XP keep asking for disabled onboard audio drivers

Hello !

I'm reinstalling XP on an old PC with an ASUS A7V266-E mobo. (Flashed
to latest BIOS (1011)).

Despite setting the "OnBoard Audio" to "Disable", it keeps finding the
C-Media CMI8738 Audio Controller on boot time and asks for it's driver.

While "feeding the beast" with the appropriate driver stops it from
whining, it also enables the onboard audio jacks, which defeats the
purpose.

I want to disable it to prevent interfering with a PCI audio card.

BTW, changing PnP OS value in BIOS doesn't change anything.

Any idea ?

Thanks

Louis wrote:
> Hello !
>
> I'm reinstalling XP on an old PC with an ASUS A7V266-E mobo. (Flashed to
> latest BIOS (1011)).
>
> Despite setting the "OnBoard Audio" to "Disable", it keeps finding the
> C-Media CMI8738 Audio Controller on boot time and asks for it's driver.
>
> While "feeding the beast" with the appropriate driver stops it from
> whining, it also enables the onboard audio jacks, which defeats the
> purpose.
>
> I want to disable it to prevent interfering with a PCI audio card.
>
> BTW, changing PnP OS value in BIOS doesn't change anything.
>
> Any idea ?
>
> Thanks
>

Can you disable the device, in the Device Manager ? That
might be a workaround.

Paul

On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:13:53 -0400, Louis <Louis@nospam.com>
wrote:

>Hello !
>
>I'm reinstalling XP on an old PC with an ASUS A7V266-E mobo. (Flashed
>to latest BIOS (1011)).
>
>Despite setting the "OnBoard Audio" to "Disable", it keeps finding the
>C-Media CMI8738 Audio Controller on boot time and asks for it's driver.
>
>While "feeding the beast" with the appropriate driver stops it from
>whining, it also enables the onboard audio jacks, which defeats the
>purpose.
>
>I want to disable it to prevent interfering with a PCI audio card.
>
>BTW, changing PnP OS value in BIOS doesn't change anything.
>
>Any idea ?
>
>Thanks
>

As Paul suggested you should disable it in Device Manager.
However, it should not interfere with a PCI audio card even
if it isn't disabled. It is quite possible to continually
use multiple sound cards in the same system, if your
particular application doesn't allow picking which one to
use then set that one as the primary or preferred sound
device in control panel, sounds & multimedia.

kony a exposé le 2008-03-19 :
> On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:13:53 -0400, Louis <Louis@nospam.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello !
>>
>> I'm reinstalling XP on an old PC with an ASUS A7V266-E mobo. (Flashed to
>> latest BIOS (1011)).
>>
>> Despite setting the "OnBoard Audio" to "Disable", it keeps finding the
>> C-Media CMI8738 Audio Controller on boot time and asks for it's driver.
>>
>> While "feeding the beast" with the appropriate driver stops it from
>> whining, it also enables the onboard audio jacks, which defeats the
>> purpose.
>>
>> I want to disable it to prevent interfering with a PCI audio card.
>>
>> BTW, changing PnP OS value in BIOS doesn't change anything.
>>
>> Any idea ?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
> As Paul suggested you should disable it in Device Manager.
> However, it should not interfere with a PCI audio card even
> if it isn't disabled. It is quite possible to continually
> use multiple sound cards in the same system, if your
> particular application doesn't allow picking which one to
> use then set that one as the primary or preferred sound
> device in control panel, sounds & multimedia.

Thank you both for your replies..

I had to disable the onboard audio in the device manager *and*
uninstall all programs/drivers related using add/remove programs,
otherwise there is an unresponsive "Mixer" button sitting on the task
bar upon reboot.

As for leaving both audio cards, it is not my preferred solution since
the C-Media driver (at least the one availiable on Asus's site)
installs its own and sticky "Mixer" on the tray - even if I install
only the drivers using device manager - which could be confusing for
the PC's owner.


Just for my own knowledge : does it happens often that a "disabled"
onboard feature actually stays enabled ? It's the first time I see
this..

Louis wrote:
> kony a exposé le 2008-03-19 :
>> On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:13:53 -0400, Louis <Louis@nospam.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello !
>>>
>>> I'm reinstalling XP on an old PC with an ASUS A7V266-E mobo. (Flashed
>>> to latest BIOS (1011)).
>>>
>>> Despite setting the "OnBoard Audio" to "Disable", it keeps finding
>>> the C-Media CMI8738 Audio Controller on boot time and asks for it's
>>> driver.
>>>
>>> While "feeding the beast" with the appropriate driver stops it from
>>> whining, it also enables the onboard audio jacks, which defeats the
>>> purpose.
>>>
>>> I want to disable it to prevent interfering with a PCI audio card.
>>>
>>> BTW, changing PnP OS value in BIOS doesn't change anything.
>>>
>>> Any idea ?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>
>> As Paul suggested you should disable it in Device Manager.
>> However, it should not interfere with a PCI audio card even
>> if it isn't disabled. It is quite possible to continually
>> use multiple sound cards in the same system, if your
>> particular application doesn't allow picking which one to
>> use then set that one as the primary or preferred sound
>> device in control panel, sounds & multimedia.
>
> Thank you both for your replies..
>
> I had to disable the onboard audio in the device manager *and* uninstall
> all programs/drivers related using add/remove programs, otherwise there
> is an unresponsive "Mixer" button sitting on the task bar upon reboot.
>
> As for leaving both audio cards, it is not my preferred solution since
> the C-Media driver (at least the one availiable on Asus's site) installs
> its own and sticky "Mixer" on the tray - even if I install only the
> drivers using device manager - which could be confusing for the PC's owner.
>
>
> Just for my own knowledge : does it happens often that a "disabled"
> onboard feature actually stays enabled ? It's the first time I see this..
>


In Win2K, I had some trouble with the OS mediated selection of sound devices.
I tried a PCI sound card and AC'97 at the same time. I'd select my "preferred"
device in Windows, click apply or whatever, and the OS refused to remember my
selection. So like yourself, I had to ensure one was disabled, to get
satisfactory operation. Maybe WinXP works better for that, but I don't have
WinXP here.

