Weird audio/capture card error - no sound!

[PDFarsight]

Hello everyone, I am in dire need of assistance.

I have an AMD Athlon 2.08 GHz processor with 512 MB RAM and a SoundBlaster Live! Sound Card, but the most important is the ASUS TV Tuner and Capture Card, I think the 880 model. The audio is rendered through a wire from the "AUDIO OUT" port to the "LINE IN" port on my sound card, but quite simply, it will not render audio. It's like it won't even accept it. I have worked all weekend on this error, searching all over the internet, and have found nothing. The following is everything I have tried:

The program is flawed.
Premiere, Virtualdub and Power VCR II all have this problem (and yes, I have set the recording device to the Line In on my sound card.)

The sound card is broken.
Not possible. I play everything else, from MP3s to system sounds to movies fine.

The computer will not allow any audio in.
Wrong. It can record from the microphone.

The original source has no audio.
I play it on a regular VCR and TV fine, with crisp, clear audio.



There are two things I think might be wrong:

The capture card is flawed in some way.
It captures video perfectly, but even when I plug earphones directly into the Audio Out on the capture card all I hear is silence (thought there is static whenever there is a particularly loud sound).

There are noncompatible/conflicting/outdated drivers.
I have tried and tried to find appropriate drivers, but to no avail. The Device Manager says this device is working properly and the drivers do not need to be updated. I think this is best reason, aside from the capture card just being broken. Here are the drivers I think might be connected in some way to the capture card:

• Audio Codecs
  AVerMedia, AVer TV 303/403 Crossbar
  AVerMedia, AVer TV 303/403 Capture Card
  Creative Game Port
  Creative SB Live! series
  Legacy Audio Drivers
  Legacy Video Capture Devices
  Media Control Devices
  SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
  Video Codecs

Does anyone know if these drivers might be conflicting in some way or anything, or does anyone know a way to test the functionality of the capture card? Thanks you for your time.[/list]

[mastersmurfie]

I remember seeing a post here once about some sort of "mixer " with the SB Live card. Maybe there is something in there that tells your sound card "where" to record from? Also, when you watch the TV, do you have sound? How is your source sound being input to the capture card?

just a thought

mastersmurfie

[scottb721]

Read through my post about no sound and see if it's similar.
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=216371&highlight=

I ended up getting VirtualVCR to record tuner audio.

[PDFarsight]

Thanks for all your help.

mastersmurfie, yes there is something called Windows Mixer that tells where to record from, but I have already configured this to record from the Line In of the audio card. In fact, I have tried every combination of every recording port and every recording source, and still nothing works.

scottb721, I have already seen your post and it is different in that you could actually hear the sound in the card's own app, whereas I cannot (my card's app is PowerVCR II). I have downloaded VirtualVCR and that, too, will not play the sound.

Thank you both for your replies.


I still think it has something to do with drivers or the functionality of the card itself. Does anyone know anything about that?

[mastersmurfie]

Thanks for all your help.

mastersmurfie, yes there is something called Windows Mixer that tells where to record from, but I have already configured this to record from the Line In of the audio card. In fact, I have tried every combination of every recording port and every recording source, and still nothing works.

scottb721, I have already seen your post and it is different in that you could actually hear the sound in the card's own app, whereas I cannot (my card's app is PowerVCR II). I have downloaded VirtualVCR and that, too, will not play the sound.

Thank you both for your replies.


I still think it has something to do with drivers or the functionality of the card itself. Does anyone know anything about that?

I know this has probably already been checked...but did you make sure that under Windows Volume Control->Recording that "line in" is selected, and not muted? (also, under this, maybe try using "AUX" as your "selected" source...I saw something one time (and actually worked for me for a while) about this...)

just a thought

mastersmurfie

[PDFarsight]

Thank you mastersmurfie, but I have unmuted all and checked every source with both of my Line In ports, and still nothing.

Important finding though: In VirtualVCR I was playing with the Devices tab, and went to the "Audio Capture Filter" device setting, clicked the "Prop" button and noticed that the entire "Master Input Mix" section is grayed and not enabled. Could this perhaps be the cause? What might be causing this?

Thank you for your time. If you know someone who might have knowledge in this area, please inform me.

