OK this is making me crazy!!!!

[Liz81]

I severely need help badly. I have been trying to get some sound out of my headphone for two weeks from MMJB and the Internet and have not been able to get a solution. I have been trying to get my volume icon back on my taskbar for two weeks with no luck at all. Someone told me in pm to use the Last Known Good Configuration and I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not so I asked a forum at Dell.com and someone said that it may notbe appropriate. And not willing to wait for his answer, I went ahead and uninstalled WMP thinking that may be the problem. Only that was a mistake. I cannot get a sound out of WMPnow. I can only get a sound out of Realplayer only if I answer yes when I get a message that said, "Some portions of this file cannot be played. Would you like to check to see if there is an update available for this file?" I have a lot of files on my computer I am trying to play. I have to answer "yes" to get the video and audio going. If I click no, then I get the video but no audio. The WMP gives me a video but no audio at all. I didn't have to answer any questions before opening a video file at all before and this answering the question started before uninstalling then reinstalling WMP 10.0. I tried 9.0 but same problem occured.

It is not a device problem or a driver problem. It's a problem with WMP as I think it is and I don't know how to fix this. I don't know what to do to get my audio back and so I don't have to answer questions before opening a video file. I don't know what codec to use to get the audio back on WMP. Realplayer will not work without WMP so I had to reinstall it. At first I get this error message that said about a framedyn.dll missing so I had to copy and paste it to the system32 folder for the error message to stop showing up. Now I have no audios.

I have no audios from WMP, just the video. I have no audio from MMJB or the Internet, not even Flash movies. My flashplayer is updated to version 8. Realplayer is fine as long as I answer that question which is something I didn't have to do before. The sound works in some places and not other places. I can hear DVDs just fine on PowerDVD.

My sound comes out fine on Realplayer

My sound do not come out on WMP like it did yesterday when I uninstalled it today.

My sound do not come out of MMJB

My sound do not come out of the Internet and I already went to Tools>Internet Options>Advanced Tab>Multimedia and checked the checkbox for "Play sound in web pages."

My sound comes out fine on PowerDVD.

My Volume Icon is still gone from the taskbar. I already went to the checkbox to check by asking them to put the volume icon back on the taskbar and they didn't do it. It has been gone for two weeks or more.

I don't know what else to do. I don't even remember when it started so I can restore my system. I am already just about out of ideas and do not know what to do anymore.

Please help me. This has been going on for two weeks and it shouldn't be taking that long.

[Liz81]

sorry about the bolding, I'm just doing that for emphasis because I think some people overlooked the fact that I cannot get the icon back on the taskbar even though I already went to the checkbox to get it back among other things. This is just so frustrating.

[AnnMarie]

Check to see if you have muted the sound Liz. See here (http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88367)

[AnnMarie]

Ah, I overlooked the fact you cannot get the icon back on your Taskbar. :D

Open Control Panel and open Sounds and Audio Devices. Click on Volume and check "Place Volume Icon in the Taskbar". Try rebooting.

[Liz81]

Ah, I overlooked the fact you cannot get the icon back on your Taskbar. :D

Open Control Panel and open Sounds and Audio Devices. Click on Volume and check "Place Volume Icon in the Taskbar". Try rebooting.

Again, (this was already stated in bold) I have already done this. No solution.

[AnnMarie]

Yep but you didnt mention a reboot. :) Did you try the fix I posted for Windows Media Player Liz?

[AnnMarie]

Try this (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q319095) fix for your missing Volume icon (even if you are not getting an error message)

[Liz81]

ok two things:

I thought I should tell you that once I went to save it (the codec), a virus warning showed up. Fortunately I was able to quarantine it so I can either clean or delete it later. So I actually when to their website and tried downloading it from there and no warning came up so that was fine. I don't know if it's the link or my computer.

Secondly, I got this message saying that it's not a valid system32 (or something, I forget already) application. I attempted to save it on the desktop. Should it be saved somewhere else or is it just not a valid application?

[Liz81]

Yep but you didnt mention a reboot. :) Did you try the fix I posted for Windows Media Player Liz?

