Elite K7SEM motherboard: why can't I get sound or comms? 1

[sedacca]

Elite K7SEM motherboard: why can't I get sound or comms?

 

[paparazi]

Try loading the motherboard drivers??

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[relaksuah]

Could you elaborate on your question? Have you installed the motherboard drivers after you installed the OS? If you don't happen to have the drivers, then why not try going to this website :

http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/dw_spec.asp?product_id=78

The official website for Elitegroup Computer Systems. This link brings you straight to the drivers page for the K7SEM. Download the latest, if you dont have them.

 

[sedacca]

I have installed the drivers that came on the CD with the motherboard. Device manager shows the SiS 7018 audio driver as working properly, yet the volume symbol does not appear on the bottom right of my screen as it should.

 

[relaksuah]

If that's the case, for Windows 98/ME, go into control panel, double click on "Multimedia", put a tick on "Show volume control on the taskbar", click on "Apply" and you should be able to see the icon in a short while.

For Windows XP however, go into control panel, double click on "Sound and Audio Devices", put a tick on "Place volume icon in the taskbar", click on "Apply" and you should also be able to see the icon in a short while.

Do tell me if this solves your problem.

 

[sedacca]

Therein lies the puzzle: Multimedia Audio tab shows no devices, neither for playback nor recording.

 

[relaksuah]

Could be either the audio chip on your mobo is faulty, or it is disabled in the BIOS. Give your BIOS a check and make sure it's enabled.

Try updating the BIOS from the website if you'd like, as the audio chip is integrated onboard.

BTW, is your mobo a K7SEM 1.0 or K7SEM 1.0+B1?

 

[relaksuah]

For the K7SEM 1.0+B1, I can find some BIOS updates for it. It's at

http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/dw_spec.asp?product_id=78

However, if your mobo is the K7SEM 1.0, like how you stated that it's audio chip is SIS, I cant find any BIOS updates for it. Drivers avail for it are at

http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/dw_spec.asp?product_id=229

I wonder if you tried the online drivers... When did you buy the mobo?

 

[relaksuah]

Hmm... Sometimes I wish I had taken more time to look this up beforehand, but here's the link to the drivers for the K7SEM 3.0A mobo...

http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/dw_spec.asp?product_id=193

now let's see if there's any help from some overclocker's websites... I'm using the K7S5A v3.1 mobo and found lots of overclocker's BIOS updates available... helped me with a few probs but I don't know whether you'd like to try them... of course there can be many ways to solve a problem other than a BIOS flash ;p

 

[sedacca]

Thanks relaksuah. I think I found the bios at:

http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/k7sem.htm

Do I just download the latest bios or do I need to download and install each one in order? Do I need the flash utility?

 

[relaksuah]

Yes, you need the flash utility to install the latest BIOS. But first, try to see whether onboard audio is enabled in BIOS first, before trying the updates. Flashing the BIOS is a risky task, because if anything wrong happens the mobo might not work at all. I have to warn you of this.

After you've made sure that the onboard audio is enabled in BIOS, and it still does not work, make sure you have the right mobo model and version. If you look at the posts I have placed, you'll notice that there are three versions of the K7SEM mobo. v1.0, v1.0+B1, and v3.0A. You can find out either from the box the mobo came in as well as on the pcb backing of the mobo itself. Once you've made sure, you can try downloading the flash utility as well as the BIOS update, save both files onto a bootable diskette, boot the computer with the diskette and run the flash utility. There will be instructions shown when you run the utility, do backup the current BIOS before you install the new one. Name it as "original.awf" or something similar. Do forgive me if that is the wrong extension, use the same extension as the BIOS update file that you will download from the website.

You'll be doing this at your own risk. Try to get a professional to be there when you do it if you are doing this for the first time.

After doing so, boot it up and uninstall/reinstall the audio drivers.

However, a BIOS flash does not guarantee that you'll get your audio working again. It may be due to a faulty audio chip on your board, since you say that you've installed the lastest drivers already. If this is a new one, go back to the store and have them check it out.

Wish you luck.

 

[smaxted]

I've had sound problems with some ECS boards I've seen..usually an up-to-date bios flash will answer your problems

Scotty Mac a.k.a smaxted

"Another day, another problem"

 

[sedacca]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I will rebuild the machine from scratch with Windows 2000 and see if that helps at all. If not then I will probably go for a reflash.