Update: Fix your sound issues in Windows Vista
I thank the community of Vista Rewired for this, because without them, I would never have come up with a solution to this problem.
Many of you who are using the Soundmax Audio Chip on your motherboard have been complaining about incompatible drivers and issues of the sound cutting off and failing. Last night, I received two different fixes from Akos and Maurie for this issue. Only one method has worked for me (Akos’), so I guess you will have to experiment a bit.
Akos contacted Asus Support, and luckily for him, Asus actually gave him a helpful answer. He was offered a third-party driver which can be downloaded by clicking here. The driver does not allow audio enhancements such as extra bass but it’s still better than having your sound cut off every time you pause your music or videos. I have tested this driver and it has worked perfectly. We’ll start off with uninstalling your previous driver by following these steps:
Method 1 (From Maurie):
1) Retrieve your motherboard disk: If you don’t have this, you’ll need to resort to Method 2.
2) Uninstall your SoundMAX Driver by first accessing Device Manager: Click on the Start Pearl > Right click Computer > Choose Device Manager from the navigation menu
3) Delete your current driver: Expand the Sounds Column > Right click on your device > Choose Uninstall > Checkmark the Delete Driver option > Press OK
At this point, you may be prompted to reboot, which you must do before installing the new driver.
Method 2 (From Akos - the one that worked for me):
1) Download the third-party driver here: This driver was not created by Asus, but I have tested it and it seems to be fine. Use it at your own risk!
2) Access your device manager: Click on the Start Pearl > Right click Computer > Choose Device Manager from the navigation menu
3) Uninstall your current SoundMAX driver: Expand the Sounds Column > Right click on your device > Choose Uninstall > Checkmark the Delete Driver option > Press OK
At this point, you may be prompted to reboot, which you must do before installing the new driver.
If either solution works, I am afraid you will have to use this temporary fix. The fix manages to fix your sound without requiring you to restart your computer. But your sound will still continue to cut off when audio or video is paused.
Still need help? Check out our new forums where you can get an even faster and better response!
March 31st, 2007 at 1:13 am
Mine is working so well (perfectly) now, I don’t dare touch it. Besides it makes sense as to what Asus told me.
April 1st, 2007 at 2:35 am
Method #1 worked beautifully for me. Thanks!
April 1st, 2007 at 6:04 pm
I’m following your guide, deinstall the soundmax driver, rebooted, downloaded the third-party driver …..
what am I suppose to do now? The zip file I downloaded doesn’t have a .exe fle.
Also “Akos contacted Asus Support, and luckily for him, Asus actually gave him a helpful answer. He was offered a third-party driver which can be downloaded by clicking here. ” -the download link doesn’t work.
Hope I don’t sound like a complaining freak. I just need some more guidance of the great master (you)! *laughs*
April 1st, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Kiara:
The third party driver can be found by scrolling down to Method 2. It is the same thing and is called other.rar
It appears my guide is not clear enough and I will have to rewrite it. When you restart your computer, it should say searching for a drive for your new sound device. And it will prompt you to put in your driver CD. Tell it that you don’t have the CD and direct Windows to the third-party driver folder (extracted from other.rar)
From there, it should work fine. If this is rather confusing, you can contact me and I can help you out over MSN.
April 1st, 2007 at 6:32 pm
wohoo~ it’s working for me too. Thank you so much Albert. *bow*
April 10th, 2007 at 1:16 am
The solution is parcial. Yes, it doesn’t stop the sound anymore when you pause a song, and I have so so sound in games again (Halo stutters horribly, but Age of Empires is fine) BUT I’ve no MICROPHONE anymore!
Jeeeez!
Guess I’ll have to wait until Intel FINALLY decides to post the final drivers online!
April 10th, 2007 at 1:26 am
Everything is OK, but:
Sounds stutters in Halo.
No microphone anymore.
Snif……
April 24th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I have the same problem with Windows Media Center 2005 and XP SP2, but not with Vista.
Here on ASUS support site I posted my problem so if someone can recognize what solution can be?
