The SSMB PC Troubleshooting and Discussion Thread

[Fidget]

Alright, quick (sort of) question. When I play music on my Win8 laptop, it will fade in for a couple seconds before reaching the actual volume. It does this whenever I click play in XMPlay and VLC media player, and probably other programs I haven't noticed. However, when I plug in earbuds, it doesn't do this fading thing.

I've checked in the individual programs' settings, and the control panel, and everything is set as it should be.

 

I believe it is the Realtek HD Audio Manager and the associated drivers, because when I disabled it the music played as normal. But when I do that, my laptop speakers have a noticable decrease in sound quality. There is no option for fading sound in the Realtek manager, so I don't know of a way to turn it off if I have it installed.

 

So, do I have to choose between annoying auto-fade, poor sound quality, and earbuds? Or am I missing something, or is there a workaround?

Thank you! I hope I didn't leave something important out.

 

Edit: And of course, as soon as I post this, the problem mysteriously vanishes. Well, I likely haven't heard the last of it!

Edit 2: Yep, it's back. It seemed to be because I had one program open and paused, and when I played the other program it worked without fading, as I wanted. But closing the paused program brings it back. Hmm.

Edited September 8, 2013 by Boondoggle

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Okay, does any one have any idea how to deal with win32.troj.generic.a.(kcloud)? Kingsoft Antivirus has been picking up at least one of these a day and quarantining them, and it is getting annoying. for some reason, they keep coming from this "default tab" area which I can't quite locate.

Edited September 18, 2013 by 743 ED Missile

[Autosaver]

Okay, does any one have any idea how to deal with win32.troj.generic.a.(kcloud)? Kingsoft Antivirus has been picking up at least one of these a day and quarantining them, and it is getting annoying. for some reason, they keep coming from this "default tab" area which I can't quite locate.

Download Malwarebytes

[Cyalume]

GPU Drivers are crashing periodically as I try to play Sonic Generations. Help?


Specs:

--

OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit

RAM: 16GB

PSU: 850W Gold OCZ modular power supply

GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7970 HD

CPU: i5-4670k
--

[Autosaver]

 

GPU Drivers are crashing periodically as I try to play Sonic Generations. Help?

 

GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7970 HD\

Not a shocker at all.

[Cyalume]

 

 

Not a shocker at all.

 

How so?

[AzureHedgehog]

Thank you for making this thread.

 

I have a netgear whatever number it is router and basically it never connects to the internet on my Video Games.

 

I have a Wii U, a Nintendo 3DS, PS3, and Wii, and they were always having trouble to connect (always getting Network Timeout on all consoles) - 

tried everything. 

my head is blowing up.

On the Wii U I have tried to add +10 to my router's IP but i'm one of those unfortunate rare bastards who can never get it to work.

There must be something wrong with one of our settings. Our connection is WEP. 

We changed it over from WPA2 to WEP because the Wii doesn't support WPA2, Nintendo say.

 

Since i'm getting exactly the same error messages on all consoles, does that mean there could be something wrong with my firewall settings inside my router? Advertised on their website Netgear claim that this is a lag free Gaming Router" - all of my friends can connect to these consoles to the internet.

Why not me?
 

I'd love to use some of the online features on them. This could be fun.

We've been through router through router and so far nothing, no change.

My Xbox 360 can connect to the internet perfectly, presuming it runs on more PC Recognisable hardware.

 

The error is usually this

 

"Network Timeout. Couldn't Locate Router" after the home router connection shows up with 3 bars and I enter my info correctly

 

Seriously I have tried everything so far that I can think of to get these things to connect, even the alternate method on getting my Wii U to connect to the internet. Nadda.

 

My dad has set up the router, he loves to set things up in such a way that we have moe of a secure internet than the wii u, he doesn't even understand the router properly so i'm a bit worried he may have changed some settings somewhere.

Nothing physical on our internet changed from WPA2 to WEP.

 

The internet works on all computers.

 

So why doesn't it work on all my games?
Nintendo 3DS sort of works but when I connect to someone online I get instantly kicked off?!!!!! WTF.

