Question Brand new sound card won’t show up in device manager

May 29, 2019
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I just bought a new sound card because I thought my old one “died”. Since I like the old one so much I bought the same exact one and when I get it I plugged it in yet nothing happens and it doesn’t show up in device manager. So I play around with it restarting the computer, playing with drivers, and playing with the position of the card to no luck. I have tried the card in a different computer and it worked fine. The sound card is a diamond xtreme audio 5.1 pci sound card I know it’s a little old but it was able to work before so I don’t know why it doesn’t work now . I am currently running windows 10 fully up to date. There is not indicator light to tell me it has power I hope the motherboard is not the problem. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this issue?
 
When you installed the new card, you do not say you re-installed the driver for it. Because it is exactly the same (it may seem) as the old one, your system may NOT have installed its driver properly. So, try this to force it to NOT have any sound card, and then to do a clean complete install.

  1. Open Device Manager and find that sound card. Right-click on it and choose to Remove it and its device driver. Back out of Device Manager.
  2. Shut down the system. Disconnect power. Open the case and remove the new sound card.
  3. Re-connect power and boot up and this will force the system to recognize that it has no sound card or any driver for it. Shut down again and disconnect power.
  4. Re-install the new sound card in its slot. Close up and re-connect power.
  5. Boot up and the system should recognize that the sound card is new. It may automatically install its device driver.
  6. Go into Device Manager and check on the card. Even if it has a device driver installed, you may want to Update that driver to the latest version for that card. Maybe you got one with the card on a CD, or maybe you should get the latest version from the card maker's website. Back out of Device Manager.
  7. In Windows Control Panel find the Sounds configuration system. In it there should be a place where you can specify which is the Default Sound Playback Device, and a similar selector for the Default Sound Recording Device. No matter how many of these hardware devices you have, Windows can use only one of them for each type of use. Make sure that each is set to use that new sound card, then back out.
  8. Also ensure that the sound card configuration utilities that came with it are installed. Use those to configure your card to your needs. The tools usually also have some testing tools to verify the card is working.
 
When you installed the new card, you do not say you re-installed the driver for it. Because it is exactly the same (it may seem) as the old one, your system may NOT have installed its driver properly. So, try this to force it to NOT have any sound card, and then to do a clean complete install.

  1. Open Device Manager and find that sound card. Right-click on it and choose to Remove it and its device driver. Back out of Device Manager.
  2. Shut down the system. Disconnect power. Open the case and remove the new sound card.
  3. Re-connect power and boot up and this will force the system to recognize that it has no sound card or any driver for it. Shut down again and disconnect power.
  4. Re-install the new sound card in its slot. Close up and re-connect power.
  5. Boot up and the system should recognize that the sound card is new. It may automatically install its device driver.
  6. Go into Device Manager and check on the card. Even if it has a device driver installed, you may want to Update that driver to the latest version for that card. Maybe you got one with the card on a CD, or maybe you should get the latest version from the card maker's website. Back out of Device Manager.
  7. In Windows Control Panel find the Sounds configuration system. In it there should be a place where you can specify which is the Default Sound Playback Device, and a similar selector for the Default Sound Recording Device. No matter how many of these hardware devices you have, Windows can use only one of them for each type of use. Make sure that each is set to use that new sound card, then back out.
  8. Also ensure that the sound card configuration utilities that came with it are installed. Use those to configure your card to your needs. The tools usually also have some testing tools to verify the card is working.
The problem is that it does not show up in device manager
 
OK, here's an idea. You said above, "I did disable it in the bios but nothing happened", which makes me think you had NOT disabled the mobo sound system BEFORE installing the card. I am not sure, but the instructions for that card here

http://www.dmmdownload.com/downloads/CURRENT/SOUND/QSG_51_71_71DDL sound_ cards.pdf

on p.4 specifically say there is a required sequence. You must Disable the on-board card before installing, then reboot after that to force Windows to recognize it does not have an audio system. THEN you shut down and install your new sound card and follow the precise instructions to prevent Windows from finding its own device driver, and forcing Windows to use the driver install process on the CD that came with the card.

So, follow my list of steps above, but change Step 1 to making sure that you have Disabled the on-board system in BIOS Setup and then used the SAVE and EXIT step to get out of there and reboot. In place of my Steps 5 and 6, follow the instructions from the card's manual on p.4, lower half of the page, Steps 1 through 8. When that is done, check in Device Manager that the card and its drive do appear now. In my Step 7, you may well find that the Windows settings are already correct, since you stated with no sound hardware and then ran the proper Install process for the added card.

Note that, in the card's manual, p. 5 and 6 outline optional software tools included on the CD that you may choose to install and use, but that is your choice. p. 7 shows you the card's configuration app that should be installed at the same time as the driver, and should appear in your system tray as an icon.