Sound problems

My computer makes annoying 'error' noises and when i try to play anything on media player the following message shows up:

cannot play back the audio stream: no audio hardware is available, or the hardware is not responding

anything?

 

To check the easiest thing first: Go to Control Panel>Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices>Sounds and Audio Devices>Audio tab and make sure your sound card is selected as the default in all three fields. Sometimes the dialup modem gets selected there for usually unknown reasons.

 

what happens if there all grayed out?

 

"grayed out" means the drivers for the sound card aren't installed or there may be a conflict with another device. Look in device manager (rt-clk my computer, select hardware tab, then device mgr. button) at sounds and rt-click to select properties and see if there's a conflict; if the sound card has an exclamation point on it or doesn't show at all, reinstall the drivers that came with it, or the mobo CD if sound is on the mobo.

 

Miz - Sparrow, some background:

http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=41864&page=2&pp=14

Plus a private message:

Adam, the drivers are XP generic drivers, once you know the audio card's brand, go to their web site and see if any updated drivers for XP.

I don't know whether this problem has anything to do with the drivers or not.

Regards - Charles

Edit: Adam, the transmittal of your image didn't work - have to be a contributing member to have that option.

 

Miz - Sparrow, some background:
lol
erm.. back to point
charles, you still haven't told me how to find my sound card maker/ specs/ name thingy!

 

Hi Adam,

you still haven't told me how to find my sound card maker/ specs/ name thingy!
Ok, lets do it another way:

Start > Run. In the Open box, type msinfo32.exe > ok.

Expand components > sound device.

Regards - Charles

 

erm... dunno how to break this to you's
i found my driver disc
dont hate me!
so my sound works, though do you know how to convert:
Cd audio track -> MP3
?

 

Winamp will rip CD's to MP3's (and has some nice Internet Radio stations too )

www.winamp.com

 

to convert with that costs money, you know?

 

Hi Adam,

erm... dunno how to break this to you's
i found my driver disc
dont hate me!
No problem - happy you solved it

BTW - what is your sound card brand?


though do you know how to convert:
Cd audio track -> MP3
In WMP help - type in changing format:

To select the format for tracks copied from CDs
On the Tools menu, click Options.
Click the Copy Music tab.
In the file format list, select the format that you want.

Regards - Charles

 

i dont know..... i think its the one with the motherboard, and thats probably why i had to use the motherboard driver disc

 

My all time favorite: CDex

 

IT COSTS MONEY!

 

No it doesn't. Take a look again. There's a paypal button there but that's only for those that want to donate. There's no requirement to pay anything. It contains no spyware or any other kind of extra baggage. Better look again.

 

oh, ok sorry
but do you know how to convert using it?
it says something about 'RIFF'?

 

Without getting to deep into it, a Riff wav file is simply a mp3 file with a Riff wav header wrote to it. If you choose this option it enables you the ability to open the file in a program that doesn't support mp3. An example would be a wav editor. You'd be able to edit the mp3 using any wav editor. When you choose the Riff option the file will be given the .wav extension instead of mp3. However, in reality, it's still a mp3 file and can be played in any mp3 player by simply renaming the file and giving it the mp3 extension. For example, if the mp3 file is named song.wav you'd simply rename it to song.mp3.

I don't remember what the default setting is but If you just want mp3 files and don't have any use for the Riff thing I'd recommend not using it. You'll find this setting by clicking options>settings>encoder. If you don't want to use it, uncheck the box that says convert to Riff wav files. In that same window choose the codec you want to use. For mp3's choose the Lame mp3 codec. You may have more mp3 codecs that show up there but probably not if you haven't done this before. There are other codecs available on the internet that you can download and install. If you've ever done this they'll show up there too. Once you've selected the Lame codec you can set the bitrate you want to encode the files at. The higher the rate the better the sound quality but also, the higher the bitrate the larger the file will be. It's commonly said that 128 kbs is cd quality although this can very for different individuals. Some people have better ears than others and prefer a higher bitrate. I'd suggest trying 128 first and then try a higher bitrate to see if you can hear any difference. If so, check the size of the files. You'll have to be the judge as to whether the sound difference is enough to justify the larger size of the file. You might also want to check the box next to the line that says "on the fly mp3 encoding" . If you check this box CDex will convert the files on the fly rather than first creating a wav file and then converting that. You can give it a try and if you have problems ripping this way you can go back and uncheck it. When you're done this click the file names tab and choose the filename format. Click the question mark next to it for an explanation. Then in the same window select the folder you want to save the files in. These settings should be enough to get you going.

When you've done that click ok. Put a cd in the drive and you'll see the list of songs appear in the window. If they are listed as track 1, track 2 etc. click on the CDDB menu and Read Remote CDDB. This will search the CDDB CD database on the internet for the CD. If it finds it, you can select it and it'll rename all the songs for you. This will save you having to rename all the files after you've encoded them. If you're using a firewall like Zone Alarm you'll have to allow internet access for CDex when prompted by the firewall.

Next, select the songs you want. By default they'll all be selected. To select a song click on it. To select more than one, click on each song you want while holding down the ctrl key. Once you've selected the songs you want, on the right side of the window click the second button from the top. If you point your cursor at it a tooltip will pop up that says extract cd tracks to compressed audio files. The encoding process will begin and when it's done, you'll have your mp3 files.

It sounds like a lot but it really isn't. Most of the settings I mentioned for the encoder will probably be selected by default but I don't remember so you should take a look at them. Have a look at the help file. It's pretty decent and I think you'll find most of what you need to know there. Post back if you still have questions.

 

I use Musicmatch, it takes care of all my ripping needs & then some. The free version should be able to do what you want. Excellent program. Sidewinder

http://www.musicmatch.com/

 

sidewinder- does that convert?
Zander- u said u'd keep it simple!

 

I use that program also & yes it converts. BJ