TechNote

Flash Player audio failure on Windows

Issue

Adobe Flash Player is installed, but you cannot hear audio.

Reason

There are several possible reasons audiomay fail in Flash Player for Windows, including the following:

The installed audio driver may be outdated.
The default device for sound playback may not match the installed audio card.
The Windows system registry may be missing key entries for a Microsoft codec named 'WaveMapper'.

Solution

Solution 1: Update Audio Drivers.

To find the manufacturer and driver version of your system's audio hardware:

Select Start > Run.
Type dxdiag in the Open text box.
Select the Sound tab
- The device name is listed under the Device category.
- The driver date and version is listed under the Drivers category.

To update the device driver, find the website for the manufacturer of your computer. Search for and download the latest driver for your audio card. In some cases it may be necessary to obtain the driver directly from the audio hardware manufacturer.

The Adobe Captivate demonstration below will guide you through the process of finding the manufacturer and driver version of your system's audio hardware on the Windows XP operating system:

Solution 2: Confirm that the default device for sound playback is correct.

Select Start > Control Panel or Start > Settings > Control Panel.
Select Sounds And Audio Devices.
Confirm that the default device matches the audio hardware installed.

The Adobe Captivate demonstration below will guide you through the process of verifying the default device for sound playback on the Windows XP operating system:

Solution 3: Check the WaveMapper sub key in the Windows system registry.

Disclaimer: This procedure involves editing the registry. Adobe doesn't provide support for editing the registry, which contains critical system and application information. Make sure to back up the registry before modifying it. For more information about the registry, refer to Windows Help.

WaveMapper processes .wav sound files in Windows. If it is missing from the system registry, then audio will not play back using Adobe Flash Player.

To confirm that the WaveMapper sub key is in the system registry:

Select Start > Run.
Type in regedit in the Open text box.
Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32
On the right panel, check for a sub key called wavemapper.
If it is missing, right-click on the right panel and select New String Value.
Name the new string value wavemapper
Right-click on the new wavemapper string value and select Modify.
Add the Value data msacm32.drv

The Adobe Captivate demonstration below will guide you through the process of confirming that the WaveMapper sub key is in the system registry on the Windows XP operating system, and if not, how to add a new string value:

Additional Information

For information regarding Flash Player audio failure on an Intel-based Macintosh, please refer to "Flash Player audio failure on Intel-based Macintosh" (TechNote 41f8f08d). Click here to take a survey