Rampage IV Extreme - Audio not working

[slimpickins28]

I normally never have to post, as I try many things on my own first. Here is the breakdown of my new sys...
3930
32gig ram
11 HDs
win 8 pro
blah blah blah...
haf 932 case


New / fresh installation. Installed the newest Realtek driver from asus website. Bios settings are audio enable, '97 front panel (it is) and digital out as HDMI. I can't get ANY sound out of speakers. Have two sets, one in front audio plug (green) and other as center set (orange/yellow) plug. They are working fine..plugged into phone and when compute restarts, they click (that ground click when power is cycled....)

I've read other forums about people's having issues with static and stuff and having to RMA their board, however I don't get any of that. I really think its a driver issue. I have tried the only other driver listed on asus website as well...no joy.

Under Realek HD manager in control panel, the proper speakers are selected, and checked. HOWEVER, this is where something doesn't seem right. On the picture the front panel plugs show up bright...but the Analog "back panel" shows up as dimmed. I think that may be why its not playing any sound....but not sure how to change it.

Under Sound in control panel, the speakers are checked as default device, showing as (Speakers,Realtek High Definition Audio, Default Device).

Just wanted some guidance on what to try.

Steps I've done:
updated bios
played with bios settings
updated driver
uninstalled / reinstalled driver


Thanks ahead of time guys and gals!

[pbxcomm]

Hello all,
Has anyone found a solution to this sound card/RIVE issue? I have a Creative ZXR and still getting "hiss" when I power up my RIVE.. I know its not a sound card issue because the card works fine in my TYAN board..
The "hiss" starts immediately after pressing the power button. By the way, I've spent weeks on this changing slots with my sound card, BIOS settings, I even bought 2 new BIOS chips.. I've ruled out a PS (PC Power & Cooling/Turbo-Cool 860). I plugged in my configuration, according to ASUS the minimum PS should be 800 watts.

So, I've replaced my CPU with a new 4820K and replaced the memory with G-SKILL (from Corsair Vengeance), same issue maybe worse.. Now, I have a small fortune in this rig and its useless without multimedia.

My best guess, Capacitor issue(s) or lack of Capacitor quality.

I'm getting a little annoyed with this...

I'm thinking of investing in another brand of MOBO..

[darkage]

+1 HERE
only hdmi áudio, havent send to rma because will take ages (store in another part of the country,etc) as asus here does not want to make a direct rma, dont know why

[pbxcomm]

Hello all..

Try resetting the BIOS to factory defaults, reboot, that may bring your onboard sound back.

I've read this post and have some input as to the sound issue... I have a Creative ZXR installed in the 1X PCIE slot (it will not matter which slot the card is installed, as I'll explain further). By default (that is all default BIOS settings) the card woks flawlessly, both soft boot and hard boot. When I began overclocking the RIVE that's when I started experiencing similar issues as described in prior posts. The Card sends out a "hiss" to my monitors with no sound or playback device in Windows, regardless which slot the card is installed in. The more aggressive the overclocking the more sound card issues. At times, I can soft boot and work around this, but this is unacceptable to me.. Now, if I reduce both boot-up voltages to Auto, this definitively improves sound card stability along with looser or less aggressive DRAM timings. Unfortunately, we may all find that in order to keep our sound cards functional and stable, we may need to use less aggressive overclocking. This is frustrating to me because I may never hit the sweet spots of this board as long as I have a sound card installed. Another hindrance...

Best regards.

[pbxcomm]

All,

BTW, if you set the BIOS back to default to attempt to restore sound, shut the power down at the power supply and I also unplug for at least 5 Min. (10 min. ideally) before powering back up. That may restore your sound device.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

It's the replacement board....sound died on last one and has died on this one....I am checking my PSU out just in case but as you see I am not the only one ..OCing kills the realtek chip somehow....I can only think there is a way for current to leak to it...

