Acer 1410 (No Audio Devices Are Installed)

[brycesenz]

Hello,

I have an Acer Aspire One AS1410 laptop, which I upgraded to a retail version of Windows 7 Ultimate. For many months, everything worked great.

About a week ago, I installed some updates that Microsoft pushed out. After those updates finished installing, my audio device was no longer recognized by my machine. Specifically, when I try to turn on the volume, I get a message stating "No Audio Devices Are Installed." Similarly, I cannot find any audio devices through the control panel or through Start->Run->msinfo32.

I first tried downloading the latest drivers from Acer's site and installing them. That did not correct the problem (and I've tried several times). I then tried restoring the system to an earlier date when everything was fine, and that too has not solved anything.

I have read in other threads about changing some settings in the BIOS, but I will admit that I am unclear on how to do this. Any additional hypotheses/theories would be greatly appreciated.

Acer's default reply is to pay for them to send me a new OS and reinstall that. I'm less than thrilled with the idea.

Cheers,
Bryce

 

[Lemur]

Check device manager to see how audio device looks (yellow warning).
Try deleting the audio driver and reinstalling.
You could also roll back windows to a date when the audio worked. Then selectively upgrade MS Windows, making sure not to install any audio drivers.

 

[brycesenz]

I apologize if my original post wasn't clear. There is no audio device that appears at all in the device manager (with or without a yellow flag).

I've tried to roll back the computer to an earlier date, but that didn't work. In other words, even though I didn't have the problem at the time I rolled the computer back to, the problem persisted after the system restore.

I have also tried many times to delete the audio driver and reinstall, all without solving the initial problem. Any other possible solutions?

 

[Lemur]

I know you updated the audio driver, but did you flash your bios? That sometimes helps recognizing devices.

 

[Lemur]

Do you have the 11.6 or the 15.4" screen? The 15.4" does not have support for Win 7.
The latest bios for 11.6" is 3310
Acer Support - Download Drivers

 

[brycesenz]

I have the 11.6'' screen. I do not know what it means to "flash my BIOS." Can you explain? It sounds like a very plausible solution.

 

[Lemur]

Go to the website listed above. Select your computer.
You will see tabls for Application - Bios - Document - Driver - Patch
Select the BIOS tab. Select t he latest BIO, which is 3310, 4.5MB, date 2010/04/06
Download this file onto your desktop. Then double click to install. Follow instructions. You MUST have your notebook plugged in for bios install. Do not interrupt bios installation, which will reboot your notebook and flash your bios. It will prompt you when finished.
Hopefully, you will reboot your computer and the audio device will be found.

 

[brycesenz]

Lemur,

I tried to do that, and the BIOS indicates that it updated fine and is running the latest version. However, the problem still persists (even after again trying to reinstall the driver).

Any other hypotheses?

Thanks,
Bryce

 

[Aphelion]

Lemur,

I tried to do that, and the BIOS indicates that it updated fine and is running the latest version. However, the problem still persists (even after again trying to reinstall the driver).

Any other hypotheses?

Thanks,
Bryce

Some things to try...

Go to Control Panel / System and select Device Manager.

Under the menu "View" select "show hidden devices".

A couple of things to look for, anything audio driver related.
And.. any device that is marked as not working properly or has no drivers installed. It probably will not be under the audio section... if there are any, uninstall them from device manager.

Next go to Control Panel / Programs and Features and UNINSTALL any and all audio drivers.

Now reboot, anything?


Ap

 

[brycesenz]

Aphelion,

I tried that, but no luck. Even viewing the hidden devices, there was nothing that windows showed was not working properly. I removed all audio drivers, then rebooted, but the problem is still there. I then reinstalled the latest audio driver, rebooted again, but still no luck.

Any other ideas?

 

[Lemur]

Couldn't hurt to do this...
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

 

[brycesenz]

Lemur,

I tried that, and the scan reported no integrity issues. Another other thoughts? This is driving me absolutely crazy.

Is there something I could try to mess with in the BIOS? I've looked at it before, but didn't see anywhere to access anything related to audio settings. At this point, I'm grasping at straws.

- Bryce

 

[Aphelion]

Lemur,

I tried that, and the scan reported no integrity issues. Another other thoughts? This is driving me absolutely crazy.

Is there something I could try to mess with in the BIOS? I've looked at it before, but didn't see anywhere to access anything related to audio settings. At this point, I'm grasping at straws.

- Bryce

Bryce, What's the screen size on the 1410?

The only thing in the BIOS you might see that's relative is something related to Azaila audio, which should be enabled.

Or AC97 audio.

Please post a link to the drivers you've been installing.

Ap

 

[brycesenz]

Aphelion,

The screen size is 11.6'', which should support Windows 7. Here is where I am getting my drivers:

Service & Support

From that link, you have to select Notebook->Aspire->AS1410 (11.6''). The driver I am working with is the latest Realtek audio driver for Windows 7 Ultimate x32 (v6.0.1.5869, 58.1 MB, Updated as of 2010/03/22).

I don't see any of the audio settings that you've mentioned in the BIOS. All I can see in my BIOS is very basic information, such as chip information, boot order, etc.

- Bryce

 

[Aphelion]

Aphelion,

The screen size is 11.6'', which should support Windows 7. Here is where I am getting my drivers:

Service & Support

From that link, you have to select Notebook->Aspire->AS1410 (11.6''). The driver I am working with is the latest Realtek audio driver for Windows 7 Ultimate x32 (v6.0.1.5869, 58.1 MB, Updated as of 2010/03/22).

I don't see any of the audio settings that you've mentioned in the BIOS. All I can see in my BIOS is very basic information, such as chip information, boot order, etc.

- Bryce

Try this, go to "Services" Make sure "Windows Audio" and "Windows Audio Endpoint Builder" are started.

Ap

 

[brycesenz]

Aphelion,

Yes, those services are enabled. I'm not sure if this is helpful in diagnosing the problem, but when I select "Troubleshoot sound problems" (from the menu on the speaker icon in the lower righthand corner of my computer), I get the following message:

"Problem found. Hardware changes may not have been detected"

Thoughts?

 

[Aphelion]

Aphelion,

Yes, those services are enabled. I'm not sure if this is helpful in diagnosing the problem, but when I select "Troubleshoot sound problems" (from the menu on the speaker icon in the lower righthand corner of my computer), I get the following message:

"Problem found. Hardware changes may not have been detected"

Thoughts?

Only confused ones...

Realtek

I'd go here and download the appropriate driver, there's a much better chance of these working as they are recent. Once you get to the driver page you can save time by downloading the appropriate 32 OR 64 bit driver... scroll down to the bottom of the drivers list, the Vista/Win7 drivers are in smaller 32 or 64 bit packages.

Ap

 

[Aphelion]

Also... see if there's any related solutions here.

Search The Knowledge Base


Scroll down, there are a couple of similar issues.

Ap

 

[brycesenz]

Aphelion,

Thanks for the additional suggestions, but the latest drivers from Realtek's site did not solve the problem.

I've checked out the Knowledge Base, but it's pretty much an echo of my situation - several posts in which the obvious solutions fix the problem for 80% of the users, while the remaining 20% (of which I am one) post their frustration with no remedy in sight.

At this point, I seriously don't even know what to do. This computer is less than a year old, the Restore points are seemingly worthless, and Acer has run out of suggestions.

 

[brycesenz]

Any other suggestions?

Does anyone out there have any other suggestions? Could it be an issue with the sound card itself, and if so, how would I know for sure?

At the very least, are there others who are facing the same issue?