epox 8k3a+ onboard sound problem (no sound)

I cant get the onboard sound to work on an epox 8k3a+ (pretty old now, socket A days). Its set to "auto" in the bios (there is no enable option only auto and disable). It is an ac97 chipset. What is odd is the ac97 chipset does provide a system beep on start up.

After tinking with old and new drivers, the speaker options are avaliable under sounds and audio devices. However not only do mp3s not work (they play but with no sound), but also the windows sounds under program events. The speaker tests are also not present in the ac97 sound managment program.

Any recomendations greatly appreciated!

Cheers