I/O Drive for X-Fi Sound Card half working. Please help!

[Herbalacious]

Just recently built this pc in a lanbox lite. Pain in the rear to get this all to fit too, but I made it work. Everything works great except for one thing!

Installed an X-Fi PCI-E card, works fine from the rear. Plugged in the I/O Drive that comes with it (it's the titanium champion edition) and I can get sound out of the headphone jack out front, but the LED's don't light up and the Volume control nobs don't work either. I've tripple checked all my connections and the only part that stumps me is that there is no plug-in for power? Unless I'm blind, or it's hiding. The manual doesn't mention anything about power either so I am assuming it pulls the power from the PCI-E card? Regardless, the cables I plugged in only fit 1 way into both the I/O panel and the PCI-E card. If anyone can help me out with this I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Thermaltake LanBoxLite
GA-G33M-S2L mATX Mobo
2.66Ghz Pentium Quad Core
4GB Patriot Ram (only 3gb detected in Windows XP SP3)
PNY Nvidia 9800GTX *Factory OC'd (barely fit. had to modify the I/O Drive cage inside the chassis)
2 Samsung 500GB 7200rpm HDD's Raid 0 setup with Promise PCI card
X-Fi Sound Blaster PCI-E

 

[bobbknight]

Yeah I hate creative.

 

[inquisitor03]

I don't have the PCI-E version so I don't know if it's different to the regular version but with mine there is a power connector next to the main 'data' connector which goes off to the sound card. It looks like just a normal floppy power connector.

Does sound power related because if I don't attach that 4-pin power connector to the I//O Drive my volume controls don't work either.

One way to tell is if you remove the dust cap from the Optical Output and then see if there is a red light on or not. If you have a light I guess you can assume it's powered.

Creative are useless it seems in this area of telling you how things actually connect together and I've always found you end up having to guess what goes where. Also I've always thought that their I/O drive is just so awkward to use and to initially get setup. I had major problems in getting mine to recognise that I had actually plugged something into the digital optical input!

BTW, when they designed the I/O drive who thought it would be a good idea to use a stupidly big flat ribbon cable (which is too short!) to connect the drive to the soundcard. I'm sure they could've come up with something a bit more aesthetically pleasing!!

 

[doomturkey]

I have one of the older X-fi platinum cards with I/O panel. It has a power connector that looks like a 4 pin floppy connector. Mine kind of half works as well, for example I can hook up my xbox to the RCA inputs, headphones seem to work ok, but the mic on it doesnt work at all. I haven't tried the others.

 

[Doltron]

Yeah mic doesn't work properly on the front, I just use the back.

 

[Herbalacious]

argh. Yes I was thinking the same, it must be power..but where is the plug-in!@#$ lol. It must be somewhere off to the side or something because it is not in the rear of the drive anywhere. Was like playing tetris in 3d to get all the pieces in this lanbox!@#$ It will have to wait until tuesday when i have time to rip it apart again. Taking the hood off I can see the backside no probelm and there are no other connections besides the auxilary which connects to the aux ports on the front panel. UGH the ONLY reason I went pci-e is because it's the only slot I have available. Always something with puters even (or especially?) these days

 

[chookman]

I have the older version of the X-fi Fatal1ty that came with the IO panel and it had the 4 pin floppy connector for extra power and worked great.

PCI-e does supply extra power, but i dont think it would channel that power through the IDE ribbon type connector that it uses. So i would have to say that you are either missing the power connector or overlooking it on the PCB of the IO panel.

 

[Herbalacious]

So I just ripped the whole fatal1ty setup out of the pc and I am really considering returning it. There are no other plug-ins on the card or on the I/O drive. I swear it. I don't have a digital camera atm I wish I could throw some pics up. The only 2 plug-ins are the digital and analog ones. The PCI-E card is shielded except for the front and there is a light with the X-FI logo on top of the card (normally where the power connector is for other sound cards) and is lit when my PC is running. Cables for both are included and they connect to the pci-e card to the I/O drive and they only fit one way. Nothing else in the box besides a bioshock ad and the cd-rom to install. I even installed every piece of annoying software it came with to see if it would make a difference. nope.