[FireRx]

hmmm, not good, okay thanks for the heads up, I think I have an Sound card around here somewhere. :cool:

[pbxcomm]

All,
Reference my posts 69 & 70, you may want to try a reset on the board and shutdown to test whether the board is at fault or the soundcard/Chip is actually defective. I recall in the PCI days extending the frequency (if I recall) past 128 (I think the setting was hexidecimal) would certainly take out any card associated to that slot. I assume and I am really not that educated on the PCIE slot dynamics that a simular issue exsists. Fortunatley, the new cards/chips are somewhat more resiliant but its a matter of time before these fail due to overclocking.

Can someone elaborate on exactly how overclocking directly affects the PCIE slots? BTW, I've changed the PCIE Skew to -62 that seemed to decrease sound card lockups.

Are there additional settings/changes we should be looking at to save our sound cards and chips?

[Arne_Saknussemm]

FireRx wrote:
I think I have an Sound card around here somewhere. :cool:

I have one too...and get much better sound from it...in fact the onboard sound was disabled in BIOS from day one...it's only when I started having problems that I turned it on to symptom check and found it was dead.

pbxcomm...a good factory reset by leaving the board unpowered amnd the battery out is always a good idea and the first thing I did...no joy. And this is the onboard sound not a discrete soundcard. Never had a problem with the soundcard at normal OC like 4.6GHz but then I OC with the multi not BCLK really. If you start using straps and BCLK away from 100 or 125 then you are changing the frequency of all the busses...RAM PCIe...that's when stuff plugged in the slots starts acting up ...soundcards...wifi/network cards....

[nleksan]

There are almost zero sound cards/chips/etc for PC that WON'T have a "pop" when either powered up prior to turning on an external receiver/DAC/AMP/headphones, simply because they aren't setup with any way to block what is essentially "voltage bounce-back" (rough few weeks, brain is running on fumes, no technical terms from me today).
I get it with my TiHD, HT Omega Claro Halo XT, and various Professional (audio engineer use) cards; it is not something that is damaging, even though it doesn't sound like it is particularly a good thing.


Ironically, my onboard is working without a problem, but as if I didn't have enough stress, the only two problems I've ever had with the computer built around this motherboard have appeared, concurrently....

Problem 1) I am unable to, in any way, install the complete drivers for my Ti HD. I have spent literally ~2-3hrs at a time, at least 6 times, attempting to get it all working right in myriad ways using every possible workaround I can find, but while I still get sound from it (and it DOES appear in Device Mgr as "X-Fi..."), it is not recognized by a single Creative program aka the programs necessary to fully utilize the features of the card. The only thing I haven't done is a FULL re-format because I simply don't have the time right now, although others have said it hasn't made a difference (and yes, I've got driver signing off; no dice...)

Problem 2) All back USB2.0 ports for some reason randomly semi-disconnect any mouse I connect to them. I did the Windows7forum "USB Repair" method, and it's been a bit better in that now it's only freezing 1-3x a day instead of LITERALLY 5 to 25 times a day. The weird thing is that the mice still have power, windows doesn't notice them as disconnected, but they don't response to any input. The only thing that fixes it temporarily is to unplug and replug the USB connector. This is with everything from a RAT3 to MS intellimouse 3.0 to multiple random Dell/HP laser/optical/ball mice to my never-had-one-problem-in-a-lifetime-of-constant-use MX510 that I have been using nonstop since '04...


I am pulling at my hair with all this, and normally I would not be so frustrated but the loss of a loved one, compounded by a number of significant other stressors, has me ready to challenge this freaking thing to a no-holds-barred bout of fisticuffs!

[pbxcomm]

Arne Saknussemm :

"If you start using straps and BCLK away from 100 or 125 then you are changing the frequency of all the busses...RAM PCIe...that's when stuff plugged in the slots starts acting up ...soundcards...wifi/network cards...."

I think he nailed this.. I'm going on may second Creative ZXR. Changing BCLK away from 100,, I believe is the cause and affect.. It appears no other BIOS setting has a more profound affect on damaging PCIE Sound Cards. I've read many other posts out there and it seems to be a common thread. As a matter of fact, I OC now without changing BCLK and/or strap and as a result I have no more sound anomalies. The card still needs to be replaced, but at least now I can OC with full use of my ZXR. So, bottom line, the replacement card will be installed with no strap or BCLK change(s) going forward...