[scottb721]

Did you try going into Audio settings of VirVCR , selecting TV Audio button, choosing "Stereo" and OK'ing that.

Initially, I selected 'Language A' and that's when sound first appeared. I later found that just selecting the already highlighted 'Stereo' got the sound working too.

[PDFarsight]

Did you try going into Audio settings of VirVCR , selecting TV Audio button, choosing "Stereo" and OK'ing that.

Initially, I selected 'Language A' and that's when sound first appeared. I later found that just selecting the already highlighted 'Stereo' got the sound working too.

Thanks scott, yes I actually have tried that and it did not work.

I think the most important pieces of information are (A) sound comes out in the form of static when it is loud and (B) hooking headphones directly into the AUDIO OUT of the video capture card produces the same effect. I'm not sure, but I think this shows at least that there is not a problem with the cords, or my sound card. I think the problem lies with the drivers, the settings or the card itself.

Also remember that the audio is greyed out in the Master Control of the Audio Capture Device in VirtualVCR. Is this important?

[Evander]

You have the asus tv 880 huh? That thing's a bitch when it comes to getting sound to function correctly. I should know, I have one. And on various message boards I've seen I'm not the only one. PowerVCR has never given me any problems, but WinDVD Recorder (which gives much higher quality captures from what I've seen, by the way) will not give me sound (I hear it for a split second when I open the program then it stops). IuVCR works pretty well, but for Virtual VCR it took some trouble to get sound working. I've found that I cannot enable preview and record audio at the same time. But the sound DOES work. I've posted my virtual vcr ini file below, try to copy and paste and see if it works. Also you might be interested in another thread of mine concerning the asus tv 880 https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=193021&highlight=
And by the way, my master line mixer is greyed out too. I think it's supposed to b/c not every sound card has a master recording input. If your pin line mixer is not greyed out, you should be OK

vvcr ini file:
[VirtualVCR]
CapStatX=387
CapStatY=145
AppLocX=214
AppLocY=160
AudioInputLevel=439
SaveCapStats=1
AlwaysOnTop=0
HideBars=0
AudioInputIndex=5
ResampleAudioTo=10000000
AudioResampleType=0
StreamOffsetType=0
VideoBrightness=5000
VideoHue=5000
VideoContrast=2753
VideoSaturation=7584
VideoColour=1
VideoGamma=0
VideoSharpness=4
TunerChannel=2
TunerCountry=1
TunerInputType=1
TunerMode=1
AudioDelay=0
ShowAudioScope=0
ShowHistogram=0
LogAVdiff=0
UseSmartTee=1
CapStatRelative=0
WantCaptureStats=0
ShowOnStop=0
AVIcompatINDEX=0
UseAudioResample=1
SyncUsingStreamOffset=0
CaptureFile=C:\pvcrwork\capture.avi
VideoColourFormat=YUY2
WantPreview=0
FrameRate=333667
UseFrameRate=1
CaptureAudio=1
MasterStream=-1
UseTimeLimit=0
TimeLimit=0
CustomWidth=688
CustomHeight=480
VideoCompCodec=@device:cm:{33D9A760-90C8-11D0-BD43-00A0C911CE86}\hfyu
AudioCompCodec=end
CompressVideo=1
CompressAudio=0
AudioCapabilityIndex=-1
FreeSpaceLimit=0
UseFreeSpace=0
VideoInputIndex=0
UsePreFilters=0
AppendStampToName=1
Audio_nChannel=2
Audio_nSamplesPerSec=48000
Audio_nAvgBytesPerSec=192000
Audio_nBlockAlign=4
Audio_wBitsPerSample=16
Audio_wFormatTag=1
VideoDevice=0
AudioDevice=0
QuitWhenDone=0
[Filters]
FILTER0=@devicew:{083863F1-70DE-11D0-BD40-00A0C911CE86}\{1B063980-3DFD-11D4-8E04-00105A626988}=none
FILTER1=@devicew:{083863F1-70DE-11D0-BD40-00A0C911CE86}\{A88C1185-0E40-45E6-888A-F1B25BAB75BC}=0, 0, 0 ,0
FILTER2=end
[ChannelINFO]
0-ID=-1
0-MAP=-1
0-NAME=none