I sent an email to creative when I first made this post and they replied with a # I can call em. I will see what they have to say!@#$ lol. Does anyone here own this I/O drive pci-e setup? This is annoying the hell out of me.

Ugh - I am in Alaska so time differences screw me. I have to wait until tomorrow to call them, before 6pm Central.

 

[Herbalacious]

ok so far its been about 30 mins on the phone with customer care with creative. (still on the phone) getting no where and she is trying to tell me the package includes a power cable. I SWEAR ON EVERYTHING HOLY there is no floppy power cable or any other cable that shows anything related to power. The digital plug-in COULD be power related, but I really don't know. It's labeled as a digital cable and its a bit smaller than the analog cable. The manual says nothing about power anywhere.

Guys I am on the verge of meltdown. Does anyone here own this setup PLEASE tell me if I have a bunk I/O drive. Sound Blaster Fatal1ty Titanium Champion Series

Edit: OK so I just got off the phone finally. Just under an hour. She admits there are only 2 cables and I have everything that is included. She says she will call back with a more definite solution, whatever that means. I don't have a working digital camera or I would post photos of the card, but here is what they look like from the user manual on the pc. There are no other connections and this card is connected properly I'm sure of it.

That's pretty much it. There are no other places for connections anywhere.
The soundcard I have is the bottom pic. Didn't realize how small the photo would be..can hardly see the connections. but there they are!

 

[Balthazor]

I had this exact same behavior.

I had originally installed the non-I/O box version (the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro.) This had been installed and working fine for some time. I am flush with cash and wanted the I/O box, so purchased the Championship edition.

I tried merely installing the I/O box and connecting it to the existing card (the model numbers of the cards are identical - SB 0880 - and they appear to be the same card.) Upon doing so I get the same behavior as the OP - I can hear sound through the headphone jack and use the microphone input, but nothing else functions.

Re-seating the two cables did nothing.

I attempted a 'repair' installation from my original X-Fi CD. This didn't work.

I then tried uninstalling everything, using a driver cleaner, and then removing my old card and installing the card that came with the Championship edition. I then installed the software.

Now it functions properly; furthermore the registration program correctly detected my card as the 'championship edition', when before, using my initial card, it was identified as the 'pro edition.'

All front panel LEDs function correctly, volume controls function correctly. So i would recommend:

-Be sure to use the card that came with your championship edition;

-And do a complete uninstall, use a driver cleaner, and install the card from scratch.

 

[ShaneAviaria]

I am having the same problem, i have Vista 64bit, I have even completely re installed vista and I put the cd in, installed everything and when It goes to activate it still calling it a pro, when its a champion (the one with the io) SO I i get sound from the front but none of the buttons work on the front panel. Also, I assume the front panel is suppose to be lit up? Anything else I could be doing before i just return the card.

 

[ceriaz]

Hello,

I Have just recently got one of these cards from an ebay seller (the Titanium Champion) as I could not find any other seller in australia for one and I have the same problem with the IO drive not working except for headphones.

No lights / controls. Tried installing vista again on another hard drive and that didnt work, Modified drivers from Youpax, Windows XP .. It still doesn't work. I have a Gigabyte board (like the original poster) P35-DS3R, could this be causing the problem??

I don't know what else to do as getting warrenty will be difficult if it is faulty.

thanks

 

[Mysticpuma]

Yes, I am at exactly the same stage to be honest. All connections in, drivers installed from the disk.

Mic and Headphone socket work on front I/O panel, but I get to hear my own voice when I talk through the mic.

No volume controls or lights on the front panel, and the rear mic jack doesn't work on the PCI-e card

So, if it is a driver issue, can someone supply a link to a cleaner that will totaly remove all trace of any Creative driver, so I can do a complete clean install.