 

 

Router is in a bad position in the house, in the corner behind a metal bed underneath a chair, I don't know if this effects the signal, but my dad believes it doesn't.

 

We rang Netgear and asked about this issue they had no idea what we were talking about!!!! useless.

Edited September 27, 2013 by AzureHedgehog

[Diz]

First order of business. objects between the access point and Wi-Fi device may distort the signal, depending on the situation. I highly recommend not having the router located behind any metal at all. It is also important to avoid placing the router toward the very corner of a house, though of course depending on where you plan on using Wi-Fi devices, the range throughout the house will be very weak or even non-existent. It is also worthy a mention that even though the signal of the access point is displayed as strong, successfully connecting to the network might still be rare due to walls, objects, etc causing an excess amount of packet loss.

 

 

Nintendo 3DS sort of works but when I connect to someone online I get instantly kicked off?!!!!! WTF.

 

This supports the theory of signal distortion and packet loss.

 

 

On the Wii U I have tried to add +10 to my router's IP but i'm one of those unfortunate rare bastards who can never get it to work.

There must be something wrong with one of our settings.

 

TCP/IP configuration is something best left alone for basic Internet connectivity purposes. In home networking, a DHCP service on the router deals with automatic IP configuration of connected devices, unless the settings have been modified or disabled. Could you explain the part about adding +10? Not sure what it means exactly, and settings need to be just right for everything to work out. Was this about the router's IP address on the local network or the client's gateway address for connectivity to the router and Internet?

 

Every Wi-Fi device of yours should have its settings configured automatically, if they are currently not. That is, after choosing your wireless network name and typing in the WEP password, the process should be automated, ie. not manually allocating an IP address. Doing manual TCP/IP configuration of Wi-Fi devices is not only administratively heavy, time-consuming and unnecessary for home networking, but if your router is not currently configured to comply with manual settings, your partial or entire network can crash until configuration is reversed.

 

 

The internet works on all computers.

 

So why doesn't it work on all my games?

 

Computers commonly have better Wi-Fi-capable hardware than smaller devices or gaming consoles. Your computers may be more receptive to signals when the router is further away from you or distorted by objects and walls. That is how it is for me, anyway. All my laptops can connect perfectly well from upstairs, but my cellphone and 3DS has no chance of achieving a successful connection. For those devices, I need to go downstairs to get closer to the access point. (I am assuming your computers are connected through Wi-Fi and not through cabled connections leading to the router.)

 

Also, there are different networking technologies. How new or old is your router? Routers come in standards, like for instance 802.11N and 802.11B. The newer 802.11N standard should be backwards compatible with the standards 802.11G, 802.11B and even 802.11A due to its new frequency range, but some routers have settings which can disable support for previous standards, rendering Wi-Fi devices with these older standards unable to successfully connect. In turn, 802.11N compliant devices theoretically achieves better performance. There are also other settings which can affect weaker devices but be perfectly fine with computers, including safety settings.

 

First thing I recommend you try, if you have not yet tried this, is to take your 3DS with you to the router, stand close to it with no bed or anything in-between, and try if it works. If it does, you will know for sure that distortion of the signal occurs. The network may broadcast its availability in full signal, but actual connectivity does not have a connectivity signal display.

 

We'll get it to work, somehow!

[Autosaver]

How so?

Just saw your post.

 

AMD is known for having some of the worst drivers. I remember having friends owning some of the higher end cards and having their drivers constantly crash.

 

What if you uninstall and install the BETA drivers?

[AzureHedgehog]

Diz, YOU ARE LIKE A GENIUS.

 

THANK YOU

 

Here is the information about adding +10 to your IP Address if the Wii U doesn't recognise your original IP (for some odd reason)

 

(this confuses me a bit, also, you're not alone)

 

(source: internet) 

"Now input that IP address but add 10 to the last number so “192.168.0.1″ will be entered as “192.168.0.11.”
 

Here's a link to the "full method" 

http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/19/wii-u-wont-connect-to-internet/

 

Now I don't know why it doesn't recognise my  original IP either. It is completely bam right.  For some reason I get "The iP Address is invalid". Checked it over and over again 100 times even on my router and it's the same. Could this be because of the dreaded walls?

