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Laptop changed

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:02 am
by ttf_Whitbey
My laptop sound system changed recently. The maximum volume is now a little more then half what it should be. Windows updates have not been kind to this computer. So I am guessing that is how it changed. But not sure what changed or how to return it. All of the places you can set sound or mixer volume are full 100%.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:08 pm
by ttf_BGuttman
It's probably the driver.  You should have a couple of "rollback" states.  Try rolling back one at a time and see when the volume goes back to normal.  Then don't allow that update to roll forward.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:20 pm
by ttf_Matt K
Is it just with the laptop speakers or with other output devices too? Speakers in laptops are usually pretty inexpensive pieces of equipment and prone to breaking.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 3:20 pm
by ttf_M.R.Tenor
If you're sure you've got everything set right, check to make sure exclusive mode is turned off in the sound device settings, and that the audio mixer available from the right click menu on the volume icon has the source set the same as the master level. My next recommendation would be to try a bootable live USB for Ubuntu Linux or similar and check if it's just a Windows problem or a hardware problem.

Laptop seakers can usually be replaced fairly inexpensively, if you've got small screwdrivers and can find a repair guide for that model. Check eBay for replacements.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 4:46 pm
by ttf_Graham Martin
Quote from: Whitbey on Sep 23, 2017, 09:02AMMy laptop sound system changed recently. The maximum volume is now a little more then half what it should be. Windows updates have not been kind to this computer. So I am guessing that is how it changed. But not sure what changed or how to return it. All of the places you can set sound or mixer volume are full 100%.

I feel for you. I use a Toshiba laptop, but it does the job of a desktop with many external devices connected, including a complete Stereo system and two lots of speakers for my little sound studio. Because of the poor sound from the internal soundcard and speakers, I have always used an external Creative Sound Blaster soundcard and high quality external speakers. The sound I get, particularly for rehearsing with Band-in-a-Box and playback of my arrangements, is excellent. I very rarely use my laptop outside of the office and I suppose, if you are still using your laptop as a mobile piece of equipment, the solution of an external soundcard and separate speakers would not be a solution for your problems.

On your point about Windows updates not being kind to your laptop, I could not agree more because I have a similar experience, with a whole series of problems caused by Windows 10 updates. Image Two months back a Windows 10 update completely trashed my hard drive and I had to get a new one. Then, just over a week ago, another Windows 10 update caused multiple problems with performance and I had to take it back to my computer shop for another fix. Fortunately, the latest experience has not yet been so expensive because the new hard drive was still under warranty. However, despite it being away for over a week, they have not cured some of the new problems caused by the latest Windows 10 update. I am a MS Windows man from wayback and I just do not know what to do about all the problems Windows 10 is causing with both hardware and software performance. It is very frustrating and Microsoft seem to be oblivious about all the discontent in the market place. Image Well, in my circle of business and musician friends anyway. Image Even the guys at the computer shop seem lost with it, particularly in making it work with old equipment.

I would strongly recommend that, like Matt said, you should check all your settings; because the new Windows 10 controls are very different from previous Windows versions. It is very obvious from the complaints on the internet that many people are like me and cannot understand some of them. 'Intuitive' is not a word recognised by the new breed of Microsoft programmer. Image And that dopey sheila Cortana is never any help. In fact, I have killed her off on my computer.

One of the main problems I have is that the MS settings seem not to be designed for a laptop used as a desktop. Consequently my computer kept shutting down after running for 10 minutes, I guess because it did not realise it was plugged in. I have solved that problem temporarily by removing the battery, hence my reappearance on this forum over the weekend. But it is back to the computer shop on Monday.



Laptop changed

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 5:16 pm
by ttf_BGuttman
Grah, look at your power settings.  Windoze seems to think that if you don't use your system for 10 minutes it should shut down.  I have changed my "plugged in" settings to 1 hour before it blanks the screen and 4 hours before it shuts down.

I've had some odd responses too, but since I'm usually using some old hardware, I never know if it's Windoze or my old stuff.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 5:24 pm
by ttf_Matt K
Concerning your hard drive woes: Windows pushes out driver updates to keep hardware updated, but it doesn't write those itself. It relies on the vendors of those hardware to write the drivers and to send it updates. It simply puts them in the system.  If Toshiba (which I believe makes their own hard drives) pushes out something on an older device but says it covers the gamut of devices, then Windows will push out that update!  The best thing to do in those circumstances is to tell the device manager to use an older driver and to not update it.  I've encountered this problem with a network adapter recently.  Vendor was too aggressive in pushing out updates and it broke it!  Also possibly intentionally so that you'd buy their newer hardware  Image

Laptop changed

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 6:41 am
by ttf_Whitbey
I am positive the speakers are ok. This laptop has upgraded speakers with a bass speaker.
The windows upgrade changed the mixer control about 9 months ago and the speaker volume in the last month.I have never been able to roll back updates without crashing on this machine. If I could I would have gone back to windows 8.
I checked the drivers and they are up to date. Might be I need to find an old driver and install it. Not sure how.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 7:36 am
by ttf_Matt K
Should be able to find them on manufacturers website.

Laptop changed

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:11 pm
by ttf_timothy42b
I can't help fix your problem but I have a suggestion.

I don't ever use any of the laptop speakers.

They have neither the quality nor the volume I want.

I have three laptop systems, one on XP, one on 7, one on 10.  On two of them I run the headphone jack into a regular audio stereo amplifier and speakers; on the third I use an M-Audio USB interface and output into a stereo and speakers. 

I get good quality sound, or I can rattle the windows if I need.  Never have, but I guess I could. 

