Can't hear any audio

neat_beans
 
My sound card is just a generic Realtek HD Audio controller chip, btw.

And herein lies the problem.
It is possible to get Sonar to produce sound with this chip but it's almost more trouble than it's worth.
You really should invest in a decent Audio Interface. They range in price from $30 to thousands.
You need to know if you're going to need Audio, MIDI or both. (most offer both now a days anyhow).
Here's a link to what is out there. http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer-audio/audio_interfaces/
Good names to stick with are Focusrite, RME, MOTU, Allen & Heath and Apogee for instance. I know that Presonus (in the past anyway but haven't heard much complaints over the last year), Behringer, Alesis and M-Audio and Mackie can be hit or miss.
Once you decide what your needs are such as how many inputs you're going to want or need (most are ok with 2 inputs since we're only recording one or two things at a time anyway) and have a few units in mind, just ask the folks here if they've had good or bad experiences with the ones you're looking at.
 
But to hold you over till you can upgrade I know that most people have better luck using the on-board chip using a free utility called ASIO 4 All. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYh9H8gKLTo
I've never used it so maybe someone who has can help you with setting that up.
It doesn't seem all that hard to do.
 
Here's another thread with some info that might help you. http://forum.cakewalk.com/Sound-card-issues-no-sound-output-Sonar-8-Production-Edition-m2281626.aspx
 
Just a little head's up for your future posts.
When you have a question, it helps us to know things like what version of Sonar you're running, what operating system (XP, Vista, 7 or 8 32bit or 64) and your soundcard (which for this post we now know). 
 
Hopefully this helped you somewhat and you can get some recording going this weekend.
Don't get overwhelmed. Pick a task, learn it, then pick another. Before you know it you actually start to get a grasp of all this stuff.
Then an update comes out and it starts again .
 
Keep it simple and basic and keep it fun. There's a long rewarding trip ahead of you.
 
PS. Sorry for the book-like post.
My girlfriend is away for a few days and I'm stuck here, bored off my arse, an hour away from my drums and recording area watching over an 18 year old cat. Oh joy. 
 
Mike