Working Audigy 2 ZS Platinum in 5384.4 (32b

got 4 channel sound working in vista 32bit build 5384.4
use this driver:
http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=Files&go=cat&dwn_cat_id=20&go=giveme &dwn_id=20

You said, Vista Sound Panel only shows 2.
Does that mean it only lists 2. and no other option You have to select Playback>Speakers and Configure on the left down corner to access the speaker options. Select "7.", press "next" and make sure the optional speakers are selected. Also run the test to see of you get sound out of all speakers. Also notice, when you install SoundBlaster drivers, you need to restart before changing any options, because the Installation will reset all settings, upon restarting for the st time, to default: stereo speakers. You may also notice that, before restarting, the bass and treble sliders are at 25% and not 50% as they should.

Similar Messages

  • Analog inputs no longer working on Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro's external dr

    I have an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro. After two years of use without problems, the analog inputs on the external dri've have stopped working. I get no signal from them, not even noise. All 3 inputs are silent, Line in / Mic and Line 2 in the front, and Line 3 in the back. Otherwise the dri've appears to function normally - I get output from the headphone jack, and the volume control knob works. I have not tested digital inputs or outputs, as I currently have no digital devices to connect to them.
    I had made no major changes to my computer - software or hardware - when the problems began. I recently added a new SATA hard dri've, but the Audigy dri've did work after that.
    I've taken steps suggested in another thread on this forum and uninstalled all Creative software and drivers, used the latest driver package's uninstall program as well as Driver Cleaner, and finally manually deleted everything related to Creative and Audigy from the system registry (and rebooted quite a few times in between). I then installed the original drivers from the CD that came with the sound card (a setup that has worked before), but still the problem persists.
    Any ideas on where to even begin looking for a solution? I find it hard to believe that it's a hardware problem, since three inputs suddenly went silent at the same time, and no other connections were affected. Yet I've done as clean a reinstall as possible, and that hasn't solved the problem.
    My current computer configuration:
    OS: Windows XP Pro (SP2 and all latest updates)
    CPU: Athlon XP 500+
    RAM: 2x 52 MB
    Motherboard: Abit AN7 (integrated sound chip disabled)
    Video card: Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro
    Network card: D-Link DFE-530TX
    Hard dri've : Seagate ST320026A, 20 GB IDE
    Hard dri've 2: Maxtor 6L080J4, 80 GB IDE
    Hard dri've 3: Seagate ST330083, 300 GB SATA-II

    I don't have a Platinum Pro or the dri've, but a general hardware troubleshooting step I would take would be to remove the soundcard and either move it to another slot or re-seat it. Also, I'd disconnnect and reconnect all cables to and from the card and the dri've. If I had another machine I could try the card or dri've in, I'd do that. If I could borrow another dri've or even another card, I'd test those too. (Swapping parts is often the simplest diagnostic.) Yeah, maybe it's not a hardware problem, but I'd take these steps just to rule out some possibilities.
    Edit: And if you can remove or disconnect the SATA dri've and restore the system to the condition before you installed it, that's another good test.Message Edited by Katman on 2-8-2005 2:56 AM

  • AUDIGY 2 ZS PLATINUM PRO : 8-Channel (7.1) Playback in WINDVD 6 Platinum doesn't work proper

    Ok here's the deal.
    I have a Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
    Furthermore I own WINDVD 6 PLATINUM (incl. Booster pack) which supports 8 channel audio.
    My speaker system is an analog one. The 8 speaker Creative Inspiron one.. don't know the exact name.
    I just did a clean installation of Windows.
    I am running windows XP Home SP2 with all latest updates.
    Furthermore I installed all Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro updates there are.
    Anyways..
    Whenever I switch to 8 channel (7.) playback from within WinDVD only the center and the 2 front channels work. The side (surround) and rear channels aren't working at all!
    I get the same problem when I switch to 7 channel (6.) from within WinDVD.
    When I click on test (in WinDVD) to see if the channels are working.. the test noise only appears in the front and center channels. However once it gets to the rear channel there's nothing.. and at the side left channel there's this quiet odd noise.
    If I switch to 5. (from within WinDVD) mode.. everything is working perfectly... but 5. only..
    I want to take full advantage of my soundcard.. and even though WinDVD supports this soundcard.. it doesn't seem to work.
    Any other application... CUBASE SX2 or games such as Call of Duty work perfectly fine with all channels.
    Can anyone help me?
    Can you recommend any other 8 channel software DVD playback software?
    Thanks
    - Ben
    [email protected]