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20070423024455437&SLanguage=en-us&board_id=1&model=M2N
On Vista ( Home Premium 32 bit ) i have drivers from January 11, 2007. New drivers from ASUS support site I couldn’t download successfuly, how I explained on forum there. Something’s wrong with new packages of SoundMax drivers both for Vista, Xp, MCE 32/64 bit.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Leon: These are the only methods I know, I guess there are still further problems. You can temporarily fix it here http://vistarewired.com/2007/02/06/sound-cutting-off-problem/
April 25th, 2007 at 8:55 am
Albert, I haven’t problem with Vista, but with Windows Media Center 2005 and XP. When I try to execute package of new SoundMax drivers from ASUS drivers page, something’s wrong in zip files of drivers both for all OS.
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?model=M2N&SLanguage=en-us
for Vista 6.10.1.6130 version /32 bit.
XP 5.10.01.6110 version
Win2K 5.10.01.6110 version,
from april 17, 2007.
When I start to instal new drivers, I got errors in zip files or Vista cann’t recognize *.ini file in temporary folder?!
April 26th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
the guide looks good… to late for my friends computer he’s “Downgraded” back to XP…
oh yeah and XP works fine… lol
it seems the extra trouble of Vista is not worth the “new features” (certain games not working etc)
one small problem with your guide I think some people will have trouble reading it since it tells you how to un-install the driver 2 times: It should say to uninstall 1 time, then *install* the new one…
Anyway thanks for the link to the file (also some people wouldn’t have a RAR extractor)
And from what i read in the comments some people having trouble with the microphone still… that would be a show-stopper for my friend since he uses TeamSpeak to chat with friends while playing games… which strangely actually works in XP…
May 11th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
although not exactly the same problem, about two weeks ago something that came in on windows update for xp makes sound not work in media player 11, I have the same problem when I boot into vista, I have both becuase of some beta testing I do for work. intel tells me to contract MS, MS tells me to contact intel, intel refers me to soundmax who refers me back to intel. does this sound familiar
May 11th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I found a better solution, go out and buy a $30 dollar soundblaster, it’ll be less of a hassle in the long run
I know, why should we have to pay for something that should be supported
May 15th, 2007 at 5:16 am
I do have a soundblaster and have the same problem…. zomg. I have a P5B Deluxe and an integrated SoundMAX chip but I DO NOT use it! I have a 70$ Audigy 4 which worked awesome on XP. I don’t have the soundmax drivers installed because I DON’T use it. Why would I still be getting these audio problems?
BTW, the link above doesn’t work, you have to click the period at the end of it. I had to view the html source code to find it
This is the same link if you are lazy:
http://www.vistarewired.com/wp-content/other.rar
May 17th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Hey Folks,
i’ve downloaded the other.rar, and i have disabled driver searching (but it still does it)
I can force it to update the driver, but only for ones installed on my machine, now for some reason it won’t let me install from any of the .inf files contained in the rar….
Which one am i supposed to run, how do i get vista to ecognize the files properly…
This is really bugging me hehe
May 20th, 2007 at 4:37 am
I have the same problem as Russell.
I point my install to the extracted folder….but it does not recognize anything.
Help would be greatly appreciated.
May 29th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
good
May 30th, 2007 at 3:51 am
Thank you Thank you Thank you!
Finally something that allows me to play more than one song at a time without having to restart my windows audio service.
Thank god for good Tech Support!
June 1st, 2007 at 8:40 am
Albert Ng said:
And it will prompt you to put in your driver CD. Tell it that you don’t have the CD and direct Windows to the third-party driver folder.
Well, my says ” Locate and instal software” but when I press that, it installs same SaundMax automaticaly.
June 1st, 2007 at 11:30 am
found a download free for sound drives –also free!!!!
http://drivers.softpedia.com/progFinder
June 6th, 2007 at 1:44 am
Thank You!! I have been bouncing between different drivers on asus site looking for missing files anyway this works great!
June 8th, 2007 at 11:50 am
hi folks, my problem is with sound driver but on XP. I have dual boot with Vista(shipped with notebook) and XP(got it from school which i registered online)…. Sound works perfectly with Vista..but doesnt work on XP….i have tried a lot…my notebook is Inspiron E1505 and sound card is SigmaTel® STAC9200..not a single driver on DELL site works for me…any body has solution??……thanks….
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:38 am
Spdif output isnt working with method 2 drivers.
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:29 am
Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! aipnoyakjko
July 11th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Hi, i have the asus P5N32-E SLI motherboard which uses the soundmax ADI 1988b chipset.
can anyone tell me does this 3rd party driver allow the sound card to be detected as a multi channel device for use with such programs as Traktor DJ, or surround sound gaming?
