Thanks for the ideas so far but they have not solved the problem. I
have re-installed everything but the whole restore CD. Nor is it a
problem with the device selection.

I think this is now a software problem, but since I started here in the
PCBuild list I should continue here. (Moderator?)

I think the problem is with the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth. I
checked on another identical machine and this is the difference:

When I enter Multimedia in Control Panel and click the MIDI tab it
lists a Roland MPU-401 and the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth
on the good machine but only the Roland on the problem machine.

Also in Multimedia Devices tab there's another difference. Under
MIDI instruments, on the good machine it lists the Roland under the
MPU compatible MIDI item and under the WDM (Win32 Driver
Model) based MIDI it lists the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth.
On the MIDI-dead machine there's nothing under the WDM based
MIDI.

So my question now is, where do i find and how do I install this
Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth again and hook it up to the rest
of the innards of Windows? I strongly suspect that if I can do this,
the problem will be solved.

Thanks again for your help and patience.

Eric

here's a copy of my original post again:

> I'm having an interesting problem with a sound card
> configuration on a Win98SE machine. The card and
> speakers work fine to play CDs but no longer play
> windows sounds, MIDI, etc. If I play a midi file in
> Multimedia Player 6 it looks fine, but there's no
> sound and the speaker and volume icons are both
> greyed out. Am I correct to deduce from this that the
> card is in OK?
>
> When I go into Control Panel and select Multimedia,
> the two sound items (play and record) are greyed out
> and you can't change anything. If you go to the
> Windows directory and try to run sndvol32.exe it
> won't run. Running sndrec32.exe results in a
> message saying the card is not properly installed.
>
> So off we go to control panel, System, and reinstall
> the sound drivers and still no dice. By the way in
> properties it says everything's just hunky dorey - no
> conflicts and that it's functioning fine. Should I take
> out the card and reinstall it physically in the machine?
>
> The owner of this machine installed a bunch of
> funky sounds from Dangerous Animals and then
> played around with a bunch of settings to get rid of
> them - well, they succeeded. ;) In Control Panel,
> Sounds the tester is greyed out also when you select
> one of the wave files to test as if there were no wave
> attached to the incident.
>
> So my suspicion is that there's some checkbox
> somewhere that's checked and shouldn't be or
> shouldn't be and is. Any help, including the obvious,
> greatly appreciated.
>
> TIA,
>
> Eric

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