My sound isn't working...

I think i might have posted about this in the past. what is going on is that sometimes when i turn on my desktop, the sound works, other times when i turn it on, it doesn't work. I want to know what i can do to make it work. I think i bought the sound card from ebay, my speakers are Logitech Z-2300 ones.

What's the soundcard? :) That's arguably more important in this situation than the speakers.

If it's an intermittent problem and the results are random on every boot, regardless of human input, it's most likely a hardware problem. 90% of the time, it's happened to me because of a broken audio jack or even damaged wiring in the headphones/speakers.

Some things you can try if you haven't already:

• Wiggle around the audio input in the jack to see if it's the sound card
• Test out the speakers on an alternative device to see if they're the problem or not
• Reseat the soundcard in the slot
• Check if the soundcard requires a direct line to the PSU. Most don't, mine does.
• Of course update drivers to the latest.. or even try rollling back to older ones
• While playing audio, check the Volume Mixer to make sure that Windows is indeed outputing sound

You can also check your sound settings, too, but don't bother digging too much into it if you do hear sound sometimes. If it were a software problem, it would be consistent. If all fails, try a new sound card in your system. It's possible that you even have an inadequate PSU as well. That can cause all sorts of wierd sh*t like BSODs, reboots, certain components not working, etc. My PC was slowly getting more and more BSODs until it just wouldn't boot up anymore.. because of bad PSU.

Try the speakers with a different source. If they're fine all the time you know it's your pc/sound card, otherwise it's the speakers.

I wiggled inside the speaker hole that came with the computer, then did the same with the sound card hole. nothing happened. I tested the speakers on my Nintendo DSi XL, the speakers work i don't want to reseat the card, in that i'm afraid to break it. i think i had my brother insert it for me when i got it in the mail. Not sure what you mean by, "Check if the soundcard requires a direct line to the PSU" And, how do i know what drivers are for my sound card? I don't even know the name of my sound card. I put volume up with my keyboard, nothing happens.

What should i do then? I don't want to reformat my PC because i might lose my Microsoft Office.

Find out what soundcard it is, that's step #1. Can you go back to your ebay history to figure that out?

If not, you can go to Windows Update and it may identify the device and update drivers automatically. Otherwise, download Unknown Device Identifier. It'll probably bug you to buy it, but it'll work freely. It should give you info about the vendor and other things. Put those into google and you should be able to put the pieces together to figure out what your soundcard is.

If you want to possibly save time and money, just do those simple things I said. I doubt a reformat will solve this problem, but it's certainly a last resort. As far as reseating the soundcard, all you have to do is open up the case and make sure the card is secured well.

Concerning what I said about the power line.. it means that some cards, in addition to being plugged into the slot, are also connected to the power supply. Don't worry about it, as your card probably wouldn't be working at all if you had a problem in that area.

I noticed you mentioned that you tried both the integrated audio input and the one on the dedicated sound card. Maybe it's worth going into the BIOS and making sure that only one is enabled. It's a far-fetched idea, but it's worth giving a shot.

Find out what soundcard it is, that's step #1. Can you go back to your ebay history to figure that out?

If not, you can go to Windows Update and it may identify the device and update drivers automatically. Otherwise, download Unknown Device Identifier. It'll probably bug you to buy it, but it'll work freely. It should give you info about the vendor and other things. Put those into google and you should be able to put the pieces together to figure out what your soundcard is.

If you want to possibly save time and money, just do those simple things I said. I doubt a reformat will solve this problem, but it's certainly a last resort. As far as reseating the soundcard, all you have to do is open up the case and make sure the card is secured well.

Concerning what I said about the power line.. it means that some cards, in addition to being plugged into the slot, are also connected to the power supply. Don't worry about it, as your card probably wouldn't be working at all if you had a problem in that area.

I noticed you mentioned that you tried both the integrated audio input and the one on the dedicated sound card. Maybe it's worth going into the BIOS and making sure that only one is enabled. It's a far-fetched idea, but it's worth giving a shot.

thphaca

Open device manager and your sound card should appear under 'sound, video and game controllers'