    first of all your questions ain't stupid...you got to learn/understand once right?
    **bleep** 3 yrs ago i thought i knew digital audio (mp3/wave on PC and Philips DCC recorder) but then came Dolby Digital & hardwaredecoding...LOL... Lots of differences in channelprocessing & so misconfiguration possible.
    Well I hope you didn't uninstall your dvd player software... I mean software audiodecoding like matrixmixer(that you can find in codecpacks, all **bleep** that uses directx this because most of it is max 6bit LOL) ..your talking about all your extra dvd software.(but you don't need their extra audio playing features). Just select the sp-dif audio in WinDVd PowerDVD or NVDVD whateverDVD and then go check the creative soundcard speakersetup(not the windows speakersetup , but prefer to use the creative surroundmixer (click the THX logo/icon under in the creative mixer, and calibrate analog speaker output) etc.
    You only need the player 4 dvd playing acces. (DVD-V DVD-A) (prefer the dvd-player for dvd-A in sp-dif mode because then you'll see that some dvd-A's have some videoclips or images. and do check the site of www.slysoft.com and score it in any way )
    .. by the way don't forget this about your analog output 3.5mm jacks on the back og the card:
    first channel = 3.5mm 3-pole jack (stereo)
    second and third channel = 3.5mm 4-pole jack (stereo portable camera cable works (3xrca).
    so don't use stereo jacks on the 2nd & 3th channel...
    You can use a portable stereo camera cable because the've on one side 3xrca(yellow/white/red) and on the other side a plastic 4-pole minijack (plastic=preferred because you probably need to make the 4-pole jack smaller with a metal file (be careful not to harm the cable) these cable's are standard and so very cheap. standard meter long.
    Final joke: It's nice to have THX@Soundcard + THC@head greetings from a late in the evening Amsterdam NL.Message Edited by www_96KHz_tk on 05-24-2005 08:20 AM

  • Windows 7 64bit with Audigy 2 ZS platinum - live recording work impossible

    The only reason to own a SB platinum audigy solution is for recording work.
    Why is Microsoft 7 in beta for a year and yet there are no workable drivers
    for the recording features of this soundcard? I have the support release
    of Home Premium which came out October 22nd.
    The stable driver from Creative has no controls for level of the input. You can hear
    the input pass through to the speakers at a fixed medium level,
    but recording applications (e.g. audacity, etc.) cannot get the input signal at all.
    The beta driver from Sept 2009 does support the levels for inputs such as Aux2
    (guitar jack), but now the latency is way too high, and the sound is distorted. I have
    tried a few input sampling rates other than the default but it appears to have
    no impact on the latency. I think the latency is between 50 and 50 ms. It is
    unusable. This latency does not occur on the same hardware and configuration
    dual booting to Windows XP.
    If the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum is not going to be supported soon for all of the features
    (minus game port) which worked in Windows XP, I would like a recommendation
    for an alternate product which will be well supported in Windows 7.
    Don't tell us to ask Microsoft when the drivers will be ready and working.
    Microsoft is telling us to ask Creative Labs for this solution.

    N I have the same problem! So frustrating!
    Well, I did some digging for the answer to this, how fortunate that there is a solution!
    If you disable then re-enable the Windows Audio service, it should fix it until the next time you restart your computer. (I only did it once, but you may have to do it more than once).

