I have a k7t266pro2 motherboard. i hace been told it has a sound card
intigrated,a person i know could have disabled the sound in the
bios-cmos, how can i enable it again. If not or download drivers for
itand or fix my sound problem,also can i just install a sepparate
sound card and bypass the problem? thank you . jim west

Hello alfneuman,

Thank you for your question.

The k7t266pro2 motherboard seems to get excellent reviews, for example
at Hardware Secrets http://www.hardwaresite.net/k7t266pro2.html where
they also note:

"...On-board sound: Produced by the VIA KT266A chipset itself,
together with the Codec Avance Logic ALC201A."

The k7t266pro2 is made by Microstar, also know as MSI. I visited their
site at www.msicomputer.com and searched their support offerings. The
manual for your board is available at this page:

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/manual/mnu/spt_mnu_detail.php?UID=320%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&NAME=MS-6380E%20Ver1.0

The main product page for this board is here:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=320&MODEL=MS-6380E%20Ver1.0

BIOS upgrades (as recent as 9/10/2002) can be found here:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_detail.php?UID=320%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&NAME=MS-6380E%20Ver1.0

Additional software for this board can be found here:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/software/swr/spt_swr_list.php

I checked to see how to enable and disable sound in the BIOS and found
the following in the manual:

BIOS setup begins on page 42.

You enter BIOS setup by pressing the DELETE key upon boot up. You may
have to press it multiple times to catch the right moment to enter
BIOS setup.

Once in BIOS, select the Integrated Peripherals menu choice, then go
to AC'97audio. Here you can enable or disable the onboard audio.  Do
read the downloadable manual for complete instructions and to answer
and question you may have about BIOS settings for this board.

I also checked for sound drivers for this board and found the
following:

MSI has on-board audio drivers available here for download:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/driver/dvr/spt_dvr_list.php?part=1&kind=3&CHIP=3&ID=1
.

Although there are two drivers for VIA chipsets, neither appears to be
for your motherboard.

A Via chipset 4 in 1 driver is available at this page and may be the
proper choice for you, if you need an audio driver at all (*which you
probably do not):
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/driver/dvr/spt_dvr_list.php?part=1&kind=1&CHIP=1&ID=1

I would strongly recommend contacting MSI to check which driver is
accurate for this motherboard, should you find that you need an
updated audio driver.

They can be reached at:

MSI Computer - US Main Office
901 Canada Court
City of Industry, CA 91748
Tel: 626 913 0828
Technical Support: 626 581 3001
Fax: 626 913 0818
Operation Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8:30AM - 5:30PM (PST)

MSI Computer - New Jersey Sales Office
180 Raritan Center Parkway
Edison, NJ 08837
Tel: 732 417 0072
Technical Support: 626 581 3001
Fax: 732 417 0092
Operation Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8:30AM - 5:30PM (EST)
 
    
MSI Computer -Texas Sales Office
101 East Park Blvd. #251A
Plano, TX. 75074
Tel: 972 509 8043
Technical Support: 626 581 3001
Fax: 972 509 8053
Operation Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8:30AM to 5:30PM (Central Time)

Technical Support Department 
Tel: 626 581 3001
Fax: 626 581 7721
Operation Hours:
Mon-Thur 7:30AM - 5:30PM (PST)
Friday 9:00AM - 4:00PM (PST)

In answer to you last question, yes, you can add a separate sound card
if you have an available slot. This is a common practice with
motherboards that have built in features such as sound or video. One
might desire a sound or video card with better performance or a
different feature set. Simply, disable that device option in the BIOS
and install your new card as per the manufacturuers recommendation.

I trust this answers your questions. If anything above requires
explanation, please do ask for clarification.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

---

Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 01 Nov 2002 19:53 PST

Jim,

Thanks so much for the rating and the tip!

Do let me know if you need anything additional with the answer above
by just posting a Request for Clarification. I'll be happy to help
further.

-=clouseau=-

---

Request for Answer Clarification by alfneuman-ga on 01 Nov 2002 20:25 PST

The AC-97 audio is enabled, is there any way that the sound could be
turned off by an IRQ or controler, i would appreciate this reqest,
thank you, jim west

---

Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 01 Nov 2002 20:43 PST

Its possible.

Have you looked in Device Manager to see if anything has a conflict?
Right click My Computer, select properties, then device manager (or
Hardware - then device manager depending on operating system). Look
there to see if anything has a yellow exclamation or red x,
particulary under sound ( or multimedia) devices. Also check any sound
devices there to be sure that they say they are working and enabled in
this configuration.

See if perhaps this provides a clue Jim. It is possible it is a
hardware problem, but lets see if the operating system is seeing it as
a valid device first.

-=clouseau=-

I am extremely pleased with the promt response. Being a slow typer and
a novice, it will take me  a little time to go through the suggestions
but i agree with you that I probably do not need a driver, thanks a
lot. Jim West