HDMI Graphics Card and no sound (home computer)

[Andie]

Hi Folks! Maybe you can help me get out of a Tech Guys/PC World loop (yes, I know it was def a mistake to even go down that route but we have paid out and an official complaint is about to be drafted)! Is there an adaptor you can buy that will allow a computer expecting HD Audio to play through normal speakers? We have basic speakers, front mounted headphones and no speakers on monitor. Op sys is Vista Home Premium. Computer is only just three years old.

 

Basically, the graphics card in our home computer has failed for the third time and I am getting desperate. Each time, they have sent someone out with a better graphics card as the original isn't made any more. This has a VGA port plus an HDMI port. Once fitted there is no sound, as the graphics card can carry audio and automatically installs High Def Audio which means that normal audio ports are ignored. We've been through all the Device Manager uninstall stuff and driver issues, and there doesn't seem a way to force the normal audio ports to be used.

 

So they cart the computer away and it comes back with an old style graphics card installed and the sound working again. But the first graphics card replacement failed after three months and the second has only lasted four weeks. So you can imagine I would dearly love to know if there is a simpler solution to this that might cost me a little bit. The support agreement won't fit a new sound card while there are old graphics cards lying around. Seems when you pay for unlimited repairs then that is what you get - even if they only last for a few weeks!

 

At the moment, I have a computer with the new HDMI card in, which boots and looks OK, but no sound. Courier booked for end of week to cart it away. If there is an adaptor i can buy that will help break this cycle, please let me know!

[JOrdan01070]

what is the make and model of the graphics card as i have an ati card that has HDMI out and i use my computer speakers the listern to the sound so it is possible

[sted]

yopu shoule be able to use onboard/offboard audio with a hdmi vid/sound card mine works quite happily infact its ususally a pain to get hdmi audio working. You may just need to force audio on in bios or change the default audio device in windows

[Dos_Box]

As said above. If it is an ATI card then you simply have to go into control panel - sound and tell it to use your onboard sound card as the ATI drivers will default it to the cards sound chip. Incedentally, the onboard HD is not 'full' hd and will not support Dolby HD or other HD audio fomats unless you output digitally to a good AV amp or get a card such as this Asus Xonar card: Scan.co.uk: Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 SLIM, HDMI 1.3a Audio Card with True Blu-ray Audio PCI

[browolf]

usb sound card

5.1 USB Multimedia Sound Card : Sound Cards : Maplin

[Jamo]

If it is Vista or 7 right click on the speaker icon and click on show playback devices. In there select a different card as default. If you cant see them because some stupid realtek card is installed then make sure you right click and show disabled devices it should show the disconnected devices listed and you can select one of them as default. ( Some times the realtek devices are disabled because the jack detection is either knackered or is turned off )

[Andie]

Sorry for the delay! The graphics card is NVidia Geforce, but not sure of the model as the Tech Guy helpfully took the box away and didn't install the drivers. The speaker sound comes through Realtek, and I suspect the jack detection i not working. However, i know the tech guy tried right clicking the speaker icon in sys tray and playback devices wasn't available. Will have a go with @Jamo's solution now. Don't want to go down the USB sound card route, as Vista throws a wobbly with too many USB devices connected as it is and suspect this type of card would be too slow for game playing sound. Thanks for everyone's contribution. Helps to know it may be poss to solve this myself (with a little bit of help from edugeek!).

[Andie]

OK. I can right click the speaker option and choose Playback Devices (so I was wrong earlier). That shows four icons all called Digital Output Device (HDMI) and numbered one to four, with two set as default. No others listed. So right clicked and ticked Show Disabled Devices (Show Disconnected Devices is already ticked). Hasn't changed anything! I think the Tech guy was trying to do all this. Please don't suggest i go into device manager or Playback devices and uninstall these devices, as i've been through all this in the past and as soon as you restart they are installed again. I've also tried the different jacks on the rear of the machine for sound.

 

Last time, when I got landed with the new graphics card I had to go on the NVidia website and get it to detect the card and download and install the drivers. These included sound drivers and I thought that was what had caused this problem with sound. But the NVidia drivers haven't been downloaded and installed at all this time. It seems to be Vista doing this to the sound.

