SBLive + Win2k trouble, should I use the AC97 ?

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Hi all,

I have been using an SBLive for a number of years with no issues; recently I got tired of (unrelated)) problems with '98 so I switched to 2000. So far, so good, except my SBLive is acting very strange now; I get pops and cracks from ANY audio (CD, mp3, games) and some games create really odd sounds, like a glob of a bunch of sounds all muddled together like a "Braaaaap". I have tried both the default Win2k drivers and Creatives drivers, I get the same reaults. I have searched both MS and Creatives knowledge bases and neither one address this issue.

I have an Asus P4B with the onboard Audio, and its disabled in the Bios so that should not be an issue (or should it?)

I have been wondering, since the SBLive worked perfect in '98, (and I do mean perfect, it was really fire and forget) might I be better off trying the integrated AC97 (Audio Codec '97) that is part of the P4B and ditching the SBLive?

Anyone have any experience with this integrated sound? I am not really willing to go buy a new sound card if I can help it, I am trying to save to upgrade my Geforce 2

TIA

 

[Black_Cat]

It's more than likely a driver issue. If you can resolve it, the SB Live! will certainly sound better than AC97. I have older drivers that you can no longer get on the Creative website that will probably work. I'll send them to you if you'd like.

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.

 

[Defective]

A friend of mine had this problem with a SB Live + XP.

It is a Creative driver/Mobo problem. Creative offers some help on their site but they require you to tweak your mobo BIOS settings. If they dont work (they didnt work for his) then I dont know what to tell you. This is not a rare problem with the SB Live. It just doesnt get along with certain mobos and 2K/XP. If you find a configuration that works, please, post it here.

---------------

Stupidity should be painful.

 

[ejsmith2]

About a year ago I was having this problem. It was noticable with the 4n1 4.32's, but anything after that, I was getting corruption like hell.

So, I stopped loading the 4n1's. I think this was the point where I upgraded to XP.

Completely cured the problem. As long as I ran with the default msft drivers (under XP), everything worked fine. No IDE corruption, no cracks/pops.

I just loaded the 4n1 4.40's, recently. They are working excellent. The SB live drivers I also load, and they are working excellent.


I'd recommend loading the 4n1's, whatever the latest version is. I think they are at 4.43, now. Go to <A HREF="http://www.viaarena.com" target="_new">http://www.viaarena.com</A>, and see what all is there. Then download the creative driver pack only (it ends up being about 20 meg). It's the XP pack, and I think it's like version 4.x now. Load the audio HQ, the Mixer, the drivers, and nothing else. There's some kind of jukebox spyware crap they want you to use.

Then turn on your auxillary (4 speaker setup), and hit the gamez...

P4's @ 3600Mhz ()wNz J00 4LL!!!!!!

 

[Smokiepowa]

Hi:
I have this problem too and looking for a solution for it.
I tried a lot of things but nothing works.
- Downloaded last Via 4 in 1 drivers.
- Changed Target sound irq
- Tried Defective solution...
- I tried 2 pack of creative drivers but i dont know their oldness. Can u help me Black_Cat? Where are those older drivers??
Help Me PliZ.
Thx to all.

PD: sorry for my English.

 

[Zitch]

I actually had this issue (pop, cracks, and stutters) with all the sound cards I had + Win2k on a couple of systems of mine. I had the SBLive Value!, Hercules Fortissmo (sp?) II, Hercules GT XP, and an Ensoniq Audio PCI.

This sounded like an IRQ conflict (remember those? Well they never did actually go away...), but Win2k doesn't let you manually change IRQs because of ACPI. I manage to solve the problem by disabling ACPI during a reinstall. There are supposedly ways to do this without a complete reinstall, but the best way is to "clean the slate", so to speak.

The main thing to do was during the install of Win2k, when it asks you to press F6 to install SCSI card driver, you press F5 (yes, _F5_). Then choose "Standard PC". There were some other steps to allow you to manually set IRQs, but I don't remember them off hand right now. But just disabling ACPI actually fixed my problems with the sound cards.

Remember, I typed the above from memory. You could do a search on the Microsoft Knowledgebase and the Windows 2000 forum here on "ACPI" and "Standard PC" and you might get more details.

Hope that helps,
Zitch