Failed to play test tone

Question

When ever I try to play any sound, nothing happens.  When I go into the control panel and double click on the “sound” icon, it shows my speakers.  And when click on my sound device or speakers, and hit test, the message I get it "failed to play test tone".
 
Now for some background. 
1. I had a different soundcard that was doing the same thing, but I thought maybe it just "went bad", so I bought a new one.  I’ve installed it with no problem.
2. Yes, all the drivers are up to date.  I've run Windows update numerous times and I've double checked the driver version against the one on the manufactures website - they are the same.  Everything is up to date.
3. The device manager can see my speakers/sound card and it says its working.
4. I started out on another forum "Media foundation development - Re:Vista/No Sound/Failed to play test tone" and read the whole thread, did everything it told me to, and I even e-mail Microsoft to get a hotfix.  I installed the hotfix, to no avail.  Nothing has changed, my sound still does not work.
5. The posters/answers at the above thread said they weren't really audio experts and were directing everyone to this thread.
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Please help.

Chris

Answer 1

I have had the exact same experience up to and including the purchase of a new sound card and absolutely no sound whatsoever.  This is a huge problem for me as my PC does some sound editing as well as provide access to classes on that net that require sound.  I'm completely frustrated.  I have done the same things Chris did above except go for the hotfix from Microsoft but I have scoured the net for sites liket his with any clue.  Sounds like a lot of us are having this problem. 

 

Truth is, my sound was working just fine for months... not a glitch, none of the lag that so many other users seem to be getting.  It worked just great.  Now, nothing....

 

I'm using an onboard ENVY 24 Family Audio with March 2007 drivers which I am told is the latest.....

 

Thanks!

 

Scott

Answer 2

Hi there

Your not alone with this  ... I have the same problem with Vista Ultimate and Motherboard P4M890T-M.

I've searched many hours for a solotion but there seemes not to be one right now ?... I've reinstalled Vista two times already but the sound disapperas when receiving a Microsoft update called CAPICOM ?. I don't now if there is a hardware problem with this motherboard & Vista because others have no problem after the updates .

 

The only way to get the sound back is to load a restore point before the uppdate ?!??!

Please help if you have any clue 

Thanks

Dan

 

 

 

Answer 3

The solution that worked for me without a restore, I didn't have any, or re-installing Vista is to restart the service called "Windows Audio". Just go to start>all programs>administrative tools>services and navigate to "windows audio. Then right click that and click restart. This is only temporary though.

Answer 4

i did the exact same thing, bought a brand new sound card for no reason.

found this solution in another forum, thanks garyd11:

http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/showpost.aspx?postid=2848806&isthread=false&siteid=1&authhash=5b1783550cd1185d1983817bcf5c156c4a9e900b&ticks=633386174254718305&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=2

I had the exact same problem and here is the fix.  You're not going to believe it!   1 Go to control panel 2. Double-Click on the Sound Icon 3. Single-click the Speakers to highlight them 4. Click on Properties (bottom right corner) 5. Go to the Enhancements Tab and Click on it 6. Now click "Disable All Sound Effects" 7. Click OK and you should be good to go!   Good luck!

Answer 5

Thank you so much, this has been driving me up the wall. good luck to those who didn't have luck with this solution.

Answer 6

This solution did not work for me. I have noticed that my sound works at the Log in screen. It is when I sign in that somehow my sound is stopped and won't come back on. Same for all log ons... Any ideas would be appreciated.

Answer 7

Thanks for posting this solution...it helped me too!

 

 

Answer 8

I want to let everyone know that I found my problem. I had Vipre Beta 7 installed. This antivirus program blocked the sound. The developers are working on the solution. If the program is shut down (or uninstalled), the sound returns.

Answer 9

 

I was watching videos on youtube, and as I went to play another video, the sound just stopped working. I tried to play a test sound, and the error message "Failed to play test tone" popped up. I've tried everything! I have an hp tx1000z laptop with Realtek audio manager.

Answer 10

Thank you SO much! I did this and now have sound again. I can't believe it was such an easy fix !

thecraigmcrae wrote:

i did the exact same thing, bought a brand new sound card for no reason. found this solution in another forum, thanks garyd11: http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/showpost.aspx?postid=2848806&isthread=false&siteid=1&authhash=5b1783550cd1185d1983817bcf5c156c4a9e900b&ticks=633386174254718305&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=2 I had the exact same problem and here is the fix.  You're not going to believe it!   1 Go to control panel 2. Double-Click on the Sound Icon 3. Single-click the Speakers to highlight them 4. Click on Properties (bottom right corner) 5. Go to the Enhancements Tab and Click on it 6. Now click "Disable All Sound Effects" 7. Click OK and you should be good to go!   Good luck!

