Tones from Probes.csv not coming through headphones (case 8727)

I am attempting to place Secondary Task tones using Probes.csv. It would seem that the tones are coming from the motherboard's internal speaker, regardless of what the audio settings are. In this case, the audio from the individual messages is coming through headphones (and that headphone jack is set to be the default output for the computer), but that tone still seems to be coming from the motherboard.

Is there a setting that I am missing, or has it always been this way and I have just never noticed until now?

Thanks,
Justin Keene

Dear Justin,

You are correct in noting that the probe tones come from the motherboard; this is by design. Assuming you are trying to get all your audio to come through the headphones, you may be able to do this if you can disable the motherboard speakers via the Control Panel. Please try this and let us know what happens.

Jason,
I have tried the solution of going into Device Manager and disabling all instances of the system speaker. However, it would appear that Medialab is somehow over-powering those and forcing the sound through the system board.

Any other ideas? I am going to see if our IT department will give me BIOS access to see if there is something I can change there.

Thanks,
Justin

Are you using MediaLab version 2012? If so, is it possible that you could use a sound file for the probe signal instead of a tone?

Jason,
In this particular lab we are running 2012. Where would I set the tone? Would it be in the probes.csv file? Or as a backsound?

Thanks,
Justin

Justin,

I've talked with Blair and he thinks that we may be able to create a new feature that would allow you to use the probes function to play the sound though the headphones. He is currently looking into how to program a patch.

Could you please tell me when you might need this capability for the studies that you are planning to run? It would be helpful if I can communicate a timeline for your work to Blair.

Jason,
I can hold off on running any more STRT-based experiments until a patch is written. I would like to have the capability of running the patch in an experiment by the end of the fall semester (if not sooner).

Would that work?

Thanks,
Justin

Jason,
I just wanted to check in the progress of the patch for this problem. Several graduate students in our lab are eager to use it, but I have not been able to give them a timeline on it.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Justin

As a simpler solution to try first, see what happens if you disable the motherboard speakers. You can find instructions how to do this here: [url]http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000725.htm[/url]. Obviously, try the disabling it through the software first and see if that addresses the issue of the sound coming from the motherboard.