[Jamo]

OK. I can right click the speaker option and choose Playback Devices (so I was wrong earlier). That shows four icons all called Digital Output Device (HDMI) and numbered one to four, with two set as default. No others listed. So right clicked and ticked Show Disabled Devices (Show Disconnected Devices is already ticked). Hasn't changed anything! I think the Tech guy was trying to do all this. Please don't suggest i go into device manager or Playback devices and uninstall these devices, as i've been through all this in the past and as soon as you restart they are installed again. I've also tried the different jacks on the rear of the machine for sound.

 

Last time, when I got landed with the new graphics card I had to go on the NVidia website and get it to detect the card and download and install the drivers. These included sound drivers and I thought that was what had caused this problem with sound. But the NVidia drivers haven't been downloaded and installed at all this time. It seems to be Vista doing this to the sound.

 

When you play sound through any of the devices you should see some sort of output on the devices, a green bar going up and down usually

 

I had a weird problem with realtek cards and the microsoft high def devices it was something in the order of install of the devices. I will try and find out what i did

[JOrdan01070]

what about if you go to NVIDIA Control Panel in the "Change Resolution" when under the "Advanced Settings View" do you get connected to "HDMI - HDTV (Audio Disabled) option

[Andie]

When you play sound through any of the devices you should see some sort of output on the devices, a green bar going up and down usually

 

I had a weird problem with realtek cards and the microsoft high def devices it was something in the order of install of the devices. I will try and find out what i did

 

Need to check when I get home but think I am getting the green bar on the default device, just no output to speakers - as if i'm not plugged in to correct jack - but I've run out of places to plug anything in! But don't take this as read - as I said will check when home.

[Andie]

yopu shoule be able to use onboard/offboard audio with a hdmi vid/sound card mine works quite happily infact its ususally a pain to get hdmi audio working. You may just need to force audio on in bios or change the default audio device in windows

 

Thank you to everyone who has been trying to help and told me that i should still be getting onboard sound with the new graphics card. It took about 30 seconds to sort in the end: go into BIOS advanced menu, down to Onboard Audio which was set to Auto, set Onboard Audio to Enable instead, Save and Exit, boot up, the drivers for the onboard card were installed and set to default automatically and I now have sound with the new graphics card!!!

 

Have just rang the Tech Guys to cancel the courier and tell them I have fixed it and how. The man who answered the phone expressed surprise that not one of the engineers who had come out since November neither the folks at Mercom where it had been to twice for repair nor the people who answered the initial phone calls (including second level support) had tried this solution. I tried ringing the number for complaints which is on the Tech Guys website, and they told me that it wasn't a number for complaints and put me through to customer service for PC Performance which is the service agreement company. They can't take complaints about the Tech Guys. But I have an address in Sheffield to write to and will be copying the letter to BBC Watchdog and to our local radio station's consumer program too. I am over the moon that the fault has been fixed but incandescent with rage at the level of service I have received from the Tech Guys/PC World as a paying customer. The agreement will be cancelled shortly.

 

Once again Edugeek membership has proved to be fantastic!

[Jamo]

Glad its fixed!!

 

The phone numbers for the Tech guys are a pain. Convineintly its ALWAYS pretty much the wrong number for this or that. What I have found especially annoying is how they dealt with my brothers case... repairing the desktop PC by taking it away and only giving him a DPD number to trace it by. Of course once it reaches the depot DPD's part is done so its impossible to trace the development of the case. It ended up being delivered back on a random weekday with no notice so of course noone was in! Not even a phone call so say its ready or an explanation. It doesn't even say any of the history on the PC now!? Who knows what journey it has been on, at least in this case its currently working though.

[Andie]

You can phone the usual support line and they will tell you what has been done to it - if you can bear to go through the ten menu and wait forever routine. The problem for your brother will be how long the repair will last. They may have put in an identical part which is by definition as old as the one that failed. That is partly why I was so keen to get my machine fixed. It had gone off to Mercom twice due to graphics card failure followed by no sound with new graphics card. Each time they replaced the new and better graphics card with the same type that had failed which presumably had been recycled from an old machine or was left over. Anyway, the first time the repair lasted 3 months and the second time the repair lasted 4 weeks. At least now this time, having fixed the sound issue before the courier arrived, I have the new and better graphics card.