LOL you're right, I didn't. And it's perfect cuz I never even got a error message. ;)

I did try the fix. Please read further to find my response.

As for the volume, I'll try it but I'll have to find the CD as it's somewhere in my house. Right now, I'll not worry about it right this second but I'll try it within the next day or two. Microsoft website have really great answers and information. So if they got great information then why are they so unresponsive when you ask them for support via email?? LOL Oh well. :rotflmao:

[AnnMarie]

I thought I should tell you that once I went to save it (the codec), a virus warning showed up

Nope, I meant clicking on the fuzzy Mute button in Windows Media Player. :)

[Liz81]

ok wow this is weird...

I did check the mute button and the WMP isn't muted. The weird thing? Some video files are play with audios on WMP and some aren't. I guess it depends on the video file but I don't know. I do see where you can get a chance to get some plug-ins so I wonder if that'll help. Sometimes since I reinstalled WMP today, there's an error at the bottom of the screen saying "error downloading codecs" so I wonder if WMP doesn't have all the codecs it needs.

I went to the site to see what plug-ins are available from the microsoft website. I don't know which to download! Also, I have another video file that plays on PowerDVD and WMP but no audio. It don't play on Realplayer at all as the message on Realplayer says I gotta have a Microsoft DirectShow Compatible MEG-2 decoding software installed in my computer in order to play this file.

So since a lot of my videos need various of things, I don't even know where to start! LOL. Help, please?

[AnnMarie]

Hi Liz, Zipulrich has kindly sent this link to me (for you). :D

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx

[Liz81]

Thanks but unfortunately that didn't make any differences. I'm still getting the same results. I even rebooted the computer. Let me tell you one other thing and I probably should've mentioned it before. Today I wanted to get rid of everything related to WMP so I went over to the registry and deleted everything with the words "Window Media Player" and anything that had "WMP" in it so I can start over from scratch when I thought something was wrong with WMP. Then when I went to reinstall it, it told me that framedyn.dll was missing so the application couldn't start. I did find the .dll somewhere else and copy and pasted it to the system32 folder and windows media player folder. Was that a mistake? How do I reverse what I did to the registry if that was a mistake?

[AnnMarie]

:eek: Liz, make sure that you can view hidden files and folders (http://www.cybertechhelp.com/tutorial/article/how-to-show-hidden-files), uncheck "Hide Extensions for Known File Types" and "Hide Protected Operating System Files". Now run a search for framedyn.dll and post the full filepath of every instance found.

[Liz81]

ok the search wouldn't show any hidden folders and such but here's what I got from the search

framedyn.dll C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player 171 KB Application Extention

framedyn.dll C:\WINDOWS\system32 171 KB Application Extension
framedyn.dll C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem 171 KB Application Extension

[AnnMarie]

OK, I want you to delete framedyn.dll from the below filepaths only:

C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player

C:\WINDOWS\system32

When you have done this, reboot and go to Start > Run and copy and paste the below command:

regsvr32 framedyn.dll

and hit Enter. You should see a short message stating the command was successful. Now reboot and try reinstalling WMP.

[Liz81]

ok it won't let me delete WMP from the Program Files. I get this message: Cannot delete Windows Media Player: It is being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file and try again."

Nothing else is using the file that I know of. What to do?

[AnnMarie]

Just install over the top Liz (a fresh download and install).

[AnnMarie]

BTW, Never delete any program from C:\Program Files. Always uninstall from Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel and if the entry is not there, post here and ask why. Some programs install files all over the place and deleting the folder will only make things worse (not to mention the registry entries).

[Liz81]

oh I'm sorry my mistake! LOL.

By the way, there's stuff on my C drive that I don't remember putting there like System Volume Information, CONFIG.SYS, pagefile.sys and others and they're all grayed out or something. The same is in Program Files but the folders are different but also like grayed out or something. Know what's that about?

I'll go ahead and do the rest of the instructions you gave me and let you know how it goes.