  • Audigy 2 ZS Platinum won't work with Windows XP Pro 64

    My system has both normal Windows XP Pro & Windows XP pro 64bit installed.
    The problems is that I can't get any sound on WinXp 64. The device manager has given me a "Code 39" on the "Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM)" device. This hasen't happened to all the other devices attached to the card. WinXP 32 has no problems in loading the drivers or playing sounds.
    My system specs are as follows...
    Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe motherboard with 0705 BIOS installed
    Pentium 4 EM64T 3.8GHz 670 LGA775 2MB L22x Corsair VSGB667D2 PC-5300 GB x28MBx64 240 DIMM 2x BFG GeForce 7800GTXCreative Labs Audigy 2 ZS PlatinumA Segate 250gig SATA hard dri've, a Segate 300gig SATA hard dri've & a Samsung 40gig SATA hard dri'veLITE-ON SOHW-693S DVD BurnerPioneer DVR-0D DVD Burner
    I am using the latest drivers from the CreativeLabs website & pretty much the latest drivers for all my hardware.
    Any ideas?

    Never mind.
    I've just solved the problem. I moved the card to another PCI slot, used Driver Cleaner Pro to remove the driver & reinstalled the driver.
    Thank you anyway thou.

  • Mic2 front panel of sound blaster audigy 2 zs platinum still not worki

    anyone..... please help!!!
    I have a sound blaster audigy 2 zs platinum, everything is hooked up perfectly including all power cable, and connectors to the front dri've bay. I have a samson q7 microphone that is connected using xlr female to /4" plug to the mic2 jack but I got no input signal. I then tried also using just a /4" to /8" to the back mic port of the PCI, no signal either. My friend said this mic doesn't need any other power like a phantom power or anything
    can you please help me!
    X

    If you're using a dynamic microphone, the Audigy 2 ZS dri've bay has a jumper which you can change for it to support dynamic microphones instead of electret microphones. However once this is done you won't be able to use electret mics until you've changed the jumper setting back.

  • Creative Entertainment Center works with Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro

    Creative doesnt seem to hav plans to release Entertainment center for Audigy 2 ZS. But theres a way to install and use Entertainment Center with AUDIGY 2 ZS Platinum/Pro. I first installed the Audigy 4 Modded PAX drivers for Audigy2 ZS with all softwares(i downloaded Audigy 4 ISO) , Then i uninstalled the drivers and reinstalled Audigy 2 ZS drivers , and again installed Entertainment Center, Guess what now Audigy 4 doesnt prompt me that i dont have the required HARD WARE before installation starts, and i can install ny Audigy 4 software(nothing much new though , only Entertainment center and Smart Recorder). and i am now enjoying ENTERTAINMENT CENTER with my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro and with Audigy 2 drivers!!!!.
    I think its not proper on part of CREATIVE not to release Ent. Center for Audigy 2, as the IO box and remote control of Audigy 2 and Audigy 4 are the same( RM-500 remote). so wats the point in keeping Ent. Center just for Audigy 4 and Up?

    Just set your software DVD player to SPDIF output and make sure the A2ZS is set for SPIDF decode.

  • Microphone connection problems with SB audigy 2 ZX platinum pro

    I am using an old SB audigy 2 ZX platinum pro purchased back in 2004. It is installed on a PC that I stopped using it in 2005. The pc has no problems and I have started using it again.My problem is that I cannot connect the microphone. Everything was working fine at the time I was this pc including the microphone.At that time I had installed win xp pro( no service packs were available). But after I had to move physically in another location(connection and disconnections etc)and a pc format I cannot use the microphone again. I am trying to connect it to the front panel and to the appropriate places as indicated in the user manual but nothing is happening. I have connected properly the sound cart and all other components are working fine. I checked whether the microphone is checked to silent mode and all other software/di'vers nonetheless everything is working fine. I am now using Win xp pro sp3. I have contacted Creative and they told me to check the mic boost option. But there is no mic boost option now. I clearly recall that there was one when I was using this pc in 2004 under win xp pro(again no service packs were available at that time).One solution I could think is to format again and install some old version of win xp pro (say 2003 or so) and then update to current. But I do not want to format again since I do not have that version of windows available(copyright issues may also raise) plus for some other reasons I do not think I should mention them on an Internet forum. I also tried to download the latest drivers ans apps form creative ,clean installation from the orginal cd including Daniel_K pack and everything someone could think without solving the issue.Creative during our last communication in a very polite way told me to stop emailing them and try to solve the issue on my own as this product is no longer supported. One thing I neglected to mention above is that the mic boost option is available in the motherboard sound chipset. I checked it in one of my attempts to solve the problem. But it disappears when installing the SB driver. I know that if I manage to configure mic boost in the driver settings I will solve the problem.But once again there is no such option. Could you please provide with some suggestions and solutions on how to solve this?. Thank you very in advance for any suggestion and help

    Anybody?