Answer 11

Aargh, this cannot be! I was so hopeful after I read this and you know what, I don't see the speakers!!! I only have an icon for the soundcard itself, but it does not have the Enhancement Tab. Shouldn't everyone have the speakers??

 

 

Answer 12

I have a HP a1410n desktop, just upgraded to Windows 7.  Fought the Realtek drivers (uninstalled, reinstalled, etc.)  Finally clicked enhancement tabs on both Speakers and Realtek Digital Output, set digital output as default (what I use), and Disabled All Sound Effects.  It worked and I was able to play test tones and Sample Rates.  My audio codec is ALC 883.

Answer 13

The property key Deepak mentions is PKEY_Endpoint_Disable_SysFx.  This registry key is controlled by a checkbox in the Sound control panel:

Control Panel | Hardware and Sound | Sound | Speakers (or whatever the playback device's name is) | Enhancements | Disable all enhancements (check the box)

Audio drivers can provide their own UI for the Enhancements tab, but there is a logo requirement that there be a checkbox on the UI that disables all the enhancements.

---

Matthew van Eerde

Answer 14

Thanks sooo much thecraigmcrae.
Thanks I just installed a software for school that included learn by ipod.
Quicktime was installed and only the software would play sound.
I uninstalled the software and quicktime no success.
I uninstalled and updated windows media sound no success.
I cried put some tears on it, no success then I came here.
Found this 
Go to control panel

2. Double-Click on the Sound Icon

3. Single-click the Speakers to highlight them

4. Click on Properties (bottom right corner)

5. Go to the Enhancements Tab and Click on it

6. Now click "Disable All Sound Effects"

7. Click OK and you should be good to go!

Succes, I hope this works for others.
What I don't understand is why I couldn't play with the configure tab.
As Lawrence Welch would say..Thank you..Thank you...Thank you... 

Answer 15

I have tried all of these solutions but nothing has worked.

My initial problem was when I purchased a usb headset. I plugged it in to use it but the sound keep coming through my computer speakers. I when to the sound properties and disabled the speakers and the sound came through my headset. But then there was a big red x on my computer speakers. I enabled the speakers but now i have no sound. I have tried everything and nothing is working. Everything appears to be working fine but when I test the speakers i get the failed to play test tone message.

i've tried restarting the Windows audio
I've tried the registry trick
I've tried the disable all sound effects trick.

I still have no sound. What else can i do. I am very close to throwing this computer out the window, lol

Answer 16

Goto the following key in registry.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE  à SOFTWARE  à  Microsoft  à  Windows  à  
                                    CurrentVersion  à MMDevices  à Audio  à Render  à   
                                    {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx} à FxProperties

In the right hand side of the registry window change the value of {1da5d803-d492-4edd-8c23-e0c0ffee7f0e},5  
(value type is REG_DWORD) to 1 (one) instead of 0 (zero).

INCASE YOU DON'T FIND THE ABOVE MENTIONED KEY UNDER fxproperties, PLEASE CREATE IT BY YOURSELF. (COPY & PASTE

{1da5d803-d492-4edd-8c23-e0c0ffee7f0e},5

TYPE IS REG_DWORD AND PUT VALUE 1

The audio start working at the moment you change the above value !!! (even before closing the registry editor).

 

Thanks & regards

Deepak & Kabeer.
Doha-Qatar.
Mob : [phone] & [phone]

Answer 17

Kami?  Did you fix your issue?  I think we are having close to the same problems?

My problems all hit me on sunday too :(

Answer 18

No tony unfortunately not. I'm trying to get a job online which I need the speakers for. It's very frustrating. I'm not sure what to do. I hope we can find some solutions and fast!!!

Answer 19

No tony unfortunately not. I'm trying to get a job online which I need the speakers for. It's very frustrating. I'm not sure what to do. I hope we can find some solutions and fast!!!

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7music/thread/f972665e-1569-419a-814e-331eb60364e3

No one has any idea?  Please, does begging help?  I have had a similar problem since 1/17/2010.  The above is my link.  "Failed to play test tone"

When I do a system restore to 1/10/2010 my computer initially works 100% fine.  However, windows request I reboot the computer to finish the restore/config/install.  As long as I postpone that reboot it works!  But, once I reboot nothing works.  If you need additional information please ask.  This might help multiple people,  I have a lot of info in my thread here.  This thread received 16,000 views.

