Legacy sound cards had well documented
interrupt conflicts with other devices, typically peripheral devices.
Hardware errors can be caused by a physically damaged sound card and
improperly set jumpers. Today, most sound cards are Plug and Play (PnP). Installation includes inserting the sound card into the
appropriate expansion slot, booting the computer, and loading the
driver. Check the manufacturer website for recent driver updates. If
the problem is widespread, the manufacturer probably has released an
updated driver that will fix the problem. Figure
shows a screen shot of the Volume Controls. Notice the Mute All and
Balance controls.
If an end user is experiencing sound card problems, start outside the computer case and then move inside the computer case. First, check the obvious. Verify that the speakers are turned on and attached to the correct speaker port. A common error is plugging the speaker jack into the microphone port. The microphone jack is used for recording sound. If the problem is related to balancing the sound output, this can easily be corrected. From Windows, access the volume controls by double clicking the speaker icon on the toolbar or by navigating to the Start menu and choose Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Volume Control. Verify the balance is correct and that settings are not muted. Intermittent problems or "dead" sound cards usually indicate symptoms of resource conflicts. If the sound card is in conflict with another device, it might operate sporadically. For example, if the sound card does not work when a document is printed, this might indicate that resources are conflicting. They might have been configured to use the same IRQ channel. To troubleshoot these conflicts, the first step is to verify hardware and software configurations. The majority of these problems will include uninstalled/ outdated drivers, and resource conflicts. Software diagnostic tools can help reveal interrupt conflicts. Most diagnostic tools will include some sort of diagnostic testing for the sound card. Running these tests will help gain information on the computer multimedia performance. The Windows OS has management features to diagnose the problem.
In Windows 98/2000 right-click on the My Computer desktop
icon and then select the Properties option. The System
Properties dialog box should appear. Press the Hardware
tab and then select the Device Manager button. The Device
Manager will open. Select the "Sound, video and game
controller list." If the system detects a conflict, it will
place a yellow exclamation point next to the device.
A yellow exclamation mark next to a device indicates that there
is an error. Right-click on the device to view which resources the
device is using and the conflicting device. To access the Resource
Manger, right-click on the device, select Properties, then
select the Resources tab. This will display information
concerning any conflicting devices with the device.
Also check the Control Panel Device Manager to see that the
correct audio driver is installed, and that the settings match
those recommended by the sound card manufacturer. If the drivers
are missing or wrong, add them to the system through the Control
Panel Add/Remove Hardware wizard.
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