  • Technical Support Request - (Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Hacked?

    I just want to know yes or no can a sound card or video card be hacked. More importantly my old computer was hacked right down to the bios. Can not install windows nothing works. Is it safe to put my Audio Card (Audigy 2 ZS Platinum) into a new computer or could doing so harm my new computer? Should I just by another card? I would love to save the money from not buying another card but not if there is any chance that it will harm my new computer. >Original Message Follows:>------------------------>=======================>>Subject: CLI - Technical Support Request - (Audigy 2 ZS Platinum)>Name: Br Gordon 32>Self Description: Intermediate PC User>Country: United States of America>------------------>Support Inquiry: ID(5) I need help with a third-party software>application>Product: Audigy 2 ZS Platinum>------------------>Operating System: Windows XP>Computer Brand/Model: E Machines>Processor/CPU: pentium 4
    2.0 ghz>Memory: 52 mb>>Detailed Problem Description:>I have two questions. One I have Audigy 2 zs>sound card in an old computer that got hacked>bad. I was thinking of using it in my new>computer but my old computer got hacked right>into the bios. I have not been able to get a>tech to fix it because it was hacked so bad. So>my question is this. Is it safe to put this>sound card in my new computer?>> If someone can get into my bios could they do>something to a sound or video card that would>make it dangerous to put in a new computer?>Should I just buy a new sound card from you?
    THE QUESTION BELOW CAN BE IGNORED I was just curious about the answer.
    My second question has to do with Asio. There is a>website www.asio4all.com that I downloaded from>because one of my VST soft synths said I needed>it. But windows li've care said it was a trojan.>(ASIO4ALL 2.7 ) Are there third party websites>that offer Asio that are safe?>> When I first installed the ASIO Im not sure it>was from that site and it seemed to work like a>regular program but lately I have been cleaning>my computer from a hacker and windows identified>it as a trojan. So my last question is do you>have asio drivers that would work with VSTs>requiring it's>>Would they only be bundled with creative sound>cards or are there third party distributers that>can be trusted. I guess Im asking if windows>li've care could be wrong. I removed it just to>be safe. I hope I did not ask too many>questions. I appreciate your time and efforts in>answering my questions.>Sincerely>Brian G>

    No, it can't

  • Sound blaster audigy 2 zs platinum sound probl

    Ok So let me give you the specs on my computer first,?Windows xp home editionAbit IN9 32 MAX Mobo2 Gigs corsair xms ram2 8800ultra sli gpusLogitech?z-5300 SpeakersSound blaster audigy 2 zs platinum sound card2 Samsung 500 gig HD?I dont believe that my problem is the same as is in the crackling sound thread. So here is my dilema. Up untill about 4 days ago everything was working fine with my sound system. I have the Logitech speakershooked up to my audigy 2 zs along with my xbox 360 in the optical in on the front plate. So like i said about 4 days ago i started playing a movie on my computer and i have the ac3 codec installed on my computer with comunity codec pack and i know that you could say that those 2 things could be my problem i know enough to know that that probably isnt. So when i played the movie and when to the ac3 codec and turned on dolby decoding so that i would decode it to all my speakers everything worked fine. Then when i turned on spdif decoding my center speaker?started to crackle so i figured it was just becuase i was useing spdif and dolby decoding at the same time. so i turned that off and then went to go play my xbox 360 in which i have pluged into the optical in part on the front plate. Everything had always worked fine for that i have dolby digital decodeing on for the audigy. So i started to play a game i realized that i center speaker was crackling on there too. So i started to realize that no matter what i did the center speaker was crackling. I even changed out the center and sub stereo jack on the card for the front left and right and then they started to crackle in that spot. So i dont know what the hell is going on. Any help would be greatly appreciated i was thinking of restoring my computer but i dont know whether that is necessary. I also dont want to have to go out and by the x-fi elite pro tomarrow unless I absolutely have to.Message Edited by TasteOfChaos on 0-0-20080:02 PM

