PC Sound Problems

[Whickerman]

Just had a call from a friend; he's got a new(ish) pc and for the past week or two the cd/dvd drive has stopped producing any sound.
Music recorded on the pc plays fine, and therefore his speakers and sound card are working. It's also downloading to his i-pod fine.
I know this is something simple, but I'm going there tomorrow to have a look. Is this ringing any bells for any of you? What should i look for?

[Whickerman]

Sorry - should state - was working fine for several weeks after purchase

[ACtheTROLL]

the most obvious possibility is ..... open volume control
you should see a number of categories (which ones vairy)
but
"Volume" - "Wave" - CD Audio" - " line in" will be on the list
....... guess which one you should check ?? ;-)
(don't forget the mute option)

alternatively .... your soundcard may have a custom set of controls)

if not that
what format are the files that will and won't play?

the drivers sound OK .... that leaves codecs
if the "on PC" and ipod files are mp3
and the "silent" files are "propper" comercial "records" .... it could be a codec problem

[Whickerman]

so do I - nice one. I've phoned him and talked him through the volume control (for some reason is was set only showing one fader at full volume) but when it was expanded there it was at zero.

Thanks - saves me a drive!