KVR Audio

stephenpaulharper · Post by **stephenpaulharper** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 3:58 am

For some reason, Windows can't find the drivers for my sound card (see sig). This happened after a controlled shutdown. I also had problems with dropouts and static leading up to this, but everything had been working well for a couple of days prior to this problem. Everybody is flummoxed. RME, ADK and my computer guy haven't a clue as to what's going on. RME and ADK dissected my computer remotely, and could find nothing wrong. Windows sees the card, but can't even find previous versions of the drivers. The soundcard works fine on other computers with W7. I know it could be a million things, but does anything come to mind from anybody? My computer guy wants to reinstall Windows 7, but I've got a fairly large number of VSTs and software that are no longer made. It would take forever to reinstall the ones that are still available.

A friend who used to work for IBM suggested an upgrade to Windows 8. Says it should and emphasized SHOULD, fix the driver problem and keep my programs intact. That's no problem if anybody else thinks that would work.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or thoughts.

Stephen

I've also posted this at Cakewalk and gearslutz, so ignore if you frequent those.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:06 am

Could you give us details on the soundcard? Have you tried putting it in a different socket?

stephenpaulharper · Post by **stephenpaulharper** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:44 am

Thanks so much for the reply. Yes. trying a different socket was one of the first things my computer repair vendor did. It's an RME 9632 PCI. Here's the link that gives its details. http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_hdsp_9632.php

Like I said, I don't think it's the card, as everything about it and its drivers works fine on the test computers at the shop. He has a computer there that approximates my specs.

Thanks again.

Stephen

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:57 am

Open up device manager ( http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... =windows-7 ) and see if you can find it there, or something that comes up as "unidentified device". You might need to disable other (old) audio devices overriding your new soundcard. I must warn you I'm no expert but it's worth seeing what the computer sees currently.

Have you installed drivers that came with the card? Your version of Win7 may be more outdated than your tech guy's one. Run windows update...

stephenpaulharper · Post by **stephenpaulharper** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 5:28 am

arkmabat wrote:Open up device manager ( http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... =windows-7 ) and see if you can find it there, or something that comes up as "unidentified device". You might need to disable other (old) audio devices overriding your new soundcard. I must warn you I'm no expert but it's worth seeing what the computer sees currently.

Have you installed drivers that came with the card? Your version of Win7 may be more outdated than your tech guy's one. Run windows update...

Thanks very much for the reply. It's not actually a new soundcard, it's a card that's been working fine in this computer since early 2010, that suddenly stopped working. It's seen clearly in device manager. It has the yellow '!' triangle next to it. But I'm very fastidious about keeping everything up-to-date. I'm using the latest drivers on the soundcard, and Windows automatically updates itself. No worries that you're no expert; all help is appreciated. Plenty of 'experts' have failed to solve my issue yet. The computer's at the shop, and I don't know what to do with myself.

Thanks again.

Stephen

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:24 am

Ironically, new driver updates can break things sometimes, too... so it shows up with the yellow (!). I would not trust Win8 to magically fix this. It has its own bluetooth driver update problems (at least with the newest dell laptops). I would certainly try to install the drivers that 'were' working back on again by right clicking the device. It sounds like you may have already tried that though.

Don't give up hope though, the power of positive thinking is real. It at least helps you perservere till you find an answer.

t3toooo · Post by **t3toooo** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:32 am

for a quick test i would install windows (not activating of course)) on a spare hard drive to see if it works there.

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:50 am

t3toooo wrote:for a quick test i would install windows (not activating of course)) on a spare hard drive to see if it works there.

+1

It is a Windows problem. Also, installing Windows 8 will not fix it. Do you use anything like ccleaner or registry cleaners/utils? They damage more than they fix. Have you got a "tweaked" Windows install, an update to that might have broken stuff.

optofonik · Post by **optofonik** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:58 am

You sound tech savvy enough to have already tried incremental system restores. Anything look different in you bios?

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:53 am

Remove the hardware, do a repair install, reinstall the hardware.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/34 ... stall.html

xNiMiNx · Post by **xNiMiNx** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 3:17 pm

I would try removing the card, and then the drivers from the store, then pop the card back in, and try to install a clean set of drivers.

As was mentioned, updating isnt exactly always the best thing, so maybe attempt to install older working drivers if you have, if not, go all the way back to the original drivers you got with the hardware. If it works, then upgrade the drivers, if it stops working, youve found the issue.

If you need info on the driver store and removing:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 30875.aspx

Id rather start out messing with driver files, than repairing / reinstalling OS's.

stephenpaulharper · Post by **stephenpaulharper** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 5:31 pm

Thank you all for the kind replies and attempt to help me. The computer is in the shop right now; a fair number of your suggestions have been tried already. The ones that have not, are being communicated to my tech guy.

Again, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help come to a solution.

Stephen

Windows can't find soundcard drivers