No sound! Help

Greets.
I have a acer 2012 and i'm having a problem.
Sometimes when i start the pc, I have no sound at all... and only three sliders in the mixer: Wave out, cd and synth. Only with reboot the problem is solvable, but then again, after certain time it gives it again :/
I already tried all the sound drivers, directx, new windows... but same.
Has anyone had this problem? Is there any solution besides rma it?

 

You may want to try reloading the OS using the factory Recovery CD's. This way you will be able to figure out if it's a hardware or software problem. If it's hardware, you'd have to send it in for repair.

-Vb-

 

well, reinstalled all and everything the same...
i never saw a AC-97 codec chip messsed up, but there is a first time to everything.
now, i will rma it. don't know how they will manage to fix it, maybe a new motherboard.

 

I have the same issue with my 2012wlmi... what was the resolution to your missing sound issue?

 

Mine was RMA'd and they will change the motherboard,
but I really doubt that this problem will be solved.
I really think this is a "feature" (f*ckin feature) of the 2012.
My friends all have the same problem as well

 

thanks for the update.. plz keep me posted on the outcome.. if it does fix you issue I will send mine in for a service..

I've found the only way to fix the issue is to power off, remove the battery, then plug it back in and power up again. I'm using WinXP Pro with SP2. I did upgrade to the latest Realtek drivers yesterday (A3.66) so fingers crossed that might resolve it..

cheers,
GPL

 

I have exactly the same problem with my Aspire 2012, bought 4 1/2 months ago. It seems that sound drivers are not loading when the system boots up. Only way I can get the sound back is to shut down and power-on after couple of minutes (rebooting doesn't work most of the times). This is so frustrating that the problem comes up every other time I turn on the notebook.

Acer support told me it should be a software problem. I couldn't figure anything out. Until I came across this discussion, I thought I am the only one having this problem. Let's see whether motherboard replacement solves the problem. Keep us posted please.

 

Hi guys,

I have same problem too. Reinstalled WinXP first from recovery cd, then completely new install, doesnt help. Reflashed BIOS also doesnt help. Funny is that my friend have exactly same laptop without this issue. I must say though that it is something in Windoze because I have gentoo linux as second OS and there I never had it. [} ] So it will be probably winxp issue. I do not feel to downgrade to win2k at the moment but if anybody tried please let me know.

regards

frankie

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by frankie

 

Hi, i have the same sound problem on my acer aspire 2012WLCI: the sound doesn't work occasionally

i tried the following of wich nothing solved this problem:
- reinstalling windows xp pro sp1 with acer cd's
- reinstalling windows xp pro sp1 with other windows copy, and downloaded all the drivers from acers website
- reinstalling windows xp pro sp1 with other windows copy again
- installed service pack 2
- reinstalled the acer audio drivers again several times

So i brought my laptop to the store, where they installed other drivers, from realteks site. These drivers are newer (wdm_a366.exe) they gave me the link too: (they don't solve the problem though)

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dlac97-2.aspx?lineid=5&famid=12&series=8&Software=True

but the problem still exists.

The problem seems to occure more (or only) when i shutdown and connect or disconnect the laptop to a power socket and then start the computer, so it could be something with the powermanagement? It is just a theory, but my only alternative untill now is that the problem occures completely random.

regards, wout

N.B. I can have the sound work again by shutting the computer down (not just reboot) and turning it on again.

 

rjtd, let us know what happened to the notebook you sent to Acer. Did they resolve the sound problem ?

It seems this is a common problem with Aspire 2012. Acer might already know about it. I would RMA it, if I'm confident they can give a solution.

If anyone managed to solve this problem, please let us know. As you can understand, this is a very annoying issue.

 

Still having the same issue here with my Aspire 2012WLMi. New drivers.. every often it will boo with no sound, turn off, remove the battery, restart, all good!

Called Acer support in Australia and the guy didnt know of the fault, but was happy to RMA it for me. I'll do this after xmas and let everyone know the outcome..

cheers,
GPL

 

Just (2 days ago) got a new Acer laptop and have sound problems. However here's something to try. If laptop boots up with no sound, and then i play a DVD or Audio CD *with PowerDVD* the sound works, and from then onwards all sound works as normal until next reboot. Try it ...

 

Greets,
I have some news for you.
The new motherboard as come, so as the laptop.
And guess what: two months without the laptop and IT CAME with the same problem!!!

 

Just tried something else and it works!
Power on - no sound.
Press Function F8 twice (in other words turn sound off and then back on.)
Sound now works - or at least it does for me. Must be worth a try.
Best of luck

 

Greets.
As someone said, it appear that the problem shows up when we unplug or transport the laptop. And if you notice, when the card cames up in that "zombie mode", there is some noise in the right speaker.
The only solution I had was to disable the AC97 card in device manager, and enable it again (everytime the pc is messed up).
But just like the previous post, it is just a workaround.
I would like to have a definitive solution, but i am almost giving up. I really think that this (and the hang-on-standby-return) is a 2012 design flaw and that it will be very difficult for ACER to make a new motherboard error free, just to people that have problems.

