How to troubleshoot "sound" problems.
Most sound problems are caused by changes made to volume settings or improperly connected cables. Sound settings can be different depending upon the sound source. So, for example, you might not have a problem with a .wav file, but you do for sound from the CD. The checklist below should help you check for the most common reasons for getting no sound, or erratic sound from your computer. Please keep in mind that sound is provided only to the extent necessary for business purposes. MP3 is not supported. If the problem you are experiencing does not affect business related sound needs you are on your own.
Troubleshooting checklist Click on the step for more detailed information.
Taking the above steps should restore your sound.
If the above steps did not correct the problem open a NorthStar ticket to make an appointment for service. Be sure to include your contact number. Describe the problem in detail, especially the steps you took to try to correct the problem. You will be contacted by the appropriate party. For more information on creating the NorthStar ticket, see Eureka! document 39068 — How to submit a computer or peripheral for repair.
- Double-click the speaker icon
in your system tray (on the right edge of the Task Bar (the bar with the Start button)). A single click on the speaker icon brings up a simplified box with only one overall control.
- If the Mute box is checked, click to uncheck the box and stop muting the sound. Notice that one sound source may have a different setting than another sound source.
- If the volume indicator is very low, increase the volume. Place your mouse pointer on the slider bar, hold down the left mouse button, and push the slider bar toward "volume."
- The IBM thinkpads have a speaker mute button on the top of keyboard, above the F5 and F6 keys. It might have accidentally gotten activated. Try pressing the button once, then the "volume up" key next to it.
Note: If the volume is very high there may be some distortion. If you need sound capable of being heard in a meeting, for example, you will need external speakers with their own power source.
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- On the Toshiba Tecra 550, 8000 and 8100 the volume control is on the front of the machine.
- On the Toshiba Portege 3110 the volume control is on the front of the machine
- On the Toshiba Tecra 510 the volume control is on the left side of the machine, at the back corner near the power switch.
- On some models you may need to open the machine to find the volume control above the keyboard. On the IBM thinkpads, for example, the speaker settings are at the top of the keyboard on the left side.
- The Toshiba desktops do not have built in speakers, the only manual volume control on the CPU is for the output to the CD ROM. To hear sound the machine must be connected to either the speakers built into the monitor, some other speakers, or headphones. The Toshiba monitor has built in speakers, the volume control is on the front of the monitor.
Note: A very high volume will often cause sound distortion. If you need sound capable of being heard in a meeting, for example, you will need external speakers with their own power source.
Do not "guess" which direction controls the speaker volume. Do three tests: with the volume control all the way to the left, with it all the way in the middle, with it roughly in the center.
In Windows 2000 test sound as follows:
next to it.
to trigger the sound. Return to troubleshooting checklist
- The Toshiba Equium desktops do not have built in speakers. To hear sound the machine must be connected to either the speakers built into the monitor, some other speakers, or headphones. There is a speaker jack on the back of the machine.
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- If your system is a laptop or has built in speakers then test to see whether the problem affects all sound, or just your external system.
- Shutdown, remove all sound related cables (including speaker, microphone, headset).
- Reboot and see if you get sound over your internal speaker.
- Don't forget to recheck sound volume both on the machine and the speaker icon in the system tray.
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- Do you have headphones plugged into your computer? Headphones re-route sound from the speakers to the headphones, unplug them if you want speaker sound.
- Do your headphones have their own volume control? Check the setting on the volume control.
- Do your headphones require power to function properly? If they require power is the source adequate, i.e. batteries fresh or power source plugged in?
- Are the headphones plugged into the correct jack? To find the correct jack look for the picture of a speaker, like the one in your system tray shown above.
- Are the wires in good condition? Any crimps or sharp bends that could mean broken wires inside?
- Do you have headphones plugged into the CD-ROM? Try changing the location where you have plugged the headphones in. If you have them in the CD-ROM move it to the computer or replicator bar of your Toshiba Portege 3110. If you have them in the computer or replicator bar of your Toshiba Portege 3110 move them to the CD-ROM.
