Re: No stereo sound

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Thanks for the three speedy responses. I am going to try Brian A.'s suggestions first, since they do not involve opening the case. Thanks if you all will stick with me while I try to sort this out.
Paul in San Francisco

Brian A. wrote:
"Paul MR" <mbm701@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:sMgmi.27850$C96.15340@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The bottom-line is that the desktop computer plays only the right stereo channel. No music comes through the left channel from any source: CD, DVD, wave file, the speaker test program, nothing. I inherited this unbranded machine from my brother and I know very little about computers, as you will be able to ascertain. If this is not the correct group, please forgive and point me in the right direction. My gut instinct says that it’s a hardware problem. I don’t know enough to even do much troubleshooting. Nonetheless, I have done the following (longish):

How many speakers do you have?
What's the Make/Model of the speakers?
What happens if you try other jacks? Some sound systems such as Creative 5.1 which I have do not get plugged into the same color coded jacks. Why? I don't know why, only Creative can answer why they wired their speakers to work that way. **Take Note: Never, I repeat, Never, unplug/plugin anything while the machine is running to avoid any damage to the machine or device w/the exception of a few devices such as USB.


Windows XP Home with service pack 2. There are enough jacks in back to plug in five speakers, but I use only the jacks for front left and right. I have tested the speakers, speaker wires, and plugs and they are all ok. But I suppose the left channel jack itself could be faulty. I have checked the volume controls through control panel and everywhere else I ran into one, and nothing is muted and all the sliders are centered. I looked at the Control Panel: Device Manager. The only thing with a yellow question mark is named “Promise SATA Console Processor Device”; I don’t know what that is or whether it is relevant. The D:\ drive is a DVD reader. The E:\ drive is a DVD writer. I was able to copy a CD which played properly on my other stereo system, so I conclude the D:\ and E:\ hardware are both ok and that burning the disc bypassed the problem somehow.

Did you run the tests in dxdiag for the sound? If not:
Click > Start, type in: dxdiag and press Enter or click Ok.
What version of DirectX do you have installed?
What is repoerted under each Sound/Music tab in the lower Notes pane?
Run the test under each Sound and Music tab.

The Promise SATA Console is not relevant unless it decided to play games with the audio.

The software programs that seem to do with sound are Microsoft Media Player, AvRack, Intervideo WinRip, WinDVD4 Player, WinDVD Creator, CD Burner XPPro 3, and IMGBurn. I have only slight ideas about what any of these programs do, and I suspect they duplicate many functions. They all seem to be working properly as far as I can tell. There is also something named Adaptec AVC-1200; I am not sure whether this is the metal box plugged into one of the USB ports or whether it is software. When I used it to convert a VHS tape to DVD, nothing from the left channel source came through and the right channel source played back in monaural sound through both speakers on the television.

The Adaptec AVC-1200 is a Video Capture device, you can get the User Guide here:
http://download.adaptec.com/pdfs/user_guides/AVC-1200_UG.pdf


As far as the hardware itself, I don’t know where to begin to troubleshoot. A major problem is that when I try to use help screens, things are identified by brand names or meaningless initials and I have no idea whether the thing is hardware or software or what it might do. I have never opened a computer case for fear of destroying something, but I’m willing to learn. Can anyone suggest the best way to proceed from here?

What shows as your Audio/Sound device in Device Manager > Sound, Video and Game Controllers?

Post back the results in a response in this thread.


Paul in San Francisco

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: No stereo sound
    ... No music comes through the left channel from any source: CD, DVD, wave file, the speaker test program, nothing. ... Some sound systems such as Creative 5.1 which I have do not get plugged into the same color coded jacks. ... only Creative can answer why they wired their speakers to work that way. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: OT - mostly - Computer sound question
    ... In the control panel there is a control marked "sound". ... Click on 'speakers' and then 'levels' then 'balance'. ... All that appears to do is change the volume of each channel, ... Tim Douglass ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic)
  • Re: ? for Will Brink about Dorian
    ... but the channel is still there. ... Paradigm makes packages with speakers well matched. ... You have a top of the line SUB... ... and good quality front speakers are better to reproduce the lower ...
    (misc.fitness.weights)
  • Re: No stereo sound First set of answers
    ... No music comes through the left channel from any source: CD, DVD, wave file, the speaker test program, nothing. ... I think this is not relevant because after noticing the problem, I plugged in two different sets of headphones with the same result: no sound from the left channel. ... only Creative can answer why they wired their speakers to work that way. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: ? for Will Brink about Dorian
    ... since the quality of right and left is better then the centre, ... but the channel is still there. ... Paradigm makes packages with speakers well matched. ... You have a top of the line SUB... ...
    (misc.fitness.weights)