Updating Sound Device Drivers
From Audacity Wiki
| Hardware influence on recording quality | Recording Tips Updating Sound Device Drivers | Managing Computer Resources and Drivers |
| Especially on Windows machines, the sound device drivers as shipped may not allow proper recording. Follow these tips to update the drivers and obtain correct recording.
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| Related article(s): |
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[edit] Identifying current drivers and obtaining updates
Problems such as recordings freezing up, difficulty in selecting the correct, working input source or having the full range of input sources available, usually mean your sound device has faulty, outdated or inappropriate drivers. If this occurs it is important that the drivers are updated. Drivers are the piece of software that tells your computer how to talk to the specific hardware you have installed or connected to your computer. The drivers must be specific to the particular model of your computer or sound device, and are usually produced by the soundcard or motherboard manufacturer.
You may need to find out the name, specifications and current driver details for your sound device, so you can update it correctly. To do this, you can use Device Manager on Windows, System Profiler on a Mac or the /lspci or /lsusb commands on Linux. Device Manager can also try and update the drivers for you itself, and Windows users are strongly recommended to try this update facility as a first step - see Extra help for Windows users below.
Once you have the necessary information about your sound device, you can normally obtain appropriate updated drivers specific to your hardware from the internet. If you have a PCI or external soundcard you would go to the website of the soundcard manufacturer. If your sound is integrated into the motherboard, you'd try first at the website of the stated manufacturer of the sound device. Some device manufacturers such as Sigmatel and Soundmax however do not provide any support to end users, so in that case you would go to the website of the motherboard manufacturer. Use Google or Yahoo to search for the manufacturer's website.
[edit] Extra help for Windows users
All Windows users are strongly recommended to try updating their drivers via Device Manager in the first instance, before looking for drivers on the internet.
To access Device Manager on Vista with its default view: click Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance, then scroll down and click on Device Manager. With Vista "Classic View", there is a direct link to Device Manager in the Control Panel.
To access Device Manager on XP and earlier, click Start > (Settings) > Control Panel > System, click on the Hardware tab, then on the "Device Manager" button on the Device Manager panel.
Then expand "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" by clicking on the + sign, right-click over the sound device and click "update driver".
After the update (even if more recent drivers were not found), you should right-click over the device again, click Properties and then on the Driver tab to check the "Driver Provider". You don't want drivers from Microsoft - in most cases these are only generic drivers, not specifically matched to your hardware. This often leads to problems such as not being able to select the correct input, or recordings not being made correctly. These must be replaced with drivers made by the manufacturer of your hardware, so they are correctly matched to that hardware.
If you have now got updated non-Microsoft drivers, try them and see if your recording problem is cured. Otherwise, note the name of the Driver Provider (if it's Microsoft, note the name of the sound device you right-clicked over), and visit the manufacturer's website. You can search Google or Yahoo to find the correct internet address of the manufacturer.
If you have a PCI or external soundcard you would go to the website of the soundcard manufacturer. If you have integrated motherboard sound, try first at the website of the Driver Provider or stated manufacturer of the device. If this manufacturer does not offer driver downloads, go to the site of the motherboard manufacturer for assistance. When you visit the motherboard manufacturer's website, you will need to know details of your motherboard. If you don't have details to hand, try the following free utilities to gather relevant information:
- CPU-Z - no installation required, just unzip
- Belarc Advisor - browser based, requires installation
Always look for a driver update which is specific to your computer model and version of Windows (e.g. XP or Vista). This is especially critical if you are on Vista, as the way the drivers communicate with the hardware and the operating system is quite different than with earlier versions of Windows. Be sure to uninstall the old drivers of the device (right-click over the device in Device Manager > Uninstall) before installing the new ones.
[edit] Windows Update
If you are reading this because recordings have always worked fine in the past but are now freezing up, or Audacity is no longer launching properly, then perversely, an automatic update via Windows Update may just possibly have caused the problem. Windows Update is potentially less reliable about obtaining appropriate hardware updates than Device Manager. If you suspect this could be the problem, right-click on the Sound device in Device Manager, and click Properties, click on the Driver tab and then on "Roll Back Driver". This will revert the driver to its previous state. If this does not help or makes matters worse, go back to the Driver tab and click "Update Driver". Check the Driver Provider on the Driver tab after the update. If the driver provider is now Microsoft you could see if your problem is resolved, but the general recommendation would be to look for an appropriate driver specifically for your computer model from the device or motherboard manufacturer's website. Consider verifying updates via Windows Update manually instead of allowing updates to proceed automatically.