    I am brand new to this message system but I am so desperate for help I thought I would try it. After reading lots of comments I find that my problem may be more the rule than the exception. I have an Audigy @ Platinum card and all I ever get from it is crackling and popping. I have been around and around with Creative support but nothing they tell me results in a fix. I am so disgusted at this point that I am ready to just trash the whole thing. I have gone through the BIOS and checked so many settings its a shame. Still crackling and popping. I NEED SPECIFIC ANSWERS FROM SOMEBODY...not just the generic flip the wingle wangle to port xyz and move this to that. here has got to be an answer to this maddening problem. The other thing is that now I can't get my MIDI keyboard to play back. I must have turned something off in the set up process but now I have no idea what to do.
    If anyone has any solid answers for me PLEASE come forward with them before I kill someone!

  • Audigy 2 ZS Platinum not decoding A

    I want to use my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum to decode AC-3 signals when I play DVDs. I have done everything the "Digital Connections, SPDIF and Dolby Digital Info" thread. I have verified the SPDIF passthrough is disabled in AudioHQ.. rather.. Use Installed Decoder is enabled. I am using Intervideo WinDVD 5 to play DVDs. In this software I have Digital (S/PDIF) out selected. I'm using the Creative wire harness to connect the analog connections from the audigy to my receiver and I have my receiver setup to use the direct analog inputs. When I play a DVD the dialog is faint and only comes from the front channels. If I tell InterVideo WinDVD 5 to decode instead of using the SPDIF out it sounds exactly like it should. The dialog is very clear and comes from the center channel and the rear channels also produce sound. I don't trust my receiver to decode so that's why I'm not using the digital out instead. It doesn't sound right.. why I bought the Audigy to do the decoding.
    Using InterVideo WinDVD 5 to decode isn't an option for me to use for other reasons. It is a good test to make sure the Audigy is doing what it should. For whatever reason, the Audigy is not decoding the AC-3 signal properly. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? It really blows my mind. This isn't a new concept at all. I didn't expect to have problems with it.
    Cheers,
    Scott

    $$$ I keep throwing money at this computer trying to get audio to work right. The Audigy 2 ZS Platinum was throwing more money at it... I'm not going to keep buying more and more stuff to get the computer to decode an AC3 signal properly. I'm going to see what other people do that works.
    Is there a solution to get the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum to actually decode the AC3 signal?

  • Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Software Issue: Volume Control, Speaker Settings, Equalizer, C

    I installed my ZS Platinum back in December, everything worked fine for 2 months, then I started to hit trouble.
    First, the driver began hanging when I took my headphones in/out, resulting in no sound from either output. I updated the drivers and this problem went away.
    Then, I was gaming and all the sound stopped working. Reboots did nothing, so I tried to reinstall the drivers. This is how the problems began. The first time I uninstalled all my creative stuff, downloaded the newest drivers, and installed that. I didn't realize that I couldn't download all the bells and whistles off the drivers page.
    So, I unistalled those drivers, and used my CD to install the drivers and MediaSource. I encountered the PLXcore.plx error during install and every time I booted Windows. Also, none of the extra applications (Volume Control, Speaker Settings, Graphic Equalizer, CMSS) would run. I uninstalled, reinstalled and tried again.
    This is where I am now. I chose not to install MediaSource this time. Again, I encountered the PLXcore.plx error during install, but I'm not receiving the error when Windows boots (because I didn't install MediaSource?). But still, most of the little applications don't run. I see the Volume Control icon in my task bar, and if I press the mute button on the keyboard the symbol changes, but when I click on the icon, nothing happens. "Creative Volume Con..." flashes on the taskbar, and a 0px by 0px white box appears above the task bar. If I click anywhere else, they disappear. The Graphic Equalizer, Speaker Settings, and CMSS dialog do the same thing when opened. THX Console does not.
    Also, the on screen display for volume no longer pops up. Is this part of MediaSource? Should I install MediaSource even if I don't plan to use it's
    Running XP SP2 on an AMD X2 4200+ with the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum.
    EDIT: Thought I'd add in another problem I have:
    I usally run my DISH reciever's sound through my computer through the Auxillary 2 RCA connections on my front panel. When I boot World of Warcraft or Warcraft III (Both Blizzard games), the sound through this connection becomes very tinny and reverby. If I alt+tab out of the game, adjust the speaker setting (5. -> Headphones -> 5.) the issue goes away. But each time I start one of these games, the problem returns. Any ideas? Known problem?Message Edited by Cuttlefish on 03--200703:9 PM

