1xm1n's Guide to the Audigy 2 ZS (FAQ)

Question

PART GUIDE. This guide comes in 3 parts. Hello all Creative Audigy 2 ZS ( non Pro ) owners. After owning this card for close on 7 mths now and getting to know the basic ins and outs that need to be set up to get the most out of the card I thought I would write up a basic guide to get new owners started as quickly as possiable. I know when I first got home with it, it was close to hour or so before it was all up and running 00%. Hopefully with this basic guide to getting started, new owners will be up and running 00% in about 0 mins. My guide is not aimed at serious problems? and/or software releated issues as there is just far to many variables. Instead I have compiled the basic needs for installing and setting up the card to get the very best possiable sound reproduction for games/music and DVD video playback. Along with a few common problem solving ti
ps.
For the most part the card is simple enough to setup,install and update drivers and get fantastic DD 5. sound, THX and DTS reproduction. As far as games go, everything should work right off the bat and in most cases going to the developers web site for patches will solve any sound issue you may have. It is impossiable for me to add any fixes for games in this guide but if you have a problem most developers have a dedicated forum for thier games at which help is at hand. I have not included any tips/info on recording media as there are WAY too many things to list, so a seperate guide may follow although the online manual for all creative products is very good. THIS GUIDE IS FOR THE CREATIVE AUDIGY 2zs ( NON PRO ) though should work with all creative products. Table of contents:
1: SETTING UP FOR THE FIRST TIME:
2: INSTALLING THE zs:
3: Updating Drivers and applications ( This is a 2 part guide ):
4: PLXCore.PLX Error:
5: UNINSTALL DRIVERS:
6: UPDATEING DRIVERS : PART 2 : BETAS
7: SLOW BOOTUP AFTER DRIVER INSTALL/UPDATE:
8: SOUND CARD NOT DETECTED OR DRIVER WONT INSTALL:
9: NO SOUND AT ALL:
10: SOUND POPS AND CRACKLES:
11: 5. SOUND IN DVD MOVIES:
12: FILTERS AND CODECS:
13: Some common errors you may encounter with WMP0:
14: Fix a Codec/filter error:
15: MISC Errors you may encounter:
16: Test your overall sound with RightMark:
17: Music playback:?: SETTING UP FOR THE FIRST TIME:Make sure all previous sound devices and drivers are removed. The first thing that needs to be done is general system maintenants. The first thing is to make sure that any previous sound device drivers and application, ( mixers and recorders etc ) you have are removed from your system. This is very simple to do. Go to add remove programmes and find the device driver and the applications and select remove. Now you may think, thats it but there is a little bit more to be done. After the driver is removed there is bound to be a few files left over. So in general simply go through your temp folder? C:\Documents and Settings\"user"\Local Settings\Temp and delete all files. Also go through C:\WINDOWS\Temp and delete files in here. Go through C:/ and locate any folders that contain the apps for your old sound device, these may include mixers and the like. Delete these folders if found.
After this is done it is a good idea to uninstall any and all third party codecs. ( more on codecs later ) These would include Divx, AC3 filter etc. You should know what Codecs you have installed, and as there are many different codecs its not practical for me to go through them all here. Now that we have covered the removal of previous sound devices and its applictions along with all 3rd party codecs its time to get that new ZS up and running.NOTE: If you have onboard sound you MUST dissable it in the bios.
At boot hit the Del key and once in the bios ( read through the manual for your Motherboard ) find the onboard sound device and dissable it.2: Installing the ZS:As a rule you do not want to install any PCi device in the PCI slot directly under the AGP slot as it can and mostly will cause an IRQ conflict. PCI-e has no issue with this though. So on an AGP board I have found the PCI slot 4 is best suited. After the Sound card is sloted in place, double check it is sercure and the mounting screw is in place.Fire up your PC. The first thing to happen is windows will find the device. Let Windows find the device, then you will get a screen asking if you want windows to find drivers or simular. Say no and cancel this. Place the CD that came with your card into the CD dri've and simply follow the prompts to install the drivers and applictaions. It is important not to cancel this and to install ALL the applictions such as media source etc. After all is installed you will need to reboot for all changes to take affect. Once the system reboots you will then given the choice to regeister your Creative product. I would highly recommend you do this now, if not just to get it out the way but you may get an application is not regestered error.
Hopefully you now have your card installed and working. Please do view the getting started demo as it will show you first hand all the settings and options for Media source applictaions. Very handy. CHECK THIS FIRST UP:?In Creative Media Player click on tools and then settings. Click general and under play back sound devices, ensure your card is selected thus to the device features.
