Sound Problem

Maydot

Would really appreciate some help with an ongoing sound problem.

This particular pc is used for online gaming (its very low end spec for this but has always coped ok in the past and played WoW on decent enough settings). We recently downloaded and re-installed Final Fantasy FFXI and although the game is playing ok there seems to be a problem with the sound ie. stuttering and looping sound, especially in graphically intense scenes but also if a character has been logged in and inactive for any length of time. It stops if I log out and back in or zone into a new area. The only other thing I notice different from playing this on my even older (and now defunct) pc, which never had any sound issues, is the onscreen display which shows sent and received packets, indicates frequent spikes where received packets increase to 2000+. I have no idea if its even possible that lag could be affecting the sound or if the two are even related.

I have looked at the sound and audio settings but i'm just getting confused now and could possibly end up deleting something i shouldn't. I have tried to update drivers but doesn't seem to make any difference. It looks to me like there are 2 sound devices on here too...ATI HDMI audio and Realtek HD Audio - is this causing some kind of conflict?

System Specs are:
Operating System
MS Windows XP Home 32-bit SP3
CPU
Intel Celeron 352
Intel Celeron 352
Cedar Mill 65nm Technology
RAM
3.0GB Single-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz (5-5-5-15)
Motherboard
Intel Corporation D102GGC2
Graphics
W2234 (1680x1050@60Hz)
ATI Radeon HD 5450
Hard Drives
78GB Western Digital WDC WD800BB-22JHC0 (PATA) 42 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H652D
Audio
ATI HDMI Audio

Would really appreciate any advice

dsavvy83

MY first route would be where did you buy it, is a HP, acer etc desktop?
and which model is it?

Then i would go to the manufacturers website and look for the driver downloads for that particular model and see if they work.

If your desktop is a custom built one then you will have some CDs lying around hopefully with drivers on them?

If not you will have to try and determine the exact model of your audio driver "ATI HDMI AUDIO" is not really helpful. You will have to go to your drivers list, right click "my computer" -> 'Properties' -> 'Device Manager' and then look for something with a yellow triangle like a warning almost, you will then need to investigate that, find something like the Vendor name, or device name? and then copy the numbers and paste them into google normally you get lucky and the exact model from someone will appear. Once you know that, you will have to go the manufacturers website if it is a Creative sound card you go to creatives website and looks for the model number and download the latest drivers.

I hope this make sense haha but if you are not sure and not to technical, i would go to someone technical to do it for you, or a computer repair shop.

I mean one last thing you can try is buy a new sound card, make sure it is compatible with your mother board and install that, it's alot easier than you think.

Maydot

Thanks for the reply! Its actually an emachines E3042. I'm going to take a wander over to their site and see if I can find driver updates, I'll let you know if it helps

I'm no techie but I'll always try and solve things myself (or ask on here if things get a bit beyond me!). I had already checked Device Manager and there don't seem to be any problems indicated. I'm still unsure though why I seem to have 2 sound devices, the ATI and Realtek - or is this normal?

I can probably live with the problem, everything else is running fine and it is internittent...just annoying when it happens :think:

dsavvy83

Hi

Excellent, should be easy to find updated drivers.

With most desktops that you buy come with a Graphics card and Sound card built into the motherboard.

But most people buy better sound cards and grpahics card and install them in the desktop. And in the BIOS set up you turn off on board sound cards and graphic cards, but this is not always necessary.

Hopefully yours is just a driver issue.

Maydot

Thanks again! Unfortunately emachines seem to have forgotten they made the E3042, found one reference to it on the official site but when i click on it tells me the URL could not be found. Checked Gateway too but no luck there either, only one E series is listed and its not mine!

I think I did find something useful though, apparently ATI HDMI = Realtek, someone else had the same question .

Am I right in thinking this is an onboard soundcard and not an upgraded one then? PC was originally my daughter's so will need to ask her partner if he had changed anything (I doubt it though!)

dsavvy83

You can tell form looking at the back of the desktop, if there is more than one input jack at the back then there is a good chance you have IDE graphics card. but if it is an aftermarket one, won't be able to tell, you can try and find it in your drivers list, or you can go as far as opening up the case to see what sound card is fitted, but i wouldn't recommend that approach, and don't forget to back up all your data before you do anything.

One last think you could try is do a windows update, sometimes that helps, but i have seen it cause more issues, again just back up all your import work photos etc..