No sound at all, even after removing all mods and reinstalling clean. What can I do?

[itsthebloom]

I've played this game a dozen times, with no problems, but something's happened to totally disable all sound in the game, rendering it unplayable. Any advice? It's my favorite game of all times and it'd be a damn shame if it was over for me.

[HadToRegister]

Try renaming your ALL of your INI files in C:\users\YOUR NAME\documents\my games\\FalloutNV\ and starting the game again so it generates new ones.
Maybe your audio is set to Zero in the old INI files somehow

[dubiousintent]

The audio (sounds of all types: voices, music, fx, etc.) are passed from the game through the DirectX driver to the Windows operating system. FNV uses a specific DirectX 9 driver which the game is looking for by filename. It does not know about any more recent versions of the driver, even though they are backwards compatible, so you MUST install that specific driver to the Window system directory. This is linked in the 'Issue: Vanilla game Hangs on startup' section of the wiki 'Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting' guide; specifically "Cause-1" regarding DirectX9 drivers.

 

If you have the correct DirectX driver, then check that 1) it is installed as normally to the "C:\Windows" folder, 2) you have tested that Windows is able to generate tones through that driver (run DXDIAG) by trying different connector plugs (there are often differences between the "jacks" on the front and back panels of the computer box), 3) that you have the game configured to output through the same "device" as the DirectX driver, and 4) that both the "Master Volume" and the "Speaker/Headphone" output have a value greater than zero.

 

-Dubious-

[itsthebloom]

Hi @DubiousIntent,

All that's checked, and did nothing. I did add files from IndirectSound and that restored the music, but only one sound effect plays, namely the first click in the main menu. Any solutions to restore sound effects? (For the record, the intro video music plays, but when I wake up in Doc Mitchell's, he has no voice, and nothing makes sound effects except occasionally clicking E-activate when not looking at anything makes the standard clicking sound.)

[dubiousintent]

Everything works correctly outside of the game? In which case, it pretty much as to be a game INI configuration problem. The game "FalloutNVLauncher.exe" program detects your hardware and populates the INI files located in the "Users" folder (each time it is run). You should only need to run it once, and then run the "FalloutNV.exe" thereafter. As suggested by HadToRegister, renaming the current INI files to some "invalid" name (like "Fallout_prefs_old.ini") and letting them be rebuilt from the original "Fallout_default.ini" file (which gets copied back down when you "verify local files") located in the game root folder is your best bet to get that resolved. Test with a "new game" without any mods just to confirm.

 

The last possibility I can think of at the moment is that somehow you had mangled up the BSA files or "loose file" folder paths of the different sound files which are not being heard. (See 'Music and Sounds' section of the wiki "Getting started creating mods using GECK" article for locations.) This might be the result using more than one type of "ArchiveInvalidation (AI)" mechanism (e.g. having more than one mod manager installed and enabling AI for each). Rebuilding the INI files and then toggling it in your primary manager only should correct that.

 

Only after you have confirmed the audio is working correctly should you attempt to "tweak" any INI files for any mod, and then you need to test each change to isolate which has caused the particular sound problems.

 

-Dubious-

Edited November 11, 2020 by dubiousintent

[itsthebloom]

I appreciate all the help. Deleting and letting Steam re-install users/documents/games/FalloutNV didn't work, nor did uninstalling the remnants of an old Vortex installation (fwiw, I'm using MO2,) but the behavior persists even using Steam to initialize it, as I do... when I try reinstalling it yet again, haha.

[itsthebloom]

For the record, I'm playing through Doc Mitchell's, and it's all fine with the exception of the sound being missing, which would be fine if not for sound being... pretty required for this game. While other people (who got no useful-to-me help online) who've documented sound being gone, they've consistently identified performance issues; contrary to this, the good doctor's house is smoother then I've seen it in half a decade, although this is with zero mods as opposed to a hundred-thirty and no texture pack or ENB.

[dubiousintent]

The implication of your replies is that everything works fine outside of the FNV game. (When you don't specifically say so, we have to "assume". Detailing things you have tried reassures us you didn't overlook/skip/misinterpret something suggested.)

 

As I mentioned in my initial reply, there are several types of "sounds" which are located in different folder trees both inside and outside of BSA files. If you are only not hearing certain types, please detail them. That would tend to suggest only those in certain subfolders/BSA files are not being "found" by the game engine.

 

If you are not hearing ANY sounds, then it points to the audio device itself. Note it is possible to have more than one audio device driver installed. Configure all of them to the same ports.

 

Otherwise, you may need to consider completely removing and re-installing the game. In which case, please see the 'Restoring to "Vanilla"' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article; and the "Installing Games on Windows Vista+" article. (Yes, that will be a PITA, but so is not having any sound. Something about your setup is not "standard". It's a trade-off in how much time you are willing to spend trying to avoid starting the installation over.)

 

-Dubious-

[itsthebloom]

I was hearing zero sounds whatsoever, but when I installed a file suggested in my digging called IndirectAudio, it enabled music and the video's audio, along with specifically and only the first sound effect I attempt to create, usually mousing over continue. The beep that normally happens when DLC enables doesn't happen with IndirectAudio, along with voice acting, sfx, footsteps, et al. Nothing but engine music and the first click when I hit E over something that doesn't activate, but not when I try again within 30 seconds or so. Without IndirectAudio, no sound plays at all, even the intro music. Launcher music plays as normal in either case.

What could I do for my drivers, if that's the issue, and any suggestions about the archive-invalidation fix when it reinstalls? Have it running right now; frankly, with my good internet speed and something to distract me for half an hour, installing and reinstalling is no object. This was, however, the first time I went back to the Steamapps directory and made sure that the entire Fallout New Vegas folder was gone.

[itsthebloom]

https://www.indirectsound.com/ This might provide a hint; looking into your background, you're far wiser in these ways than I am and possibly you can read the Greek that I'm missing, lol. I really appreciate the assistance; kudo'd already.