Problem: Microphone recordings using both front and rear panel sockets are faint and of very poor quality.
Sounds and Audio Devices Properties - under Audio tab, Advanced option for Sound Recording is greyed out and inaccessible - the mic volume slider can not be adjusted.
The Device Manager shows no question marks and tells me the Realtek drivers are working properly.
When installing Realtek HD Audio I used the approach outlined in:
http://www.boredsysadmin.com/2008/03/windows-xp-sp3-and-microsoft-hd-audio.html - i.e. altering the registry entry from CSD 300 to CSD 200. I have also installed the KB888111 patch from Microsoft (The hotfix on the Shuttle drivers CD could not be used. I am told "The version of Windows you have installed does not match the update you are trying to install" when trying to install hotfix KB901105).
I have downloaded and installed (in both SP2 and SP3) the SP35P2 audio driver Audio_Win2KXP from the Shuttle website, but this changes nothing.
I have consulted the Realtek and Shuttle websites and found nothing helpful. I have also studied countless discussion threads on the internet and discovered and tried at least twenty different suggested solutions to the problem - not one of which works.
Using v2.31 and v2.33 as well as v1.83 (supplied on the installation disk) seems to make no difference.
System details:
Shuttle SP35P2
OS Name (CSD200) Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Name (CSD 300) Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
SP35S20J
Intel P35 Express Chipset + ICH9R
Intel Core 2 Quad (Q9400) 2.66GHz Processor 6144KB L2 1333MHz
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800Mhz/PC2-6400 GOLD XTC Memory Kit CL5(5-5-5-18)
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD10EADS)
I would be very grateful for any help anyone can offer in fixing this problem. Or, after about two months of trying to fix the problem, is this the moment to give up and buy a sound card?
