Member Avatar for veledrom

Hi,

I have Creative Inspire 5.1 5200 speakers attached to my ASUS 1155 P8P67-M PRO REV 3.0 motherboard. Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit installed. When I use third part applications (Winamp, Mediaplayer etc.) to listed music or play movie rear speakers won't work but when I test speakers in Realtek hd audio manager, all works fine.

I checked "Sound fill", Environment varibles etc, reinstalled drivers, try to set as 7.1 no luck.

In forums everyone has some solution but none worked for me.

Thanks in advance

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 336 Views
  • 1 Month Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by veledrom

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and context: has a common symptom — the Realtek diagnostic tool exercises every channel, but ordinary playback does not send signal to the rear speakers. ’s pointer about mute/volume is worth checking, but the underlying causes are almost always configuration, source type, or the connection method rather than a mysterious OS “lockout.” The checklist below isolates those possibilities in a practical order.

Checklist (follow in order)

  1. Confirm Windows is actually outputting 5.1: right‑click the speaker icon -> Playback devices (or Sounds) -> select the Realtek Speakers device -> Configure -> choose 5.1 Surround and click Test. If the OS test fails, the problem is system/device config.
  2. Distinguish test tones from real media: the Realtek manager test generates tones on each channel. Many music files and player defaults are stereo and will not feed rear channels. Test with a known 5.1 sample (DVD, a 5.1 WAV/AC3 test file, or a movie with a discrete 5.1 track) and use a player that can decode/passthrough (VLC/MPC with appropriate audio output settings).
  3. Check Realtek and Windows playback properties: in Speakers -> Properties -> Advanced, set a standard DVD-quality default format (48 kHz), disable Enhancements, and disable “Allow applications to take exclusive control.” In the Realtek control panel look for jack-detection or multi-stream options and try toggling “disable front panel jack detection” or the separate playback devices feature.
  4. Physical and connection checks: confirm the correct jacks are used (standard color coding: green = front, black = rear, orange = center/sub), ensure the center/sub cable into the subwoofer is seated, and verify you’re not using S/PDIF/optical unless your receiver decodes AC3/DTS or you’ve enabled passthrough.
  5. Drivers and isolation: uninstall any generic audio driver and install the latest Realtek package recommended by ASUS for your board (or try the vendor driver vs. Realtek generic). If uncertain, test with a USB/PCI sound card to isolate motherboard hardware.

Notes and closing: Linux can work around some driver quirks, but it’s not the only fix — Windows 7 can and does support 5.1 if configured correctly. Also bear in mind Windows 7 is past official support (January 14, 2020), so vendor driver updates may be limited; that makes the driver/version step especially important.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for cwarn23

Sounds like in Realtek hd audio manager you need to adjust the volume control to turn off mute and increase the volume. Also a hidden volume button on the keyboard can also do it.

Member Avatar for veledrom

Solution: Do not use Windows 7 use Linux instead.

Guys in Asus and Realtek say Windows 7 is trying to take over all controls over AC drivers, software etc. This is what causes conflicts. It works fine in Win XP Prof though. I have friend having same problems with different boards. I tried every single thing to solve the problem until I was told this from first hand so Linux is is way ahead. Also I am a open source developer so why should I bother with Ms anyway.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.