Sound card and speaker failure inspection and treatment methods

1. Common faults of audio system
Although there are many failures in the audio system, they can be summarized as follows: unable to sound normally, insufficient volume, high noise, and compatibility issues.
(1) Cannot speak normally
When encountering this kind of situation, do not rush to open the case. You should check step by step from the outside to the inside and from the soft to the hard. The steps are as follows:
①Identify the fault location and check whether the hardware wiring is correct:
Since any one of the sound card and the speakers is not working properly, it may cause a failure to sound normally, so the fault should be determined first. You can plug the input plug of the speaker into another audio source device or the headphone jack on the CD-ROM panel for trial listening.
If the speaker cannot produce sound at this time, it is a serious problem with its internal power amplifier or power circuit. At this time, specific inspection and maintenance can be carried out according to the actual situation. If you are not proficient in electronic maintenance technology, it is better to have professional maintenance personnel handle it.

If the sound from the speaker is normal, please check whether the speaker plug is inserted into the SPK jack on the sound card, and whether there is a short circuit or open circuit in the connecting cable. If everything is normal, proceed to the next step.
②Check the DMA, IRQ and I/0 address parameters of the sound card:

When the system installs the sound card driver, the installer usually selects the default values of DMA, IRQ, and I/0 address parameters for installation, but sometimes this default value will conflict with other devices, causing the sound card to not sound normally. At this time, you can choose the "Start→Settings→Control Panel→System→Device Management→Properties" tab. This tab will display the resource usage of all hardware devices in the computer, including IRQ, DMA, I/O and We can select and view the four types of "memory". For example, if we select the IRQ system resource, the interrupt number that the system has allocated now can be displayed. At this time, if the IRQ resource of the sound card is found to conflict with other devices, it can be solved by manually adjusting the sound card to select an idle IRQ for it. However, this situation rarely occurs on the integrated AC 97 standard soft sound card.
③Incompatible driver:

Due to the high stability of the Windows XP system, many people choose to upgrade or freshly install the system. However, Windows XP has higher requirements for hardware driver compatibility, and some older sound card drivers often cannot be supported. Although sometimes Windows XP may automatically install drivers for the sound card, it is often impossible to make the sound card sound in actual use. In this case, it is generally only expected that the manufacturer can provide compatible drivers.

(2) Insufficient volume
Insufficient volume—that is, the expected output power cannot be achieved. At this time, adjusting the volume knob on the speaker or adjusting the volume adjustment icon on the taskbar will not have a very obvious effect. This failure can be divided into four situations:
①The input plug of the speaker is incorrectly inserted into the Line Out jack:
This kind of connection will cause the sound signal to be directly sent to the speaker power amplifier circuit without being amplified by the on-board amplifier of the sound card, and the driving power required by the speaker power amplifier circuit is higher, resulting in a lower output volume. In this case, as long as the input plug of the speaker is changed to the SPK jack of the sound card, the volume can be significantly improved.
②There is a fault in the internal circuit of the speaker:
If the previous method is used and the volume still cannot be increased significantly, it may be that the internal power amplifier and power circuit of the speaker are faulty. As maintenance requires necessary electronic knowledge and hands-on skills, it is better for general readers to hand it over to professional maintenance personnel for maintenance.

③There is a fault in the chip or circuit of the sound card:

If it has been confirmed that there is no problem with the speakers, it may be that there is a problem with the components of the sound card itself. Generally, only professionals should be asked to deal with or replace the sound card.

④There is a compatibility problem between the sound card and the motherboard:
Although this situation is rare, it does exist. If you suspect this is the case, you can plug in the sound card to another computer for testing. If the volume of the sound card on other computers is normal, it means that the sound card has a compatibility problem with the motherboard. This problem can only be solved by replacing other brands and models of sound cards.
(3) Troubleshooting with high noise

Large-noise faults mainly refer to abnormal sounds in the background of the sound emitted from the speakers when the computer is running sound software, such as howling, "buzzing", "shasha" and other sounds. The ability to run audio software indicates that the system is working normally, and the problem is mainly in the sound card or speakers. Moreover, it is more common in the condition of self-excitation or external interference in the speaker amplifier. Below we will discuss the inspection steps and treatment methods of this kind of noise failure.
①Check active speakers:

When encountering this kind of failure, first disconnect the signal connection line between the active speaker and the sound card, and turn on the power of the speaker, and then turn up the volume knob. If there is noise, there is a problem with the speaker, which can be handled by professional maintenance personnel.

②There is no problem with the speaker, but the noise is louder after connecting the sound card

At this time, check whether the speaker input signal line is connected incorrectly. Incorrect wiring will also cause howling. Usually the connection between the sound card and the active speaker is a one-to-two stereo audio signal cable, and two lotus plugs should be inserted into the two input ends of the active speaker. If one is connected to the input end of an active speaker and the other is connected to the output end of an active speaker, a howling sound will be produced. On the other hand, if the speaker requires less driving power, and the dual-channel plug is connected to the SPK jack output by the sound card amplifier circuit, noise and distortion may occur. At this time, the plug can be inserted into the sound card Try the Line Out jack.
③High and low frequency electromagnetic interference problems:
If after inspection, it is determined that there is no problem with the software and hardware, it should be considered whether the various high and low frequency electromagnetic interferences caused by the internal and external circuits of the chassis have interfered with the audio system. For example: poor power filtering, high and low frequency electromagnetic interference caused by graphics cards, motherboards and other plug-in cards. At this time, you can open the case and insert the sound card into the slot away from the graphics card, network card, video card, etc., to reduce the noise caused by high-frequency interference.

Noise failure caused by poor power supply filtering usually also sees moire interference on the display. In this case, the power supply should be repaired or replaced immediately.
④The sound card circuit is faulty or the sound card is not compatible with the motherboard:

If the sound card is changed to another motherboard and the noise disappears, it is a compatibility issue between the sound card and the motherboard, and it must be replaced with a sound card of other brands and models. Otherwise, it is a problem with the sound card's own circuit, so you can ask a professional to repair it.
Wooden Speakers:https://www.zeshuiplatform.com/