Hello "robinb":
I have a homebuilt Vista Ultimate PC with Intel DG965WH board and it came
with Sigma Tel onboard HD audio. I was unable to get SP1 thru automatic
update and after finding out about the Sigma Tel audio conflict, I went to
Intel's website for my board and they listed 2 "IDT" audio driver updates for
the board. I downloaded and installed the latest IDT HD audio driver and the
sound worked just fine and the next time I checked windows update there was
no SP1 offered but 2 hrs later Windows Update notified me in the taskbar that
there was an important update available and it was SP1 so I downloaded
overnight and installed the next day and it installed fine and the onboard
audio is working fine.
The point of all this is that I wonder if your pc has an intel board if
it might be worth trying to install the latest Intel IDT audio driver (Feb
2008 I think) from their site. If it works, fine, if not you can always
roll-back to the current driver. You would need to try and determine what
SigmaTel audio subsystem you have on your board..... and then go to the
download page for a board with that. My board is listed as having:
One of the following:
8-channel (7.1) audio subsystem using the SigmaTel* STAC9271 audio codec
8-channel (7.1) audio subsystem using the SigmaTel* STAC9271D audio codec
and Dolby* Home Theater certification.

Here is Intel's website with a list of their motherboards you can look
thru and see if yours is similar to one those:

[url]http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboard/index.htm?iid=mbd_body+dt_all[/url]

Good luck with your audio update for SP1!

xiowan..........in tucson

"robinb" wrote:
[color=blue]
> I called microsoft yesterday asking what will be done via this problem for
> those who cannot get updated drivers for the Sigma Tel audio driver. The
> problem is Sigma no longer makes audio drivers and passed it off to another
> company who told me they are not making updated drivers at all for this type
> of audio codec.
> So how do you get updated drivers if you cannot? I have been on many forums
> via Dell and Gateway and thousand of customers have the same problem.
>
> First microsoft was giving advise to uninstall the driver and allow Vista to
> find its own drivers for this.
> Many did this and found they still had no sound.
>
> Microsoft also said to uninstall drivers, put sp1 on and then reput back the
> driver for sigman tel.
> Many who did this found after the sp1 install, when trying to put back the
> driver, Vista now came back with an error msg saying "This driver is not
> compatable for Vista"
> so they wound up again with no sound.
>
> Well after talking to the tech and he confirmed that this is what was being
> said- now when people call in they are telling them not do do anything and
> wait because microsoft is working on a solution to this.
>
> They say it will show up in Windows Update either a patch or fix for this
> problem.
>
> I received this morning an email from microsoft that I am passing in here,
> some of the info like email or confirmation number has been taken out just
> for security.
>
> see below
>
> this will confirm what microsoft told me, I received an email today
>
>
>
> This is Smitha Nair with Microsoft Windows Technical Support.
>
> I am following up regarding your Windows service request . Here is an
> outline of the steps that we agreed upon during our call:
>
> Problem Description:
> Needs information on installing service pack 1 on a computer with sigmatel
> audio drivers.
>
> Troubleshooting Performed:
> We did not perform any troubleshooting onthe computer.
>
> Action Plan:
> Kindly wait for further updates from microsoft which addresses the sigma
> audio driver compatibilty issues with service pack1.
>
> My goal is to ensure that your experience with Microsoft Windows Technical
> Support leaves you pleased with our products and services.
>
> If you have any feedback regarding Microsoft support, we would be glad to
> hear from you. If you would feel more comfortable speaking with someone
> else regarding my service, Sumit , my manager, would be very happy to hear
> your comments and suggestions.
>
>
> Robin
>[/color]