intermittent sound output :s

[SinlessViper]

Hi all, so I've been trying to figure out what's going on with this acer 5520 amd 2ghz, 3gb laptop.

Basically this is what I've checked and done: drivers updated, bios updated/re installed re seated all internal components I.e: cd drive, ram, hdd . Fresh install of vista, win 7 and finally xp pro. Still no sound on any of them. Now I noticed the cd/dvd drive isn't picked up in my computer but it does open and spin a disk as if its pre loading the cd.

Sound is very intermittent when booting up the machine 9/10 it doesn't work.

Any idea's?

Thanks in advance

 

[fireberd]

Are there any motherboard chipset drivers for this unit? If there are, install them, restart the PC and then reinstall the Acer sound drivers (not the sound chip vendor sound drivers) and see if that helps. I had an Acer 7720 model and I tried the generic RealTek (the sound chip on the 7720) and they did not work correctly. I installed the Acer supplied drivers and no more sound problems.

Also in Vista/Win 7 make sure your "speakers" are set as the default "Playback" device in the Control Panel/Hardware and Sound and finally the Sound Panel. I don't remember how that is setup in XP (remember this is a Windows 7 forum, not a Windows XP forum).

 

[SinlessViper]

Hi there, thanks for the reply, as for the drivers I've been to the acer website and downloaded the driver they supply, which was the one you mentioned (realtek HD), I can't see of find another driver for this :s.

I know in my past experience no matter what OS you install there should be basic sound through the setup of the OS. When I do on this machine there isn't. Yet I can use the same disk on my other acer and have sound without drivers. Would this suggest the sound chipsets burning out? Or the mobo faulty?

 

[fireberd]

If you are getting sound from installing Windows only that means Windows is installing the sound drivers which may not be the correct drivers. I've never had Windows install sound drivers except in Windows 7 and then it wasn't the correct driver (I do PC support).

On an install, in most PC's, there is a specific install sequence that must be followed for a successful install and basically it's (1) Install Windows (2) Install motherboard chipset drivers (3) Install device drivers. The chipset drivers must be installed BEFORE installing device drivers and is key to a successful install. One of the prime things the chipset drivers do is define (identify) all the devices on the motherboard, which includes the sound.