One of my laptops has very low volume.  I don't know why, but even in my quiet basement it isn't loud enough.  I added that one to a stereo amp through the headphone jack this week and it is now usable. 

Laptop changed

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 5:31 am
by ttf_Doug Elliott
I used to play through the headphone jack into powered computer speakers, but two of my laptops stopped recognizing them when I plug in.  Headphone works but not the speakers.  I don't know what to do about it, I've tried all of the various volume settings and nothing works.

Laptop changed

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 6:29 am
by ttf_timothy42b
That's weird, if the headphone plays the jack must be okay.

Maybe one of our computer experts will weigh in. 

Could the speakers themselves have gone bad? 

Laptop changed

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 6:59 am
by ttf_Doug Elliott
I think the jack is designed to recognize  different impedances for phones or powered speakers, and when I plug in the speakers it's just like nothing went in. It doesn't cut off the internal speakers either.

Laptop changed

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:29 am
by ttf_Peter Eiden
Strangely, not long ago my work laptop (Dell, Win7) started generating a dialog box when I plugged in my headphones asking me to confirm what I plugged in.

They won't work unless I confirm the selection, and the dialog doesn't pop up over open applications, so I need to remember to minimize everything and look at the home screen for it:

Image

I hope that screen shot attached OK.  We'll see!



Laptop changed

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 11:33 pm
by ttf_savio
My Laptop suddenly turn in to mono when I plug in earphones. I suspect my daughter have been a little rough to it. Tried many earphones and changed the drivers. Nothing helps. The stange thing is it happens after a windows upgrade so I don't know what made it mono. Without earphones it is stereo.

Leif

Laptop changed

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 4:03 am
by ttf_BGuttman
Quote from: savio on Oct 05, 2017, 11:33PMMy Laptop suddenly turn in to mono when I plug in earphones. I suspect my daughter have been a little rough to it. Tried many earphones and changed the drivers. Nothing helps. The stange thing is it happens after a windows upgrade so I don't know what made it mono. Without earphones it is stereo.

Leif

Could be that the jack is wired improperly.  It's causing the two channels to merge.  Or maybe your laptop jack is mono only and is working the way it is intended.

I had one upgrade that caused my computer to only be at half brightness.  Controls showed "100%" but the screen was dimmer than normal.  Ran it off a USB with Linux and it was fine.  Then another upgrade came down from the Temple in Washington and it worked fine again.

Laptop changed

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:17 pm
by ttf_DaveBb
For Windows 10 with the Creators update:
Use windows search to find Control Panel
Open the "Sound" utility
On the Playback tab, select the default speakers and press the Properties button.
Select the Enhancements tab and check "Disable all enhancements" (I think this is available only in the Pro version. For the home version just uncheck any enhancements which are checked).  Press Apply if it is available, then press OK.
Back at the Sound utility, press Apply if it's available, then OK.
Restart the computer.

If that doesn't work, right click on the sound icon (bottom right of the screen) and select Troubleshoot.

I suspect that the creators update or some subsequent update messed with the settings.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:24 am
by ttf_Whitbey
I stopped at the computer guy's place. He said several people have been in with the same thing. Fixing it is like going back to windows 8. Hard to do then it goes and updates itself wrong again. I use it mostly to listen to my VM. Some people mumble. Sadly the solution is I need a new laptop anyways.

Sometimes I wish I could get a boot up of Windows NT 3.1

Laptop changed

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 8:17 am
by ttf_BGuttman
Quote from: Whitbey on Oct 22, 2017, 07:24AM...

Sometimes I wish I could get a boot up of Windows NT 3.1

Actually, I preferred OS/2.  Worked a lot better than Windoze 3.1.

I'm playing with Linux Mint with the Cinnamon interface.  Works a lot like Windows 7.  Haven't tried to use WINE yet to see how badly Windows software runs, but the Libre Office suite works pretty well as long as you don't use the database (which still sucks).  I have Audacity and MuseScore installed as well.  They are available as native Linux.



Laptop changed

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 4:20 pm
by ttf_Graham Martin
Yeah, sometimes I have that desire to go back to the way things used to be.

Sound is a big problem these days, especially if you are using some of the specialised music programs, such as the MuseScore Bruce just mentioned. As you may be aware, I am a big fan of Band-in-a-Box which I use for practice purposes in play-along style, creating libraries of lead sheets for all instruments that can be used as a band library, and the first stages of preparing big band arrangements. The understanding you now need for sound control is truly getting beyond my capabilities but all the programs expect you to know these things. Such things as DXI Synthesizers and plugins are getting very complicated. Take for example this problem I had in Band-in-a-Box and how even the experts have to grapple with the sound problems:

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=433501#Post433501

I suppose it is all due to our desire for realistic sound as opposed to the old days of MIDI. And I guess, as one reply to my problem said, "I keep saying people really need to have a basic understanding of this stuff. You could have saved yourself however many hours of aggravation you've gone through."  Image

Not to mention the many hours of aggravation I have suffered by installing Windows 10. Image

Is the loss of sound from your laptop present all the time or only with certain software? Maybe its a problem for a SuperGeek type techo but make sure they are of the type that only charges if they can solve the problem.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 4:42 pm
by ttf_MrPillow
Perhaps in 20 years the new-fangled technology will make the then-aged millennials long for the easy simple days of DXi synthesizers and VST plugins.

Laptop changed

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 4:42 pm
by ttf_MrPillow
Perhaps in 20 years the new-fangled technology will make the then-aged millennials long for the easy simple days of DXi synthesizers and VST plugins.