Windows system volume only controls left channel

[bigblocktowncar]

I am using a Xonar ST on Win 7 64bit......All of a sudden I noticed I was only getting sound on the right side. I reseated the card, reseated all of the connections, and changed the power connection from the PSU, and made sure on board audio was disabled.

I went into the control panel and balanced the audio....Left was set all the way down for some unknown reason. The volume on both sides will work at the proper level provided there is a separate control.....

The main system volume on the keyboard still only affects the left side. If I open winamp, the volume slider will control both left and right equally (provided the system volume is maxed out); turning down the system volume will leave the right channel at whatever level the winamp volume slider is set at.

I tried the latest driver, also tried the Uni driver. I also deleted the hsmgr file in windows/syswow64 that I saw people complaining about. I reinstalled the driver and hsmgr32 and hsmgr64 came back and are running at the same time. I unchecked them from msconfig so they do not start, but nothing has changed. Is this a driver problem or is there some other windows conflict. Since the programs seem to be able to individually control the volume I am thinking this is windows related. If I open youtube, the youtube volume slider controls both left and right. Does this have something to do with the soundcard exclusivity settings?

Is this a registry problem? It's like the volume is only monaural.

Thanks

 

[fireberd]

Try the Windows uninstall/reinstall. Go to the Device Manger, in the Sound section RIGHT click on the entry for the Xonar to highlight it and then LEFT click on "Uninstall". DO NOT uninstall the drivers. Restart the PC and when Windows starts it will detect and reinstall the sound. This will correct any Windows corruptions with the sound card.

 

[mike009]

You mention that you use keyboard to control the sound volume - have you tried uninstalling the keyboard driver(+re install)?

 

[bigblocktowncar]

I got it to work using an older 1.64 UNi driver....not sure why it stopped in the first place, but I will keep the windows uninstall in mind for next time. There are 3 separate sound devices/drivers running at a time on this machine and it was difficult to get everything working within windows the first time.

 

[POLICEMATRIX]

Try the Windows uninstall/reinstall. Go to the Device Manger, in the Sound section RIGHT click on the entry for the Xonar to highlight it and then LEFT click on "Uninstall". DO NOT uninstall the drivers. Restart the PC and when Windows starts it will detect and reinstall the sound. This will correct any Windows corruptions with the sound card.

Thanks worked perfect, strange no idea what caused it but the main volume would only affect the left speaker.
Anyway thanks to you its fixed

 

[BCSWowbagger]

Try the Windows uninstall/reinstall. Go to the Device Manger, in the Sound section RIGHT click on the entry for the Xonar to highlight it and then LEFT click on "Uninstall". DO NOT uninstall the drivers. Restart the PC and when Windows starts it will detect and reinstall the sound. This will correct any Windows corruptions with the sound card.

Sorry to necro, but I'm a firm believer in credit where it's due. (And in SEO for good solutions.)

I've had this issue for about four months, ever since I upgraded to from Windows 7 to Windows 10. After much frustration, many driver reinstallations, and lots of fruitless web searching, I found this, tried it, and it worked like a charm.

Thanks much!

 

[x1ife]

It's March 2022 and I still have this issue. The uninstall/reinstall advice still works but it is a pain to have to do it frequently. Has anyone ever found a perminant solution? It's definately a Xonar driver issue but they haven't released new ones in years.

 

[BCSWowbagger]

It's March 2022 and I still have this issue. The uninstall/reinstall advice still works but it is a pain to have to do it frequently. Has anyone ever found a perminant solution? It's definately a Xonar driver issue but they haven't released new ones in years.

It worked permanently for me. I haven't thought about this in a year.

Is it possible -- just spitballing here -- that some other Windows whatnot is updating your device in some way that causes this problem to reoccur?

I agree that we're never getting new Xonar drivers, alas.

 

[x1ife]

It had worked for me for over a year, but recently the bug occured again and has reoccured several times since.

I have been playing Battlefield recently after a hiatus and also recently updated my graphics drivers. This enabled the "NVIDIA High Definition Audio" which I have just disabled. These are the only 2 things I can think of which could have changed to trigger it, apart from a feature update to Windows 10.

Do you happen to play any of the recent Battlefield series of games or have a GeForce graphics card? Do you have an AsRock motherboard by chance?

I'm fairly sure that something triggers the bug in the driver. I wish I could find out what configuration setting the reinstall of the drivers is resetting which fixes the issue.

 

[file3456]

Please describe your issue in its entirety because the OP's issue all those years ago could be vastly different than yours.

If it's related, I'm interested in knowing if you use a Logitech keyboard and its software? If so, uninstall that once and see what happens. Again, if the issue is the same as the OP's dated 30, Dec 2014 at 09:19 UTC (same time in London in the Winter). Time Duration Calculator

 

[x1ife]

The volume in question is the main system:



If your keyboard has volume controls then this is what it controls. No driver is required and the issue is present regardless of whether the keyboard is used to control the volume or any other method. So this is a red herring I believe - it is just the easiest way to control the top level system (non-application) volume.

The problem is that the main system volume starts only controlling the left channel. The right channel remains always at a fixed value e.g. 100%. The only known fix is to reinstall the drivers and reboot, but the error state can reoccur based on an unknown trigger. It is an issue within the Xonar drivers (which the Unified drivers are based upon).

 

[BCSWowbagger]

Do you happen to play any of the recent Battlefield series of games or have a GeForce graphics card? Do you have an AsRock motherboard by chance?

I do not play Battlefield. (But I do game. Cyberpunk 2077 and The Outer Wilds VR have been my poison lately.)
My motherboard is an Asus P8P67LE.

I DO have a GeForce GPU. It's a GTX 1070, installed five years ago.

I do not have a Logitech keyboard but DO have a Logitech mouse.

Having tried solving this problem last year (successfully, thanks to fireberd!), I am keenly aware that this thread right here is pretty close to the only place on the entire Internet where this particularly bizarre problem is being discussed. It is QUITE the necro, but there are not many better options (except, perhaps, a brand-new thread).

 

[file3456]

If you're using a software for a keyboard like the popular Logitech line of keyboards, it may cause driver conflics. That's what I was trying to elude to.

It seems to be some kind of "combat" between two drivers.

The volume in question is the main system:

View attachment 421081

If your keyboard has volume controls then this is what it controls. No driver is required and the issue is present regardless of whether the keyboard is used to control the volume or any other method. So this is a red herring I believe - it is just the easiest way to control the top level system (non-application) volume.

The problem is that the main system volume starts only controlling the left channel. The right channel remains always at a fixed value e.g. 100%. The only known fix is to reinstall the drivers and reboot, but the error state can reoccur based on an unknown trigger. It is an issue within the Xonar drivers (which the Unified drivers are based upon).

- - - Updated - - -

It could also be BS Nvidia's driver audio crap. When you install their driver, ONLY install the driver, no fluff, and no audio for their HDMI. Speaking of, turn off HDMI audio in the control panel, and/or play with that option.



Wait? My GPU is a Sound Card? - Probing Paul #51 - YouTube

 

[x1ife]

My motherboard is an Asus P8P67LE.

I have an LGA 1155 motherboard too (Asrock Z68, 32GB DDR3 2200Mhz, i7 3770k at 4.5Ghz) too. Good effort playing Cyberpunk on an 11 year old system, but unfortunate that we can't officially upgrade to Windows 11!

Maybe the bug only occurs on this chipset/similar. I believe this issue is the same one: Changing Volume Only Affects Left Speaker - Windows 10 Forums (sevenforums.com) (same chipset in the HT Omega Striker 7.1).