dmharris
TUG Member
We had an electrical storm and wonder if that's the cause. What should I check? When I pull the plug out of the CPU there is a sound as the metal tip touches metal. But my speakers won't play.
I don't have any ideas other than the "insult your intelligence" kind you get from tech support. Like:
Turn the computer off, wait and turn it on again. (That's always the first suggestion they give you.)
Is the sound muted?
Go into device manager and see if the sound card has been disabled. Device manager should tell you if the sound card is working properly.
None of this will help, but it will keep you distracted until someone smarter replies.
Good luck.
It's possible the storm blew out the sound card.
Do you have an earphone jack for the cd drive? You might plug the speakers in the jack for a second and see if they work there. (provided it fits.)
This assumes the OP's computer actually has a sound card. Most basic computers sold in the last several years have the sound chip / ports integrated on the motherboard. Usually only the higher-end computers have separate sound cards.The first thing to do is uninstall the sound card driver. Then with the computer off and unplugged, reseat the sound card. (wiggle it out then back in.) Plug in and turn on the computer. It SHOULD recognize 'new equipment' (the sound card) and go about installing the driver. If this works you are good to go. If it doesn't recognize the sound card see below.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the sound card crapped out because it's unlikely that both speakers went bad simultaneously. If there was a lightening storm your 'puter was affected, and it just took out the sound card, consider yourself fortunate.
The first thing to do is uninstall the sound card driver. Then with the computer off and unplugged, reseat the sound card. (wiggle it out then back in.) Plug in and turn on the computer. It SHOULD recognize 'new equipment' (the sound card) and go about installing the driver. If this works you are good to go. If it doesn't recognize the sound card see below.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the sound card crapped out because it's unlikely that both speakers went bad simultaneously. If there was a lightening storm your 'puter was affected, and it just took out the sound card, consider yourself fortunate.
Unless you want to go super high end, sound cards aren't expensive and it's an easy DIY fix. I saw them online for $16 to hundred$. Or from +-$20 at BestBuy or WalMart.
Good luck!
Jim
Not necessarily. You stated in an earlier post that hooking your headphones up to the speaker port in the back produced nothing. That would indicate the port is possibly bad.There is a sound card. Worked fine until the electrical storm that blew out the router too, but got that fixed first as more critical. I can live without sound, most days. Computer is an Asus using Windows 7. If the sound card were bad, would I be able to hear sound through the head set? My guess is the sound card would have to work to hear sound anywhere. So maybe the speakers blew?
Not necessarily. You stated in an earlier post that hooking your headphones up to the speaker port in the back produced nothing. That would indicate the port is possibly bad.
But you could listen to sound through the front headphone port, right? Try plugging in your speakers to the front headphone port and see if they still work.
But it sounds like at minimum the speaker port of the sound card was fried. Most likely time to get a new sound card.
Kurt