PS: my experience has shown me that almost all the 2012 have the same problem. Some users don't notice it because they don't use the sound, because they think it is normal or because they don't care. But when I told them I got that problem (and that it is a problem), some of them start to came up and now they don't say "Mine does not have that problem at all" like before. They say "how can I RMA it".

 

Hey did any of you guys try installing MICROSOFT's win xp pro disc?
If not i will try sometime this week maybe.

Just wondering.

 

I already tried it, but the problem persists

 

Hey guys i think during my spring break i will send my computer to Acer America so that they can look at my system with all the info i could find on this problem including some from this thread. I need to prove to them that the Aspire 2012 is a ****ty notebook so that they might replace mine. I just don't think it's right of Acer to retail this notebook for a month and then discontinue it and have us end up with this stupid system that we payed for and that won't even work right. When car manufacturers notice a strong design flaw they recall they're products. I think Acer should be held just as responsible and should be reminded that they should test their products more thoroughly before retailling them. Please if you all have enough time try being just as annoying with Acer as I have been on this issue as it may help our cause. Even with the original Acer software this thing won't work normaly. Anyway, I will keep y'all posted on what happens.

 

Hi - I'm new to this sight and was searching for information regarding sound loss on reboot of my laptop. I have a Toshiba Satellite A70 with Realtek AC97 sound card and I am also having the same problem. It usually occurs when I take my laptop from work to home and start it back up. I've been over it with Toshiba and read most of the articles I could find on the web. If I find anything helpful I will post it here.

 

Hello...
It could be a driver issue. This doesn't seem to happen when I use Linux, but I'll pay more attention from now on.

Regards,
Alz

 

Try to update your audio driver: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dlac97-2.aspx?lineid=5&famid=12&series=8&Software=True

After I did, it seemed to completely resolve the problem...

Regards,
Alz

 

Tried updated driver when I did a complete system recovery this weekend - no better - still cuts out

 

Well, the OTHER thing I did recently was to uninstall Acer's Launch Manager: http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10265

Looks like its a culprit for a lot of trouble in this brand.

Regards,
Alz

 

Hey Alz,

I uninstaled the launch manager once and I still had the problem.
I was just woundering if this problem has occured to you since you've uninstalled the Launch manager.

Tony

 

Hi Tony,

I was wrong, the audio problem still persists. It happens in a less regular basis than it usually did, though... Maybe (guessing again) it has something to do with the application launch order. It feels a little bit like something didn't trigger at the right time, and that problem of mine (and some other people) with Launch Manager was just aggravating this.

BTW: Uninstalling Acer's Launch Manager was the best thing I did this year. [ ] A friend of mine has downloaded a newer version of it 1.09, I dunno if he's having any trouble with it though...

Regards,
Alz

 

I have contacted acer twice about this problem with their "support request" and i never even got an reply... and i even have the acer advantage warranty.

the computer shop where i got my laptop from could not fix the problem, so they wanted to sent it to acer. But i cannot miss my laptop for such a long time (i need it for school) and after reading this topic i doubt acer can fix the problem.

I don't think this adds much to this topic but i am not happy with acers service. Does anyone know how i could contact them?

EDIT: I have called to acer after posting this message, and they told me they never heard of the problem before. I was adviced to update drivers etc. wich i already had and to update the bios flash. I'm never very happy to mess with the bios, but im going to try it out, i'll keep you informed.

 

Sup Wout,

Hey I find Acer is not living up to their warranty at all but I will mail them my lappy over spring break with this thread printed in the box. Too bad we can't just all do a conference call and harrasse their technical support. They are lying to you on the phone woot as i already sent my computer to get looked at once but they did nothing. I have called them ALOT since and got a few e-mails back from them and they said I should ship my lappy back again to get looked at.Seriously if any of you guys want to try and get on Acer's case please post on this thread. I serously hate their technical support plus they all act like assholes. One of them kept on swearing to me that me battery wwas messed so he sent me a new battery and I still have the same problem. Tehy all act like really cocky sons of *****es when they don't know **** and that pisses me off. I miss my old personalised desktop[ ].
And i'm sorry to say this but I could almost swear that your bios flashing won't change anything Wout. Good luck anyway.

Oh it felt good to unload on them here hehe[ ]

Sincerly,

Tony[} ]

 

The support service in Singapore seems better.. anyway.. updating the drivers is the most logical way, or you might try to contact acer again.

Calvin
Acer TM 3201XCi

 

But updating the drivers doesn't change anything.
Launch manager 1.09 doesn't fix the problem.

 

ok, it seemed that i already had the newest bios flash... so drivers all up to date, bios flash up to date, windows reinstalled several times with all kinda service packs imaginable. Im going to call them again soon, they'll probably want me to sent it to them, but i cant miss my laptop and i doubt they can fix it.

