I'm pretty sure it's not my sound card, because sound works fine on literally EVERYTHING else. I tried another game, and that works fine. Videos work fine, computer sounds work fine, DVD sounds work fine, other game sounds work fine... it's literally JUST in Sims 3 that this happens.

I get NO sound at all - not on the EA logo splash page when you first load up the game, not on the loading screen, not on the neighborhood loading screen & not in the actual gameplay.

I've checked the sound settings in the game, and nothing is muted, or turned right down.

I last loaded the game on 26th Feb, so... about 1 week ago, and it was just fine then. I go to load the game today, and there was suddenly no sound.

The only thing I've done between now and then, is installed Aurora Skies gold version. The first time I tried installing it, the launcher stopped responding, and I had to Ctrl+Alt+Del out of it, and when I tried a second time, it worked just fine.

I never loaded the game after I installed AS, because I've not been well, and didn't really feel like sitting in front of a screen any longer, so I can't say for sure whether it was caused by that or not. All I know is it was working fine a week ago, and now it isn't.

Does anyone know how to fix this? I'm getting pretty desperate here! I hate not being able to play. :-(

Here's what I've tried so far, in order of how I tried them:
1) Exited the game and then started it again.
2) Renamed my Electronic Arts folder and let the game generate a new one.
3) Restarted my computer.
4) Fully patched my game to 1.50.

Everything I've tried has the same result - no sound at all. It's literally like someones just hit the mute button on my laptop. Yes, I have checked that; definitely not muted! ;-p

Like I said, everything else works just fine. It's only doing this with Sims 3. :-/

Here are my specs - ignore the graphics chip; if you look up my laptop (Samsung RF711), you'll see that it has a Nvidia card that kicks in when you're gaming and such. It's about optimizing usage, or something like that! Idk!

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 3/5/2013, 14:15:03
Machine name: HAYLEY-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130104-1431)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
System Model: RF511/RF411/RF711
BIOS: AMIBIOS Version 14HX.M040.20111020.SSH
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM CPU @ 2.20GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8104MB RAM
Page File: 2640MB used, 13565MB available
Windows Dir: C:\windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0116&SUBSYS_C0A5144D&REV_09
Display Memory: 4062 MB
Dedicated Memory: 2014 MB
Shared Memory: 2047 MB
Current Mode: 1600 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: unknown
Monitor Id: SEC334D
Native Mode: 1600 x 900(p) (60.125Hz)
Output Type: Internal
Driver Name: igdumd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igdumdx32,igd10umd32,igd10umd32
Driver File Version: 8.15.0010.2253 (English)
Driver Version: 8.15.10.2253
DDI Version: 11
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 11/29/2010 05:23:14, 7428608 bytes

Update: I just went into Device Manager, and had it check for updates, and my sound driver is definitely fully updated. It said that it's the best one, or something. So.. yeah.

Anyone? :-(

I hope I can link to this page here... Sorry if I can't, not sure what the rules on offsite linking are. Anyway: http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/m...alDownload=true
I just checked there, and if I'm reading it right (bear in mind this is the first time I've EVER even remotely researched anything like this), it seems like my driver is up to date?

The 10th one down on the list says:
OS: Windows 7(32bit,64bit)
Version: 6.0.1.6400
Description: Sound(Audio)
Date: 28 Nov, 2011

I've been reading your posts, but I don't have any suggestions. However, I know that some of the people who are more familiar with hardware problems don't sign on quite as often, so I hope that you'll get an answer if you can be patient. I just wanted you to know that we aren't ignoring you. I suspect that no one who's read this thread has any ideas, which is why you're not getting any response. Sorry.

Is this solved, or do you still need help?

Am also moving this to Sims 3, as this is affecting Sims 3 gameplay only and not while not playing the game, so it is not a generic PC issue.

=========
ETA: thread archived, because...

...in another thread. https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=497888

This is why you don't create multiple threads!