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- Do you have an external speaker plugged into your computer? External speakers re-route sound from the internal speakers to the external speakers. Make sure the external speakers are properly connected and powered up.
- Is your sound provided through your external monitor? Check the cable from the computer to the monitor.
- Unplug the cable. Inspect it for crimps or tears. Plug the cable back in. Does that resolve the problem?
- Is the cable plugged into the correct jack? Do not use the jack with the picture of headphones.
- Do your external speakers have their own volume control? Check the volume control.
- Do your external speakers require power to function properly? If they require power is the source adequate, i.e. batteries fresh or power source plugged in?
- Do you have speaker plugged into the CD-ROM? Try changing the location where you have plugged the speakers in. If you are trying to play CD-ROM on your Toshiba Portege 3110 you must use headphones or speakers plugged into the CD-ROM. The speaker/headphone jack on the CD-ROM for the Toshiba Portege will work only for sound coming from the CD-ROM.
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- Either plug the (bad) speakers into a sound source that is known to be good (e.g. a different computer with good sound) OR
- Plug other speakers known to work on a different sound source to the (bad) computer.
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- You cannot play .wav audio files in Windows when "NetMeeting" is running on your computer and the audio features of NetMeeting are enabled. To work around this issue, disable the audio features of NetMeeting. To do so, click both check boxes on the Audio toolbar of NetMeeting to clear them. If the Audio toolbar is not visible, you can reveal it by clicking Toolbar on the View menu. (You really should not be using NetMeeting on a PeopleSoft machine as it is not secure).
Make sure that you close all other programs using your sound card. Including any other browser windows that contain sounds such as Flash animation or pages with midi sound.
You can identify whether it is a hardware or driver problem vs a software problem by trying to listen to sound from different sources. For example, if you first noticed the problem when running Windows Media Player try opening one of the Office programs and see if you get the sound effects when the "assistant" appears after you press F1 for help.
- In Windows 2000 test sound as follows:
- Click on Start, then S ettings, then C ontrol Panel.
- Double-click on the Sounds and Mulitmedia icon.
- Under Sound Events click on any sound that has a speaker
- To the right of the Name: box click the right arrow
If the problem is in Windows Media Player try reinstalling from the Software library. See Eureka! document 19014 — How to restore or reload Internet Explorer or its components.
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- After restarting recheck your volume settings. Is your problem resolved?
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Click on the Start button, then S ettings, then Control Panel.
Select Administrative Tools
Select Computer Management
Select Device Manager
Look under Sound, Video and Game Controllers for driver entries beginning with Yamaha. If they don't exist then the sound card is faulty and the machine needs repair.
Highlight the Yamaha entries. Press the { Delete} key. If there are no Yamaha entries then delete any the entries in the list that will permit it.
Confirm that you want to delete.
That should resolve the problem.
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If you have tried all the troubleshooting steps above and you can get analog sound on your CD but not digital sound for MP3 you should know that MP3 is not supported.
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There are four settings. The first is Off, the next three are increasing in volume. To reset the alarm sound volume do the following:
- Open the laptop cover.
- Hold down the { Fn} key, then touch the { F4} key.
- Since the first step in the cycle is "Off" you should hear no beep the first time you press the key combination. If you hear no sound continue holding the { Fn} key and press the { F4} key again. If you wait too long before pressing the key combination again the cycle will reset to start with "off". When you hear the beep you can try pressing the key combination again for increased volume.
- If you press that key combination three times and never hear a beep then your machine may need service. Try pressing the combination twice quickly to make sure you didn't pause too long.
- You can continue pressing the { Fn}+{ F4} key combination to cycle through the four settings until you get the one you want.
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Created by the PeopleSoft Knowledge Management Team.
Copyright © 1999-2004
All rights reserved.
Created: db 05/27/1999
Revised: db 04/15/2004