I've seen a dozen of these threads started about the "Error Code: 88780078 -
Bad DirectSound Driver". This isn't the first time I've run into this
problem. It happened about a year and half ago. It was easy to remedy with a
simple re-installation of the drivers for the audio. Unfortunately that isn't
the case now, for I've already done the suggestions I've spotted on
here/internet several times to no avail.

I just lost sound all of sudden Sunday morning. It gave the "Bad DirectSound
Driver Error Code: 88780078" out of the blue, but didn't kill the sound until
I closed Winamp. Now I have almost no sound... mainly all system sounds and
anything else that is capable of playing audio/video... namely Internet
Explorer, WMP, and RealPlayer. :\

The wierd thing is Winamp recognizes all the audio components that are
hooked up into the PC. The same goes for Ventrilo. Windows doesn't recognize
anything sound related even though the Drivers/Compenents are listed withing
the Device Manager. Dxdiag recognizes all the audio output devices that are
hooked up, but gives an error when trying to test sound through the Sound
Tabs. The error I receive when I click on the Test DirectSound button is:

>>> DirectSound test results:Failure at step 3 (DirectSoundCreate): HRESULT = 0x8878000a (The request failed because DirectSound resources, such as the priority level, were already in use by another caller.) <<<

The Music tab on the other hand plays music through the selected output
devices. DxDiag and Device Manager both report zero problems, but the Sounds
and Audio Devices detect nothing except for Modem #0 Line Playback/Record.

This is really beginning to annoy me considering all the roads of traveled
have taken me literally no where. Another wierd thing is I've noticed I can
no longer download from the Windows Update site. It seems like it hangs up
since this has happened. It worked fine the other day. Well any help would be
appreciated. Thanks in advance.

System Specs Are:
AMD Athlon XP 1600+
1.41GHZ, 512MB RAM
Realtek AC'97 Audio

Your situation could be due to many reasons. A bad soundcard, bad soundcard
drivers, WinAmp taking over control, etc. Have you looked into doing a
System Restore, you can go back up to 90 days? Also doing a System File
Check (SFC /SCANNOW) to replace missing/corrupt system files? Looks
like you have to do some serious troubleshooting. A simple way to solve
it may be to purchase a new soundcard, which can be found on eBay for
reasonable prices.
--
XP-WNP
Today is the first day of the
rest of your life.


"Ardivian" wrote:

> I've seen a dozen of these threads started about the "Error Code: 88780078 -
> Bad DirectSound Driver". This isn't the first time I've run into this
> problem. It happened about a year and half ago. It was easy to remedy with a
> simple re-installation of the drivers for the audio. Unfortunately that isn't
> the case now, for I've already done the suggestions I've spotted on
> here/internet several times to no avail.
>
> I just lost sound all of sudden Sunday morning. It gave the "Bad DirectSound
> Driver Error Code: 88780078" out of the blue, but didn't kill the sound until
> I closed Winamp. Now I have almost no sound... mainly all system sounds and
> anything else that is capable of playing audio/video... namely Internet
> Explorer, WMP, and RealPlayer. :\
>
> The wierd thing is Winamp recognizes all the audio components that are
> hooked up into the PC. The same goes for Ventrilo. Windows doesn't recognize
> anything sound related even though the Drivers/Compenents are listed withing
> the Device Manager. Dxdiag recognizes all the audio output devices that are
> hooked up, but gives an error when trying to test sound through the Sound
> Tabs. The error I receive when I click on the Test DirectSound button is:
>
> >>> DirectSound test results:Failure at step 3 (DirectSoundCreate): HRESULT = 0x8878000a (The request failed because DirectSound resources, such as the priority level, were already in use by another caller.) <<<
>
> The Music tab on the other hand plays music through the selected output
> devices. DxDiag and Device Manager both report zero problems, but the Sounds
> and Audio Devices detect nothing except for Modem #0 Line Playback/Record.
>
> This is really beginning to annoy me considering all the roads of traveled
> have taken me literally no where. Another wierd thing is I've noticed I can
> no longer download from the Windows Update site. It seems like it hangs up
> since this has happened. It worked fine the other day. Well any help would be
> appreciated. Thanks in advance.
>
> System Specs Are:
> AMD Athlon XP 1600+
> 1.41GHZ, 512MB RAM
> Realtek AC'97 Audio
>

i actually went to purchase one at a local radio shack that day but they
didn't have any. I have much more things to worry about now. It seems my
computer took a turn for the worse. When booted up it just loops the boot
process w/o ever making it to the logon screen. I see the BSOD, but it just
reboots itself and starts over. It even does it in safe mode. It's doing the
same thing my Alienware laptop did right before the motherboard died. Oh
well... lol Thanks for the help anyway.

"Byte" wrote:

> Your situation could be due to many reasons. A bad soundcard, bad soundcard
> drivers, WinAmp taking over control, etc. Have you looked into doing a
> System Restore, you can go back up to 90 days? Also doing a System File
> Check (SFC /SCANNOW) to replace missing/corrupt system files? Looks
> like you have to do some serious troubleshooting. A simple way to solve
> it may be to purchase a new soundcard, which can be found on eBay for
> reasonable prices.
> --
> XP-WNP
> Today is the first day of the
> rest of your life.
>
>
> "Ardivian" wrote:
>
> > I've seen a dozen of these threads started about the "Error Code: 88780078 -
> > Bad DirectSound Driver". This isn't the first time I've run into this
> > problem. It happened about a year and half ago. It was easy to remedy with a
> > simple re-installation of the drivers for the audio. Unfortunately that isn't
> > the case now, for I've already done the suggestions I've spotted on
> > here/internet several times to no avail.
> >
> > I just lost sound all of sudden Sunday morning. It gave the "Bad DirectSound
> > Driver Error Code: 88780078" out of the blue, but didn't kill the sound until
> > I closed Winamp. Now I have almost no sound... mainly all system sounds and
> > anything else that is capable of playing audio/video... namely Internet
> > Explorer, WMP, and RealPlayer. :\
> >
> > The wierd thing is Winamp recognizes all the audio components that are
> > hooked up into the PC. The same goes for Ventrilo. Windows doesn't recognize
> > anything sound related even though the Drivers/Compenents are listed withing
> > the Device Manager. Dxdiag recognizes all the audio output devices that are
> > hooked up, but gives an error when trying to test sound through the Sound
> > Tabs. The error I receive when I click on the Test DirectSound button is:
> >
> > >>> DirectSound test results:Failure at step 3 (DirectSoundCreate): HRESULT = 0x8878000a (The request failed because DirectSound resources, such as the priority level, were already in use by another caller.) <<<
> >
> > The Music tab on the other hand plays music through the selected output
> > devices. DxDiag and Device Manager both report zero problems, but the Sounds
> > and Audio Devices detect nothing except for Modem #0 Line Playback/Record.
> >
> > This is really beginning to annoy me considering all the roads of traveled
> > have taken me literally no where. Another wierd thing is I've noticed I can
> > no longer download from the Windows Update site. It seems like it hangs up
> > since this has happened. It worked fine the other day. Well any help would be
> > appreciated. Thanks in advance.
> >
> > System Specs Are:
> > AMD Athlon XP 1600+
> > 1.41GHZ, 512MB RAM
> > Realtek AC'97 Audio
> >