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Hardware Troubleshooting

Sound and Speaker Troubleshooting

Problem: No sound

Possible Solutions:

Check for power
See if the speakers are on (green light on speakers). If they're off, turn them on and try playing sounds. If the speakers don't turn on, check the power adapter. It should connect from the back of the speaker to the power outlet. If it's plugged into a surge protector, make sure the surge protector is on.


Check the physical volume control
Insert a CD and click play or find a long wav file (like the Microsoft Sound) to play. While this is playing turn the speaker volume (use the knob on the speaker itself) up and down to see if any sound comes out.


Check the software volume control
Look for a yellow speaker icon by the clock or another icon that represents a volume control. Make sure these are not set to mute and the volume slider bars are set to a reasonable level.


Check the cable connections
There should be a power adapter, a cable from speaker A to speaker B and a cable from speaker B to the plug on the back of the PC. This plug and its corresponding port are usually green. Make sure all cables are firmly seated--sometimes you have to unplug and then plug them back in. If there is no spot on the computer to plug in the speaker, there is probably no sound card on this computer. If you want a sound card, your department should purchase one.


What kind of sounds are you trying to play?
WAV, MIDI, CD, MP3? Try playing a different sound types. If only the CD doesn't play, check at least 2-3 different audio CDs. If none of them play, contact the Help Desk. Confirm first that other sounds (wav and midi) will play.


Check the sound card configuration
Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and choose Properties. Click on the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button. You should have something listed under Sound, video and game controllers like Ensoniq AudioPCI or Creative SoundBlaster, etc. If there is no listing, there is no sound card or computer does not recognize there is a sound card installed. If there is a listing but there`s a yellow exclamation point next to it, the computer recognizes there's a sound card installed but there is something wrong with the setup.