 

My router is relatively new, it's about 2 years old and is an updated version from previous software versions.

 

If you need more info, please get back to me. Thanks!

Edited September 29, 2013 by AzureHedgehog

[Diz]

The router's location might once again be one of the reasons why connectivity does not work. Sometimes, the DHCP service cannot operate properly with devices when connectivity is poor, so you might want to look into that before doing anything. You might also want to temporarily disable WEP until you figure out where the problems lie.

 

IP address being invalid, does this error occur the second you try to input and save the IP settings on the Wii U? In that case, there might be irregularities between the device's IP address, subnet mask and gateway caused by wrong information, and I suspect the guide might be the problem here.

 

The only other reason why an IPv4 address should be considered invalid is during a conflict, meaning another device on the network is using the same IP address. This is one of the reasons one should avoid manually configuring TCP/IP settings in a home network. If two devices use the same IP address, one or both of the devices, or in some cases all devices, will be thrown off the network.

 

The guide provided might work for some home networks, but it depends on the situation. Home routers use an in-built DHCP service (do not disable this unless you know the repercussions and how to reverse) which automatically assigns an unique IP address to any connected device, which among other things, allows them to use the router as a gateway to the Internet. The DHCP service stores every device and their associated IP address in a database, and unless it is broken, it will always make sure that no device is assigned an IP address which already is being assigned to another device, preventing a conflict. While this may work for many users, here are two big resulting problems that the guide does not warn you about:

 

1. This guide, as it stands, works as a one-time/one-device solution, and using it like this for multiple devices is going to kill network connectivity for one or both/all of the devices. There is no mention of two devices bearing the same IP address causing any repercussions.
2. This guide assumes a DHCP service is still running, which may lead to varying and unpredictable results when combined with a manual configuration in a non-documented network. In essence, this means two things: For one, it assumes that you have very few TCP/IP (both cabled and wired) capable devices at home. For two, a home router's DHCP service has no way of verifying if a manual configuration conflicts with its own automatic configuration database, meaning that sooner or later at one point in time, the DHCP service is likely to allocate the "+10" address to a device with an automatic configuration, causing a conflict.

 

While I do not know much about the Wii U, some devices do use slightly different DHCP client standards, which may cause problems in automatic lease obtainment, however before setting up a manual configuration, it is important to check at least the basic network and DHCP settings, which should be located on your router. Did you get an error about invalid addresses before or after following this guide?

 

At any rate, you might want to take a look at the router's configuration. You can do this by checking one of your computer's IP configuration (while connected to your router), as described in the guide. Look for the section that states the adapter you use. Ie. if you are using Wi-Fi, look for something equivalent to "Wireless network connection" ("Wi-Fi" on Windows 8), and if you are using cable, look for "Local area connection" ("Ethernet" on Windows 8). In that section, look for the entry that says Default Gateway. On any computer, open a Web browser and enter that address into the address bar. You should be prompted with a username and password. If you do not know these details, and if the default values do not work (you can lookup your model's default value on the Web or find it on the router itself), ask your father about it, assuming he has changed those values.

 

Everything on the page that shows up is going to depend entirely on your router's brand, model and firmware, so you may have to browse around until you find DHCP settings. You might find information relating to the DHCP service under common tabs such as "Advanced", "LAN", "System" and "NAT". Have a look around, as it should be stored somewhere on the router.

 

When you find information relating to DHCP, first check if it is enabled (if for some reason it is not, just leave it and give it a mention here). You should be able to find information regarding "starting IP address" and "ending IP address". This is the scope of IP addresses that the router manages for automated distribution of configuration. Typically, it should start somewhere from x.x.x.100 to around x.x.x.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Post the DHCP information of your router here, and then we will dedicate a block for manual configuration located outside the DHCP scope, yet still considered part of the subnet. By doing this, we will ensure that manual configuration that co-exists with a DHCP service will not cause any conflict or trouble, now or in the future.

 

I am sorry if this became a hassle, haha. TCP/IP can become frustrating when things go out of hand and undocumented.