(Kami or whoever else is having this issue).  This thread received 16,000 + hits so far.  Feel free to write me [e-mail]

Our issues seem similar while I know this possibly means nothing us somehow working together might get our windows working again.
Thank you very much

Answer 20

Ok, hello everyone who seems to having sound issues for the HP model a1410n. Lets go over a few basic issue troublesome tips for you on this model. First is BIOS> make sure in BIOS when your booting up that settings for BIOS is set on audio is not auto or disable> but enabled. Also when upgrading from the XP Media Center OS to > Vista (any) or Windows 7 (any) there a few BIOS flash updates you must run. I suggest backing up all your file before running a BIOS flash. Check the http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?product=1841799&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us
select your OS type on current running. Find the latest driver for the realtek audio. Download to desktop or documents however you wish to do so.
Before running this driver update completely uninstall any audio drivers of the system. Check to also make sure you don't have any other type pf audio drivers installed from like the example Nvidia GT Galaxy 220 has a build HDMI HD audio. Just uninstall the Realtek driver. Before rebooting> run your current windows updates to see if maybe a recent patch is provided for such issues. Then if not or so reboot. After rebooting and checking to make sure your BIOS settings for audio is set for Enabled. Login to windows and install the driver. If the driver came into a winzip file> go to> start>computer> : right click my computer: > go to properties> device manager> find the [!] device for audio and open properties of that device. Then run update this device from winzip location or check for updated installed driver. I have a HP a1410n > using windows 7 64 bit. No issues for the audio. I did have to install a driver from windows 7 and HP to use it for the audio on mine is a Nvidia HD enchanced audio. Also for those who are running a 64 bit using any version of Vista and windows 7> the away mode has not been patched fixed yet. BIOS power settings should be SQL4 so when in stand by doesn't cause full system black shutdown.

Yours truely,
1 Net DAWG 

---

TheDAWG

Answer 21

Hey tony  don't know if you tried re-installing your windows but I just did that yesterday and I have sound. Isn't that crazy how long has it been with no real answers. If you haven't already try that and see if it works. I hope you have or will find success. Thanks!!!

Answer 22

I had this same issue today, and found the most bizarre fix

however I will quickly go over the problem:
 
Vista, with latest updates and driver for everything, no audio at all, getting failed to play test tone in sound devices, windows media player brings up an error when playing any file.

Tried:

I've tried
*  rebooting
*  uninstalling and reinstalling the driver for the sound card
*  "disable all enhancements" in the sound control panel
*  Registry fix: (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole\DefaultAccessPermission)
*  Followed this: (http://www.consumingexperience.com/2009/04/failed-to-play-test-tone-no-sound-on.html)
* KBKB930883 and some other KB cant remember the number
My fix:

I decided that I was going to format and start again, so i went to my network and sharing center but found an error "network and sharing center server execution failed"

i figured this might have something to do with my problem so after i quick google i followed these steps

>>Right click "Computer"
>>Click "Manage"
>>Under the "System Tools" section, Double click "Local Users and Groups"
>>Click "Groups"
>>Right click "Administrators"
>>Click "Add to group..."
>>Click "Add"
>>Click "Advanced"
>>Click "Find Now"
>>Double click "Local Service"
>>Click "Ok"
>>"NT Authority\Local Service" should show up in the list now
>>Click "Ok"
>>Close Computer Management and reboot.

After my reboot my audio works again as well at my network and sharing center.

Hope thing brings joy to someone else :)

Regards
Robin Fleming

Answer 23

There wasn't a "Local Users and Groups" under the "System Tools" section. So I wasn't able to proceed with your solution. But in my case the issue got resolved after disabling USER ACCOUNT CONTROL. What a very unusual case.

http://xps-resource.blogspot.com

Answer 24

Robin,

I want to say Thanks in a VERY BIG WAY! I found myself without sound after installing August 2009 updates. I have tried more ways that I want to count and until your solution gave me my sound back.

You truly have giving me joy, along with sound.

Again, my thanks to you and your great solution.

Below is the solution that worked for me, which came from Robin above.

 

i figured this might have something to do with my problem so after i quick Google i followed these steps

>>Right click "Computer"
>>Click "Manage"
>>Under the "System Tools" section, Double click "Local Users and Groups"
>>Click "Groups"
>>Right click "Administrators"
>>Click "Add to group..."
>>Click "Add"
>>Click "Advanced"
>>Click "Find Now"
>>Double click "Local Service"
>>Click "Ok"
>>"NT Authority\Local Service" should show up in the list now
>>Click "Ok"
>>Close Computer Management and reboot.

After my reboot my audio works again as well at my network and sharing center.

