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Author Topic: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility  (Read 1274 times)

Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2009, 02:48:48 PM »
Thanks Ack-Ack! I thought of that but alt tabbing in Vista causes AH to fail, which means reboot and a disco. I've never been able to alt tab AHII in Vista successfully.

If there were any way to do it from in game, I'd take that :).

Thanks!
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Offline Denholm

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2009, 03:51:35 PM »
Two monitors? :D
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Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2009, 03:58:31 PM »
Three!! More fun that way! :)
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Offline Tigger29

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2009, 07:46:02 PM »
I have to wonder if there is something physically wrong with the speaker jack.  A "pop" kind of noise could correlate with a loose connection in the jack there... and since the mic uses a separate jack..well yaknow.

Next time it happens, rapidly unplug and plug the speakers back in several times and see if that makes any difference...
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Offline Chalenge

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #19 on: July 13, 2009, 11:47:25 PM »
No its just a cheap processor on the X-Fi and faux capacitors too probably.

Vista employs a BOHICA approach to audio and even buying a fantastic audio card wont fix everything but SB cards dont even begin to scratch the surface. If you insist on sticking to Creative then look for a card that does its own processing without offloading work to the CPU and you will have better performance and fewer issues but you still will not have great audio. I would suggest a 7.1 like HT Omega or ASUS Xonar or bGears b-Enspirer but anything you get you should do your homework ahead of time.
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Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #20 on: July 15, 2009, 04:22:37 PM »
Hi All!

Thanks for all the advice, but unfortunately no joy :(.

I uninstalled the sound card drivers, all of the sound related stuff (High Definition Audio Device, 2 of them), cleaned them with Driver Cleaner Pro to remove the traces of the sound drivers and then reinstalled the old SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0008 driver.

Game played for about a half hour then the sound quit just like before. :(

Tonight I'll try doing the same with the newer driver.

One thing I noticed was that I got a VirtuMonde virus notice from my StopZilla virus checker when installing the driver right when it got to the point of "Updating the Windows Drivers" portion. Is there any possibility that Creative would have a virus in their driver? If so, where can I get a clean driver from? I scanned the machine after that and it came back clean.

Vista also reinstalls the High Definition Audio Devices as soon as you restart the machine and it doesn't go to the web for them, it must be part of Vista. I tried disabling them but that didn't do anything.

Also, what happened to the "Vista Compatible" choice for AH? Did it get moved or dropped?

Let me know if you have any ideas. I'm just about out of them.

Thanks!
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Offline Denholm

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #21 on: July 15, 2009, 05:09:19 PM »
If you have Virtumonde (REALLY hard to get rid of) you had better hurry and do the following:

Download and run: Vundo Fix

Then register for the trial of ESET NOD32 AntiVirus.
Now download Spybot Search & Destroy.
Now download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
Now download AVG Anti-Rootkit Free.

Additionally you may want to run a scan using Spyware Doctor as it is GREAT at detecting these types of bugs. The only down-side is that they want you to activate the product before they remove any of the software.
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Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #22 on: July 15, 2009, 06:36:25 PM »
Hi Denholm!

Thanks for the info!

I'm not sure that Virtumonde is on my machine as I have no symptoms whatsoever (no pop ups, no BSOD). Stopzilla appears to be catching and stopping it.

BTW, for what its worth, I had a less than good experience with Spybot before. It didn't do anything bad, it just didn't do anything.

Just to be sure, I'll run Vundo Fix.

I don't know what this would have to do with the sound not working though? The old driver I've had for months and got no such warning when it was installed before.

Thanks!
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Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #23 on: July 16, 2009, 10:32:23 AM »
Update to the last.

I ran Vundo Fix, no virus found, so I don't think that's it.

I tried it again, only this time using the driver from Windows Update (I know, I know! but at this point I'm desperate). Same thing happened, that is I got a warning from Stopzilla for Virtumonde. Something in that driver, no matter the source, is kicking off that warning.

At this point, it seems I have two choices.

1. Try again with an older driver (I've been able to find a couple).
2. Get a new sound card.

I'd appreciate information of the advisability of either.

In particular, any recommendations of sound cards that have been bulletproof with AH and Vista. I don't want to do this again :).

Thanks!
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Offline Denholm

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #24 on: July 16, 2009, 10:41:36 AM »
If anything pops up saying Virtumonde is in your system you had better get hopping and use the utilities mentioned above. The few times I touched machines with Virtumonde fully unpacked there was no way to remove the virus. I think you would rather avoid such an unhappy occasion.

Be safe, run NOD32, Malwarebytes, Spybot, and AVG Anti-Rootkit Free.

Just so you know, Spybot is designed to find spyware, not viruses or malware. If it didn't find something, it's probably because it was looking for something entirely different. Every scanner is designed to look for a specific type of software that can harm your system. Not any one scanner will find everything, thus the need for multiple scanners designed to look for different types of software is ever present. The combination I mentioned above has always worked for me regardless the occasion or how many times I had to use them.

I would rather be safe than sorry.
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Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #25 on: July 16, 2009, 07:24:50 PM »
Ok thanks Denholm! I'll look at these programs.

Does anyone have recommendations of good soundcards? I looked at the ones Chalenge mentioned, HT Omega or ASUS Xonar or bGears b-Enspirer, but in the reviews I saw, they all seemed to have problems with games. As I already have problems with the game, I don't want to add to that. :) I'm having all the fun I can stand now. :)

Thanks!
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Offline Chalenge

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #26 on: July 17, 2009, 12:11:37 AM »
I have never heard of any of these cards having trouble with games and Im using the bGears card here and it doesnt have issues with games that I have seen. Its actually better for games because little if any load is added to the CPU. I use the Omega on another system that is primarily a media center system but I do have some games on that one too (mostly stuff like golf and console type games for my nephews). I have had no issues with either card for any reason.

I had a X-Fi once and when I found out it was a 16-bit card and not a 24-bit card like they advertise I started to look for better cards and since playing on these cards and hearing the clarity of audio (unlike X-Fi) I cant say that creative interests me at all.
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Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #27 on: July 17, 2009, 09:21:52 AM »
Thanks Chalenge! I'll check out the b-Enspirer.

BTW, are you running on Vista?

I also tried running a couple of older drivers I was able to locate, as well as the disc that came with the computer. All of them did not recognize the sound card. The only drivers I can get to run are the two most recent from Creative and the one on Windows Update, but none of them will work for more than a half hour.

I'm trying to get this rig running for Coral Sea tomorrow but its looking less likely all the time. :(
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Offline Skuzzy

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #28 on: July 17, 2009, 09:50:31 AM »
I am wondering if the sound card is sharing an IRQ with another device in the computer.  That would expling the problems.  Sound cards do not share physical IRQ's well at all.  Creative happens to be really bad about this one.
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Offline TheRapier

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Re: X-Fi Sound, Vista Compatibility
« Reply #29 on: July 17, 2009, 10:34:29 AM »
Hi Skuzzy!

That is an intriguing idea!

How would I check for that?

In the Device Manager, its not showing any conflicts and says that it is functioning fine. Is there another way to check?

Also, is it just possible that this card is dying? The computer and card are only 7 months old but it might be possible.

Thanks!
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