[Liz81]

uh-oh, putting in that information: regsvr32 framedyn.dll didn't work out. Got error message: LoadLibrary("framedyn.ll) failed - The specified module could not be found." That might explain why when I tried to reinstall WMP before, they couldn't find framedyn.ll so therefore that mightve been why the installation of WMP before didn't go well.

[AnnMarie]

XP put that stuff there Liz. :D

They are hidden files and folders and quite normal so dont worry about them.

[AnnMarie]

What Service Packs are installed?

[Liz81]

Service Pack 1.

When I was talking about the gray out stuff, they weren't there before I had this problem. That's why I brought it up.

So now that run command thing don't work out, what's next?

[AnnMarie]

Service Pack 2. :D See here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/oemlinks.mspx) for information from some manufacturers regarding SP2 and here (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;windowsxpsp2) for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Support Center. You need to upgrade anyway and a new version of framedyn.dll will be installed.

Liz, you can see those greyed out folders now because you have unhidden, hidden files and folders and system files etc. Go back to post I made that read:

"make sure that you can view hidden files and folders, uncheck "Hide Extensions for Known File Types" and "Hide Protected Operating System Files". and undo every I told you to do and you will no longer see them anymore.

[Liz81]

Service Pack 2. :D See here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/oemlinks.mspx) for information from some manufacturers regarding SP2 and here (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;windowsxpsp2) for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Support Center. You need to upgrade anyway and a new version of framedyn.dll will be installed.

Liz, you can see those greyed out folders now because you have unhidden, hidden files and folders and system files etc. Go back to post I made that read:

"make sure that you can view hidden files and folders, uncheck "Hide Extensions for Known File Types" and "Hide Protected Operating System Files". and undo every I told you to do and you will no longer see them anymore.

Oh, duh! I shoulda known that's why I was seeing those folders LOL. well for now, can I do without WMP or do I have to have it to get my videos working because I do have Realplayer? And what to do for now if I get the message again about framedyn.ll missing if I was to reinstall WMP?

[AnnMarie]

I dont work with Real Player so I cannot help you there Liz. Insofar as WMP is concerned, install Service Pack 2 and a new version of framedyn.dll will be installed. Refer to links I posted first though.

[Liz81]

yeah I might get SP2 then. But where do I get the floppy disk? It's telling me to use it but I'm not sure whether I have it or not.

Just wondering, does a system restore ever change the way the registry is? I always thought also that you can lose your stuff after a restore but then I don't think you do.

[AnnMarie]

SP2 can be either ordered on CD from M$ or installed or downloaded from Windows Update Liz (open IE and click on Tools > Windows Update). I recommend the former.

Just wondering, does a system restore ever change the way the registry is?

Yes it does however you should not lose any saved data files (you will lose the registry keys for any programs that have been installed though)

[Liz81]

ok because the computer was so screwed since I tried to uninstall WMP, I had to restore the system to only two days ago and now both Realplayer and WMP are working just fine like it was two days ago.

Now back to the volume icon problem... I'll try to use the CD-ROM to bring the icon back. I wonder if that will also help bring back the sound in MMJB and the Internet. Also, I had to reinstall realplayer cuz it was corrupted probably caused by the restoration. So before I did that, I tried to play a video file on PowerDVD and there was no sound. THere was a sound once I popped in a DVD but not video files. I wonder what you would make out of that.

[Liz81]

Update:

I went to look for the CD-ROM for Windows XP and I think I found it but I'm not sure if that's it. It's from DELL because I have a DELL.

There's one CD form reinstalling DELL Tools System Software
Reinstallation CD: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and I use the CD only to reinstall the software but I'm not sure what software they're talking about.

When I visited the microsoft website it talked about a Windows XP CD-rom. I'm not sure which I should use cuz I got more than one CD here. I think it's the one that said, "Operating System already installed on your computer" then there's "Reinstallion CD Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition". I know I'm not supposed to reinstall the whole OS but I'm not sure if I should use this one to put the volume icon on the taskbar.

