sound card issue or codec issue?

qwilliam · 11-17-2005, 04:29 AM

hi guys. haven't posted here in a while, but it seems that i've run into a snag with my new computer. my friend just burned me some movies onto a dvd that i'm trying to watch. usually, if i don't have the right codec, i'll just get no video, but the sound will be okay. well, what's strange with these movies is the video is showing up just fine, but the sound is NOT coming up. this is odd to me as this is the first i've ever seen this happen.

at first, i thought it was my dvd player, but then i played some other vcds/dvds and they played both sound and video just fine. so then i figured it was just the dvd, so i asked him to burn it for me again, but i ran into the same problems with that dvd too. so, i figured it might just be bad media or bad reading from my drive or a combination of both, so i copied the movies to my hard drive so that i can play them from there. unfortunately, the same problems still arise - no sound, but video is okay.

so, then i thought it was just my media player on my computer (using windvd), so i tried playing the movie in windows media player. the same thing happens. tried using powerdvd as well too, but no luck with that either.

so...now i'm stuck. i'm not sure what to do here. am i missing a codec or something? if so, is there any way i can find out which one it is? i have some logitech z-3e's connected to my sound card (creative soundblaster audigy2 zs). i'm running windows xp pro and using windvd to play most of my movies. the movies are avi's. can anybody please help me?

Jeffbx · 11-17-2005, 05:55 AM

I'd guess it's a codec issue - I've had that happen before (good video but no sound).

If you open the video in the latest Windows Media Player & the name of the video is displayed in orange or red in the 'now playing' list, then it's certainly a missing codec. Right click on the name & choose 'error details' or whatever the similar choice is, and it will either tell you the name of the codec you need, or, if you're lucky, take you straight to a download site.

mechmike0034 · 11-17-2005, 08:15 AM

GSpot Codec Information Appliance: http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

qwilliam · 11-17-2005, 04:45 PM

thanks for the advice guys. i can't test out the video with windows media player anymore (the only reason i installed windows media player was to see if windvd was the one to blame for no audio--don't really like the new interface of windows media player).

mechmike0034: i ran the app that you linked, and it says that i do have the proper sound codec installed [ac3 (0x2000) Dolby Laboratories, Inc]. when i click for more info, here's what shows up:

Code:

Audio Format:
Code:  0x2000
Name:  WAVE_FORMAT_AC3
Vendor:  Dolby Laboratories, Inc.

The following codec should be capabale of processing this format:

Nero Digital Audio Decoder

To get more information by having GSpot instruct the O/S to "play" the file and then examine the results, press the button labeled "Render".

i found it odd that nero is supposed to be the app to do my sound decoding, so i decided to render the movie. but, when i rendered the movie, gspot says that there was a partial failure. under video path, it shows up fine [(S) --> AVI Splitter --> DivX Decoder Filter --> (R)] it's blank under the audio path. here's what shows up when i click for more info:

Code:

DirectShow partially succeeded to play the file.  The actual text of the error or warning is:

0x00040242:  VFW_S_PARTIAL_RENDER - Some of the streams in this movie are in an unsupported format.

The following combination of filters were used:

H:\nonworking\tly.cd1.dvdrip.xvid.avi  (Video Source)
AVI Splitter  (Video Splitter)
DivX Decoder Filter  (Video Decoder)
Video Renderer  (Video Renderer)

so, i guess i was missing an audio codec (ac3, i presume?). but, what puzzles me the most is the fact that i have a creative soundblaster audigy2 zs sound card. wouldn't the audigy2 zs have some sort of audio codec for ac3 format? or, at the very least, have some sort of support for ac3 formats?

11-17-2005, 04:29 AM	#1
qwilliam Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: California Posts: 138	sound card issue or codec issue? hi guys. haven't posted here in a while, but it seems that i've run into a snag with my new computer. my friend just burned me some movies onto a dvd that i'm trying to watch. usually, if i don't have the right codec, i'll just get no video, but the sound will be okay. well, what's strange with these movies is the video is showing up just fine, but the sound is NOT coming up. this is odd to me as this is the first i've ever seen this happen. at first, i thought it was my dvd player, but then i played some other vcds/dvds and they played both sound and video just fine. so then i figured it was just the dvd, so i asked him to burn it for me again, but i ran into the same problems with that dvd too. so, i figured it might just be bad media or bad reading from my drive or a combination of both, so i copied the movies to my hard drive so that i can play them from there. unfortunately, the same problems still arise - no sound, but video is okay. so, then i thought it was just my media player on my computer (using windvd), so i tried playing the movie in windows media player. the same thing happens. tried using powerdvd as well too, but no luck with that either. so...now i'm stuck. i'm not sure what to do here. am i missing a codec or something? if so, is there any way i can find out which one it is? i have some logitech z-3e's connected to my sound card (creative soundblaster audigy2 zs). i'm running windows xp pro and using windvd to play most of my movies. the movies are avi's. can anybody please help me?

11-17-2005, 08:15 AM	#3
mechmike0034 aka the keg killer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ala-effin'-bama! Posts: 2,738	GSpot Codec Information Appliance: http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ __________________ "The price of progress is trouble." (C. F. "Boss" Kettering) "50% of the American public has below-average intelligence. 70% of the American public now has regular access to the Internet. Do the math." (unknown)

11-17-2005, 04:45 PM	#4
qwilliam Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: California Posts: 138	thanks for the advice guys. i can't test out the video with windows media player anymore (the only reason i installed windows media player was to see if windvd was the one to blame for no audio--don't really like the new interface of windows media player). mechmike0034: i ran the app that you linked, and it says that i do have the proper sound codec installed [ac3 (0x2000) Dolby Laboratories, Inc]. when i click for more info, here's what shows up: Code: Audio Format: Code: 0x2000 Name: WAVE_FORMAT_AC3 Vendor: Dolby Laboratories, Inc. The following codec should be capabale of processing this format: Nero Digital Audio Decoder To get more information by having GSpot instruct the O/S to "play" the file and then examine the results, press the button labeled "Render". i found it odd that nero is supposed to be the app to do my sound decoding, so i decided to render the movie. but, when i rendered the movie, gspot says that there was a partial failure. under video path, it shows up fine [(S) --> AVI Splitter --> DivX Decoder Filter --> (R)] it's blank under the audio path. here's what shows up when i click for more info: Code: DirectShow partially succeeded to play the file. The actual text of the error or warning is: 0x00040242: VFW_S_PARTIAL_RENDER - Some of the streams in this movie are in an unsupported format. The following combination of filters were used: H:\nonworking\tly.cd1.dvdrip.xvid.avi (Video Source) AVI Splitter (Video Splitter) DivX Decoder Filter (Video Decoder) Video Renderer (Video Renderer) so, i guess i was missing an audio codec (ac3, i presume?). but, what puzzles me the most is the fact that i have a creative soundblaster audigy2 zs sound card. wouldn't the audigy2 zs have some sort of audio codec for ac3 format? or, at the very least, have some sort of support for ac3 formats?

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11-17-2005, 05:55 AM	#2
Jeffbx Fleet Admiral Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 9,390	I'd guess it's a codec issue - I've had that happen before (good video but no sound). If you open the video in the latest Windows Media Player & the name of the video is displayed in orange or red in the 'now playing' list, then it's certainly a missing codec. Right click on the name & choose 'error details' or whatever the similar choice is, and it will either tell you the name of the codec you need, or, if you're lucky, take you straight to a download site.

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