Fix for lost audio after Windows Update: C-media AC97 vs Realtek A

Hi,

I did a Windows Update (ie. WU) on a PC today and it hosed the audio.
Actually, I tried this back in December of 2005, it hosed the audio, and I
just did a “Rollback� on the “C-Media AC97� driver. Today I decided to see if
I could get to the bottom of this.

Asin December, today WU detected the sound card as a “C-Media AC97� and
suggested that an updated driver was available. After the update and the
suggested reboot the audio was gone.

I researched this and apparently WU is incorrectly detecting this particular
chipset as “C-Media AC97�. In reality, the chipset is “Realtek AC97�. For a
discussion of this problem and resolution please see
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1057893747 .

In short, the discussion’s fix is to do a Restore Point first uninstall
the C-Media AC97 driver via Device Manager, do not reboot, then immediately
install the correct driver set (ie. WDU_A390.zip or exe) from
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&Software=True ,
then reboot as suggested.

My personal additions to the “fix� a
1) before doing anything, do a Restore Point.
2) After installing WDU_A390 and rebooting, you will need to manually remove
a couple of the old C-media tombstones, as follows:
a. Delete "Cmaudio"="RunDll32 cmicnfg.cpl,CMICtrlWnd" from the Run key.
b. Search for cmicnfg.cpl and delete it as well.
c. Restart again

I think we can safely say, that if you lose sound after allowing WU’s
C-Media driver to be installed, the audio chipset has been incorrectly
detected as a C-Media at some time in the past. I noticed that after doing
the “fix�, the device manager correctly shows the sound device as “Realtek
AC97� (not C-Media AC97 as before).

For what that’s worth. . .

Regards,
Brcobrem

Never use winupdate for hw drivers

"Brcobrem" wrote in message
news
Hi,

I did a Windows Update (ie. WU) on a PC today and it hosed the audio.
Actually, I tried this back in December of 2005, it hosed the audio, and I
just did a "Rollback" on the "C-Media AC97" driver. Today I decided to see
if
I could get to the bottom of this.

Asin December, today WU detected the sound card as a "C-Media AC97" and
suggested that an updated driver was available. After the update and the
suggested reboot the audio was gone.

I researched this and apparently WU is incorrectly detecting this
particular
chipset as "C-Media AC97". In reality, the chipset is "Realtek AC97". For
a
discussion of this problem and resolution please see
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1057893747 .

In short, the discussion's fix is to do a Restore Point first uninstall
the C-Media AC97 driver via Device Manager, do not reboot, then
immediately
install the correct driver set (ie. WDU_A390.zip or exe) from
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&Software=True ,
then reboot as suggested.

My personal additions to the "fix" a
1) before doing anything, do a Restore Point.
2) After installing WDU_A390 and rebooting, you will need to manually
remove
a couple of the old C-media tombstones, as follows:
a. Delete "Cmaudio"="RunDll32 cmicnfg.cpl,CMICtrlWnd" from the Run key.
b. Search for cmicnfg.cpl and delete it as well.
c. Restart again

I think we can safely say, that if you lose sound after allowing WU's
C-Media driver to be installed, the audio chipset has been incorrectly
detected as a C-Media at some time in the past. I noticed that after doing
the "fix", the device manager correctly shows the sound device as "Realtek
AC97" (not C-Media AC97 as before).

For what that's worth. . .

Regards,
Brcobrem

Hi DL,

Sorry for the delayed response.

With regard to drivers, I hear you on that. I had it toast a LaserJet
installation once last year.

Perhaps the "best practice" would be to make your own Restore Point, prior
to attempting a driver update.

Regards,
Brcobrem

"Brcobrem" wrote:

Hi,

I did a Windows Update (ie. WU) on a PC today and it hosed the audio.
Actually, I tried this back in December of 2005, it hosed the audio, and I
just did a “Rollback� on the “C-Media AC97� driver. Today I decided to see if
I could get to the bottom of this.

Asin December, today WU detected the sound card as a “C-Media AC97� and
suggested that an updated driver was available. After the update and the
suggested reboot the audio was gone.

I researched this and apparently WU is incorrectly detecting this particular
chipset as “C-Media AC97�. In reality, the chipset is “Realtek AC97�. For a
discussion of this problem and resolution please see
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1057893747 .

In short, the discussion’s fix is to do a Restore Point first uninstall
the C-Media AC97 driver via Device Manager, do not reboot, then immediately
install the correct driver set (ie. WDU_A390.zip or exe) from
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&Software=True ,
then reboot as suggested.

My personal additions to the “fix� a
1) before doing anything, do a Restore Point.
2) After installing WDU_A390 and rebooting, you will need to manually remove
a couple of the old C-media tombstones, as follows:
a. Delete "Cmaudio"="RunDll32 cmicnfg.cpl,CMICtrlWnd" from the Run key.
b. Search for cmicnfg.cpl and delete it as well.
c. Restart again

I think we can safely say, that if you lose sound after allowing WU’s
C-Media driver to be installed, the audio chipset has been incorrectly
detected as a C-Media at some time in the past. I noticed that after doing
the “fix�, the device manager correctly shows the sound device as “Realtek
AC97� (not C-Media AC97 as before).

For what that’s worth. . .

Regards,
Brcobrem