Type in run "C:\Program Files\Creative\MediaSource\Audio Device Selection" Doulble click the "CTAudSel" Icon and ensure your device is selected?
3: Updating Drivers and applications ( This is a 2 part guide ):The next thing you WILL want to do before running games or Media is to update your drivers and ap
ps.
Creative have made this process easy with their Auto Updater. Simply go to the surrport page at creative.com and select drivers. You will then need to select the auto update fuction which will need to install acti'veX control ( this one is safe so dont stress ) after this is installed your card will be detected and the next page will be displayed with all relevent di'vers and applictaions. I highly reconmend you install any apps that state Critical or essectial. Other reconmened applications are for specific fuctions so use you own judgement on these. The process wont take to long and is fully automated. Now you may ask, what about the beta driver. To update to the latest beta you need to download it manually and install it from your desktop.Note: The betas are?GREAT so dont be afraid to use them though you must understand that some applictaions may not work correclty, though I have found these issues to be somewhat hit and miss. If an application fails,? simply reboot usally this fixes it.Ok, so thats the easy stuff out the way then and hopefully you dont need to read on, though errors do happen and things go a bit pear shaped from time to time and I myself get the odd issue, though I've found for the most part these things are simple enough to solve hence this guide. 4: PLXCore.PLX Error:?This is a mystery error that can arise for no reason at all, sometimes.
Verify that the file PLXCore.PLX is located in the correct folder in your hard dri've. The default folder is C:\Program Files\Creative\Shared Files folder. If the file is not present in the folder, manually copy the file from the original installation CD-ROM disk to the above location. To do so, insert the Sound Blaster installation CD-ROM disk, exit from the Installation procedure if it auto runs.Go to My Computer, right click on the CD-ROM dri've that contains the installation CD-ROM disk, and select Explorer.Double click on the CTEngine folder, then the PlayRec.cab file, it should expand.Select the file PLXCore.PLX and copy it to C:\Program Files\Creative\Shared Files.Reboot.Any other bootup error that may arise can be fixed using the same method as above, though you will be looking for a different file.
5: UNINSTALL DRIVERSIf you want to un-install all drivers before updateing to beta drivers).
This is my tried and tested technique.BACK UP THIS FILE NOW! ( this may save time later )? PLXCore.PLX? located in C:\Program Files\Creative\Shared Files. Incase you get PLXCore.PLX error.Go to Add Remove Programs and un-install all listings related to your audio card.Also any? apps, eg: media source. Do not restart your computer when prompted so. In? C:\Program Files folder you should have an installshield folder ( may be hidden). In here are GUID named folders. . If hidden, to view these folders Open folder options under tools . Now untick HIDE PROTECTED OPERATING SYSTEM FILES ( RECOMMENED ) it also may be just under hide files also. Try both methods if need be to veiw files.Make sure when you are all done place tick back in box.::YOU WANT TO DELETE THE INSTALLSHIELD files for CRETAIVE::If you go through all the folders and look at each setup.ini you will find ones corresponding to Creative .
You can right click on some and it gives you info or open the ini? with note pad and if there is a reference to Creative labs, media source? and other creative apps? delete the entire folder.
Go through this twice to make 00% sure you get them all.
Empty out all temp folders. Type in run MSCONFIG and make sure all creative entries are untick. There may? be nothing in here.
Type in run regedit and then in search / find / type in? startupreg . This will give you the MS startup entries. Delete the keys for creative if any.
No need to Delete this folder ---- C:\Program Files\Creative ---- its proberly safest to leave it anyway.Run the Beta installer. 6: UPDATEING DRIVERS : PART 2 : BETASYou can use the auto updater from Creative and this is infact the best way to do this. However if you want to update the Beta Drivers ( which are infact better ) its best to just over right them,? with this method things SHOULD go smooth. I have always installed beta drivers this way with no issue as of yet.Download the Beta. Type in run "msconfig" and make sure ALL creative apps are unticked thus not to run at boot.
Type in run "services.msc" and dissable the Creative service.Reboot.Now run the installer for the Beta driver. You will come to a screen that will say or to this effect. An older file was found and may no longer be needed. SAY NO TO REMOVING THIS FILE AND ANY FILES!If after this if you have any kind of media source application error ( which can happen with betas ) then simply re-install the applications. Its best to re-install ALL media source applictaions. 7: SLOW BOOTUP AFTER DRIVER INSTALL/UPDATE:
Search for these in sys32 "ctaud2k.sys" & ha0kx2k.sys. Are they the same version?