Hope thing brings joy to someone else :)

Regards
Robin Fleming

 

Answer 25

this would have been great if only 7 home premium trusted me enough to make those changes. argh!

Answer 26

The above fix worked for me, too! If you are suffering the same audio problem, save yourselves hours of time and money on new cards, and just disable all the sound effects!

 

Thanks so much for the tips!

Answer 27

Glad to have helped even one or two people, this problem drove me mental for ages

 

Regards

Robin

Answer 28

hey, mine does the same-failed to play test tone-its really bugging me, i cant listen to music, cant go on utube, itunes, do a video call on msn with friends :( i need help i have a dell studio 1737 laptop running Windows Vista OS X-basically vista so HELPPPPPPP

Answer 29

thank u very much...it's working..

:-)

Answer 30

Which solution worked for you to solve the audio problem ?

Answer 31

Deepak et al. - I'm a very technical guy and been struggling with this for three days now.   I knew it had to be permissions....the resolution that worked for me was adding the Local Service account to the Administrators group and then restarting the computer.   Nothing as sweet as hearing the start-up chime after making this change.   Thanks!

 

Answer 32

Had to reply just to say thanks. This had bugged me ever since I installed Windows 7 and thanks to you it's finally fixed. ^_^

Answer 33

hi you have the same computer i have i was wonder if you managed to get a BIOS update for your computer for windows vista 32 bit operating system oe Windows 7 home premium 32 bit operating system my BIOS Is version 3.11 if you did can you tell me how to get the update and where to download it from send email with that information to [e-mail] thanks.

Answer 34

OMG Thank YOU Robin. I had just spent the last 3 hours trying to work out why I had no sound. I'd tried everything, so glad I finally found your solution. Thanks.

Answer 35

I had this same issue today, and found the most bizarre fix

however I will quickly go over the problem:
 
Vista, with latest updates and driver for everything, no audio at all, getting failed to play test tone in sound devices, windows media player brings up an error when playing any file.

Tried:

I've tried
*  rebooting
*  uninstalling and reinstalling the driver for the sound card
*  "disable all enhancements" in the sound control panel
*  Registry fix: (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole\DefaultAccessPermission)
*  Followed this: (http://www.consumingexperience.com/2009/04/failed-to-play-test-tone-no-sound-on.html)
* KBKB930883 and some other KB cant remember the number
My fix:

I decided that I was going to format and start again, so i went to my network and sharing center but found an error "network and sharing center server execution failed"

i figured this might have something to do with my problem so after i quick google i followed these steps

>>Right click "Computer"
>>Click "Manage"
>>Under the "System Tools" section, Double click "Local Users and Groups"
>>Click "Groups"
>>Right click "Administrators"
>>Click "Add to group..."
>>Click "Add"
>>Click "Advanced"
>>Click "Find Now"
>>Double click "Local Service"
>>Click "Ok"
>>"NT Authority\Local Service" should show up in the list now
>>Click "Ok"
>>Close Computer Management and reboot.

After my reboot my audio works again as well at my network and sharing center.

Hope thing brings joy to someone else :)

Regards
Robin Fleming

You're a star Robin.. :D This worked for me on Win7 Ultimate 64 bit.. Thank you..

Answer 36

Hi Guys for me this solution worked it might work for others as well.

 

I went into Sounds in Control Panel and went to the Playback tab right click on Speakers and Disabled it and then Enabled it again and was working fine sounds were coming okay.

 

I know its not a permenant fix but avoids one tto reboot all the time and saves time to.

 

Hope it helps others as well.

 

Windows 7 Professional.

Answer 37

HI Thanks for the solution. It worked for me also. Went to speaker properties. Clicked the "Enhancements" tab and Checked the "Disable all enhancements" box.

Answer 38

After 2 days working to find solutions for this issue, finally found this forum & Robin's solution. It  worked!

 

Thanks Robin.

 

Alvin 

Answer 39

i did this bt nothing happens plz help i hv d same problem (failed to play test tone files)..help

 

Answer 40

i did this robin bt i hv still this problem ,,plz tell what to do now????plz help me....

 

Answer 41

Robin,

 

Thanks a lot for your solution. I ran into this the other day after I messed around in the registry (Another long story :(). Tried everything else and finally found your solution. It worked on a Lenovo T410 Win7 x64. Thanks again. Saved me a system restore :)

Answer 42

I have windows vista home. How do I add local service to administrator group.

Answer 43

you legend.

Worked  a charm.

Answer 44

Sad to say .... 4 years later the problem is still happenning.

I've tried the solutions above - and Robin's makes sense, but I can't figure out how to do it in Windows 7.