The current drivers im using form the asus site are 6.10.2.6110.
These driveers allow stereo playback via analog and digital out.. it also allows for digital out in 5.1 which works fine for dvd’s.
The only issue is that sound software detect the card as a stereo / 2channel device, instead of a multi channel device, do these drivers unlock the extra channels ?
Thanks.
July 12th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Thanks for this fix, worked great!
July 25th, 2007 at 12:08 am
FANTASTIC! I have been trying to solve this for weeks and was considering purchasing a new sound card or rolling back to XP. You guys are amazing!
August 17th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I HAVE A WINDOWS VISTA DELL C521 THE FIRST PRINTER WAS LEXMARK 510
AND THE SECND A X4270 ALL IN ONE BOTH WHER USB. THEY WOUD NOT AUTO CONFIG
WHEN I TRID TO INSTALL THE SOFTWARE ERRER CAME UP IT WOULD NOT WORK
I RAN A CHAK ON PRINTER ERROR WINDOWS CAN’T OPEN ADD PRINTER PRINT
SPOOLER SERVICE IS NOT RUNNING I RAN PRINT SPOOLER IT STILL DID NOT WORK
3 CABELS STILL DID NOT WORK
August 26th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Hi there egveryone. My name is Rick and i have found a way to correct the audio problem in windows vista that seems real easy and quick.
1. open sounds in control panel
2.make speakers the default item so it shows the green arroa check mark on the speakers is how i have my default
3. highlight the speakers and click on properties
4.click the enhancements tab
5. UNCHECK “VOICE CANCELLATION” !!!!! with this box checked, it emulates a karioke environment with low audio voice outputs
6. NOW DO THIS — put a CHECK IN the “EQALIZER” AND “LOUNDNESS EQUALIZATION” BOXES
7. i checked the ” IMMEDIATE MODE” box at the top of this enhancements tab page also.
8. UNCHECK “DISABLE ALL SOUND EFFECTS”
9. under the “advance tab” i selected “24bit, 192000 HZ ( studio quality) from the drop down box selections
10. CHECK both boxes in the EXCLUSIVE BOX
tHANK YOU ,, THIS FIXED MY VOICE IN ALL MY AREAS INCLUDING ZIDEO, DVD, COMCAST VIDEO FEEDS, AND ALL OTHER VOICE ISSUES THAT DID NOT PLAY!!!!
August 26th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
I began the process utilizing Method 2 to correct my Sound problems in windows vista. After I had deleted Soundmax completely (my error) I proceeded to delete the driver assigned to it. All of a sudden wahla the x was gone from the speaker system in the tray and the sound began to function…………..I don’t know!!!!!!!
September 4th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I am having the same issue as the rest of you but I have a Sigma Tel High Def Audio CODEC driver. Will this fix work for this. I am not a computer guru so don’t want to mess up my pc, it is only 3 weeks old. Can anyone help? Thanks
September 5th, 2007 at 2:03 am
Delph,
I have that same problem it will detect my 5.1 setup and the test works fine but Winamp and everything else plays 2 channels only. I’m using a P5B motherboard with the SoundMAX 6.10.2.6110 drivers. This is giving me the irits!
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:32 pm
I have the same issue as Natalie and just paid Gateway 63.50 to tell me they could not help me.!
October 18th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
i have finally found a sure fix for sound issues(at least it’s working for me!)
i have an asus p54p800 mobo with pentium d processor using windows vista ultimate.
i’ve been very annoyed with the sound issue BUT i can verify that it isn’t exactly a driver issue(of sorts)
it’s more of an OS issue. why? i have a very old-school pentium 4 1.6ghz using genuine intel mobo also with soundmax built-in sound card that is running vista ultimate without a hitch & i DO mean no problems whatsoever. so i checked both computers for what’s different in them & guess what? the only thing that my P4 doesn’t have on it’s auto run applications is the media center. so i disabled it on my asus pc using windows defender, rebooted my pc & viola! no more sound/video issues. if there is anything m$ should fix it’s their freaking media center! hope this helps!
December 22nd, 2007 at 2:34 pm
TwentyOne is RIGHT!!! All you have to do is uncheck ehtray.exe from your start up and NO PROBLEMS at all!!
iv got intel d85peso and i had all these sound problems when i paused a song or video, but this has solved it!