All system devices and drivers need to be the same version. In control panel ( windows ) sound and Audio Device Properties, go to Audio and make sure they are all the same device.EG:
Sound playback
Default device: SB Audigy 2ZS Audio [DF00]Sound recording
Default device :SB Audigy 2ZS Audio [DF00]MIDI music playback
Default device : SB Audigy 2ZS Syth A [DF00]Place a tick in Use only default devicesGo to C:\WINDOWS Updreg.exe. Right click on it and go to Pro
ps.
In general go to advance .( this is for regestering your product.)
check its set up as follows.Under Archi've and index attributes are 2 boxs. File is ready for archiving and For fast searching, allow Indexing.
Untick File is ready for Archiving.
Place a Tick in? For For fast searching, allow Indexing.Under Compress or Encrypt untick both.Do the same for this exe. in C\:windows CTRegRun.EXE
Message Edited by xmn on 02-7-2006:40 AM

Answer 1

PART 3.
2: Filters and Codecs.
For the most part you only need AC3 filter , Xvid ( or the full Divx Pack ) WMP0 and which ever other Play back programme you may prefer, Eg, Win DVD, Winamp and so on.
Codec stands for Coder/Decoder. Basically it is a piece of software or a driver that adds a support for certain video/audio format for your operating system. With codec, your system recognizes the format the codec is built for and allows you to play the audio/video file (=decode) or in some cases, to change another audio/video file into that format (=(en)code).
For example, when you install Windows to your home computer, Windows installs automatically most commonly used codecs into the system, so you don't have to download them separately from their vendors. However there are some codecs that are widely used, but not installed by Windows. Most notably DivX , MPEG-2.
Get all the Codecs/Filters/Plugins you could ever need from:
http://www.free-codecs.com/AC3_Filter_download.htm
http://www.free-codecs.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...0/default.aspx
Ok, you now should be all set.
A major required Filter is AC3.
AC3Filter - it is DirectShow filter for AC3 decoding to play AVI with AC3 audio tracks and MPEG2 (DVD). Required for WMP.
NOTE: If you have DVD software that should play encoded 5. then make sure you have any updates/patches for the player installed and go through the tools/options for the player and ensure its setup correctly to decode AC3filters in the applictions tools menu.
If you use Cyberlink Power DVD you may need to pay an extra fee to get the required AC3filter/MPEG2 decoders to fuction as all 5. sound settings may be greyed out on some dated versions.
InterVideo WIN DVD ( this software suit comes with most "Asus" if not all makes of Mainboards. This suit comes complete with the required codecs/filters so get full surrport for 5. - 6. - 7. out of the box. Note: you must set it up first under audio options as it defualts to 2..
If you use WMP0 you NEED to download and install the AC3filter or get the latest XP codec/filters packs. With out these filters you may not get 5. sound and/or poor reproduction.
Supported file types:
The following table lists the file types (formats) supported by Windows Media Player .(For files type played by Power DVD or WIN DVD please refer to the makers website or read me file for a detailed list).
File type (format) File name extension .Music CD Playback (CD audio) .cda Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) .aif, .aifc, and .aiff Windows Media audio and video files .asf, .asx, .wax, .wm, .wma, .wmd, .wmp, .wmv, .wmx, .wpl, and .wvx Windows audio and video files .avi and .wav Windows Media Player skins .wmz Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) .mpeg, .mpg, .mv, .mp2, .mpa, .mpe, .mp2v*, and .mpv2 Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) .mid, .midi, and .rmi AU (UNIX) .au and .snd MP3 .mp3 and .m3u DVD video .vob Macromedia Flash .swf Microsoft Recorded TV Show .dvr-ms* NOTE: WMP defualts to 2.. To enable 5. run WMP0. Click on tools then point to options. Navigate to DVD then open up the advanced window. In here is everything you need to set things up. If you dont see AC3 then you need to install the AC3 codec.
NOTE: If you mess things up simply return to defult settings and start over.
3: Some common errors you may encounter with WMP0:
Error messages are identified by numerical IDs, such as C00D0BC2 and 800704CF. You can determine the ID of a specific error message by clicking the More Information or Web Help button on the error message when you encounter it. The resulting page will indicate the error ID.
: Error's C00D6A and C00D9A while playing DVD's or MPEG-2 content. This is directly related to either your current video card drivers or the MPEG-2/DVD decoder you have installed (EG: PowerDVD, Win DVD etc ). Reinstalling and/or uninstalling the MPEG-2/DVD decoder (PowerDVD, Win DVD ) and/or video drivers should fix the problem for you.You should now be able to re-install you decoder ( Power DVD etc ) and continue its use.