[AzureHedgehog]

Don't worry, I know exactly what you're talking about - i've been in my router several (hundred) times before but it is all gobbledygook to me, I am glad you explained it much clearer, and I know I'm probably going to disconnect something if I touch anything I don't know what i'm dealing with.

 

If I move the router from the far corner of my house, in that small room with the metal objects, where is the best place to put it so it could have complete 360 connection? We have a wide open lounge room/kitchen and there is a TV there.

I have a TV in my room as well but it is not near a wide open space and it's blocked by walls.

 

I got an error of an Invalid IP Address even before looking at your guides.  None of your help has effected my router's connectivity in a bad way.

 

When dad changed the pass over from WPA 2 to WEP I don't think he changed anything else, just the connection and the password.

I found the DHCP Server and it has two  checkboxes next to each other "no" and "yes". "yes" is ticked.

 

 

 

Starting IP Address 192.168.0. Ending IP Address 192.168.0.

 

Subnet Mask 255.255.255.

 

Might I add, the boxes that the last numbers are in looks like I can create my own last digits.

[Diz]

The best place to put it to achieve best connectivity in your house would simply be somewhere in the center and not too surrounded by stationary electrical or metal equipment.

 

Your router's DHCP service page says 192.168.0 for both starting and ending addresses with empty boxes for the final octet? Are the boxes simply empty? The router should typically have the current setting filled in, unless something is wrong. I may be wrong, but it could mean that the DHCP service is malfunctioning, able to renew already-existing leases made by computers but refusing new entries in the database due to a crashed scope. It would have been easier if I had direct access to your computer and router through something like a remote assistance or teamviewer session, as these things commonly need to be documented before changed.

 

On one of your computers that have Internet access while connected to your router, open up cmd, as described in the guide you linked to me. Type ipconfig /all and stretch the window larger so that you can see all of the output, then paste it into a post here. You can copy the output by right-clicking in the output window, click Mark, then use your left mouse button to mark the output. Upon right-clicking in the window, the selection disappears and you have stored a temporary copy of that text. Then you should be able to paste that right into your post. The information provided contain private IP addresses that cannot be used to hack you in any way, in case you worry about that.

 

I would try adding numbers to the empty boxes, maybe 200 and 250 for the moment, but I am also not sure if I want to suggest doing that while being unable to see the router and everything else myself.

[AzureHedgehog]

What you see is what is there, basically. Yes, there are "0"s indicating nothing in the boxes where I can put in my own numbers.

 

My dad is coming home in the evening (I'm on a mac at the moment, so I can't do start run ipconfig all but i'll post my information when he gets home. Thanks!!

 

Ps, if you'd like to see inside my router for more information, do you use Skype? We could go on remote assistance on that. Just sayin'.

Edited October 2, 2013 by AzureHedgehog

[Tornado]

lol I spent the past two days looking up how the Line In and Line Out jacks work on my new laptop, since one of the main reasons I bought it was that it had the 4 audio jacks on it so I could use it to stream stuff without losing the audio from the internal speakers like I had to with my Dell since I switched from XP on it.

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out that the thing had Stereo Mix functionality all along. MSI is so awesome. Don't be like me everyone.

[Silencer226]

 

 

It turns out that the thing had Stereo Mix functionality all along. MSI is so awesome. Don't be like me everyone.

 

But Tornado, you're my role model. D:

Edited October 3, 2013 by Noel

[Kapi]

I have a question regarding monitor resolutions...

 

I currently have an IBM ThinkPad X31 laptop, which while it's older, it works great! But the screen is too small, so I've been using an external display as a second display. For a while, it has been an IBM 15 inch monitor with the same resolution (1024x768) as the laptop.

 

Well, today I managed to get a 17 inch monitor (with no stand, and for free ), the NEC LCD1760NX. According to NEC's website, this monitor has a native resolution of 1280x1024. Windows recognizes this, and allows me to select it. But, when I do, the second monitor "scrolls" when my mouse pointer hits the edge.

 

I've looked up the specs of my laptop, and it has an integrated ATI Mobility Radeon 7000, which can support an external VGA display up to 2048x1536. Oddly enough, if I hook up the living room's monitor, it displays perfectly fine, and that has a resolution of 1440x900.