[Evander]

Here's another thing you can try in vvcr, even if preview is enabled. Under settings/devices/ select "video crossbar" and prompt and try fiddling with the settings, such as link related systems, or whatever. My suspicion of this card is that the video crossbar is poorly implemented. I remember some time ago I had to manually fool with the crossbar to get iuvcr to get sound (which is another program you should try by the way)

[rebarlow]

Let's try to get a handle on where the problem is. Try taking the audio out from your capture card and plug it into the 'line in' of an audio device (amp, cassette player, vcr, etc) that you know works. If you can't playback sound through the device, then you ain't gonna be able to configure your computer to record it.

If you can, then the configuration search continues.

[PDFarsight]

Under settings/devices/ select "video crossbar" and prompt and try fiddling with the settings, such as link related systems, or whatever. My suspicion of this card is that the video crossbar is poorly implemented.

I have tried to link the various video and audio cannels in VirtualVCR as well as that other program you mentioned, but nothing has helped. Is there a way to change the implementation of the video crossbar? Is it a software or hardware thing? Do you think drivers have something to do with it?

Try taking the audio out from your capture card and plug it into the 'line in' of an audio device (amp, cassette player, vcr, etc) that you know works. If you can't playback sound through the device, then you ain't gonna be able to configure your computer to record it.

I don't have an audio playing device with a "line in" port, but I did put headphones directly into the "AUDIO OUT" port of the capture card, and got nothing but the loud-sound-static. Is this a similar way of testing it?

[MOVIEGEEK]

"It captures video perfectly, but even when I plug earphones directly into the Audio Out on the capture card all I hear is silence (thought there is static whenever there is a particularly loud sound). "

Are you capturing TV or video?On some capturecards(ATI) the audio out is used for the TV tuner only(coaxial),if you're capturing from a VCR(composite/s-video) you connect the line-out on the VCR to the line-in on the soundcard.

[Evander]

Is this your card?
http://www.asus.com.tw/vga/tvtuner/overview.htm
That's the Asus card I have, and if yours is the same, I noticed a difference in device manager:
Instead of
AVerMedia, AVer TV 303/403 Crossbar
AVerMedia, AVer TV 303/403 Capture Card
I have
Asus tv880 Crossbar
Asus tv880 Tuner
Asus tv880 Video Capture

Sorry, I'm not an expert so I don't know if there is a way to change the implementation of the video crossbar. You've already verified there's no audio even directly out of the tvcard with headphones, the same as running the line out into an amp.
There are still a few things you can do
1)if you have another pc, remove the asus card and try it on there and see if you get the same BS
2)have you tried listening to audio from both an external source AND from directly tuning channels on the tv card? if you can hear audio from the channels directly, that may indicate the audio input of the card is somehow broken [/b]

[PDFarsight]

Are you capturing TV or video?On some capturecards(ATI) the audio out is used for the TV tuner only(coaxial),if you're capturing from a VCR(composite/s-video) you connect the line-out on the VCR to the line-in on the soundcard.

Well, my manual doesn't say anything about that, and I'm actually trying to record both from a VCR and from my Gamecube. Neither work.

Is this your card?
http://www.asus.com.tw/vga/tvtuner/overview.htm
That's the Asus card I have, and if yours is the same, I noticed a difference in device manager:
Instead of
AVerMedia, AVer TV 303/403 Crossbar
AVerMedia, AVer TV 303/403 Capture Card
I have
Asus tv880 Crossbar
Asus tv880 Tuner
Asus tv880 Video Capture

Sorry, I'm not an expert so I don't know if there is a way to change the implementation of the video crossbar. You've already verified there's no audio even directly out of the tvcard with headphones, the same as running the line out into an amp.
There are still a few things you can do
1)if you have another pc, remove the asus card and try it on there and see if you get the same BS
2)have you tried listening to audio from both an external source AND from directly tuning channels on the tv card? if you can hear audio from the channels directly, that may indicate the audio input of the card is somehow broken.

Yes, that is my capture card. I've looked at those ASUS drivers, but I think that they are for Windows 98 and below. However, I will attempt to uninstall my current drivers and reinstall the ones you have.

