Just did a complete format and installed my OS (XP 32bit) with all my drivers and SP3 and I have no sound. I have a Onboard realtek audio chip on Abit IP35-E . tried reinstalling the driver many times and updating to the newest one’s but its still not working … any suggestion on what might be wrong?
Are u sure ur speakers’re connected properly and are powered on???
Heck, just for the sake of it, check!!! 
Was the new driver installed right after the installation of the OS??
ummm…did you check the volume level?
when trying to play mp3s, does it give nay error?
Any error message that it displays like ‘Audio Bus not found’ or ‘Microsoft Audio driver must be loaded..’ ??
Do you see volume control in system tray of your windows? You should get this after installng proper drivers for the audio chip and on restarting windows…
ummm…does the audio controller get detected??..check frm device manager properties…
yes speakers are on … nothings muted … volume bar is up to max .. I get no error messages , its just that realtek drivers don’t load at all at startup and even if try to start them manually nothing happens.
just checked the device manager and under sound, video and controller there is no realtek hi def audio driver there, also under the system I cant seem to find UAA hi-def bus driver, but I’ve already installed them 
EDIT: tried uninstalling the driver, but now an error message creeps in “Realtek Hd driver removal failure” and then the normal uninstallation goes on…I’m totally lost now
First off, have you enabled the audio in the BIOS?
^^ will check that and report
EDIT: yes its enabled
so there aint an audio controller tht’s gettin detected…tht canb driver not properly installd or as sme 1 said not enabled audio from bios or the audio contorller IC gone for good as in my A8N-E
Ok - check the device manager and check for the hardware with error (red cross or yellow exclamation mark)- uninstall the hardware in the device manager, and before rebooting, uninstall the drivers. Reboot, the hardware will be detected, reinstall the drivers then.
if its there in device manager, uninstall it from there too and then restart so that it redetects…
of if you’ve just formatted, you can system restore 
The problem is that I cant find the Realtek Drivers in Device manager even though I have installed them and strangely enough a there is an error (yellow exclamation mark) on PCI device , Could it be referring to onboard audio, cause I have no PCI devices on my system currently
Yes it is in fact referring to one; 
Seems like the installation didn go smoothly;
Go to the control panel and see if u can spot an orange speaker icon there which indicates the Realtek HD Sound Effect Manager;
if everythin except the audio controller aint workin then its IC gone poof…prolly…does the midi n other things seem alrite in devicemanager i.e. free from yellow exclamation??
Have you checked BIOS for audio controller as AK3D has suggested ?
If it is dissabled in BIOS then it will not be detected by OS.
^^he has already mentioned its enabled..
ditto samething happend wen the ic gone kaput in my mobo…sme wierdo pci wer detectd tht didnt take ny drivers:(…ultimately gt a sound card…
No Realtek Icon in control panel and there are no other yellow exclamation marks in device manager.
Im getting really sick and tired now… How much does a sound card cost (which will be as good as my onboard ones) dont need anything special in this department :down:
Heh, wait wait before u start spending on another one; :console:
There’s one exclamation right?? And that indicates the conflict there; Cos if all drivers that comes with the mobo is installed u shud not get an yellow question mark/exclamation symbol there;
Was this the first time u installed SP3 btw?? And the sound conflict eventually turning up..
Try installing those drivers once again then;