Problems You suffer from one of the following problems: You do not hear sound from your computer's speakers or headphones. A sound is played, but then stops suddenly or the sound skips or misses in some areas. The sound is distorted or scratchy. The computer stops responding (hangs) when a sound is played or the computer restarts when a sound is played. You receive an error message when you try to play sound. For example, you may receive any one of the following error messages: MIDI output error detected. No wave device that can play files in the current format is installed. The CD Audio device is in use by another application. WAV sound playback error detected. Your audio hardware cannot play files like the current file.
Solution First, verify connections and settings: Be sure you have made the proper connections between your PC or sound card. It is very easy to confuse the icons for line, speaker, and auxillary input/output jacks. Be sure you have the proper power to your amplified speakers. Double-click the Volume Control (speaker) icon in the Tool TrayCheck to access the complete set of playback controls, then verify that none of the controls for Master Volume, WAV, or other sound sources are set to mute.
Next, check sound files and disks for corruption: Try other sound files. The one you selected may be corrupt. Check your disk drive for errors using CHKDSK. If the sound stops coincident with mouse movement, network activity, or other events on your system, check the sound card for conflicts in Device Manager and resolve the conflicts by resetting Plug and Play in BIOS or re-configuring the sound card address, IRQ, and DMA settings to nonconflicting values.
Next, verify the proper input and output connections suitable for the sound source and speaker type: If the source of the sound is an external device such as an MP3 or CD player, make sure it is connected to the line input connection for your sound card. Check the documentation for your speakers to determine if they should be connected to the speaker or line out connectors on your sound card, and reconnect accordingly.
Next, verify the configuration of the sound card relative to other hardware: Open Device Manager to look for indications of a conflict perhaps a newly installed sound card assumed the resources of another device, or another new device assumed the resources of the sound device. Resolve the conflict by resetting Plug and Play in BIOS, or reconfiguring the sound card or other device. It is possible the device driver for your sound card or another device is causing an error that Windows cannot recover from forcing it to restart. Uninstall then upgrade the device driver for your sound card or other new device.
Lastly, ensure your sound card supports and that you have the proper drivers installed for the type of file you are trying to open: Your sound device may not support MIDI files. Check the documentation for your sound device. Most sound cards support MIDI as well as WAV and other file types, but the driver that translates MIDI files to play them may not be installed or may be corrupt. Uninstall then reinstall or upgrade the drivers for your sound device.
Discussion Playing sounds can be a more complex task than displaying high-resolution graphics. Windows must have working video all the way from installation to using applications, while sound is an afterthought to the PC architecture that has to squeeze itself into whatever address, IRQ, and DMA resources are available. The hardware configuration of your sound device may be controlled by settings in the BIOS or even jumpers or switches on the sound card. Similarly, sound systems have multiple connections for inputs and outputs that must electrically match the source of the sound and your speaker system. Once the hardware is set up so that you can play sounds, Windows' sound support must have the proper drivers and codec (compression/decompression) features installed to support translation of bits and bytes into audible sound. Windows Media Player should decode most if not all typical (WAV, MID, and MP3) sound files, but you may need a third-party media player program such as RealPlayer, http://www.real.com, or WinAmp, http://www.winamp.com, to listen to sound files for Unix or other computer systems. See Also Microsoft devotes several articles to sound at MS KB 307918, "Resources for Troubleshooting Sound Problems in Windows XP," MS KB 84752, "Troubleshooting Media Player MIDI Sound Problems," and http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prdm_mtm_scit.asp. |