    I'm sorry I can't help but I have the exact same problem. I have no Speaker, EAX or graphic eq settings. No telling what else don't work. I have tryied 0 different ways of removing and loading it back with any and all updats and without and no success. I hope someone here can help us.

  • Audigy 2 ZS Platinum- Inspire 4.1 don't see each other after computer move

    ?? Running: Windows XP Pro
    Sound Card: SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum? Driver Version 2.8
    ? Speakers: Creative Inspire 4. 4400
    ? Software: Creative Media Source 3.30
    I moved my computer to another room and started having sound problems. I removed Creative Media Source 5 ( I had it when I used the creative zen mp3 player ) because I thought it was redundant on my system. My sound is now hollow and tinny. But the truth is I don't know what caused the problem to begin with since the Holidays were involved and many people were at my computer. I only want the sound to be as great as it was before.
    These are my problems:
    . No matter how many times I set the audio properties through the volume control icon on the taskbar, the configuration always resets to desktop stereo speakers instead of surround sound.
    2. Using the Creative Speaker Settings results in information showing that there are only 2 speakers attached and they are synchronized with control panel. Under speaker calibrator it reads that there is a generic speaker system.
    3. Using the calibrator Wizard, only 2 speakers show up.
    4. Normally in the EAX console, the Effects tab shows many settings - but now there is nothing inside the box.
    5. On the CMSS3D tab, the slider for the speakers is grayed out
    6. The THX setup console on the Speaker selection tab there is nothing under the speaker selection tab - There is an analog output and a digital 48khz under digital sampling.
    7. Under calibration there are only left and right front speakers the subwoofer and rear speakers are grayed out
    This is what I have done to troubleshoot my problems:
    . Used Auto update of card which reads that everything is updated. There are no drivers for the speakers, so that is ok.
    2. Through the Creative Organizer I enabled CMSS
    3. Through the Creative Audio console on the Decoder tab, I have checked use built in decoder and under speaker mapping for 4./5 using side channels
    4. Under Dolby digital settings Dynamic Range is Full - Dolby Pro Logic is ON - Dolby Digital EX is ON --- DTS for Es is ON
    5. Made certain all connections are secure and verified the placement of the green and black wires coming from the subwoofer are connected to my computer in the correct place, namely that the black wire is in the second hole from the firewire port and the green wire is in the third hole
    Please help me if you can. I'm ready to throw in the towel, I would even buy digital speakers but don't know which way to turn. I don't know if it's the card or the speakers or the fact that I removed the Media source 5 (for which I can't find the disk.)
    Thanks in advance for reading this and taking the time to troubleshoot with me.
    Jane

    Hello KokChoy-CL.
    Many thanks for your support!
    I've been reinstalled the drivers and changed the options of your link, now the DTS 5. effects are quite working on my xbox.
    Again, thank you!
    Lucio.

