Random Thoughts Part 4 - Split Thread

[Enigman]

Aspirin is a blood thinner, don't try it for bruises.

 

[WWGD]

You bought drivers? Just download the ones your manufacturer provides.

Well back on topic, I smashed my toe the other day and couldn't function for most of the day due to the pain. Nothing was broken and it was just bruised. It's a good thing I live in 2015 AD and not 1000 BC or else I'd be lunch for some animal.

I did check my device driver, I updated all drivers, got the message that devices were all working fine, nothing. Then checked some you tube videos, still nothing.

 

[WWGD]

That's an odd problem. I've never heard of anyone having the sound on their PC go out.

Edit: do headphones work?

Ah, you Mac people, so charmingly naive. Yes, I tried headphones. I will try them again.

 

[HomogenousCow]

Check if your computer recognizes your speakers.

 

[WWGD]

Check if your computer recognizes your speakers.

I am told that there are neither input nor output sound devices : " no audio devices are installed". But then I go to the device manager and there they are listed, and apparently ( according to dialog box output), all working OK, I update all drivers and keep getting an error message. Now, after rebooting, sound icon in taskbar disappeared, I cannot make it reappear, since windows has disabled that option. If windows was honest, the error message should read: " Should have bought a Mac, or learned Linux ".
Another day with windows.

 

[HomogenousCow]

I had an issue like this before. I accidentally terminated the audio background process in task manager and it did not turn itself back on upon a reboot. I had to look up the documentation for the drivers (realtek) to re-enable them. Check your startup processes if the audio background process is turned on.

 

[WWGD]

I may have to look into SysInternals for more details, Task Managr tells me sound devices are running, but somehow are not making use of CPU. Wish they had not de-fanged Task Manager in win 8.1; used to give you much more detailed, useful info in previous versions. I wonder what the reason was for changing that.

 

[collinsmark]

If you haven't tried this yet, it might be worth a shot. This won't solve the problem if something else is to blame, but it's a good intermediate step to check. (Depending on your specific version of Windows, the process might look slightly different.)

What could be happening is that the default audio output is set to something other than the device to which your speakers are connected.

Open Control Panel, and then navigate to Hardware and Sound, Manage Audio Devices.

Then be sure that the Default playback device is whatever your speakers are connected to.

In the example above, My sound is coming through the speaker output of the "Realtek High Definition Audio" which is the sound "card" that's actually built into my motherboard. One of the other options is the non-amplified, digitial output jack of the same device, but I don't have anything hooked up to that, so I don't use it. Also in this example are shown are the ports associated with the NVidia graphics card's HDMI outputs, but I'm not using those. Not shown (there wasn't enough room) is an option to select my Logitech USB headphones.

By the way, this is the same process I use to switch between headphones and speakers.

Look to the right of the device and you'll see some bars (in light blue above). Play a You-Tube video or some music or something that should be playing some sound. If everything is set up correctly, any active device that's turned out and working properly should show some of those bars occasionally turn green when the sound level is appropriately large. If you don't see any green ever (when something is playing sound), it might be an issue with your driver software is piping the sound to the wrong output, or the device isn't set up correctly for some other reason.

If the problem is that your device is not configured correctly, you'll have to open the software application that came with the device [Edit: In my particular example, it would be the "Realtek HD Audio Manager" software; see the bottom of the first image]. For example, perhaps the device is set up to pipe the output through its non-amplified output port instead of the speaker port (and you're expecting the speaker port as the output). The software application that came with the device might allow you to reconfigure this.

Good luck.

 

[Borg]

I did check my device driver, I updated all drivers, got the message that devices were all working fine, nothing. Then checked some you tube videos, still nothing.

How did you hear anything on YouTube?

 

[HomogenousCow]

If you haven't tried this yet, it might be worth a shot. This won't solve the problem if something else is to blame, but it's a good intermediate step to check. (Depending on your specific version of Windows, the process might look slightly different.)

I think he mentioned earlier thatt none of his audio devices were showing in the audio settings menu.

 

[DennisN]

I saw "37 days", a small TV mini-series (3 episodes) recently, and I liked it. It's about the quite complicated events that led to World War I. If anyone likes history and/or diplomacy drama, this could be interesting. Trailer:


Links: "37 days" on Imdb, Wikipedia.

 

[Astronuc]

That's an odd problem. I've never heard of anyone having the sound on their PC go out.

I've had a problem in the past with driver incompatibility. I forget how I solved the problem, but I probably had to do a system restore (rollback) before the problem arose.

 

[Astronuc]

How about a mobile office?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/school-bus-finance-bar-marsha-barnes-154620336.html#

School on wheels?

 

[WWGD]

How did you hear anything on YouTube?

There were a couple of videos without sound that were easy to follow. But you're right, a few were kind of dumb in giving instructions through speech.

 

[WWGD]

I've had a problem in the past with driver incompatibility. I forget how I solved the problem, but I probably had to do a system restore (rollback) before the problem arose.

Good point, I have not set up restore points for a while now, my bad.

 

[WWGD]

If you haven't tried this yet, it might be worth a shot. This won't solve the problem if something else is to blame, but it's a good intermediate step to check. (Depending on your specific version of Windows, the process might look slightly different.)

