Sound card drivers cause freeze

[rof3]

I just got a Chaintech AV-512 sound card. When I try and install the drivers on the CD, rundll32 starts using 95+ CPU cycles and my mouse freezes. When I try and install the latest CMI8738 ones off the web site, my CPU load stays normal but the mouse still freezes. In both cases, the driver installation finishes copying files but gets stuck on the "waiting for audio driver to become available" step. Do I need to uninstall my nVidia drivers for my onboard AC'97 sound to install these drivers? Or is the problem something else? Thanks.

 

[ohnnyj]

Did you try disabling onboard audio?

 

[rof3]

I hadn't, but now I have and get the same problem. I changed AC'97 from Auto to Disabled in the Integrated Peripherals menu in my BIOS, that's all I have to do to disable it right?

 

[ohnnyj]

You could try uninstalling the nVidia drivers as you have pointed out. I recommend Driver Cleaner to do this. First reenable the onboard audio then:

1. Uninstall the drivers from the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs applet.
2. Restart in Safe Mode, run DC and select the nVidia audio drivers.
3. Run DC to clean the files, wait until it says it is done cleaning then close and restart.
4. Disable any virus, spyware, etc. scanners.
5. Unplug yourself from the Internet (maybe not necessary but doesn't hurt).
6. Install the latest drivers for the audio card.
7. Reboot.

Hope this helps.

 

[rof3]

I sort of did that stuff already, not in that order...but the nVidia drivers are gone. I'm still getting the problem, so I looked at Device Manager and I have "Legacy Audio Drivers" in there. Do they need to go too? If so, how do I get rid of them? Thanks.

 

[ohnnyj]

Right-click->Uninstall?

 

[rof3]

That option isn't there - when I right click it's just "Update Driver" | "Scan for hardware change" | "Properties"

I tried the Scan for hardware change option and it took me through the driver installation again, but still froze.

In my Add/Remove Programs, PCI Audio Driver is there, but when I go Control Panel->Sound it tells me that no device is available, perhaps because the driver never finished installing? Every time I have tried this I uninstalled that before tring to reinstall it by the way.

 

[ohnnyj]

Have you tried a different PCI slot?

 

[rof3]

Nope...I figured the physical installation was OK because when I boot Windows it tells me it has detected new hardware, and if I click Next enough, tries to install the driver (which freezes at the same bit). Given that, do you think the PCI slot could be the problem?

 

[montag451]

Disable the onboard sound in the BIOS.
Then when you reboot, delete the drivers.
shut down
put new soundcard in,
Reboot
install drivers.

Having 2 sets of drivers for some devices can cause havoc

 

[ohnnyj]

Originally posted by: rof3
Nope...I figured the physical installation was OK because when I boot Windows it tells me it has detected new hardware, and if I click Next enough, tries to install the driver (which freezes at the same bit). Given that, do you think the PCI slot could be the problem?

Wouldn't hurt to try. And you could also look to see if there are any issues with this card and SP2. Perhaps you need to disable the firewall during installation.

 

[rof3]

OK, tried all that...removed sound card, disabled onboard AC'97, removed nVidia drivers, put card back in (in a different PCI slot), tried drivers, still didn't work. I appreciate the help but I'm almost at the end of my rope with this card.

Can anyone reccomend a cheap 5.1 sound card that doesn't have a CMI8738 chip?