[bubbola]

Hi,
My sound just up & went. I'm using internal speakers, nothing external. OS is Vista Home Premium. Got the famous red X on the sound icon one day + the "No Audio Output..." message. In Device Manager, yellow exclamation marks are next to Realtek High Definition Audio (also have them next to 6to4 Network Adapters) and Code 10 error "This device cannot start." Driver Version is 6.0.1.5473. Clicking update driver gets a response about driver software being up-to-date and "the best driver is already installed". Have also tried advice on different sites: system restore didn't help; disabling camera was also suggested somewhere, but that didn't do it; went into BIOS to restore some settings; downloaded a driver but am now wondering if it was the right one. Clicking on check for solutions drew a blank until today, when it signaled a problem with Skype - then I found an APPCRASH back in Dec, but now it's May...Installed Skype 4 anyway but no change.
Can anybody help this semi-literate user?!
Thanks for any help,

bubbola

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Clicking update driver gets a response about driver software being up-to-date

This is waste of time, because Windows only knows, if the driver is installed, or not. It doesn't know, if the driver is good, or corrupted.
Did you go to Toshiba's site to download, and then install fresh driver?
Uninstall current driver first.

[Broni]

Clicking update driver gets a response about driver software being up-to-date

This is waste of time, because Windows only knows, if the driver is installed, or not. It doesn't know, if the driver is good, or corrupted.
Did you go to Toshiba's site to download, and then install fresh driver?
Uninstall current driver first.

[bubbola]

OK, thanks, I'll try that next and post the results. I've haven't tried any of the solutions that involved uninstalling things, because it's all new territory for me and I'm no pro.

[bubbola]

After download and unzip, the install wizard gave me the following message -
"No driver was supported in this driver package."
???

[Broni]

Did you download Realtek Audio Driver for Windows Vista (v6.0.1.5473; 01-29-2008; 17M) from here: http://www.csd.toshi...mily=1073768663

[bubbola]

Are you still there, Broni? We've got a time zone issue here, because I live in Europe...but I'll keep checking in whenever I'm online.
So after the uninstall and reinstall, I did a restart, but no change. Except that realtek no longer shows up in Device Manager.
What do you think I should do next?
with thanks,
bubbola

[bubbola]

Yes, I'm not sure about all the rest, but it was the 5473. The file I downloaded and installed is called: driver_audio_realtek_os2008015a.exe

[Broni]

I'm afraid, the sound chip may be dead. Since it's laptop, unfortunately a visit to the computer shop may be necessary.

[bubbola]

Dead chip? Can you explain what that actually means?
And if that's the problem, could I avoid costly and time-consuming repairs by just getting a new sound card?
But still - how that could happen - from one shutdown to the next startup.
The strange thing is that I'm also getting the yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager next to 6to4 Adapter. In this case, the warning reads:
"This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)".
Could the combination of driver issues be pointing to something systemic?

[bubbola]

Have just found some possible other clues. In Problem reports and Solutions.
Anything useful below?

1) Yahoo Jukebox (pre-installed) stopped working on April 24. Details below.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: YahooMusicEngine.exe
Application Version: 2.2.2.58
Application Timestamp: 47a8b7fb
Fault Module Name: yui.dll
Fault Module Version: 2.2.2.58
Fault Module Timestamp: 47a8b6a1
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0000fd32
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 8520
Additional Information 2: 7053621e1ccad81aad0ec963ce77f9a7
Additional Information 3: 0cb8
Additional Information 4: 29846b1d93bc59dbd10bdd4605b28db9

2) Setup.exe (May 10; not sure anymore which driver I was trying to download,
but this was before the driver download you recommended.)
"Program compatibility problem"

Description
This program might not have installed correctly

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: PCA2
Problem Signature 01: Setup.exe
Problem Signature 02: 11.50.0.42618
Problem Signature 03: Setup.exe
Problem Signature 04: InstallShield
Problem Signature 05: Macrovision Corporation
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem Signature 07: 2
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Files that help describe the problem
appcompat.txt

3) Firefox
"A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows."

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: AppHangB1
Application Name: firefox.exe
Application Version: 1.9.0.3257
Application Timestamp: 4934ead8
Hang Signature: 0b5a
Hang Type: 16900
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Hang Signature 1: 608719cce08bee7b43344a79ea309f9c
Additional Hang Signature 2: d99b
Additional Hang Signature 3: 39d601cc41c08062c771936a8a64fe5c
Additional Hang Signature 4: 0b5a
Additional Hang Signature 5: 608719cce08bee7b43344a79ea309f9c
Additional Hang Signature 6: d99b
Additional Hang Signature 7: 39d601cc41c08062c771936a8a64fe5c

[Broni]

I can't see any connections here.
Unfortunately, with laptops, you can't get separate sound card, like with desktops. Everything is built in to the motherboard.
Happened overnight?
Like with everything else. Yesterday, your car was fine, today, it doesn't want to start.

Keep in mind, my diagnose is as good as any diagnose given over the net. Without running some test (computer shop), it's pretty much impossible to say more.

[bubbola]

OK, I hear you and appreciate your input. But I'm living italy, where the word geek is still unknown. Can you give me some tips on tests to run? Because otherwise, I know the answer already, it's always the same - costs too much time to figure it out (i.e. no idea what to do) - so re-format.
with thanks,
bub

[Broni]

I'm not talking about test programs here, I'm talking about computer shop tools.

You can always try to reinstall Windows. It's cheap diagnose, cost nothing

[bubbola]

Hi, So here's what's happened next: I went to my computer guy, and he said to try installing SP1 first, which I hadn't done before. Got home, opened the computer from hibernation, and before I could do anything, I saw that windows was busy installing the Realtek driver! After that, the red x on the sound icon was gone, volume mixer was back and all looked good, except - still no sound!! Imagine my frustration!!! Proceeded to install SP1; no change.
So my questions are first, if there was a hardware not a software problem - like busted speakers for some reason, or a blown connection - would windows (vista) signal that, instead of looking like everything is functioning fine? And second, after reading this, are you still thinking dead chip? If that's a yes, then I'll have to convince my guy to look at it, cause he was like, "one in a million chance of that."
'Appreciate your help,
bub

[Broni]

if there was a hardware not a software problem - like busted speakers for some reason, or a blown connection - would windows (vista) signal that, instead of looking like everything is functioning fine?

From my experience, in case of some part, which is integrated into motherboard, like a sound chip, Windows will have no clue, if the chip is broken.