Member Avatar for chrisbrunke

my father in law recently got a friend of his to install windows 7 on his computer, but when he got his computer back, the sound wasn't working. i checked the device manager, and all the drivers are updated. when you try and click the speaker at the bottom right (volume control), it says that the speakers aren't plugged in.
before anyone comes out with the funny questions... yes, they ARE plugged in, and yes, in the right ports. lol
i went into dxdiag and it's not showing a sound card. there's onboard sound that used to work before the upgrade to windows 7.
if you're wondering, it's an ASUS P5LD2 DELUXE board. i went to the asus website looking for audio drivers, and it had the exact driver that's already installed (and apparently working).

any ideas??

thanks

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A short, practical checklist for the “Speakers aren't plugged in” message when dxdiag shows no sound card. If dxdiag does not list an audio device, the OS is not detecting the motherboard codec at the driver/kernel level — this is normally caused by one of: onboard audio disabled in BIOS, the wrong driver (or wrong architecture) installed, jack-detection/front-panel header mismatch, Windows using a digital output (SPDIF/HDMI) as the default device, or the Windows Audio service being stopped.

  • A quick sanity note: as suggested, testing the speakers on another system can rule out bad speakers. Standard analog 3.5mm speakers do not need a Windows driver; only USB or digital/soundbar devices might require one.
  • Playback devices: open the Playback Devices dialog (speaker icon). Enable “Show Disabled Devices” and “Show Disconnected Devices.” If a “Speakers” entry appears, enable it and set it as Default Device.
  • Device Manager and drivers: enable “Show hidden devices,” look under Sound, video and game controllers. If no usable device appears, uninstall the audio entry (choose to remove driver software), reboot, then install the correct Windows 7 driver that matches the OS bitness. If a vendor package is installed but detection still fails, try the clean uninstall + vendor or Realtek package.
  • Services and BIOS: confirm the Windows Audio service is running (services.msc) and set to Automatic. Check BIOS setup for an “onboard audio/HD Audio/AC97” setting and ensure onboard audio is enabled.
  • Front-panel/jack detection: if using front-panel jacks, try the rear green speaker port. If Realtek HD Audio Manager is present, try disabling front-panel jack detection or replugging the case front-audio cable to the correct header (AC97 vs HD-Audio mismatch is a common culprit).

Given ’s note that the ASUS driver looked present, a clean uninstall/reinstall (matching 32/64-bit) and a BIOS onboard-audio check are the highest-yield steps before more invasive fixes. If immediate sound is needed, a low-cost USB audio adapter will bypass onboard audio.

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Member Avatar for Shinedevil

Have you tried to use the speakers on another computer? Maybe they are broken now?
Also, did the speakers come with their own drivers, you might actually need to install those along with your sound card drivers, that could be the reason it's not detecting them.

Member Avatar for chrisbrunke

the speakers worked just fine before that other guy got his hands on the comp. but that's possible that they may have their own drivers. i will ask him if he has the disc... if not... i may have to search on the manufacturer's site. thanks

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