  • Audigy 2 ZS Platinum - Midi, Soundfonts, Squeal of Death

    Hi, I bought the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum to get professional Soundfont playback triggered by an external midi keyboard, Soundfont creation using Vienna, and ideally Cubasis with ASIO.
    I'm having major problems: When I try and play Soundfonts from either the SoundFont Bank Manager or Vienna, after a couple of minutes I get a high-pitched tone and the computer locks up. I've heard this is the infamous "squeal of death," but am unsure of the fix on my particular machine:
    Gateway V800CSE computer
    Windows 98 SE
    Intel Celeron 800 MHz processor
    Intel Santorini motherboard
    Intel 810e chipset
    BIOS update to P05
    192 MB ram
    Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver 620
    DirectX 9.0c
    2 PCI slots
    Power Supply: Astec ATX90-3405 (90 watts)
    The computer is generally rock-steady - I can spend hours using applications like Firefox, Wordpad, Acrobat Reader, etc. with no crashes. Audio CDs seem to play fine for hours through the Audigy 2.
    I've done the equivalent of a clean sweep: wiped the drive and restored from backup to a pre-Creative state, then reinstalled the Creative stuff. No help.
    The squeal/lockup happens whether I use the on-screen keyboard or an external midi keyboard, and regardless of what banks are loaded - even small banks like the default 4MB GM presets. It seems to happen at some random point during Soundfont usage, anywhere from one minute to 30 minutes into a session - but it always happens.
    I'm not playing difficult passages with a lot of polyphony. In fact the squeal of death sometimes happens when playing just a simple melodic line. I tried allocating more ram in Soundfont Bank Manager, but this didn't seem to help. Creative Diagnostics shows no problems.
    I've heard that turning off ACPI sometimes eliminates lockups with Creative cards. However, Windows 98SE installs ACPI by default, and my BIOS doesn't let me turn it off. I understand that by installing from a command line and using a setup switch I can install Win98SE without ACPI. But although I'm handy with computers and good at following instructions, I don't know command line syntax.
    Could someone please walk me through the steps? Let's say I boot from a floppy, activate CD-ROM support, get the A-prompt, and put the Windows 98 SE CD in the drive. (Are those the initial steps?) Now what are the exact command lines I would use to run the setup switch, which is something like setup/pi ?
    Please help. The card is of no use to me if I can't get professional Soundfont operation. I will have to return it.
    I've tried uninstalling the WDM drivers and installing the VXD drivers using Creative's CTZAPXX. That seemed to stop the squeal of death, but greatly limits midi functionality. For example, the WDM drivers recognized that my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum has two sets of midi inputs/outputs: one on the gameport, and one on the platinum drive. It's the platinum ones you can use out of the box, because the adapters are included. Under the WDM drivers, I could choose the second midi port and my external keyboard would trigger the Soundfonts. But under the VXD drivers only one midi port appears in Control Panel or midi apps, and I guess it's the gameport, because all notes from my external keyboard hooked up to the platinum drive's midi input are now ignored. I reinstalled the VXD drivers, but same result. The platinum drive is definitely hooked up; the audio inputs and outputs are working, and my external midi keyboard is definitely sending midi notes.
    Could Creative or anyone please confirm that the VXD drivers don't see the platinum drive's midi port? Is there a workaround? If the WDM drivers are unstable, and Win98SE users have to fall back to the VXD drivers to get reliable operation, then could Creative please include a gameport-to-midi adapter in the box, so platinum customers can still use midi?
    Are there any other reports of the squeal of death with the 810e chipset?
    I'm using DirectX 9.0c. Is this appropriate, or should I be using an earlier version?
    The power supply on my machine may be a bit wimpy. Could that be a problem? The published specs are:
    Wattage 90 watt
    Input 90 - 135 V, normal 115 V
    180 - 265 V, normal 230 V
    # Output + 3.3 V (0 A min, 6.0 A max)
    # + 5 V (1.0 A min, 10 A max)
    # + 12 V (.02 A min, 1.5 A max)
    # -12 V (0 A min, 0.2 A max)
    # + 5 VSB (0 A min, 1.4 A max)
    Finally, how often is the squeal of death solved by simply exchanging the card? (It's only a week old.)
    Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. Best regards.
    M_Harrisson