Seriously, Creative and their Beta Hardware drivers, even though they say official!

Geez!

Cheers, MP.

BTW, I am using Vista 64 Bit too!

 

[landor]

PPLZ!

The CABLE is your problem! The digital (the lesser) cabel vulnerable. I'ts disposed to broken on the plug!

Lan

 

[BaneSilvermoon]

Just thought I'd throw my hat out as someone else with the same issue. I just installed tonight and all that seems to work on the I/O panel are the headphone jacks. (haven't tried the RCA)

Checked my creative registration information and it also shows as PCIe SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Series.

 

[landor]

Just thought I'd throw my hat out as someone else with the same issue. I just installed tonight and all that seems to work on the I/O panel are the headphone jacks. (haven't tried the RCA)

Checked my creative registration information and it also shows as PCIe SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Series.

welcome to the club

 

[BaneSilvermoon]

So I pulled it all out, disconnected everything and put it back. Pushing the cables all in as hard as I could, to the point where I half expected one of the connectors to break off the circuit board. And when I fired the computer back up the front panel is working now.

 

[tonechild2000]

I can't get my I/O Driver to work either. Tried uninstalling / reinstalling drivers the "quick" way.

This time I just uninstalled the drivers, the device, all associated programs, and then removed the damned thing from the machine. Cleaned the registry out; everything.. I can't get the I/O to work, no headphones, nothing.

 

[MeisterChris]

yea my front panel flopped too! I installed my new motherboard, reinstalled all the creative crap and now the front panel doesnt work, i have the power supply connected but no light is on the Optical out!!!

 

[goodsell]

I have just purchased a new Sound Blaster Xtreme Audio Sound Card. I cannot get the microphone function to work. Everything else is OK. Default settings are OK. The Optima computer does have an onboard sound chip. Any solutions would be appreciated

 

[njalterio]

Same problems....can't get the I/O panel working. I haven't been using it so it hasn't been connected, but now I would like to use those digital connections. Of course, I misplaced that 4 pin power cable that came with it when I bought it so I purchased one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999017

And............no dice. No connections work. No IR device recognized. My last hope: Creative has released new drivers on 6/29/09 so I will give those a shot. If anyone knows anything that I do not....please let me know!


P.S. Those of you who cannot get the mic working.....you need to remove a jumper cable on the x-fi platinum sound card. I'm guessing this disables the connection on the card and allows connection for the mic to the I/O port.

 

[njalterio]

Figured I would post an update just in case anyone else stumbles on this thread and needs assistance.....(Getting the front I/O panel working with the Creative X-FI Fatality Platinum)

The 6/26/09 driver update did nothing as far as the I/O panel was concerned. That was a bit of a hail mary pass though so I wasn't expecting much. In a last ditch attempt to avoid purchasing a new sound card, I removed the sound card and the front panel from the computer to reconnect everything.

I noticed something seriously wrong with the setup when I removed it from my case....I only had one row of the pins connected via the ribbon cable on the I/O panel! After reconnecting the cable properly and rebooting the I/O panel works flawlessly.

So...I don't expect other people to make the same dumb mistake I did....but just in case....check your cable connection! It is very easy for those pins to get misaligned.

 

[Guest]

Anyone ever figure this one out? I am having the same problem with my champion i/o drive. Getting ready to RMA my whole setup.

Thanks

 

[ultramecha]

SOLUTION FOR I/O Drive!!!

As someone said on here earlier the problem was the cables are not pushed in far enough, you really must use a bunch of force with the cables otherwise the lights will not turn on and it will only half work or not function at all. Also be sure you have the latest sound card drivers as well, once you do all that it will work perfect!

The main cable to check is the small one make sure its pushed in extra tight on both ends the I/O drive and the sound card itself!!

 

[Guest]

Just the same problem with my peice of *** Alienware