Microsoft doesn't allow us access to the basic stuff anymore.

Can someone who had success in Windows 7 post the sequence please?

Thanks

JB

Answer 45

J_Bubba, can you give some detail on the problem you're experiencing?

---

Matthew van Eerde

Answer 46

Hello Matthew -

my problem is pretty much exactly the same as those listed above...

I'm on W7, with a Soundblaster X-Fi card, and up until 2/15 everything was fine.  Then there was a windows update overnight, and when I logged in on the 16th, there was no audio on the computer.  All audio players returned error messages - even test tones wouldn't work. 

The soundcard was still fine in device manager - no conflicts - but the system would play no audio (and videos had a tremendous lag). 

I tried disabling/enabling, updating drivers etc etc...   I restored to the oldest point, which was 2/9, but the problem persists.  I backed out all the recent updates - but still no audio.

I would like to try Robin's solution above - but the network sharing and users/groups isn't accessible in W7.  (Boy do I miss windows 2k pro)

I was hoping that one of the users above who had success on Windows 7 would post the sequence.

Thanks,

JB

Answer 47

Thanks for the detail.

What appears in the Sound control panel?

---

Matthew van Eerde

Answer 48

Hello Matthew -

my problem is pretty much exactly the same as those listed above...

I'm on W7, with a Soundblaster X-Fi card, and up until 2/15 everything was fine.  Then there was a windows update overnight, and when I logged in on the 16th, there was no audio on the computer.  All audio players returned error messages - even test tones wouldn't work. 

The soundcard was still fine in device manager - no conflicts - but the system would play no audio (and videos had a tremendous lag). 

I tried disabling/enabling, updating drivers etc etc...   I restored to the oldest point, which was 2/9, but the problem persists.  I backed out all the recent updates - but still no audio.

I would like to try Robin's solution above - but the network sharing and users/groups isn't accessible in W7.  (Boy do I miss windows 2k pro)

I was hoping that one of the users above who had success on Windows 7 would post the sequence.

Thanks,

JB

THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO ME! 

Answer 49

Issue with new HP 8560p. Without updates and programs sound worked correctly.

Suddenly after a few days only sound with headphone. No sound via Speaker. Maybe after updates from Windows or installation of software.

Solution was for me:

Control Panel, Sound, right mousebutton on 'Speakers/HP'
 Properties, tab Effects
 Enable: Disable System Effects

Directly after this i have sound without rebooting the laptop.

Answer 50

thank u Robin!  u rock! have been trying for days to get sound...woohoo nothing like sound upon startup! :-)

Answer 51

Robin,

I want to say Thanks in a VERY BIG WAY! I found myself without sound after installing August 2009 updates. I have tried more ways that I want to count and until your solution gave me my sound back.

You truly have giving me joy, along with sound.

Again, my thanks to you and your great solution.

Below is the solution that worked for me, which came from Robin above.

i figured this might have something to do with my problem so after i quick Google i followed these steps

>>Right click "Computer"
>>Click "Manage"
>>Under the "System Tools" section, Double click "Local Users and Groups"
>>Click "Groups"
>>Right click "Administrators"
>>Click "Add to group..."
>>Click "Add"
>>Click "Advanced"
>>Click "Find Now"
>>Double click "Local Service"
>>Click "Ok"
>>"NT Authority\Local Service" should show up in the list now
>>Click "Ok"
>>Close Computer Management and reboot.

After my reboot my audio works again as well at my network and sharing center.

Hope thing brings joy to someone else :)

Regards
Robin Fleming

THANKS A LOT ROBIN!!!!!

I was spending my last 3 days to solve "failed to play sound" issue. On my desktop volume icons were active but i couldnt get any system sounds. After this workaround i was able to get all sounds from my OS. Thanks a lot guys but does anyone have an idea about why adding local service to computer administrators was able to solve the problem??

Answer 52

i did the exact same thing, bought a brand new sound card for no reason.

found this solution in another forum, thanks garyd11:

http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/showpost.aspx?postid=2848806&isthread=false&siteid=1&authhash=5b1783550cd1185d1983817bcf5c156c4a9e900b&ticks=633386174254718305&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=2

I had the exact same problem and here is the fix.  You're not going to believe it!   1 Go to control panel 2. Double-Click on the Sound Icon 3. Single-click the Speakers to highlight them 4. Click on Properties (bottom right corner) 5. Go to the Enhancements Tab and Click on it 6. Now click "Disable All Sound Effects" 7. Click OK and you should be good to go!   Good luck! i looked every were they had me going in services thanx so much i can believe it was that simple