Sound control no longer works

Hello,

I have been without sound for about a week - and the sound control adjustment also would not work during that time. The only sound that worked was the sound that eminates thru the speakers at startup. I have tried many many things and my sound is back today. But my sound control device still does not work. The sound control device is now visible in the system tray at the bottom rh corner of the screen. At one time thru my long journey, I managed to make that disappear for a while - but it has been back for a few days. I have Win xp sp3.

At startup I get an error box --ACLXMNTR.exe - Application Error
X The application failed to initialize properly [Ocx0000005]
Click OK to terminate.
I have to click 2 times to get the error box to go away.

If I click on the speaker vol cntrl logo in the system tray I get a similar error.
I get an error box --SNDVOL32.exe - Application Error
X The application failed to initialize properly [Ocx0000005]
Click OK to terminate.
I have to click 2 times to get the error box to go away.

When I go thru Cntrl Panel > Sounds & Speach > Adjust Sys volume > Audio, it shows the Sound Playback as: Realtek AC97 Audio.

When I go thru Cntrl Panel > Sounds & Speach > Advanced Vol Ctrl, I get the SNDVOL32.exe error shown above.

At one point in time, I was showing Msft Kernalwave Audio Mixer as my audio ctrl device. I see no sign of it at present.

I am not sure what I did that brought the sound back. I stopped checking the sound & just checked the vol ctrl after making changes. I thought the two would come back together. Guess I was wrong about that.

Yesterday I uninstalled BitDefender 2010 & installed Kapersky Internet Security 2010 -- but I have no idea if this was a contributing factor to getting my sound back.

The volume setting at present is much too loud. I really need to get my vol ctrl back. I want to be VERY CAREFUL from here on out not to try something that might lead to my losing sound again. I'm not real computer savy - & I managed to do some damage before I got back to this point.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jerry

 

Hi and welcome the BBS (but you might be surprised at my response),

The ACLXMNTR.exe is for you main audio controller, that is, Realtek AC97 Audio.

Me, I would find the original drivers, you were probably supplied with the original drivers on a CD, but sometimes manufacturers put them on the C: drive. You should put your system specifications in your windowsBBS user profile
http://www.windowsbbs.com/adding_system_specifications.html
otherwise we are guessing.

You can also go to system manufacturer's website and see if they have the drivers or updated drivers for download.

After that, I would go to Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs and uninstall any listing for Realtek AC97. When the system is restarted Windows might find 'new hardware" (the Add New Hardware wizard), click Cancel, then run the original or updated driver installer when the system is at the desktop.

Why have you set your experience level as Intermediate?

If you make changes to your system, make a note of what you have changed, then if you need to, you can go back and reset it to it's original state. If you don't want to make changes yourself or rely on that our advice will instantly fix your computer, your learning/experience level will remain the same or go backwards.

If you make a mistake, learn from it. Do one step at a time, reverse it if it does not work.

Matt

 

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the input & suggestions.

I downloaded & installed SIW & here is what I found for Realtek. The driver is ACLXWDM Vrs 5.10.0.6300. I do not have a cd for my drivers.

Here is part of what I did on 11/6/09.
* Used add/rem programs to remove realtek AC97 Audio
* Restart
-- no start up sounds
-- no vol ctrl in Sys tray
-- New Hardware Wizard - reinstall
-- Search for Multimedia Audio controller

-- Same error came up
-- installed driver but can't find hardware[code 41]
* Downloaded latest driver Vrs WDM_A406
-- Installed over the one windows installed
*Reboot
-- Get startup sound
-- Err - ACLXMNTR.exe
-- Click on Vol cntrl in sys tray - Err - sndvol32.exe
*Reset Bios to default -- Same probs

There is one thing that is different from before -- when I did not have sound.
The sound control device in the sys tray appears to be associated with the Msft Kernal wave audio mixer [MKWAM]. When I had no sound, the Device Manager showed the MKWAM to have a problem - yellow ! I think. Now, when I have sound, I can find MKWAM in the device mgr if I select View Hidden Devices.It no longer shows a problem.

There is another audio device that now shows up in the system tray -- Multi Channel Audio Configuration. It seems to be similar to the Volume control[MKWAM], but it will not allow me to adjust the volume.

By the way, on 11/06/09 I also tried to update the driver for MKWAM using the Win XP CD. Here is what I got.
-- Cannot start this hardware
-- There was a problem installing this hardware
-- Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware, but cannot find the hardware.[code41].

Somehow this magically corrected itself - don't know how.

Matt, in light if what I have done in the past, I'm not sure if you still want me to uninstall Realtek again. Please advise.

Thanks for your help.

Jerry

 

Hi Matt,

OK, We are making some progress. I got rid of one of the 2 error messages I was getting - using your guidance!!! I decided to remove Realtek as you suggested. When the New Hardware Wizzard came up, the first time I did it [on 9/6/09], I let windows find the driver & later installed the new driver over it. This time, using your idea, I clicked install from a specific location, then went to where I stored the new driver download & double clicked that. Then a new installer came up & took over the installation.

It took me a long time to figure out how to do this. I was little worried for a while, I couldn't seem to get any of the other options to reinstall Realtek Audio.

Anyway -- the GOOD news -- the sound still works, we got rid of the err messg ACLXmntr.exe upon startup. The bad news, the vol control in the system tray still does not work. When I click on it, I get the err msg
SNDVOL32.EXE - Application Error
X The application failed to initialize properly [Ocx0000005]

Note 1: When I go to Device Mgr > View > Show Hidden devices,
-- Msft Kernal Wave Audio Mixer -- is no longer there. It was there before the latest remove & reinstall of Realtek & it was there before this problem came up. I think if we can get this installed & working properly we will have my volume control back.

Note 2: The 2nd audio device that recently showed up in the system tray is now called AC97 Audio Configuration. Before the latest Remove & install it was called Multi Channel Audio Configuration. It looks a little different. It still does not control the volume.

Thank you so much Matt for your help. Do you [or anybody else] have any other ideas on how to solve the rest of this puzzle? I still can't control my volume.

Regards,

Jerry

 

I recently had the same problem with no sound.
Went to get latest Windows Update and there was an update for my sound.Said there didn't appear to be one installed, so I downloaded it with the other updates.
Now I have sound again.

 

You are in "close combat" with the audio drivers! You are making changes in Show Hidden Drivers which might be exacerbating the situation. It might mean low level drivers are incorrect. I haven't been there or done this

geothom31's suggestion might get you back to basic drivers, but I might expect you have gone past that point.

You should let us know if you have made modifications in Show Hidden Devices.

Where do you go now? That's a good question. My suggestion was to try and uninstall everything using Add or Remove Programs, you can try it again. I just follow that basic system until it does not "change" (you listed some changes). Try again, you might be getting closer. See if you can notice any possible ways of changing the installation system (which you have said is making a difference).

You don't have the original driver installer, that would be my first choice. See if you can find the hardware manufacturer's original drivers on their website.

Matt
PS