driver update - need some help

[hofshi]

this has nothing to do with µtorrent, but I could use some help from the knowledgeable people over here...

I have some audio problems, and I decided to update my drivers.

I tried to update the driver for "C-Media AC97 Audio device"

in the device manager it's located under "sound, video, and game controllers"

after an update through the Internet was finished, I was asked to restart my computer.

After that, there is a problem showing in the device manager:

This device cannot start. (Code 10)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.

but the troubleshooter does not open on my machine

marscore.dll not found

a "roll back driver" works ok, but I'd like to update the driver to see if it solves my audio problems.

any help will be appreciated...

[dAbReAkA]

C-Media AC-97?

i haven't heard of that.. u probably mean Realtek AC-97 or maybe i'm mistaken

[1c3d0g]

Oh man...good luck with that. Once I had a C-Media audio controller...what a PoS that was, especially the driver. Never could get the damn thing to work. :/

Here's a place where you can download that marscore.dll file:

http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?marscore

Some tips to deal with a similar problem:

http://ask-leo.com/when_i_select_help_and_support_i_get_a_warning_marscoredll_not_found_what_should_i_do.html

[Ares]

You can find AC-97's under several brands. They can be quite a pain to upgrade. Sometimes Realtek drivers will work no matter what it is "branded." Just be sure to keep a copy of your old drivers.

EDIT: You might try Windows Update, and click on Custom then do the Hardware upgrade. But don't upgrade anything else in that list, as I've seen Windows Update drivers really mess up things that are already working. Just my experience.

[hofshi]

Thanks 1c3d0g,

I've extracted the marscore.dll to c:\windows\system32 , but that didn't do it.

maybe it's looking for it in a different location? (XP pro, SP2)

[hofshi]

Thanks Ares, 1c3d0g

I'm not even sure if that's is what's causing my weird audio problems.

I initially thought that it was a codec contention or something because audio playback sounds strange, but I uninstalled and reinstalled all the codecs I knew of in my computer, and the problem persists

[Ares]

Exactly what sort of audio problem are you experiencing?

[hofshi]

when I listen to music on my computer, be it an mp3 file on winamp, or some song on pandora.com

the music doesn't sound right.

It's hard to describe the distortion, but it's similar to someone using a microphone and speaking too close and to loud into it.

[Ares]

Hmm, have you tried plugging in headphones? Could be your speakers. Does it "pop" and "crack" like your volume is up too loud? (That's what I envision when I think of using a mic and speaking too loudly into it.)

EDIT: And are they external speakers, or internal?

[hofshi]

no, it's not the speakers, which are external by the way.

when I removed all codecs from my computer it was better for a while, and then came back.

[Ares]

Hmm, I've never seen a codec do that. Especially considering you use a codec to decode a certain format. If you're playing MP3s, you're only using that codec. If you're listening to another format, you won't be using the MP3 codec.

Have you tried the Windows Update drivers?

[Inf]

First, try to lower the related volume controls (both wave and master) to the mid range and see if it makes a difference. Also, 'AC-97' software often have a software audio equalizer that dont seems to do the job, but seems to ruin the audio signal just fine instead, make sure that thing is off. Also, if there are any 'audio effects' options in the 'AC-97' software, turn those off.

[hofshi]

The thing is, I tried listening to the mp3 file using VLC. If i'm not mistaken, VLC doesn't use any external codecs for mp3, and I still had the problem.

This led me to try to update my audio driver, which brings up back to the start of this thread...

[Firon]

AC97 is a standard, not a soundcard or anything

[hofshi]

I'm not sure that I understand what you suggest. :|

The "C-Media AC97 Audio device" is what shows in my device manager.

[Firon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC%2797

[hofshi]

ok... I'm more educated not, but how does this help?

[Firon]

I was just correcting dAbReAkA

It's possible your soundcard is dying, this happened to my friend too. he had to get a new soundcard to fix it.

[hofshi]

I hope it isn't...

I'll try to re-install windows soon, to see if it will fix this and other problems that accumulated since the last install (almost four year ago)

[jroc]

if ur microphone audio setting is there, turn it down or mute it to see if it helps. Also go into the mic advanced settings and turn off mic boost to see if it helps.

[hofshi]

thanks.

the microphone is already muted, but the mic boost is currently on. I'll check if turning it off helps...

[chaosblade]

Im not sure if my 'issues' are similar, but if they are, i have one solution for you:

get a real soundcard. The onboard sound chips are limited at best.

[Firon]

lies, onboard can be great especially nForce onboard.

I still want a nice M-Audio Revolution 5.1 though <.<

[1c3d0g]

BS. Onboard audio sucks! The Intel HD Audio thingy was supposed to be a revolution (for Integrated APU's), yet the poor implementation leaves much to be desired (though it is better than the AC'97 crap). :/

[jroc]

hofshi, your soundcard might be dying like Firon said. A year ago my power supply went out. Well, just my fan. But it overheated everything and my PC would auto shutdown after 15-20 minutes. I tried doing something with an old power supply and somehow fried my onboard audio. Then it started sounding like the speakers was underwater lol

I eventually fixed the overheating by Frankensteining an old fan (im a pack rat. I got so many spare parts from past PCs its not funny) in the power supply with the one that went bad. Havent had any problems with the power supply since.

(But I had to use a sound card instead of the onboard audio. And yes, the sound card was one of my spare parts....lol)