No Sound in ASUS G2S When Downgraded to XP

First of all, I'd like to apologize if somebody has already posted this problem before. I looked at the official G2S thread, but was intimidated after a few pages, so I tried all of the searches I could think of but didn't quite find the solution to my problem.

I've downgraded my ASUS G2S from Vista Home Premium to XP Pro. I've installed all of the proper drivers -- most of the ones on the Support CD worked with Windows XP, but a few were Vista only, so I found the XP-equivalent versions on the internet. Actually, the only thing I was unable to locate on either the disc or the internet was the driver for Bluetooth, which I found in the very spiffy G1S Driver Pack linked to elsewhere in this forum. Now everything claims to be installed properly, and the device manager no longer lists any unknown devices. However, I am getting no audio out of my speakers, regardless of which version of the official RealTek HD Audio Drivers I try (I've tried the exact version that came on the Support CD, the newest version available on the RealTek site, and the version included with the G1S package). I know the speakers themselves are good, because I was getting sound just fine in Vista, and indeed as a doublecheck I used the recovery CD to revert back to Vista just to make sure that they still worked (and they did). I'm out of ideas as to things to try, since Windows believes that the drivers are functioning properly, but I really don't want to have to use Vista just to get sound. Any help would be much appreciated, because while I could probably go a while without using sound, knowing that something isn't working is driving me insane.

 

I'm curious, what do you mean by "Downgraded from Vista to XP Pro"? Didn't you do a clean install of XP after formatting the partition? If not, that alone will cause you a large degree of problems.

As for the audio drivers and the problems you've been having. I've had no issue with the sound drivers, and I use the newest drivers from Realtek's website (as you have tried).

I would also suggest you don't use any drivers found on the support DVD. Use the base XP Driver Pack, and replace the drivers/applications with newer versions you find on the net. Just because some drivers worked on the support DVD doesn't mean they are compatible with XP. They could be causing some of your issues.

 

By "downgraded" I just meant that I went from a chronologically newer operating system to an older one. I did do a clean install after a full format. And all right, although the Support CD seemed like a good place to turn, not all of the installers obviously had an x86 XP folder in them. I'll try one more clean install, and this time I'll install the audio drivers second (just after the motherboard chipset). I'll post an update in a little while, although I'm going to try to find updates for all of the drivers first.

 

You might need to install the Microsoft UAA (Universal Audio Architecture) drivers before installing the HD Realtek audio drivers. See

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888111

 

Well, I tried another clean install and even after installing the RealTek drivers right after the Intel chipset ones, the audio appeared functional but didn't work. Just for kicks and doublechecks I turned the POST noise back on, and that came out just fine. After reading your post, chemistry, I located the kb888111.exe hotfix, uninstalled the RealTek drivers, installed that hotfix, and reinstalled the RealTek drivers, but to no effect. Then I reinstalled the hotfix afterward anyway, just in case, but no luck. I even dug up an old SP1 CD, slipstreamed the SATA drivers on it, and installed it. Now it's acting a little different, but not better. The RealTek installer skips to about halfway through and pops up with what I suspect is the kb888111.exe hotfix, which was never part of the install process before, and after it says it's all successfully installed and I restart the RealTek drivers and software do not appear on my system, regardless of how often I repeat this procedure. I haven't specifically tried installing the kb888111.exe hotfix myself, as I think the RealTek is doing that, but I can't get on the internet with it yet to redownload that as SP1 doesn't have the latest version of the MSI software to run the WiFi drivers installer. I'm really baffled by this problem, as it's happening on multiple clean installs of Windows XP but it can't be a software error since I can revert to Vista (or listen to the POST noise) to prove that the speakers still work. Thanks for all of the advice so far, though, as it's all been helpful although apparently not quite what was needed.

 

Well, another long day and dozens of various installations later, I fixed the problem, and mostly by accident. After much internet sleuthing, I found out that the RealTek HD Audio drivers do indeed contain the kb888111 hotfix, in three varieties: Win2K SP4, WinXP SP1, and WinXP SP2. After having upgraded to SP2 (which I had just been installing previously) and installing every Windows Update imaginable, I was still having no luck with the sound.

At one point, using WinRAR, I extracted just the kb888111SP2.exe from within the RealTek driver installer. I uninstalled the RealTek driver from within the Device Manager, then ran the Add New Hardware Wizard, which found the RealTek drivers again and installed those (with no luck). So I then uninstalled them again from the Device Manager and also uninstalled the software, which I'd forgotten about, from the Add/Remove Programs application. During the installation procedure for the kb888111SP2.exe program, the Found New Hardware Wizard popped up noticing a generic HD Audio Device. However, when Windows attempted to install the device, I heard the little pop of success. Now everything looks the same, but for reasons unknown it works this time.

Thanks for the help, everyone, and I'd just like to say how very relieved I am that this problem is finally fixed (feels like I spent all weekend flinging myself at a wall of rock, but I'm finally on top of it). Now I've just gotta figure out why the Bluetooth isn't working this time, and the remaining unknown device, and also why it seems unable to recover from being in standby (even if only being closed for a split second), but those are issues for another day, and I'm pretty sure they weren't issues in previous installations. Huzah..?

Edit: I'm only just now realizing that the version of the G2S offered by Best Buy is different from the G2S as seen everywhere else on the internet. It's possible that the sound issue is related to it being a G2S-X1, since it apparently has different hardware.