Mac guy builds MAME PC for cab but cant get sound, RRRRRRRRRRR!

[rackoon]

Like the title says all the computers in the house are macs because my wife is a fanatic mac lover (don't even get me started on that) I built a P4 based computer from parts on eBay, some new some used, and the system works well. I have ultimarcs VGAcard hooked up to a real monitor and even Tempest looks great. This computer is for my cab only and has win XP and MAME 103 on it and every thing works great BUT I never botherd to hook up any speakers and the computer is not in a case so there isn't a case speaker.

Any way, I hooked up some speakers today and (not even the cricket sound)
Mother board says it has on-board audio (its on auto in bios)
Windows says no audio divice detected.
So now what? HMMMMM
Any ideas?

[Bobbler]

Install the drivers for the onboard sound card?
Does it show in the device manager as "unknown device" or something at the moment?

[Dervacumen]

Welcome to the differnece between a mac (where everything just works) and a PC (where nothing ever does).
If your BIOS says that it's probably a driver issue.

I would go into computer properties and completely delete the sound card.

Go to My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> Sound, Video and Game Controllers - and delete the whole profile.

When you reboot, windows should take care of reinstalling some driver that will actually give you sound. 

[rackoon]

Ya know, I just never botherd to install the CD that came with the motherboard because everything (up till now worked great) I'm going to install it right now and see what happens.

[FrizzleFried]

Doh!

Drivers = good thing to have installed.

I am willing to bet you will come back and announce "IT WORKS!"

[rackoon]

MAN I FEEL STUPID! Thanks for the help guys.

I do have one question though, will I get better sound quality through a sound card?

I have car speakers, an equalizer with a built in amp and a extra PC power supply to hook up some serious sound later when my cab is ready. I want to crank 80's tunes while playing eventually.

(This is not hooked up yet, just parts sitting on the floor)

Or am I pushing my PC speakers just a little too far? I didn't have it louder than any arcade I have been in.

For example DK Jr. sounded like crap but Metal Slug X sounded great. 

[ahofle]

I do have one question though, will I get better sound quality through a sound card?

That is very doubtful, especially if you are talking about emulation where most of the sounds are not exactly great to begin with.  You may get a very slight increase in performance, but probably not a noticeable one.  I upgraded my on-board sound with a soundblaster live in my arcade cabinet PC and didn't notice any difference in sound or performance.  If you are playing modern PC games you will probably notice though.

[FrizzleFried]

I am not sure if DKJr uses samples or not,  but DK does and the sounds are dirty and fairly craptastic (will they EVER emulate the sounds in DK correctly? Hmmm...)

[_) (V) (-)]

Mac guy wished to discuss PC audio settings, [accept] or [deny]?

[Accept]


Hey Rackoon
You will get much better sound quality using the EQ, amp and car speaker setup but, you'll have to use the on-board sound cards output as your pre-amp to feed the later stages.

I'd recommend you keep the PC's output volume low, like 30%, and let the big amp do the real work. Using the EQ you could then filter out some of the hiss and really crank up the BOOM! I run a subwoofer setup on my first cab, the only one that is playable so far, and it ROCKS! I also use it as a juke box for while I'm working and it's great. If you like jammin good tunes while you work, you'll thank yourself for the extra effort.

[Havok]

Welcome to the differnece between a mac (where everything just works) and a PC (where nothing ever does).

Dude - the guy built a pc from parts. Can you do that with a mac? NOPE! Of course he's going to have some issues especially if he is not as familiar with pcs over someone that buys a closed architecture machine (at twice the price), which damn well better work out of the box. By the way, you don't need to delete everything in Device Manager, reboot and pray - just go there and install the driver for the device that has a yellow exclamation mark. Usually, with sound, a reboot will not even be required...

Hi... I'm a Mac!

I live with my mom, in the basement. I don't have a job, and can't figure out how to work a pc. Someday, I hope to kiss a girl...

Hi... I'm a PC!

I have a job, wife, kids, house and a car and I own 95% of the computer market...

/end rant

As far as the DK sounds, there are unofficial samples out there, which you may like better. Try these out:

http://www.mameworld.net/samples/unofficialwav/dkong.zip

Copy that to your Mame samples directory

[FrizzleFried]

I'll have to give them a try....

Thanks Havok!

[ahofle]

http://mvpc.ytmnd.com/

Hehehe.  I know it's not so true anymore with the intel processors, but still funny.

[Havok]

Hahahaha...

Love the corpse hump at the end - perfect!

 

[rackoon]

I just spit coffee all over my monitor

[sphetr2]

Welcome to the differnece between a mac (where everything just works) and a PC (where nothing ever does).

Dude - the guy built a pc from parts. Can you do that with a mac? NOPE! Of course he's going to have some issues especially if he is not as familiar with pcs over someone that buys a closed architecture machine (at twice the price), which damn well better work out of the box. By the way, you don't need to delete everything in Device Manager, reboot and pray - just go there and install the driver for the device that has a yellow exclamation mark. Usually, with sound, a reboot will not even be required...

I agree... of course mac has no driver issues, because all of its hardware is made by apple. Windows has to adapt to hardware from many manufacturers. Sometimes, it's not even Windows' fault. The manufacturer may just supply a bad driver.

Same issue with Linux. People blame it for their driver problems. It's not the fault of Linux. The manufacturer just doesn't supply the drivers or required resources for getting something to work in Linux.

http://mvpc.ytmnd.com/

Hehehe.  I know it's not so true anymore with the intel processors, but still funny.

VERY funny! 

[Crax]

I agree... of course mac has no driver issues, because all of its hardware is made by apple. Windows has to adapt to hardware from many manufacturers. Sometimes, it's not even Windows' fault. The manufacturer may just supply a bad driver.

Some of the worst driver issues I ever had involved a mac and a film machine for  a printing presses.  3rd party driver issues are generally the fault of the driver manufacturer and not the OS.