As for the failure to disable, yes, it has happened before. And I cannot
explain why it happens either.

Paul

"Louis" wrote:
> I had to disable the onboard audio in the device manager *and* uninstall
> all programs/drivers related using add/remove programs, otherwise there is
> an unresponsive "Mixer" button sitting on the task bar upon reboot.

You can keep the mixer from loading through (Start > Run > type
"Msconfig") - enter the "startup" tab and look for the mixer entry.

Also, look in the BIOS (integrated peripherals IIRC) to see if you can
disable the onboard audio there.

Jon

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:03:51 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.com>
wrote:


>> Thank you both for your replies..
>>
>> I had to disable the onboard audio in the device manager *and* uninstall
>> all programs/drivers related using add/remove programs, otherwise there
>> is an unresponsive "Mixer" button sitting on the task bar upon reboot.
>>
>> As for leaving both audio cards, it is not my preferred solution since
>> the C-Media driver (at least the one availiable on Asus's site) installs
>> its own and sticky "Mixer" on the tray - even if I install only the
>> drivers using device manager - which could be confusing for the PC's owner.

You could find the OS setting or shortcut that causes the
Taskbar tray app to load and disable it loading to get rid
of the icon, but as you mentioned it's for another owner and
if they don't need both audio solutions you might as well
disable the onboard and uninstall the driver.


>>
>>
>> Just for my own knowledge : does it happens often that a "disabled"
>> onboard feature actually stays enabled ? It's the first time I see this..

What happens is the "driver" is actually a driver PLUS a
software frontend to control the sound settings. By
disabling it, the driver probably isn't loading anymore but
the software portion is still installed until you choose to
uninstall it.


>In Win2K, I had some trouble with the OS mediated selection of sound devices.
>I tried a PCI sound card and AC'97 at the same time. I'd select my "preferred"
>device in Windows, click apply or whatever, and the OS refused to remember my
>selection. So like yourself, I had to ensure one was disabled, to get
>satisfactory operation. Maybe WinXP works better for that, but I don't have
>WinXP here.

Can't say, I use Win2k a lot and have had multiple systems
with two sound cards installed. I would suspect either an
old OS installation with some files wrong and it needs
reinstalled, or the sound driver itself had some bug.

I would wonder if disabling in bios wasn't actually a
disabling setting just not devoting resources but then when
2k/XP/etc loads it has that ability... so a bios bug in what
is really technically disabling.

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:03:51 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.com> wrote:

>Louis wrote:
>> kony a exposé le 2008-03-19 :
>>> On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:13:53 -0400, Louis <Louis@nospam.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello !
>>>>
>>>> I'm reinstalling XP on an old PC with an ASUS A7V266-E mobo. (Flashed
>>>> to latest BIOS (1011)).
>>>>
>>>> Despite setting the "OnBoard Audio" to "Disable", it keeps finding
>>>> the C-Media CMI8738 Audio Controller on boot time and asks for it's
>>>> driver.
>>>>
>>>> While "feeding the beast" with the appropriate driver stops it from
>>>> whining, it also enables the onboard audio jacks, which defeats the
>>>> purpose.
>>>>
>>>> I want to disable it to prevent interfering with a PCI audio card.
>>>>
>>>> BTW, changing PnP OS value in BIOS doesn't change anything.
>>>>
>>>> Any idea ?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>>
>>>
>>> As Paul suggested you should disable it in Device Manager.
>>> However, it should not interfere with a PCI audio card even
>>> if it isn't disabled. It is quite possible to continually
>>> use multiple sound cards in the same system, if your
>>> particular application doesn't allow picking which one to
>>> use then set that one as the primary or preferred sound
>>> device in control panel, sounds & multimedia.
>>
>> Thank you both for your replies..
>>
>> I had to disable the onboard audio in the device manager *and* uninstall
>> all programs/drivers related using add/remove programs, otherwise there
>> is an unresponsive "Mixer" button sitting on the task bar upon reboot.
>>
>> As for leaving both audio cards, it is not my preferred solution since
>> the C-Media driver (at least the one availiable on Asus's site) installs
>> its own and sticky "Mixer" on the tray - even if I install only the
>> drivers using device manager - which could be confusing for the PC's owner.
>>
>>
>> Just for my own knowledge : does it happens often that a "disabled"
>> onboard feature actually stays enabled ? It's the first time I see this..
>>
>
>
>In Win2K, I had some trouble with the OS mediated selection of sound devices.
>I tried a PCI sound card and AC'97 at the same time. I'd select my "preferred"
>device in Windows, click apply or whatever, and the OS refused to remember my
>selection. So like yourself, I had to ensure one was disabled, to get
>satisfactory operation. Maybe WinXP works better for that, but I don't have
>WinXP here.
>
>As for the failure to disable, yes, it has happened before. And I cannot
>explain why it happens either.

I've had it happen, too - also with audio.
My guess then was that the BIOS did 'disable' it (by not allocating an IRQ,
etc), but did not prevent some part of it from responding when Windows did
its normal low-level 'new hardware?' probe.