[SOLVED] No audio with 2 different GPU's

silversmithy

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I have an Nvidia GTX 470 that I have in an old core 2 duo system and last tried out approx 1 week ago. Unfortunately it is a card with a mini HDMI port and the adapter is thicker in the middle so it hits the back of the case and is most likely not going on all the way.
When I last used that computer it seemed to work okay, but 2 different times the computer would not power on at all, or there was no video. Again I figured it was the adapter issue. Keep in mind though that as far as I remember there was audio.
Today I turned the computer on and tv states no input so i made sure HDMI was in as far as it would go and restarted computer. Initially there was black and white vert/horizontal dash lines on the screen but when I gently wiggled the adapter, they were gone and screen looked good. No audio at anytime, not even at Windows startup. Nvidia high definition audio is showing up in control panel, and when I run a troubleshoot it says no peripherals are plugged in. I reinstalled Nvidia drivers again just to make sure, and played nfs carbon quite poorly with a keyboard for 10-15 minutes and no video issues at all, but no audio.
I have another video card I wanted to test out so I thought why not. It's an old and HD 6850 and it has a std HDMI port. I installed it, uninstalled all the Invidia drivers, and installed the official AMD whql drivers. Card recognized and shows it is running properly in device manager. Still no audio. Also at first no video signal either at start up on 2 different occasions. After restarting both times I did eventually get a video signal. I have had the audio issue happen before, but cannot remember exactly what the solution was. Any help would be great! Thanks
 
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Solution
My first thought would be: wrong audio output selected in Windows' audio manager. Next would be muted audio in the audio mixer.

If the Core2's PSU is half as old as the PC itself, unreliable boot could be a sign of its PSU going bad.

silversmithy

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Also should mention that I had a gtx 750ti in the same computer before with no audio issues.
I can DDU and had it uninstall all of the Invidia drivers, and did a restart. No audio still. In device manager the HD 6800 series is the only display adapter showing, and it is working properly. I noticed before that in device manager that under other devices that the multimedia audio controller, and the pci input device both have no drivers installed.
when I go into control panel and sound settings it shows AMD HDMI OUTPUT, AMD high definition audio device as the default and it has the green check by it. On the volume icon in the lower right it shows the TV icon and when I click on that it shows AMD HDMI OUTPUT.
I have made sure that the HDMI cable is secure in both the TV and GPU. Video is just fine. The other thing I noted was when clicking on the TV icon in the lower right corner and clicking on the advanced tab under properties if I choose any of the options, i.e. 16 bit, 24 bit, etc. i get the pop-up that says Device in Use -- The device is being used by another application. Please close any devices that are playing audio to this device and then try again. I am at a loss.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
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silversmithy

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Any thoughts/advice? I have tried just about everything I can think of including running DDU multiple times. One thing I did note is that every time I run DDU it finds Nvidia drivers from the previous card(s) says they are being uninstalled, and restarts PC.
Also I have reinstalled the drivers for the HD 6850 at least twice. There is an old sound card installed in the PC case that I am not using, but it has been there and never caused any conflicts before and does not even show up in the audio options. When I did run DDU and choose audio drivers, Realtek shows up as one of the options to clean. Should I remove the sound card and have DDU remove the Realtek drivers? I am pretty much out of options and do not know why this even happened in the first place as I have swapped out graphics cards before without this issue....
 
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silversmithy

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Thanks for responding! I will check into that but pretty sure I checked both already. The AMD high definition audio is set as default and the Realtek is disabled. When set this way when I move volume up or down, no sign of life, but when I have Realtek set as default when I move the volume up or down at least it shows the little green flicker moving, but again no audio. It does not look like anything is muted, but besides the Realtek screen and volume control where else should I check. The PSU is a used but really like new Seasonic 750 watt full modular that I have maybe put 14-16 hours on since installing about 2- 3 years ago roughly . The GTX 750 TI ran great prior to the HD 6850. Thanks again and any other ideas would be most welcome.
One other thought... Since it has only had 2 other video cards since I have owned the rig prior to the HD 6850 and both were Nvidia, and the MB is an nForce 680i LT SLI could it be a compatibility issue with any AMD cards in this board? Thanks again.
 
