no audio on Thinkpad

[Brian J]

Hi.

I have an IBM Thinkpad R30, probably 3-4 years old, 312 MB RAM, 900mhz Celeron processor. A few days ago my keyboard wasn't responding after I woke it from sleep mode, so I rebooted. It came up, but now I can't get any audio at all. I tried troubleshooting it through the Win98 guide, but after I selected my problem it wouldn't go any further (this, I discovered, happens any time I try to use any of the help's troubleshooters. I tried fidgeting with the Windows volume control, but that doesn't come up either (the on-screen IBM volume control does come up). I installed the newest audio driver, but still nothing. RealPlayer thinks I've got another program using the sound drivers, but I shut everything down and still it doesn't work. The PC Doctor program that came bundled with the laptop says I don't have a sound card installed when clearly I did. Nothing I've done works and I'm pretty much tapped for ideas.

Much thanks for any thoughts.

[Nick Grana]

RealPlayer thinks I've got another program using the sound drivers, but I shut everything down and still it doesn't work.
That sounds (??) like the butt of the problem. RP or something is holding the audio active for another application and normally most PC's can't run 2 audio's at one time.
Have you checked Device Manager for the audio components (sound, video, game components) to make sure they say 'this device is working properly'.
I installed the newest audio driver, but still nothing.
Sometimes the newest is not the best depending on the age of your system and what changes have been made through the years. Actually I've seen converting back to older drivers sometimes work out the bugs.

Check msconfig/startup programs for any audio starts there. Also run through system.ini and win.ini for any lines that may activate the audio routines and rem those/that line out.
but I shut everything down and still it doesn't work.
Did you use msconfig selective startup and uncheck load startup group items?
After you reboot that, cntrl/alt/del just to make sure nothing else is running except explorer (and systray if you like, but not necessary)
Check back.:wave:

[Miz]

Modems and sound cards can create the conflict you're expriencing since each has drivers dealing with sound.

To check the easiest thing first, look in Control Panel>Multimedia>Audio tab and make sure the sound card is selected as the default device in all three fields.