 

Acer's warranty should cover any hardware defects and therefore I think they should almost have a recall on all these 2012 notebooks.

If they can't fix mine I will seriously try to be a pain in their butt just to get a replacement of somekind.

 

Hi ,
I have a problem with the sound card of my acer aspire 2023 wlmi, the sound is cracking , before this thing happen i got some error message like boot failure system [} ] and a blue screnn with unkown caracters like those for programming software .....
My computer slow down, when i play a media and open a word file the sound craking increases a lot... i cant no more hear music when working ! [V]
I scanned my computer with scandisk , norton disk doctor ... nothing abnormal all the disks are OK!!!
I scanned for virus , nothing !
someting else to do ?

 

Salut!

I don't know whether the problem you are having is similar to the one we've been having with our 2012 notebooks. Has your computer just started doing this?
I know I get strange noises out of my right speaker when playing any kind of sound but I don't think it is as bad as your problem.

Anyway, none of us have found a solution to our problem so I seriously doubt that we can help. Your best chance of fixing this problem is to see what Acer or your vendor can do to fix it.

Bonne chance,

Tony

 

Salut

It is a new problem, my notebook worked normally [8D]for 6 months and now ! it begins to [B)]....

I will check with the acer service .....

 

Okay, i called acer again, and i agreed to have them to take my laptop tomorrow... i seriously hope they can fix it but i have my doubts after reading this topic. I will see... and i'll reply back here when they have returned it... they say it takes about 5 to 7 workdays.

 

HI
It is getting worst, my hard drive is not detected at start up , and sometimes it detect but until now i can't access my hard drive

a +

 

I think you have an entirely other problem (no offense)

Have you tried reinstalling windows? Or you could always contact acer. If your hard disk is broke they are the only ones who can help you... except for buying a new harddisk yourself offcourse.

and do you think the cracking sound and the hard disk failure have something to do with it?

good luck anyway

wout

p.s. i dont have my laptop back from rma, but 5 workdays aren't over yet.

 

Hi , may be you are right the problem came from the hdd
I reinstalled windows ... i have NO MORE cracking with my sound card, but the system shutdown ,and before it shuts i had a bluescreen with "hard error unknow" [ )] and then i have to reboot my computer or to disconnect it from the ac adaptator ....and when i reboot no hard drive......
I shake my laptop in the air (yeah my laptop need some dance party [ ])
often this manipulation enable the laptop to redetect the hdd but sometimes it doesnt work...
Acer prepare yourself my notebook is comming [ !]

 

Wout did you get your system back yet?

 

no i had the chance to access my hard drive and then i put the acer recovery cd (i lost all the data).Before i didnt have access to my hard drive even with the recovery cd .
I still have an unknow error that's shut down my computer !

 

okay, i got my laptop back today so far for the happy part... because the sound still has the same problems

i guessed i tried everything... reinstalling everything lots of times, the computer shop couldnt fix it and even acer itself couldnt fix the problem.

Maybe im going to call them tomorrow and ask what they have to say about it

 

Sorry to hear that.
Welcome to the club. What a large club it is

 

i called them and they asked me when they could pick up my laptop again :/

but i refused because i need it for school now

 

Hello i sent my notebook , they told me that it will take 3 weeks to repair it ! now i have only to get some holidays at work [8D]

 

Hi everybody

I'm french and i have a Aspire 2026WLMi. This notebook is great but i also have the same sound problem, sometimes.
I notice something you never wrote:

- Before reinstalling Windows XP SP2 (Recovery CD), when the sound was not working, i have the firewall not working too (with the info in taskbar from security center SP2). And no way to start it.
- Now new installation (always with Recovery CD), when i have no sound the usb are not working. Flash disk plugged but not detected.

I search in the services launched :
- Audio Service need Plug and Play Service. The Usb also need plug an play. I think there is a service problem or a electric (i mean hardware) problem.

If this sound works always the aspire series is a great choice ... [ ]

Sorry for my english
Hope acer solve this quickly [ ]

 

New AC97 Drivers out.. v3.70.. everyone install and report back...

http://www.station-drivers.com/page/realtek.htm

 

I have the same problem. I have noticed a few things.

1. The problem seems to occur mostly when I boot the computer only from battery power

2. The sound has at least in the last 10 reboots has worked when starting with the AC adapter plugged in.

I think that the problem has something to do with Windows and not the sound drivers per se. There is something with the power management software that is interfering with the sound.

It also may have to do with the order in which system resources are loaded.

Anyone with any ideas on how to see what drivers are loaded under battery power and then under ac power.

 

Hi, personally I have no issues with sound and my laptop, one things for sure though, I don't think that there will be different drivers loaded when you are using battery power.....
ChrisC

 

It is not that I think that different drivers are loaded with battery boot-up versus ac boot-up it is I believe an interaction between the power management program in windows xp and the sound drivers that creates the problem.