I'm afraid that I can't switch the video capture card to another computer because my parents won't let me (they think my touching that computer = death for the computer). And as for the directly tuning channels thing... I really haven't tried to use it as a TV yet. ^^;; I'll get a cable and try it.

Do you have an instant messaging program, Evander? You seem to have the computer specs closest to mine and that would make it much easier. My AIM is PDFarsight.


EDIT: I went to this site:

http://www.asus.it/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=ASUS%20TV%20TUNER%20CARD(NTSC)

This site has all the drivers for my ASUS TV Tuner card, but none of them work. I tried TV880.exe, but that's apparently for Windows 98 and ME, not XP. I then tried win2kxpdr.zip and win2kxpdrv.zip, only to find that they are in reality the same file. None of them will install. In fact, if I try to reinstall the drivers from the CD that came with the card itself, it says, "No ASUS TV Tuner Card found. Please Install the TV Tuner Card. Installation Aborts."

And yet it captures video.

...

???

[mastersmurfie]

Are you capturing TV or video?On some capturecards(ATI) the audio out is used for the TV tuner only(coaxial),if you're capturing from a VCR(composite/s-video) you connect the line-out on the VCR to the line-in on the soundcard.

Well, my manual doesn't say anything about that, and I'm actually trying to record both from a VCR and from my Gamecube. Neither work.

How is your source connected to the capture card? i.e.: what's plugged in to the connector box on the card?

just a thought

mastersmurfie

[MOVIEGEEK]

mastersmurfie understands my question...let me ask PDFarsight this way:Are you using coaxial cable(RG58/RG6) which has a screw on connector or composite/s-video cable which has a push on connector for the video?

[PDFarsight]

It's an S-Video connector.

...Say... think the pins might be bent? Maybe?

EDIT: I plugged a cable into the cable port on the back of the capture card and configured PowerVCRII to record from the Video TV, but got neither visual nor audio. I also didn't get any video or audio in VirtualVCR. Did I configure this improperly? (I just plugged the cable directly from the wall into the capture card.)[/b]

[mastersmurfie]

It's an S-Video connector.

...Say... think the pins might be bent? Maybe?

And herein probably lies your problem. An S-Video connector does not carry any audio. You'll need to also connect the "Audio Out" from your source to your capture card. On the capture card, there *should* be different connectors: S-Video, a yellow colored jack for "video" and a red and a white jack, possibly labeled "audio left/right".

The Game Cube should have some sort of connector that has three "plugs" coming out of it, in addition to the S-Video connector. A yellow, white, and red RCA plug. Try connecting the red and white to the sound card, and see if you have any sound. (also, do this with the VCR...)

just a thought

mastersmurfie

[Evander]

Sorry, I don't use use any instant messaging programs but I checked the "notify when reply is posted" so I'll answer as soon as I can. Well if you card is indeed the 880, the drivers on that site SHOULD work (now I'm using an XP system, 2.067 drivers from tv880.zip). In that archive, there is setup.exe but also setupxp.exe for XP systems. Did you try that?
The CD drivers don't work? That's damn odd. I didn't install the drivers from the cd on my xp system (I used the download). But I checked and the drivers seem to be the same 2.067, and has setup.exe and setupxp.exe on the cd. Where did you get the current Aver drivers from? XP automatically installed them? I had experience one with an old system where windows attempted to automatically install what it thought were the correct drivers for a sound card, but they were wrong. For it to work, I had to remove those drivers and then install the correct ones. This is just speculation, but maybe that Aver card uses the same conexant chip as the ASUS, so windows has mistaken the card. Good enough for video, but the audio is wrong. Just a guess.
And for the others who are asking, external sources for the tv880 are connected via an external "pod" with with (s)video/composite audio, and this pod connects to the tv card. From there, the tv card has an "audio out" which can connect to either the sound card "line in" or directly to external speakers/headphones

[PDFarsight]

Yes, I apologize; I identified the connector incorrectly. Evander explained it perfectly, though this still does not answer the "no audio" problem. This also does not answer why my system will not allow me to install any drivers for the card, nor why it does not show up on a hardware identification utility. It's almost like my computer doesn't think there's a video capture card there at all.