By the way, I did run sndvol32.exe to get the volume control panel which I got just fine. It's the icon that's the problem. I tested it out to make sure it's functioning right by muting everything on purpose. So I muted all and went to realplayer to play a video file and as expected, the file was muted then I played with the volume on realplayer and suddenly got the sound back and the checkboxes went unchecked. Is that normal or was realplayer supposed to stay muted even if I messed with the volume on realplayer? The strange thing is I tried muting again and played the same file on WMP and couldn't hear anything then when I went to mess with the volume on WMP to turn it up, no sound came then when I unmuted the volume control the sound was back. Does this mean anything?

[AnnMarie]

I see that Spider is helping you now Liz so I will bow out. Regarding SP2, you can either download it from Windows Update or order the CD from the link on this page (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx).

[Rainbow32]

Should have asked you what computer your using as I have a Dell also. I have done a repair reinstall using the Dell XP Cd and have lost everything on my hard drive. Here's a link to Dell's site on how to do it.
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1056993&c=us&l=en&s=gen&cs=
Wish you would try uninstalling and reinstalling the sound card first. Don't worry about losing the driver for it as XP keeps a backup copy of it and you should have a Dell CD labled Drivers & Utilities which also would have the driver on it. Here's a thread to a recent post where uninstalling a device,video card in this instance, did solve the posters problem.
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95379
I also asked you look into XP's event viewer under applications when you encountered this error with MMJB for any additional info and you never posted back on that.

[Liz81]

Hi,
Ok well today I did chat with this guy from a microsoft chat room and spent about two hours or more trying to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it. You said something about uninstalling then updating the soundcard and the guy agrees with you. I'm going to try and see if I can update the soundcard soon. However, I went to SoundMax's website to find out about an update but didn't see anything about a download. I can use the CD you just mentioned but then the guy told me that you can also download it from DELL's website so I'm gonna look into that. So hopefully if the problem is what the guy think it is then the sound problem should be resolved soon, I hope!!! :D

[Rainbow32]

I would use the same driver as your using now to start with when you uninstall and reinstall your sound card. Then if you still have the problem update the driver. If you update first that in itself could be another problem all together. Sometimes a driver update messes things up more.
Anyway here's the Dell site for drivers.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?~ck=mn

[Liz81]

ok I must've not done something right...

I did go to DELL's website already to look for an audio driver. I didn't uninstall SoundMAX all out of my computer just like you said. However, I did uninstall it, rebooted then went to reinstall by using the add/remove programs control panel. I also checked for updates. They can't find an update.

I have downloaded Analog Devices ADI 198x Integrated Audio and saved it on my desktop. No change with my audio problem at all. I have a feeling that I might've installed the download the wrong way or I shouldn't hve uninstalled then reinstalled the soundmax after downloading the new audio driver. I wonder what I did wrong because the audio problem remains. There's also some other audio drivers like Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (D), Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit and Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital. Should I have downloaded those as well. Here's the site I'm talking about.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=DIM_P4_4600&os=WW1&osl=EN

The stuff I listed here is found under "audio devices" if you just click on the plus next to "audio drivers." I only downloaded analog devices AUDI 198x Integrated Audio.

I checked under "sound, video and game controllers" under the device manager and I don't see the Analog Devices ADI 198x Integrated Audio but I do still see Soundmax as usual. So I have a feeling that even though I downloaded it, it's not really saved or installed in my computer. Anyone know if I did anything wrong and what I did wrong?

[Rainbow32]

Try the driver reset tool from Dell. It's compatible with your 4600.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R92578&SystemID=DIM_P4_4600&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=9309&devlib=0&typecnt=1&vercnt=1&formatcnt=1&fileid=120687

[Liz81]

cool, thanks. :) It looks like the same thing I installed and the same thing I'm talking about but it might not be. It just looks the same.

[Rainbow32]

I was browsing the Dell forums for an answer and saw your post there. I posted a message for the MOD there to either find a link to your soundmax driver or if the
Analog Devices ADI 198x Integrated Audio driver is for soundmax. You could always use that Driver and Application CD for a reinstall of the original driver. I also gave you another option at the Dell forum.

[z1p]

Consolated to this thread.