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[SOLVED] Windows Vista - Distorted Audio Issue

H

Humble

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Posts
233
Sony Vaio laptop, Vista Business SP 2, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB SSD.

Audio drivers show as up to date. No warning triangles or exclamation marks in device manager.

Built in speakers test OK, yet online video audio is distorted, squeaky, interrupted, delayed.
Offline video has no sound at all.

Issue persists the same with headset, external speaker and built-in speakers.

Help welcome. Thank you.
 
Just because Windows tells you the audio drivers are up to date does not mean so.

You should ch3eck yourself.

Expand the audio area in Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), 2x-click on the audio device; obtain the driver name (*.sys); look it up in the DRT and click on the update link.

DRT - Driver Reference Table

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

p.s. Check your system manufacturer's support site for a BIOS update.

Sony support - Sony eSupport - Drivers & Software Updates - Select a Model

Sony BIOS Update Utility - ** make sure this is definitely for your system ** - Sony eSupport - Electronics - Drivers & Software

You can obtain BIOS info from Windows' systeminfo utility - from a CMD screen, type systeminfo - scroll back to the top for BIOS info.

Also, msinfo32 - again, from CMD, type msinfo32
 
hello and thanks for your quick reply.

tried following the steps you outlined.

I am unable to retrieve driver information. Clicking the corresponding button dor driver details first gets a " not responding"
After a few seconds parts of a seemingly corrupted panel open but without intelligible data.

About system info, this is what happens when I try to open it in admin cmd.

ERROR: The executable program that this service is configured to run in does not
implement the service.


When calling up msinfo32
the utility opens and says it can't collect information because it cannot access the windows instrumention software. Windows management files may be moved or missing.

When I go to Services, WIndows Management Instrumentation is on AUTOMATIC but not started.
When I try to start service I get error 1083

sfc did not find corruptions.

did not find a bios update on sony support site
 
Hello there,
did anyone read my post?
I am ready for further suggestions/ideas/instructions to help me resolve this audio issue
 
Last edited:
Thought I should mention that system sounds work OK.

the distortion happens in online audio/video.
in offline video playback there is no sound at all.

please let me know what other information you need to be able to help me resolve this issue.
I am confident we can do this.

best regards, humble
 
good news:

troubleshooting while waiting for reply has further narrowed down the audio issue:

when I noticed that system beep was working I tested video playback with two other programs and they seem to render audio OK.
it now appears the offline audio playback issue was with the previous default video player, which is now uninstalled.

which leaves only this part of the issue unresolved:

audio distortion in online video playback

I am ready and await further advice/instructions to help resolve this.

thank you.
 
Hi. . .

Please keep in mind that we are all volunteers here and we answer threads here during free time from work, family, etc...

What were the SSD test pictures for?

The app I asked you to run should have left a folder in Documents named SysnativeFileCollectionApp.

Please zip it up and attach.

So - have you considered reinstalling Windows?

Regards. . .

jcgriff2
 
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oh yes, I very much appreciate all the good work you volunteers are doing here.

just in case my earlier post did not reach your attention, here is a copy for you:


Trying to run the app you mention didn´t complete successfully.
And I do not find a zip output file.

Attached CMD output and screenshot about SSD.

SSDLife.zip CMDcopy.zip

Thank you very much for your attention to this issue and for donating your valuable time to help solve it.
 
p.s.: on the BSOD page you referred me to I thought it says to check hard drive while waiting for reply.
so I did that and sent the screenshot for your info. once again, the Sysnative FIle Collection App did not complete the run and i did not find an output zip either.
 
p.p.s: about re-install:
I am still confident we can resolve this issue with patience and persistence and a willingness to isolate the cause of this issue.
 
online video audio is distorted
Click to expand...
What browsers have you tried? I ask because Palemoon got an update today fixing one issue - Fixed an issue where media playback would not use hardware acceleration properly when using MSE.
This would cause high CPU usage and/or choppy playback for HD video on e.g. YouTube.

Offline video has no sound at all.
Click to expand...
Again, what program(s) do you use to play videos on your computer?
 
hi plodr, thanks for connecting, much appreciate your attention to this issue.
I can use all the help I can get.

Tried different browsers, including Chrome, Firefox and Safari...all up to date. the online streaming video audio issue prevails in all of them. ( The offline playback issue was resolved already, see my earlier post )

Please remember video parts play back OK, yet AUDIO is distorted, squeaks, stutters and squeals.


Any other questions/ideas/suggestions please ask or tell me. Thank you.
 
hello and thank you for that information.

Intel update utility could not find update, Realtek driver update attempt resulted in error code 0x000005B4 Install Realtek HD Audio Driver Failure !

What should I do next?



jcgriff2 said:
Here are your 2 audio drivers -
intchdmi.sys - Intel High Definition Audio HDMI - Driver Reference Table - IntcHdmi.sys
rtkvhda.sys - Realtek HD Audio Codec Driver - Driver Reference Table - RTKVHDA.sys

See if you can find driver updates for them.
Click to expand...
 
I'm still searching on what to do when the device doesn't start. So far only "quick fixes" which I refuse to post. We can't assume it is broken because sounds do play.

Post a screenshot of Device Manager with Sounds expanded. Device manager.JPG

I don't run Vista but perhaps posting my info can get your Realtak squared away.
Post a screenshot of Sound, Control Panel.soundV5.jpg

I select properties:
Under Custom the one item is unchecked/unticked
Under Enhancements Immediate mode is checked/ticked
Under Advanced: 24 bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality)
below that, nothing is selected in Exclusive Mode.
 
Please do the suggestions by plodr/

Create a system restore point - Windows System Restore - Create a Restore Point (Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 & Vista)

Try to install this driver - Download Realtek* High Definition Audio Driver for Intel(R) NUC Kits

I'm not sure if it's for your system or not.

I honestly don't know what to tell you about Realtek. Of the 1,000s++ of people that have installed that driver update, this is the first time I've ever been made aware of a crash.

No doubt that you had the correct driver?
 
Last edited:
@ jcgriff2, plodr

thank you both very much for helping me to resolve this issue!

@jcgriff2 re realtek update:
tried installing the first one on this list below. it says OK for 32bit Vista:

Realtek

install failed, as mentioned earlier. checking the downloaded file I noticed that it does not mention Vista in the file name, only Windows 7 and newer. (see attached screenshot). I had not noticed that before I tried installing, because I had relied on the description on the website.

I hesitate to try the NUC driver mentioned in your earlier post.
According to that website this one is not available for Vista either.

Download Realtek* High Definition Audio Driver for Intel(R) NUC Kits

Am I missing something? Please tell me. I am ready for further instructions/ideasDeviceDriverSoundScreenshot.pngAdvanced.pngSound.pngSoundPropertiesEnhance.pngDriverRealtek.png.

Thank you!

p.s.: i noticed that the intel HDMI appears in device drivers but not in the sound panel.

p.p.s: not sure if this is relevant to the audio issue: while checking device driver panel I noticed the VGA adapter shows a yellow triangle.
 

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