"There are no active mixer devices available..." Windows XP

JohnDoe1980

JohnDoe1980

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Hi. I have a PC running windows xp. When I try to open sound through the realtek audio manager in the system tray, I get this message "There are no active mixer devices available".

I have done the troubleshooting sound to no avail. The correct drivers are installed. When I go to sound settings everything is greyed out. I cannot select default sound device and change it. I have bought a new PCIe 1x soundcard and installed it, windows found the hardware and installed the drivers for it and it's showing up in device manager just fine, but same problem. At first I thought it was the motherboard but since I've tried another sound card in there I don't think that's the problem. I checked to make sure that the audio service is running. It is.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
JohnDoe1980 said:
Hi. I have a PC running windows xp. When I try to open sound through the realtek audio manager in the system tray, I get this message "There are no active mixer devices available".

I have done the troubleshooting sound to no avail. The correct drivers are installed. When I go to sound settings everything is greyed out. I cannot select default sound device and change it. I have bought a new PCIe 1x soundcard and installed it, windows found the hardware and installed the drivers for it and it's showing up in device manager just fine, but same problem. At first I thought it was the motherboard but since I've tried another sound card in there I don't think that's the problem. I checked to make sure that the audio service is running. It is.

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Buy a new computer :rolleyes:
 
We tend not to work on issues like these unless it's a legacy system that is required for some business but doesn't seem like that's the case here.

Are you familiar with a repair install of XP? You could try that, but, I'm not even sure you can activate XP anymore.

You also don't mention if this is a client system or a personal one. It just helps us to narrow down how to proceed or how to word something if it's a client.

If this is a client system, be aware support is virtually non existent and the system is on borrowed time. Best to backup and migrate to a more supported platform.
 
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NviGate Systems said:
We tend not to work on issues like these unless it's a legacy system that is required for some business but doesn't seem like that's the case here.

Are you familiar with a repair install of XP? You could try that, but, I'm not even sure you can activate XP anymore.

You also don't mention if this is a client system or a personal one. It just helps us to narrow down how to proceed or how to word something if it's a client.

If this is a client system, be aware support is virtually non existent and the system is on borrowed time. Best to backup and migrate to a more supported platform.
Click to expand...
Right, my bad. Yes, it is for a client. The reason it's running XP is because the boating navigation software (think it's called Nobeltec) will not run on newer versions of windows.
 
I know it's just navigation but I would think safety at sea is worth the investment.

https://mytimezero.com/tz-navigator $869

A few years ago I helped a client that I think used the same software with a GPS Dongle, but that was quite "a few years ago" .....maybe like 10. Times have now changed.

Worth a look. Along with investment in a reliable machine. Any machine that still runs XP may be rock solid but...there is an element of potential failure that can't be overlooked.
 
I appreciate your input, however I'd like help troubleshooting the actual issue as I don't think the client is going to be buying new software, though I will mention it to them. Thanks.
 
JohnDoe1980 said:
I appreciate your input, however I'd like help troubleshooting the actual issue as I don't think the client is going to be buying new software, though I will mention it to them. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, this is the Internet. You ask a question about one subject (how to fix the audio) and get a ton of answers not to the question you asked but what the mob thinks you should do instead (convince the client it's time to move on). I'm in the latter camp.

If it were 2007 and I was troubleshooting the issue, that would be one thing. There'd be lots of knowledge and driver info and spare parts to test. Now any Googling is going to lead to dead links and dead ends. I really wouldn't want any part of this. Not even fun.

Having said that I did recently backup and clone a Windows 95 machine to a new SSD. The client had good justification for why they were stuck on the old system and it made sense to pay me several hundred dollars to take care of it.

In this case, I don't see the rationale for keeping such an old system running. A quick Google search shows that the company is out there making products.

Also, I wouldn't want to ride on any boat where it's relying on 10 year old GPS software. Maybe it gets updated maps or whatnot. I remember riding in the bay in FL a few years back. The captain of the small fishing boat we chartered was totally dependent on the GPS system because it was getting dark which made it harder to see the cut off phone poles that barely came out of the surface of the water. They were all marked on the GPS.
 
Among the most commonly pirated pieces of software we used to see was a marine navigation system for Windows XP called Cmaps (I think - it's been a while) which circulated among members of our local Cruising Club in a white plastic grocery bag as a set of mismatched CDs with a hand-written set of installation and activation-avoidance instructions, usually for Vista. I saw several generations of this, the youngest of which had charts which were five years out of date. I was still seeing this right up to the point of my retirement (two years ago today - yay!) and I have no doubt that it's still making the rounds.

This was used by cost-cutting weekend sailors to navigate their multi-hundred thousand dollar toys around New Zealand's (rightly named) Bay of Islands. How many islands? One hundred and forty-four. That's quite a lot.

We felt that it was unsafe, unwise and downright illegal to allow this software and its dangerously out-of-date charts to be used so we always threw it back at the client, sometimes with a free flea in their ear. We felt good about that.

I advise the original poster to do the same.
 
Do they have the install media for the software? If so nuke and pave. If not the plot thickens. Hopefully you've imaged the drive to another drive and are working on the backup. Are there restore points back to when it was working? Have you tried booting from a linux distro to see if sound works. Have a WinPE like Gandalf to test with? Have you run Tweaking's AIO tool? You could try syspreping the backup and see if after OOBE sound comes back.
 
JohnDoe1980 said:
Hi. I have a PC running windows xp. ...I have bought a new PCIe 1x soundcard and installed it, windows found the hardware and installed the drivers for it and it's showing up in device manager just fine, but ....
Click to expand...
I would check to see if this new PCIe soundcard is supported by the manufacturer to run on Windows XP. Does it have a driver bundle you can download that is meant to run on Windows XP. Even though Device Mangler may look like it installed the card fine, likely there are other components that need to work with (interface with) Windows XPs sound components...
 
Also as another potential option is running it through a Linux system and WINE or something it isn't elegant but it might be the duct tape fix I feel like this client would settle for.
 
Markverhyden said:
Do they have the install media for the software? If so nuke and pave. If not the plot thickens. Hopefully you've imaged the drive to another drive and are working on the backup. Are there restore points back to when it was working? Have you tried booting from a linux distro to see if sound works. Have a WinPE like Gandalf to test with? Have you run Tweaking's AIO tool? You could try syspreping the backup and see if after OOBE sound comes back.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll try some of that.
 
I found an identical foxxcon MOBO with a CD. I tried the mobo but it was dead. Reassembled the PC and used the CD. There were audio drivers on it. I uninstalled the drivers through device manager and installed them from the CD. Same issue.
 
JohnDoe1980 said:
I found an identical foxxcon MOBO with a CD. I tried the mobo but it was dead. Reassembled the PC and used the CD. There were audio drivers on it. I uninstalled the drivers through device manager and installed them from the CD. Same issue.
Click to expand...
I was referring to the navigation software. Not audio.
 
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