    M_Harrisson wrote:
    - No, my BIOS doesn't have "PCI Config 32 Clock Retry."
    I took some time to look back in my archives. The canonical SOD problem was seen on WinXP on certain Dell systems using Intel motherboards incorporating certain new (at the time) Intel chipsets. I have the i815 chipset referenced in my archives, though not the i810. Dell systems, such as the 8100, did not have access to said BIOS setting, and needed a BIOS update enabling the bit to resolve the SOD problem.
    The main variant of the problem did not occur with the VxD drivers at the time, because those drivers were able to enable BIOS settings. WDM drivers were not permitted to change BIOS settings, so the problem did surface with them on susceptible chipsets. Unless there has been a change in this area to the VxD drivers, your reporting hangs with them implies implies a different problem.
    - My other PCI slot was occupied by a Rockwell 56K modem, but I've done a clean reinstall (WDM) without the modem card. I haven't done enough testing to fully report on results. I did get the squeal of death after an hour, but it could be related to a public domain soundfont that was not well-behaved. (Or maybe the Audigy 2 ZS is not well-behaved!)
    I really don't think there's a way a soundfont can cause the PCI bus to seize up. I think it would be a good idea to try moving the soundcard to the slot the modem was in, if you haven't already.
    In mentioning my computer's power supply, I was relating this to the squeal of death, not the midi port on the platinum drive failing to appear under the VXD drivers.
    So was I, although I was keying on your use of an external keyboard, probably incorrectly. You are describing your system as very stable unless the soundcard is used a specific way, and I didn't get the sense that there would be much difference in power requirements involved in that.
    I'm thinking that PCI systems are designed to function within certain tolerances. A 56K modem card might make lighter demands on PCI resources than an Audigy 2 card. The modem's handshaking protocols might make it oblivious to momentary timing errors, while the Audigy 2 card might be less forgiving of a wimpy power supply or a PCI subsystem that's not quite up to par. Just a theory. Anyway, I may try the card in another machine and see if it fares better. Wish it weren't so finicky!
    That's not bad thinking, and trying it in another machine is a great idea, though one often not very practical for customers who may only have one machine available.
    Last night I was noticing that with my external keyboard driving the platinum drive's midi input, there are random delays. The notes will be tight for a few seconds, but then a couple of notes that were played cleanly on the keyboard will spill over each other like dwarves tumbling out of a silly car. Is this a known issue with the platinum drive's midi port when playing soundfonts, or could this be a symptom of an underlying timing issue with my PCI subsystem? (I know there may not be an easy answer to questions like this.)
    Has anyone compared the "tightness" of gameport midi vs. platinum drive midi? Is gameport midi any tighter? (I'm on a budget, and don't want to shell out for a gameport-to-midi adapter only to get more of the same.)
    I've not heard of this particular complaint before and I have listened a lot. PCI-level problems tend to be of the nature of snap-crackle-pop symptoms (or hangs). What you describe sounds more like a problem with something like interrupt lockout. Without knowing Windows internals very well, a driver coping with lots of recoverable errors might cause that, or if a device causing lots of interrupts is sharing an IRQ with the soundcard, or sometimes multiprocessing support has weaknesses which lead to interrupt latency issues.
    When loading and unloading different soundfonts, is memory fragmentation much of an issue? (either PC memory or the Audigy 2's internal memory?).
    It can be an issue with being able to load very large soundfonts, but not really much otherwise. The A2 doesn't really have internal memory.
    With the Audigy series you're no longer limited to 32 MB soundfont banks. You can load much larger banks into PC memory, but the PC has to send chunks of sound data to the Audigy as needed. I'm wondering if this has impacted stability. Maybe it requires some intensive bursts of data to be sent from PC memory over the PCI bus to the Audigy 2 card.
    That part is done on demand, and is driven by what you are playing at the moment rather than everything in the soundfont. If the system is sufficiently memory-tight, allocating more system memory to soundfont storage might lead to excessive paging activity (which could also be behind erratic sluggishness in the system's response to MIDI keyboard events). (In fact, 192MB of system RAM doesn't sound like a lot, even for Win98, when you need to dedicate MB's of it to soundfont storage.)
    Does anybody know if there are things you can do during a long session to defragment memory so that no holes develop?
    Problems in that area are far more likely to be expressed as dropped notes that to be behind system hangs.
    Vienna reports that the Audigy 2 ZS has 12 MB DRAM in Synth A and 12 MB DRAM in Synth B. Does that mean it has a total of 24 MB onboard RAM?
    It probably means that 12MB of PC system memory has been allocated to shared use by the two virtual synths. If you have set soundfont memory larger than that and Vienna still says 12 MB, it's probably simply a bit confused in its assumptions. The soundcard doesn't have onboard RAM, although the soundcards Vienna was written for do.
    -Dave
    [email protected]

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