 

So, what can I do to get this to stop scrolling and show the whole image on screen? I've installed the monitor's driver, and the driver for my video chip is the latest I can get. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

[KrazyBean]

I need some help guys. I've built the PC, but when I go into the BIOS it doesn't detect my SSD and SSHD. The only thing it detects is my DVD drive. I've swapped wires, put them in different slots and all sorts but it still doesn't appear.

 

I can't even install the latest drivers because I need to have Windows for that. No drive = no Windows, so I'm pretty much stuck now...

[Diz]

You could try load the BIOS default settings, and if that does not work, clear CMOS the hard way. When I was building a PC recently, I had to do this in order to get through even POST. Check the motherboard manual regarding how to clear the CMOS.

 

One other thing I can think of is that if your BIOS is set to regular ATA/IDE mode, you likely need to set it to SATA/AHCI mode. The other thing I can think of is doing a BIOS upgrade to make sure it supports these sort of devices. Most of my devices are of old PATA technology so I do not know much about SSDs. All I know is that when you do get to detect them, you should do a firmware upgrade on the two, or at least the SSD, to make sure it performs properly. Sorry that I do not know more about this sort of thing, others here likely do. Best of luck.

[KrazyBean]

You could try load the BIOS default settings, and if that does not work, clear CMOS the hard way. When I was building a PC recently, I had to do this in order to get through even POST. Check the motherboard manual regarding how to clear the CMOS.

 

One other thing I can think of is that if your BIOS is set to regular ATA/IDE mode, you likely need to set it to SATA/AHCI mode. The other thing I can think of is doing a BIOS upgrade to make sure it supports these sort of devices. Most of my devices are of old PATA technology so I do not know much about SSDs. All I know is that when you do get to detect them, you should do a firmware upgrade on the two, or at least the SSD, to make sure it performs properly. Sorry that I do not know more about this sort of thing, others here likely do. Best of luck.

 

My motherboard puts the settings to ACHI by default. I've tried changing those settings hough, but to no avail. I've also loaded the default settings numerous times.

 

I don't know whether I shorted it without me even knowing or it's incompatible with the motherboard. I'll try clearing the CMOS though.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

If I wanted to buy a thing to backup my files onto so my computer crash thing won't take me out of commission again, what do you suggest? I am getting it from either Costco or Best Buy, so try to help there.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

If I wanted to buy a thing to backup my files onto so my computer crash thing won't take me out of commission again, what do you suggest? I am getting it from either Costco or Best Buy, so try to help there.

Either store's fine, brah. Hell, you can get an external harddrive from Walmart, and it wouldn't be that big a problem.

 

It's just a matter of how many GB you want on a backup harddrive. 250? 500? 750? Or a Terabyte or 2? or 3? or 4? (Hell, they might even have a 5 TB harddrive somewhere)

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Either store's fine, brah. Hell, you can get an external harddrive from Walmart, and it wouldn't be that big a problem.

 

It's just a matter of how many GB you want on a backup harddrive. 250? 500? 750? Or a Terabyte or 2? or 3? or 4? (Hell, they might even have a 5 TB harddrive somewhere)

The most I have used up right now is about 300 GB out of 900 GB as of now.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

The most I have used up right now is about 300 GB out of 900 GB as of now.

Okay, yeah so you're either gonna need either 500-750 GB, or if you think you're likely to use more than that you're gonna need at least a 1TB harddrive.

 

Or a 2TB, wouldn't hurt to have enough data to store your whole computer two times over. Now the question is what kind of device do you want? There are two types, one that you plug in through your outlet and then into your computer or one like a flash drive where you just plug into your computer and that's that.

 

The latter is obviously the more expensive, but each comes with it's benefits and setbacks as far as using them goes. For the former, it's cheaper, but it's not portable as you have to plug into an external socket to power it on. The second is more expensive, but it's portable so you can use it anywhere you want with little problems.

[Tornado]

The latter also tends to be really finicky with the quality of USB cables that you use. Less of a problem with USB 3.0 because the cables tend to be of hardier construction, \but still something to take into account.