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InvalidError

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In your initial post, you wrote that the GTX470 didn't have sound either.

Before you go through the trouble of re-installing Windows, you may want to test the cable and TV input with a different device (console, STB, Chromecast or similar, BD player, laptop, etc.) if you have any you can use.
 

silversmithy

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You are right. I think with the 470 though that it was the thickness of the mini HDMI to HDMI adapter not allowing it to go into the card all the way. I am working on filing the plastic edge down so it fits, and retry. The TV that is being used is an old Sony Bravia and has mostly been used with an old ps3 and at times Xbox with no issues. I did try a different HDMI cord as well. The only other time I had a similar problem with the same TV was with an r9 380x nitro which ended up being a driver issue. I have tried doing the same this time to no avail.
 

InvalidError

Titan
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Well, you used two different GPUs from two different manufactuers with completely different drivers, so I think that rules out both the GPUs and drivers since it is exceedingly unlikely that two completely different sets of drivers and hardware would have the exact same problem.

Is your PS3 and Xbox sound working when using your PC's cable and TV input?
 

silversmithy

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So I tried the old ps3 through the TV and works fine both with video and audio. Switched over to the PC and 1st I noticed that the HDMI was pretty loose in the back of the HDMI port of the 6850, but in all the way. When I turned on the PC no video at all, and either the PC fans or the 6850's spinning @ full speed, stop and go full speed, and pretty much stay that way. Turned off PC, and tried another HDMI cable. This time better fit into the 6850, and good video with fans spinning normally. Still no audio. I went ahead and ran DDU again and got rid of all AMD drivers, and auto shutdown. I then ran DDU again to get rid of any lingering Nvidia drivers. I gave done this already at least 4 times, and each time it finds a bunch of drivers and uninstalls, but they keep showing back up.... Maybe I just need to put an Nvidia card back in....
 

silversmithy

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So downloaded card specific drivers for the 6850 and rebooted the system....video good... no audio. Going to hook up some external speakers to see if I get at least sound that way. There has to be a conflict somewhere. The AMD HD audio is set to default, and whether I disable the Realtek audio or just leave at ready, no audio through graphics card. There were no issues with audio when the 750ti was in it, and the only changes were installing the HD 6850, and AMD drivers. Also I may have forgotten to mention that I did not always get a video signal with the HD 6850 when first installed. I had to restart the system at least twice if I remember correctly, and that was when correct drivers were already installed. Again I have gone through uninstalling the Nvidia drivers several times.
 
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InvalidError

Titan
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Put the 750Ti back in if you still have it and see what happens?

I'd double-check that the correct audio device is selected everywhere and then start considering a Windows re-install to a spare HDD/SSD to see if that actually solves it.

A few years ago, I had audio crackling issues that affected all outputs no matter what, no amount of dicking around with enabling/disabling stuff and de-installing programs made any difference so I ended up re-installing Windows because of it and it did fix whatever the issue was.
 
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silversmithy

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Well. I guess it's an issue with AMD drivers??? I put the gtx 470 back in and installed correct drivers. Video and sound no problem so far but not tested long. I put the 6850 into a different PC that has had mostly AMD cards in it lately. Installed drivers, and have video and sound through HDMI.
 
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InvalidError

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Problem solved, sort of :)

At least now you know for sure that both GPUs are working.

Since all HDMI audio does on a PC is pass a audio streams from the Windows sound system to the video output over PCIe for muxing with display data over HDMI , it would take an exceptionally special hardware failure to cause loss of sound without loss of video.
 
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silversmithy

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Thanks again for all the help. The audio is still working, but on booting the computer about 1-2 hours ago the boot screen was black and white artifacts until it got to the Windows 7 start-up screen at which point it was back to normal. I played a game for about 1 just to test the card. After about 1 hour or a little longer the screen and audio froze for a few seconds. I checked the temp of the card and it was 81'c. I shut off the computer and then started up again. Booted okay, but game opening intro had no sound. Hit enter and at the next scene the audio was fine. I am wondering if the 470 and 6850 are basically nice looking paper weights at this point.... Oh well.