And also, check back to my earlier post for an edit about the TV tuner.

[PDFarsight]

Okay, a little update.

I just uninstalled the AVerMedia drivers, both the crossbar and the video capture ones. I restarted the computer and tried to install the drivers from tv880.zip, but setup.exe said it was only for Windows 98 and when I clicked "OK" on the install for windows xp it simply said "Installation failed." I then tried the Windows generic "omg you have new hardware" installation and put in the driver disk, and this installation, too failed. So I try the win2kxpdrv.zip file, and it's only for the ASUS TV FM card, which I do not have. Thus, I am left without drivers.

This is so weird.

[Evander]

For channels to work you have to go to settings, and do "auto scan". Really don't know what the deal is with your card and driver issue. I've heard that with tv tuners it can be helpful to reposition the card into a different pci slot. Maybe you could give that a try. I can post again in a few hours but I'm going to work now

[mastersmurfie]

PDFarsight...sorry...didn't mean to assume anything with my previous post...

found a link that you might try...:

http://www.asus.com/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=P4P800

for the drivers for your card (look under "drivers" tab? I know ZERO about your card, but this seems to have something called "SoundMAX Audio Driver version 5.12.01.3630 WHQL driver"

maybe this'll be helpful??

another link here:

http://www.asus.com/support/download/download.aspx

to other drivers which might be helpful...

just a thought

mastersmurfie

[PDFarsight]

For channels to work you have to go to settings, and do "auto scan". Really don't know what the deal is with your card and driver issue. I've heard that with tv tuners it can be helpful to reposition the card into a different pci slot. Maybe you could give that a try. I can post again in a few hours but I'm going to work now

I pressed auto-scan and nothing happened. As for the repostitiong, I have another computer problem altogether which limits my turning off my computer (basically, if I turn it off it never comes on again), so I can't really do that. I will try that once this other problem is fixed, however.

No need to worry, mastersmurfie. That is not my card, but thanks for looking. I have tried that driver, and that too does not work.


I got a letter from the ASUS tech people:

If your line input is not working…

First, set your motherboard to 6-channel sound mode, then connect a
pair
of speakers to the line-in jack. If you get sound out of the speakers,
the port is functional. If you do not, the line-in port is either bad
or
is grounding out to the case.

If the port is working, get the latest audio drivers here:

http://www.asus.com/support/download/download.aspx

Uninstall the existing drivers, then install these drivers. Try using
an
application like Sound Recorder to test the line-in.

Next, please check that the MB is not picking up EMI interference or
improperly grounding against the case. Please remove the MB from the
case
and set it up DIRECTLY on the cardboard box it came in or some other
non-static, non-conductive surface, like a telephone book. Connect all
components to the MB and see if the problem persists.

If this corrects the problem, you will need to electrically isolate the
MB
from the case. To do this, you will need to use electrical tape to
cover
the brass stand-offs that support the MB, and insert paper washers
between
the MB and the heads of the mounting screws. The red paper washers
should
be included with your case hardware, or they can be purchased at Radio
Shack or a computer store.

Make sure that no stand-offs are placed in a spot where the motherboard
isn't designed to be grounded, as some cases will have different
standoff
locations to accommodate different styles of motherboards. Also check
that there are no other metal objects that could contact the
motherboard
or any other electrical device attached to the system, such as a metal
burr, loose screw, metal rod, or any other object that could cause a
short.

And um... I didn't understand a word. I have no skill with hardware; I would need someone else to do this for me. Anyone think I should take it in to a store somewhere? Any suggestions?

[Evander]

Well they bring up one point that hasn't be directly addressed yet. Forget about video recording. If you use a sound capture program like sound recorder, can you record from line-in? You mentioned mic-input was OK, but not that. It sounds like ASUS is putting the entire blame on your soundcard's line-in. But if sound recorder works with line in, it seems to me their suggestion is worthless (and too difficult to implement anyway). Did you mention to ASUS the device manager differences you and I have, and the refusal of installation of new drivers? And you never mentioned to us where those Aver drivers came from in the first place.
If your soundcard is OK, my suggestion... sell the asus card on ebay "as is" and get yourself a new tv tuner. There comes a point in hardware troubleshooting when something is more trouble than it's worth. You can probably sell for $20-40, and a new card will cost ya $50-100, and hopefully be hassle free (though from personal experience, I'd avoid ati)

[mastersmurfie]

No need to worry, mastersmurfie. That is not my card, but thanks for looking. I have tried that driver, and that too does not work.