What could be happening is that the default audio output is set to something other than the device to which your speakers are connected.

Open Control Panel, and then navigate to Hardware and Sound, Manage Audio Devices.
View attachment 89356

Then be sure that the Default playback device is whatever your speakers are connected to.

View attachment 89358

In the example above, My sound is coming through the speaker output of the "Realtek High Definition Audio" which is the sound "card" that's actually built into my motherboard. One of the other options is the non-amplified, digitial output jack of the same device, but I don't have anything hooked up to that, so I don't use it. Also in this example are shown are the ports associated with the NVidia graphics card's HDMI outputs, but I'm not using those. Not shown (there wasn't enough room) is an option to select my Logitech USB headphones.

By the way, this is the same process I use to switch between headphones and speakers.

Look to the right of the device and you'll see some bars (in light blue above). Play a You-Tube video or some music or something that should be playing some sound. If everything is set up correctly, any active device that's turned out and working properly should show some of those bars occasionally turn green when the sound level is appropriately large. If you don't see any green ever (when something is playing sound), it might be an issue with your driver software is piping the sound to the wrong output, or the device isn't set up correctly for some other reason.

If the problem is that your device is not configured correctly, you'll have to open the software application that came with the device [Edit: In my particular example, it would be the "Realtek HD Audio Manager" software; see the bottom of the first image]. For example, perhaps the device is set up to pipe the output through its non-amplified output port instead of the speaker port (and you're expecting the speaker port as the output). The software application that came with the device might allow you to reconfigure this.

Good luck.

Thanks, I appreciate it, unfortunately did not work. It seems the error message is " no audio devices are installed" , despite the fact that the microphone , speakers and stereo speakers are listed in the device manager, and are listed as working correctly, the drivers have been updated to the latest ones. So windows 8.1 seems not to recognize the existence of sound devices in the system.

 

[Astronuc]

So windows 8.1 seems not to recognize the existence of sound devices in the system.

I think that was problem I had, but with an earlier version of Windows. The version of Windows did not recognize the drivers or driver updates, or is was the particular computer manufacturer which had some incompatibility with a driver.

 

[WWGD]

That's an odd problem. I've never heard of anyone having the sound on their PC go out.

Edit: do headphones work?

Well, sound is not a sort of intrinsic property of computers; it requires the use of components like speakers, microphones, mixers, which themselves require software (drivers) , and these must be coordinated by the OS. This gives you a " non-trivial " scenario for mistakes.

 

[WWGD]

Found a new hangout spot. A Whole Foods, with the perfect trifecta: WiFi, bathrooms, and outlets -- and even a water fountain. Good deal.

 

[jim hardy]

possibly there'll be a clue here

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/...1&v2h=win7tab1&v3h=winvistatab1&v4h=winxptab1

windows usually drives me to my knees
or some such mental space

from an old thread

 

[nuuskur]

Rest in pieces :D :D

 

[zoobyshoe]

a " non-trivial " scenario for mistakes.

Isn't this the definition of Windows?

 

[WWGD]

Isn't this the definition of Windows?

Just cc'd minisoft at Redmond to suggest it as their motto:" windows: a scenario for *&^% ups."

 

[nuuskur]

Windows ME, a.k.a Windows More Errors.

 

[Astronuc]

Poles furious after Russia blames them for starting WWII
http://news.yahoo.com/poles-furious-russia-blames-them-starting-wwii-184742712.html

Putin probably needs to have a talk with Sergey Andreev, and find a replacement soon.

 

[HomogenousCow]

What happens if Donald Trump wins the election?
Will the US congress impeach him?
Will he immediately ban all trade with China?
Will he invade Mexico?
Will he ban the concept of Global Warming as it is (as he claims) a fabrication of the Chinese government?
Will the CIA assassinate him before he is sworn in?
Will he construct a one hundred story "Trump Tower" in DC?
Will he make a point to offend every sovereign nation on Earth once a day for his entire time in office?

 

[WWGD]

What happens if Donald Trump wins the election?
Will the US congress impeach him?
Will he immediately ban all trade with China?
Will he invade Mexico?
Will he ban the concept of Global Warming as it is (as he claims) a fabrication of the Chinese government?
Will the CIA assassinate him before he is sworn in?
Will he construct a one hundred story "Trump Tower" in DC?
Will he make a point to offend every sovereign nation on Earth once a day for his entire time in office?

Not sure, but the one who "would tell it like it is " sure comes off as pretty delicate when _others_ tell it like it is about him
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/donald-trump-loses-libel-lawsuit-232923

And the "maverick" non-politician who does not read the polls keeps quoting the bible as his favorite book, not being able to address followup questions : https://www.google.com/search?q=tru...=UTF-8#q=how+many+times+did+trump+cited+bible

 

[HomogenousCow]

I can't say I completely understand how US elections work, but why is he leading in the polls? How does negative media attention actually make you more popular in preliminary surveys? It seems highly ironic that people don't take this stuff seriously but end up complaining about how their presidents are incompetent.

 

[jim hardy]

I can't say I completely understand how US elections work, but why is he leading in the polls?

Americans have always liked political cartoons.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Americans have always liked political cartoons.

I have this persistent feeling Trump will soon be revealed to be a descendent of Moe Howard.