Plug'n'pray...

[Gary 0]

I got bought a new soundcard for Christmas - and last week I got around to fitting it.

 

Well... trying to fit it.

 

It's a lovely little soundcard, with a great daughter-board of sockets to add both optical and coaxial digital IN's and OUT's. Super... you can even link the OUTs to the IN's to record anything thats playing - Handy.

 

Not so handy was that the wretched computer refused to acknowledge that the card was safely seated in either of the spare PCI Slots in the PC. My Motherboard has got a built-in sound chip, so I disabled that - still "No New Hardware".

 

Tried uninstalling any drivers for the old sound chip...

 

Nope...I can see the soundcard sitting there in a PCI slot, but the PC cant.

 

Next...pulled out the other PCI cards, leaving me with 4 empty PCI slots, and put the soundcard into the first slot. Hey Presto... Windows wakes up and smells the bacon.

 

I load all the drivers, and try a few bits of sound type software applications - super.

 

I plug the first of the other PCI cards back in... the additional USB and Firewire combo card...and like Paul Daniels on an ITV repeat...WHUFF !!! the sound (and soundcard) disappear (according to Windows). Even more fun...taking the USB/Firewire card out again, does NOT result in the Soundcard being re-detected and working again.

 

Even using my Roll-back/recovery software which rolls back my harddrive to its condition as it was when it started up on a particular day/time didn't get the soundcard re-detected or the sound back again. If I'd NEEDED sound for something desparate - I'd have been in a frenzy at this point.

 

Anyway...somehow...I've now got the PC to acknowledge the sound card again, and sound is working very well. However, the USB/Firewire cards are still out.

 

Any ideas on how I can get those cards in and working, without losing the sound (and detection of the sound card) again.?

 

Suggestions involving dynamite and the PC, are perfectly acceptable.

 

 

 

[ian . 0]

You could possibly have a conflict on the PCI bus.

Basically it means that the new card doesn't like sharing resourses with another item.

With you previously having onboard sound you wouldn't have noticed. The firewire and usb would have been installed automatically into say PCI 5. Your new card may want to default to position 5, causing a conflict.

It could just be that your cards don't like the position that you've put them in.

Have a look through the manual for your motherboard and see where it recomends the cards to be installed.

[bigMCben 0]

Go into Control Panel, System, Hardware, Device Manager. Click on View then Resources by Type then expand the IRQ. See what IRQ is assigned to your soundcard. Then uninstall the sound card and install usb card and check it's IRQ. If they are both the same, then that is the conflict. This website offers advice on what to do next.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

ITs not windows causing this its a hardware problem...

 

in the BIOS you will have the option to auto assign IRQs and to reset/redetect the config etc ..

 

have a fiddle here and make sure the PC sees all the cards at the time of boot...

 

then all windows needs to do it load the drivers....

 

 

 

[Andy Westcott 0]

"RESET CONFIGURATION DATA"

 

Or something similar might help.

This wipes all BIOS memory regarding any hardware fitted and the location, and forces it to re-detect. Useful, as sometimes the BIOS is still setting up for a piece of long since removed hardware, with possible conflicts.

 

Also simply try another PCI slot. I've had the odd situation where simply doing this sorts it out.

[brianmole 0]

 

Suggestions involving dynamite and the PC, are perfectly acceptable.

 

I'd go for that, then get a real computer! :bouncy:

 

Talking about Macs, looks like you need to buy Marc a big mac again!

[ian . 0]

Thats the one - IRQ.

A conflict of IRQ and your cards.

 

 

(PCI.... huh, I know what I meant, I just couldn't remember).

[Gary 0]

Getting there... slowly. And can I just say that all of you guys have been a damn site more helpful than any of the Tech Support departments of the Sound Card company, the motherboard company, or the support teams of the manufacturers of the 2 other PCI boards.

 

To simplify things....forget the PC (best advice I've had all year), forget too, the motherboard etc,etc...

 

Imagine instead a Hammer... The hammer is made of 3 parts, The wooden handle, the metal head piece, and the screw pin thingy that keeps the metal head firmly in place on the end of the wooden handle.

 

But... the metal head keeps flying off when you use it...

 

When you speak to the Head manufacturer, they advise that the head cant possibly be at fault and suggest that the fault MUST be with one of the other two bits.

 

When you talk to the handle company, they too advise that their bit cant be at fault, it must be a problem with one, or both, of the other two bits.

 

When you talk to the screw/pin company, they also tell you that their bit is fine, its an industry standard and that the problem that you're having simply must rest with one of the other two bits.

[otronics 0]

What soundcard is it?

[Andy Westcott 0]

It's not a soundcard, it's a damn hammer! :angry:

 

OK, I'll go. :hurt: