GA-G41M-ES2L, v1.4, BIOS F9 - No audio

[ijpom]

Hi all,
I'm new to Gigabyte boards and wanted to say thanks for having a thriving forum.

System includes:
Windows XP SP3
Pentium D 805, running in "Auto" in bios, showing 133Mhz FSB and 2.66GHz Speed as normal
OCZ ram 2x2Gig 800Hmz OCZ2P8004GK, running in "Auto" in bios, showing 533Mhz memory bus and Dual Channel "synced"
Hitachi DESKSTAR 7K1000C, 250G, 7200RPM, SATA II
Cooler Master Centurion 5 Case
Two old IDE CD drives
Peripherals: USB/wireless mouse, PS2 KB, USB powered Stereo speakers with single green audio plug.
All these components have worked in the last few weeks, as they are my bench test equipment.

Had the board for almost a week, and got through Bios adjust, fresh windows install/updates and DVD driver install.
Never heard a peek from the audio system. (Note: it does have a midget speaker on the MB pins, and can make a beep.)
I checked the Device Manager and saw legacy audio drives.
I checked the Windows sounds and things were grayed out, and non functional.
I found a Realtek download manually and installed it. It indicated it was just "drivers". This didn't help, but I noted there was no HD audio application.
I disconnected/reconnected the USB/stereo input the the MB from the back connection. No change.
I disconnected the HD audio plug (that I'm not using) from the MB header pins. No change.
I disconnected the IDE devices. No change.
There are no speaker controls on the bottom RH corner of my Windows screen (neither Windows nor Realtek).


Questions:
If Windows doesn't pop up "new device found", does it even know that I have an HD audio chip onboard?
Does the Gigabyte drivers DVD not include the audio drivers and applications?
How can I get the Realtek audio application download? Realtek seem to be providing drivers only.

I have another week before my store return policy expires and I need to solve this, for good or bad by then. Help.

[absic]

Hi there,

First off the drivers for the audio chip should be on the motherboard CD and, if it is working properly, when you loaded the drivers from the disc it should have automatically loaded them for you.

You can download the Realtek Audio Drivers from here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3590&dl=1#driver
Uninstall any other Audio drivers you have tried to install before running these.

If Device Manager isn't actually showing the Realtek (Azalia) Audio Device then it might not be enabled in BIOS. Double check that the Azalia Codec is set to AUTO and hasn't been disabled.

[ijpom]

Thanks absic

It's like a miracle.
One misplaced bios 'disable' stopped all functionality of the Realtek application and drivers.
Everything is normal now.

Thanks again
 

[Dark Mantis]

Absic is magic when it comes to audio problems. Must be his musical background and the fact that he uses his system for audio processing his own music. Superstar you know

[absic]

Pleased to have been able to help ijpom and it is easy to miss the Azalia Codec in BIOS as it doesn't really jump out as being for audio.

Hopefully now, you can get down to enjoying your PC.