Computer dead???

Okay. Do you have a CD with drivers that came with your computer? Insert it, normally a menu should pop up where you can select which driver you'd like to install. The sound driver hides somewhere there. The best thing would be to install all the drivers on the CD. If you don't have that CD or can't find the driver... report back!

Edit: Just saw Dan's post - downloading the drivers from the manufacturer website is of course better, as they have updated software.

 

Not the speakers!! It's the CD (or website) of the computer manufacturer you're looking for!

 

No, you aren't screwed. It's just a matter of finding out which hardware you have, then you can download the according drivers. I'm working on Linux right now, if no one else chimes in before me, I'll fire up Windows later and see how to identify unknown hardware there. You can do a bit of investigative work yourself: When you fire up your computer, before the windows logo appears, there are a couple of screens showing hardware information. Especially the one directly before Windows starts to load (ie the logo appears) is interesting for you; it lists your hardware in some tables. As soon as that screen appears, press the "Pause/Break" key (top right of your keyboard), it freezes the screen. See if you can find anything like "sound", "sound card" etc. Write down the according entry. Pressing any other key will let the computer continue to boot.

 

As Florian says, no you're not screwed. But, you are going to need to do a little detective work. I'll "jump in" so as to save Florian the pain of booting windoze [Although, again, the following is from memory, so it may be a little "off".]

Firstly, I'll agree that you are very fortunate in that it even boots from the HD of a different system - That's good!

Plus, you got really close with:

This screen is where the action is! - It's saying it can "see" these devices, but doesn't "understand" 'em. [In geek speak, it doesn't have the correct driver] If you click (double click?) on the "?" I believe it opens another window that says what the device actually is and what driver is currently installed. As it knows it's "broken" I believe one of the tabs at the top of this window will offer something like "do you want Windows to search for the correct driver?" - Do that, and if you're lucky it'll find it, install it and life will be good... [It's the "multimedia controller" thats stopping your speakers BTW, but you should do the same for the other devices - eg, I suspect that it can't connect to your network at present as the ethernet is also "broken".]

If it fails to find a driver that it "likes", it'll ask you for the location of said driver and you now know what the relevant H/W is (Manufacturer, device name etc is displayed in one of the tabs in this same window) - Now you've got to find the vendors website and search it for the stuff you need - Download it to somewhere you can remember and follow the instructions....

You're looking to get rid of the yellow "?" on all devices in the list and as it's a few years old I'm hoping you don't need to go "external" sources - For this reason, fixing the ethernet is probably priority one as then you can get to the 'net and download any others that it can't find.....

Good luck, I know you'll report back!
Cheers,
Ian

 

How do I deserve such generosity?

It will say "Unknown multimedia device" or something like that. If it names any specific driver at all, it will be the one installed on the old computer where the HD came from, I guess. And I doubt that the "Search driver" feature will work, it would be the first time I've ever seen that search function deliver a useful output!
But I don't want to be the naysayer here, giving it a try won't hurt!

+1

 

I don't think thats correct - I agree that it'll list the one that it knew was there in the original machine. But, IIRC when you open the "details" (?) tab it actually "probes" the device that's there - Remember all the (very often conflicting!) "IRQ's" and "address ranges" it lists? - I believe that's coming from a H/W probe... Otherwise, how would the (dreaded?) "Found new H/W wizard *ever* work?

You could certainly be right, but as you say, "no harm in trying", and he's got a major PITA until (at least) the ethernet works - If it could at least "fix" that the next steps become a little more tolerable ;-)

I *love* my Macs!

Cheers,
Ian

 

Yes, he'll receive a bunch of IRQ tables, but I can't remember ever seeing a manufacturer name if the appropriate driver had not been installed. For example, with my Geforce card, when I formatted and reinstalled Windows it always said "Microsoft Display Driver", the name Nvidia only came up after installing the correct driver. I don't know how the PCI(e) etc hardware identification system works, but I suppose it doesn't rely on names but on some kind of ID, like USB where you have a vendor and device ID.

 

+1

But, I'm really hopeful that at least the ethernet is recognized - it's old enough that it *may* just already be there - It's doing pretty much what Linux does when it installs (albeit no doubt in a dumb M$ fashion!) - Probing the H/W and looking to see what it can find......

I suspect the problem with your *new* video card was that it didn't recognize whatever it is that the probe returned until you told it where the driver was - It found what it needed, and *then* installed the driver.

Note that I'm not trying to be argumentative here BTW, and, I know you're also "hoping" I'm correct as it will save everyone a lot of grief

Lets keep the fingers crossed and "await the response"

Cheers,
Ian

 

What's your weapon of choice? Limewire? IRC? Or did you buy enough songs at the itunes store to put a quarter tank of fuel in Steve Jobs' G-V? LOL

Don't answer that question, you have the right to remain silent and not incriminate yourself.

 

Speakers don't need drivers*. Just the sound card. Doesn't matter what speakers you plug in. Speakers just get the output and play them at whatever level is specified in windows and the volume knob.

The "!" is for the sound card. Open it up in MS Paint and get it into a format where you can upload it. Even BMP (except for size) will work.

Does it give you a type? Is the sound card actually a card? Or is it integrated into the board? Gotta open it up and find out. If it is a card, what kind of card? If on the board, what kind of board?




* note - unless the speakers are USB driven or have some functionality with USB in which they need particular drivers to do whatever it is they need to do apart from sound card functionality.

 

There's an easier way to find that out, no need to open the computer. Look at the back of it. Are the speakers plugged in at the middle left, near the place where you plug in your keyboard and mouse? Or is it in the lower section where you find horizontal slots?

 

Okay, sounds like an onboard soundcard. Any more info about the motherboard? If you were able to read the exact name, we'd find your driver in 10 seconds.

 

+1

Doesn't it display the M/B name (and some other maybe useful stuff) during initial boot - You may need to go into the BIOS and set it to "echo" its boot messages, but it's been a *long* time since I've been there-and-done-that.

However, at this stage, I'm really interested to know if it can get on the 'net - Is the ethernet port working?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Okay, let's try what Ian suggested. Start the computer. Normally, you'll see some lines about your graphics card in the upper left corner. Then the screen switches and you'll see some information about your board and hard disks. Let's just do it the simple way: As soon as the screen is half filled with text, hit the "pause" button and take a picture of it with a camera, cellphone, whatever. Or write it down if you have too much time on your hands

 

Perfect, that's what we need. You'll find your drivers here:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P4P800-VM

What you need is "Audio" and "Lan". Download, install, there you go.