audio and wireless network problems

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by Strazza, Apr 5, 2008.

  1. Strazza

    Strazza Guest

    hi,
    some of you may remember me from a couple months back. after some serious delays, my parts finally came yesterday. i've managed to get my computer up and running but i have a couple of problems that i could use some help ironing out.

    the first is to do with audio. i can't get any. the driver i seem to need isn't being installed. i keep getting a "failed to install correct driver" message. it's probably not a difficult problem to fix but i cant for the life of me figure out what i'm supposed to do.

    the second problem i'm having is connecting to my wireless network. today, i bought this:

    http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=179211

    at the moment i'm guessing it's a dud as i haven't been able to get it to pick up the signal and it's sitting right next to my router. if i'm right in my assumption that i've bought a paper weight, could someone please point me in the direction of a decent adapter? or if you think that there could be something else going wrong, give me some ideas on how i should go about fixing it.

    thanks in advance.

    oh, and go easy on me if i've asked dumb questions. i'm new to both pc building and setting up wireless internet.
     
  2. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Well, if you got your PC built and up and running without help, you're doing well so far.
    I typically recommend D-Link USB adapters for wireless access, or better yet use a PCI card with an external antenna, as these won't overheat if you shove lots of bandwidth through them. USB adapters do, and will.
    As for the audio, don't try to install it with the device manager, use the CD that came with your motherboard. If you didn't get one, go to your motherboard manufacturer's website and download the driver from there. Windows isn't able to install audio drivers automatically as they're not in its driver catalog.
     
  3. Strazza

    Strazza Guest

    edit: i've got the audio going now!! but i could still use a recommendation on a decent wireless adapter. you said D-link and get a pci? could you maybe link to a model that i should get? my computer is about 15 metres away from my router and through a couple of walls (not sure if walls make any difference).
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 6, 2008
  4. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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  5. Strazza

    Strazza Guest

    cheers for the advise sam. i ended up getting a belkin pci adapter. it was just a cheap one ($50 australian) but it seems to be working fairly well so far.

    i guess since i've already made this thread i might as well ask the other question that's on my mind. i tried to connect my computer up to my stereo today and the sound came through, but there was a constant buzzing sound coming from my speakers.

    i don't think it has anything to do with the stereo or the cord i'm using as i've used them to connect to with my brothers laptop and the sound has been perfect. also, when i connect to the speakers built into my moniter the sound is fine as well.

    i did a quick search of the forums and someone said that they fixed a problem like this with a "filter with a floating ground". i mentioned this to a couple of my local electronics stores and they had no idea what i was on about.

    i guess it's nothing urgent, but it's kind of annoying having my speakers sitting on my computer desk and not doing anything.
    oh, and i'm using a ipod AV cord to connect them.
     
  6. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    If it's loud, they aren't connected properly, so you should check that. You should only set the volume and wave sliders on your PC to halfway up and use the hifi to adjust the volume of the sound.
     
  7. Strazza

    Strazza Guest

    okay this is weird. if i move to myself to different spots around the computer the buzzing goes away but then if i move back, the buzzing comes back.
     
  8. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    yeah, it's a grounding problem with the cabling. Try a different cable is all I can suggest.
     
  9. Strazza

    Strazza Guest

    okay cheers.
    i dont have any other suitable cables on hand so i guess i'll keep looking around the internet to see if there's something to the floating ground filter.
     

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