Recently I've decided to shut my main computer down when leaving for work. Not only does it save the hardware, but it also saves a bunch of energy. When I got home today, I fired up the machine while heading over to the living room to greet Tai and play with him a bit. When I was done playing - he wasn't, lol - I started working on the computer not noticing anything weird. I logged in to Second Life and then it hit me that I wasn't hearing any sound. Not the gentle splashing noises of the waves breaking on the shoreline - I live in a tropical sim, remember? - nor teleporting, typing sounds. Strange! Maybe another SL problem? I fire up a video and get nothing. It plays for 2 seconds without audio, then freezes on video too.
Time to check some cables and connectors - I had already checked volume settings and such, in the odd case I clicked somewhere that I shouldn't have and changed some setting without realizing it - but they all appeared in order, and taking the 2 second play time before freezing on video too, it would suggest a driver or software issue, not hardware.
After stopping and restarting the Windows Audio Service in the control panel, I've got full audio capability again. I have no clue why it failed - the status was "started" - but stopping it and firing it up again solved things. In case it happens to you, you know where to look. Alternatively, reboot the machine completely. Or smack it on the side really really hard repeatedly, preferably when the disks are just spinning up. It won't make your audio work any better, but it'll reduce stress levels and make a loud "bang" noise, which beats silence, doesn't it? It may also result in the need to purchase a new computer, hopefully one that doesn't suffer from the sound of silence disease.
Comments
A new computer... like maybe a Mac? :D
Posted by: Ashtronaut at February 25, 2008 2:10 AM
Ayayay! It sounds like you've got the same problems as your dad (again). lol
Posted by: Hilda at February 25, 2008 9:51 PM