Erro : C00DAC:Cannot play the file Windows Media Player cannot play the protected file because there is a problem with your sound device, such as a sound card or sound controller. You might encounter this error message for one of the following reasons.
Your sound device requires an updated driver. ( update driver )
The selected sound device does not support Secure Audio Path (SAP).
If you have multiple sound devices installed on your computer, try using a different one.
To use a different sound device, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Devices tab. Double-click Speakers, audio device to use, click a different device.
Error : "divide error in module IVIAUDIO.AX at".
Only exists in systems that have various Sound Blaster Li've sound cards and WinDVD installed. This is infact a compatibility problem between these products. The problem is realized when MP3 oriented applications call upon certain sound card services making it look as though the error was raised from within the application in question.
FIX:Uninstall WIN DVD. Reinstall WMP and AC3 filter and then reinstall DVD WIN.
A simple but rare issue.
ModName.Win DVD "msvcrt.dll" and/or Win DVD MFC application error.
FIX:
Uninstall any java filters. Macromedia and Macromedia Acti'veX.( to remove Acti'veX go to C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files and delete the Acti'veX )
4: Fix a Codec/filter error:
Codecs/Filters/Plugins are like any other kind of software installed and things can go wrong. If things are not working as they should try the following.
Download and install "Gspot"
http://gspot.headbands.com/download.htmlBuild 0307 - 23 KB Run the programme and simply point to system and select "List Codecs and other Filters"
Its easy really to know whats what here and how to use it to find out the source of the issue, if you have one. If its red, its bad so you then need to trace the Filter/Codec to its source and remove it.
Here is just one very simple excample you may encounter and how it was fixed.
If you have ffdshow file is missing error pop up while running a player application, first go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 and search for ffdshow.en. Its proberly not here though. If it is just leave it be.
NOTE: ffdshow is used for AVI/Xvid enc/dec source.
To fix this "ffdshow Video Codec file is missing " error Simply uninstall your Xvid codec or your entire DivX programme, or any other Filter/Codec you have installed for playback of DivX files and AVI Video Files.
(Some times it seems a few Codecs/Filters dont get along so you must be aware of what you install).
Cheak "Gspot" again and Filter should be removed from the list.
Now you can reinstall the Xvid filter "XviD-.0.3-2022004" or your desired DivX programme.
Now go back toC:\WINDOWS\system32 and search for ffdshow.en. It should be there if it was not before. If the issue is back try a different version of required Filter.
So, thats just excample of a simple fix that got everything working again. Its not to hard to find out what the problem Codec/Filter is and then its just a case of uninstalling it. You can re-install the Codec/Filter but you should double cheak with "Gspot" and ensure the issue has not repeated itself .
If it has you can try and find out if the issue is related to another type filter causing a conflict or use an alternate Filter/Codec that will perform the same task .
Search for an updated version of required the Codec/Filter also.
Ok, thats pretty much the basics in getting correct and stable 5. sound working the way it should with your new Creative Audigy 2 ZS sound card.
5 : MISC Errors you may encounter:
ModName.Win DVD 7 msvcrt.dll and/orWin DVD MFC application error.
Uninstall any java filters. Macromedia and Macromedia Acti'veX.
For Explorer issues such as pages not operning, media not working and the like :
type in run:regsvr32 vbscript.dllregsvr32 jscript.dll
Sound stutter:Go to Device ManagerGo to Sound,video and Game ControllersIn there you will see Audio Codecs double click itGo the to the properties TABYou will see Windows Media Audio double click itChange the priority from 7 to Apply OK exit everythingRestart PC
If it fails, set back to .
Any Media file errors you may encounter can be fixed by going to add remove programme list and uninstall the codec/filter. EG, you get an error playing an AVI file. Remove Divx and or other AVI codecs. Re-install just one AVI codec.
6: Test your overall sound with RightMark:
http://audio.rightmark.org/index_new.shtml . This tool is just a simple tool for testing all fuctions of your card. You will soon enough know if your card has an issue in relation to EAX HD and surround sound.
7: Music playback:
Well, not a lot to say here really. Put in your Music CD or select your MP3/WAV file ( NOTE : MP3 will NEVER-EVER sound as good as a retail CD, FACT ) and then go to Mixer. Set up CMSS in EAX the console as you prefer and adjust the 7 band EQ to your liking. Thats all there is to it really. Its more about experimentation over the correct way to set things up.
Ofcause you can use WinAMP for Music playback also
Well, there you have it. The basic grail of the Creative Audigy 2 ZS ( non pro ) setup guide. I do hope it has made your experience with setting things up a breeze and are now enjoying full range 5. in games and DVD movies.