Sound problems (CMedia 9761 and VIA VT8235 chipsets)

ound problems (CMedia 9761 and VIA VT8235 chipsets)

I have a BioStar M7VIZ mobo with built-in CMedia 9761 sound chip and
a VIA 8235 south bridge that also handles sound, but I haven't been
able to get the sound to work in Windows 98SE.

When I try the music test in the DirectX diagnostics, they say, "Music
Port activation failed because no sound driver found", and the
Multimedia button in the Control Panel shows no playback or recording
devices and doesn't allow any to be selected.

I tried installing both the CMedia 9761 driver and the VIA VT8235 sound
driver, individually and together (both orders). I also booted into
Safe Mode to remove all sound entries and have also tried deactivating
the sound hardware in the BIOS before installing the drivers. The
sound chip definitely works partially because the CMedia driver won't
install with the chip deactivated in the BIOS.

I realize that I can simply use a plug-in sound card, but I want to
know how to fix this problem because long ago the same thing happened
with a plug-in card.

On 18 Jul 2005 02:10:39 -0700, "larry moe 'n curly"
wrote:

ound problems (CMedia 9761 and VIA VT8235 chipsets)

I have a BioStar M7VIZ mobo with built-in CMedia 9761 sound chip and
a VIA 8235 south bridge that also handles sound, but I haven't been
able to get the sound to work in Windows 98SE.

When I try the music test in the DirectX diagnostics, they say, "Music
Port activation failed because no sound driver found", and the
Multimedia button in the Control Panel shows no playback or recording
devices and doesn't allow any to be selected.

I tried installing both the CMedia 9761 driver and the VIA VT8235 sound
driver, individually and together (both orders). I also booted into
Safe Mode to remove all sound entries and have also tried deactivating
the sound hardware in the BIOS before installing the drivers. The
sound chip definitely works partially because the CMedia driver won't
install with the chip deactivated in the BIOS.

I realize that I can simply use a plug-in sound card, but I want to
know how to fix this problem because long ago the same thing happened
with a plug-in card.

Do you have the related PNP software enumerated registry
entries? The following reg file will readd them if not,
though it shouldn't hurt to add the reg file either way,
http://69.36.189.159/usr_1034/Win98_WDM_Sound.reg

There's also a win98(SE?) patch or two relating to sound.
Don't recall the specifics but hold on and I'll see what I
have on it.
......
....

There's this:
"Windows Driver Model Audio Update for
Windows 98 Second Edition KB242937
file: 242937US.EXE

I thought there was at least one other WDM Win98(SE?) sound
related patch but at the moment I'm not seeing one, IF
another exists.

kony wrote:
On 18 Jul 2005 02:10:39 -0700, "larry moe 'n curly"

Do you have the related PNP software enumerated registry
entries? The following reg file will readd them if not,
though it shouldn't hurt to add the reg file either way,
http://69.36.189.159/usr_1034/Win98_WDM_Sound.reg

There's also a win98(SE?) patch or two relating to sound.
Don't recall the specifics but hold on and I'll see what I
have on it.

There's this:
"Windows Driver Model Audio Update for
Windows 98 Second Edition KB242937
file: 242937US.EXE

I thought there was at least one other WDM Win98(SE?) sound
related patch but at the moment I'm not seeing one, IF
another exists.

Thanks, Kony. You're great as always. I'll look into them.

I finally got the sound to work by reinstalling Windows 98SE -- twice.
I think that the BIOS design is flakey because if either "Plug & Play
OS" or "Reset Configuration Data" was enabled, then the sound wouldn't
work on the next reboot, and a yellow check mark would usually appear
next to the DMA entry in the Device Manager list. I couldn't get
another mobo containing the same VT8235 south bridge (but
different-Media sound CODEC chip) to act up like this.

larry moe 'n curly wrote:

I finally got the sound to work by reinstalling Windows 98SE -- twice.
I think that the BIOS design is flakey because if either "Plug & Play
OS" or "Reset Configuration Data" was enabled, then the sound wouldn't
work on the next reboot, and a yellow check mark would usually appear
next to the DMA entry in the Device Manager list. I couldn't get
another mobo containing the same VT8235 south bridge (but
different-Media sound CODEC chip) to act up like this.


Well, those two are the right ones to aggravate the problem.

"Plug & Play OS" tells the BIOS to not bother assigning IRQs and addresses
to I/O devices, that the OS will do so when it gets around to it. Problem
is, that means there's no assignment during startup and while it's not
supposed to be a problem it can be sometimes. And then switching it back
and forth can cause devices to appear in different places although, again,
the OS is supposed to figure that out.

"Reset Configuration Data" says to throw away any IRQ and address
assignments the BIOS has made and start over again. Which means they could
change.

So you may have been repeatedly bouncing around where the I/O devices live
confusing the OS.

Although, it's supposed to figure that out.

On the other hand, it's not a good idea to make it as difficult as possible.

David Maynard wrote:

On the other hand, it's not a good idea to make it as
difficult as possible.

It's as if you had a hidden camera watching me work!

Another bug I noticed with this BioStar BIOS is that if I enable
network booting and that boot fails, the mobo will lock so hard that
even the reset button will be ignored. The CMOS battery jumper has to
be disconnected to get the mobo to work again.

On 21 Jul 2005 14:09:32 -0700, "larry moe 'n curly"
wrote:



David Maynard wrote:

On the other hand, it's not a good idea to make it as
difficult as possible.

It's as if you had a hidden camera watching me work!

Another bug I noticed with this BioStar BIOS is that if I enable
network booting and that boot fails, the mobo will lock so hard that
even the reset button will be ignored. The CMOS battery jumper has to
be disconnected to get the mobo to work again.


Did I overlook it or have you not mentioned updating the
bios yet?

Oddly their webpage,
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdownloads.asp?model=M7VIZ

shows only some of the bios they've released. I know
nothing about (specifics for) that board bios so I just
throw the FTP URL out there- to use as you will.
ftp://ftp.biostar-usa.com/bios/M7VIZ/

larry moe 'n curly wrote:

David Maynard wrote:


On the other hand, it's not a good idea to make it as
difficult as possible.


It's as if you had a hidden camera watching me work!

Another bug I noticed with this BioStar BIOS is that if I enable
network booting and that boot fails, the mobo will lock so hard that
even the reset button will be ignored. The CMOS battery jumper has to
be disconnected to get the mobo to work again.


Well, I'd have to see it myself but people often think a computer is
'locked solid' with network problems because they (the computer) try
multiple times and the timeouts are rather large on each one.