manual install and received a drivers not compatible warning.
Tried a manual install using the compatibility mode and received the same warning as above.
Note: Even though the driver installation failed, the process did leave all post installation files on my hard drive.

Final Solution:
Went into the device manager, found the flagged media controller, and manually updated the driver by pointing it to the post installation file folder (for the sound drivers). All sound drivers were immediately recognized and all flags were removed.This method of manually updating the sound driver (after a failed normal installation) worked perfectly for me. So, if you are in a similar position, you may want to give my solution a shot before giving up and buying a new sound card.

Good luck!

Note:
After the initial upgrade, Windows 8 update found a newer version of my integrated sound driver so I installed it and that worked too!

Whitehooder · 13 Feb 2013

It's not a Dell computer, just an old case saying Dell that I've built my computer in. Well, I can not disable or set as default any devices in the Sound Manager or what ever it's called. Neither any other outputs and I get a crash message from common dll eventually so I am starting to wonder whether the shell32.dll file is corrupt. I have ran several sfc /scannow commands without success and tried everything said in this post. The soundmax control panel says no devices are installed, but they show up in the sound manager. I am unable to play the test note on them, and I've tried sending sound to the output with several programs without success. Also I've installed the driver several times, tried all different ways of doing it I can think of. Even the drivers that windows finds does not work so I really think it is an error to my system. I do want to avoid a complete reinstall or any restores.

Whitehooder

fireberd · 13 Feb 2013

What kind of Dell case did you use? The older ones had the Dell proprietary (and undocumented) front panel connection. The rear I/O panel has to be cut out on many.

Install the Intel Chipset drivers, restart the PC and then reinstall the ASUS provided SoundMax sound drivers and see if that helps. One of the things the chipset drivers do is define (identify) all the devices on the motherboard. I've seen cases where devices such as sound would not work until the chipset drivers were installed.

ASUS - - ASUS P5Q Deluxe

Whitehooder · 14 Feb 2013

I have been trying a lot with those too, I will see what a rollback on the chipset drivers can do, as they might be the problem as you say. Anyway, I ran a SFC /SCANNOW and there was several files it couldn't restore/fix. Here is a file of them (copied from the log file). Thanks for all suggestions

fireberd · 14 Feb 2013

From what I see on that list, nothing is related to sound although I could be completely wrong.

But, try the chipset drivers and see if that makes any difference.

Whitehooder · 14 Feb 2013

I have already tried the updated chipset drivers without success, but I'll try to do a rollback tomorrow.

Whitehooder · 21 Feb 2013

Couldn't figure out how to perform a rollback on the chipset, sadly. Any other ideas or a way of completely CLEAN install of the SoundMAX drivers? They have been working before, on this exact setup, but lately (15 days ago or so) they have been out of function.

Windows 7: Problems with SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio on ASUS P5Q Deluxe

Problems with SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio on ASUS P5Q Deluxe problems?