December 22nd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
ok i think the problem is back
the ehtray.exe fix didn’t solve it
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:47 am
I even tried this and the problem still is there: I downloaded the XP setup file for audio driver from the intel website (because my motherboard is intel d865PESO). I uninstalled the Sound driver in Device Manager. Restarted, then right clicked the setup file and changed its compability mode to Windows XP SP 2. I ran the install file, everything went ok, vista popped up window saying i want to install the driver even though it is not digitally signed, i clicked Install driver anyway. Everything installed, then restarted…and sound still cuts whenever i pause for over half a minute..
January 12th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Oh no! The third party drivers listed about worked for me before, and today i reinstalled windows and the link isn’t working! Is there anywhere else to download those drivers?
January 13th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
I’ve just reuploaded the files. You can download it now
January 17th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Wow. Great fix!
February 7th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Hello & Thanks
I’m using INTEL D865PERL mainboard with Windows Vista Ultimate. With the drivers v:3890 I managed to solve cut-off problem. But I lost my 5.1 support too. In the long term, lack of 5.1 is better than working with speaker settings or restarting services. Altough I’m waiting an ultimate solution
By the way, I haven’t tried winamp yet maybe it can support 5.1 (which I doubt because as far as I know it uses same driver codecs windows audio drivers.)I’ll keep you informed.
March 15th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Well as I’ve explained on http://vistarewired.com/2007/02/06/sound-cutting-off-problem
I have disabled the onboard AD1986 at the BIOS level and using a X-Fi based card and this still happens and my only remedy is full reboot. The disable/enable and other methods decribed have no affect.
Bloody Annoying !
March 21st, 2008 at 11:56 am
The “third party driver” is not available. Somebody please upload it or give another link?
March 25th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I’ve sent a message to the administrator for this site and I hope they can reconnect the link for the third-party driver.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Sorry every time I switch servers I always forget to put the files back in. They’re up again now
March 27th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Albert,
I just appreciate your help with my soundmax issue. Thanks for reposting the drive — I’ll test it tonight. I hope it fixes the issue.
Regards,
April 11th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
hi i’ve only had vista for a short time now and it said that my PCI Audio Accelerator wasn’t compatible. SOO, i went to the Realtek site and downloaded the driver. Now my sound works but barely anysound comes out if any (even at full volume) and sometimes it doesn’t work at all. I had no problems with XP adn it’s the 32bit version. (i’m not even sure what that means) but i NEED some serious help! i would really appreciate it…Thank you.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Oh! also, teh sound that comes out is set to backround/surround speakers and i don’t know how to change that! Thanks again.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
now i have no mic….. and thats what i thought this was for to fix my mic BUT NOW I DNT HAVE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 10th, 2008 at 12:07 am
MY REALTEK WENT AWAY!!!!!!!! WOW THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
June 10th, 2008 at 12:08 am
someone plz if u can tell me how to undo this!!!! i want everything back to normal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! plz!
June 10th, 2008 at 12:32 am
AND I NEED REALTEK !!! I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED ITNEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED ITNEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT NEED IT
August 16th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Hello ALBERT the admin!
I followed the method 2 but when I restarted my computer,it automatically searched and installed a new sound device for me which is the “High Definition Audio Device”. And it didn’t prompt me to put in a driver CD at all. Please help.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:08 am
i donot have any sound coming from my speckers at all it keeps on telling me there is no audio output device installed
August 27th, 2008 at 11:59 am
delph, did anyone ever get back to you about fixing your audio drivers so that Traktor recognizes your soundcard as having multichannel? I’m having the same problems. I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 with the most recent SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC installed and I can’t get Traktor to recognize the other channels. I can’t even adjust the volume of my other channels even though they technically exist and I have headphone jack outputs for all channels and they all work. Can anyone help with this?
September 12th, 2008 at 5:46 am
Hi there,
I used to have a headset plugged in, which i used for Skype and listening to music. Now I have a skype telephone which is plugged into a USB port and I dont need the headset anymore. I would like to listen to music via the speakers on my PC, but at the moment the music comes out of the Skype Phone!!!
What do I need to change in the settings, to make this work?
Bard (lrmvos@gmail.com)
September 12th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Bard Vos: Click on the speaker icon in the system tray and choose mixer. Then set your speakers as the default device.
If your media player was open before you set speakers to default, you will have to restart it. So it’s better to set default before opening your media player.