I got a letter from the ASUS tech people:

If your line input is not working…

First, set your motherboard to 6-channel sound mode, then connect a
pair
of speakers to the line-in jack.

I have an AMD Athlon 2.08 GHz processor with 512 MB RAM and a SoundBlaster Live! Sound Card

Just a thought here (from what was sent to you from ASUS, I went and looked up the motherboard in your "computer details")...and I could be wrong...is the onboard sound on your motherboard disabled (it's set to "auto" by default in the BIOS setup, which probably means that it is "on"...)? In my limited experience, it seems like it's better to only have one sound card, especially with a capture card. My ATI AIW had nothing but trouble with the onboard sound on my motherboard. When I disabled it, and installed a new PCI sound card, I have no troubles whatsoever. I know you said you had sound from MP3s and such, but "where" exactly are those sounds coming from? The onboard sound, or the SB-Live? Try connecting the audio out from the capture card to the original audio in on the motherboard, and see what happens.

like I said, just a thought

mastersmurfie

[mastersmurfie]

You can probably sell for $20-40, and a new card will cost ya $50-100, and hopefully be hassle free (though from personal experience, I'd avoid ati)

Now Evander...don't go dissin ATI... (how does that old saying go? "If I knew then what I know now....", I probably would have went with something different...).

I actually have used one of the original ATI AIW 128 cards for quite a while...aside from the hours that it seemed to take to initally install it, the problems with not being able to see my screen (cause I have the wrong drivers installed), and the problems with the sound, all has been good...

Most happy with this card, and use it almost daily to capture TV

[BriTnT]

Hi people

PDFarsight

I have an old ASUS card myself which had an audio problem for a while.
Managed to sort it out in the end though. I have my vcr connected to the pc with a SCART cable, with 2 (red and white) RCA connectors plugged into a 2 into 1 stereo jack, and into the line in on my soundblaster. Works no problem now. I gave up using the standard cables that came with the card as they just never seemed to work right.

mastersmurfie made the suggestion about trying a connection from the game cube, thats probably the angle which you should work on. Try and make sure that sound is actually reaching the line in on your sound card

good luck

[PDFarsight]

In my limited experience, it seems like it's better to only have one sound card, especially with a capture card. My ATI AIW had nothing but trouble with the onboard sound on my motherboard. When I disabled it, and installed a new PCI sound card, I have no troubles whatsoever. I know you said you had sound from MP3s and such, but "where" exactly are those sounds coming from? The onboard sound, or the SB-Live? Try connecting the audio out from the capture card to the original audio in on the motherboard, and see what happens.

Thanks for the suggestion mastersmurfie. I have tried both onboard audio and the SoundBlaster LIVE! card inputs, both which were on at the time, and nothing worked. I then went into the BIOS and shut off the onboard audio and tried it in SoundBlaster (I really prefer to use soundblaster... it's a lot more... um... configurable).

If your soundcard is OK, my suggestion... sell the asus card on ebay "as is" and get yourself a new tv tuner.

Sorry to ask, Evander, but isn't that... illegal? Won't people be kind of mad when they realize that it's broken?

I have an old ASUS card myself which had an audio problem for a while.
Managed to sort it out in the end though. I have my vcr connected to the pc with a SCART cable, with 2 (red and white) RCA connectors plugged into a 2 into 1 stereo jack, and into the line in on my soundblaster. Works no problem now. I gave up using the standard cables that came with the card as they just never seemed to work right.

Hey BriTnT, thanks for posting. Firstly, I'm not understanding how you're connecting to the video capture card. You use a SCART cable? What is that? I realize the cord that comes with the system might be crap, but can you explain in more detail what a SCART cable is, and how it connects to the video capture card's one and only input? I'd like more information. Also, what kind of audio problem did you have?


And one last thing to everyone else: I don't have any more devices with an audio out capability. Can I put the microphone in the Line In port and use it that way?