Emulated sound card prob.

[Buggeroo]

Hi

I have a Creative Sound Blaster Live and it used to work just fine. But now when I look in dxdiag it says that the card is emulated. I've tried un/re-installing different drivers for it numerous times and every time it says 'emulated' and has the hardware acceleration slider all the way to the left. Pulling the slider to the right seems to have no effect.
In Windows, sound works fine. System sounds, winamp and such seems to be just fine, but in many games i the audio is delayed or downright missing.

QuickSpecs: AMD Athlon XP 1800+
ECS K7S5A
SB Live
512 MB DDR PC2700
40+80 GB HD
Windows XP

Hope someone can help me, I really don't want to resort to reinstalling Windows if it can in any way be avoided.

 

[pmonett]

Sounds to me like you have tinkered a bit too much and gotten the registry all confused. I think you need to just remove all traces of the card before reinstalling it.
To do that, you need to ensure all drivers are removed, then remove the hardware (ie Control Panel - Remove Hardware).
Shut down the PC, remove the card physically.
Boot up, let XP start and run for a few seconds. If any error messages show up, then you have not removed all traces of sound drivers. Find whatever is left and remove it. Then shut down again.
Reinsert the card, start XP and let it find the card. XP will probably find its own drivers for it - let them install and find out how it works.
If you install other drivers, be sure to go to the Creative web site and download only the drivers for your version of XP (pro/home, language version).

Pascal.

Footnote : the SB Live is not an astoundingly reliable piece of kit. I had one myself, and had many sound issues under Win98. In disgust, I ended up buying an Audigy Player - works a lot better.

 

[pmonett]

One more thought : you might want to check that your mainboard is not using any sound function. Many mainboards have integrated sound chips, and that will certainly conflict with any sound card you install.
Check the BIOS at startup and search for any on-board sound functions. If you find an option, make sure it is deactivated. If you do not find anything, check you mainboard manual to ensure you do not need to check a jumper to deactivate onboard sound.
When you have done that, you might still need to go through the steps I outlined above to clean out the Registry of your multiple driver installs.

Pascal.

 

[Buggeroo]

Yeah, I was thinking something along those lines as well, regarding removing all traces of the card/drivers.
Any advice on how to be sure to get rid of everything related to the card?

Onboard sound is diabled via bios, so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[pmonett]

How to be 100% sure.
Unless you install XP from scratch, it will be difficult, but a lengthy stroll through the registry should allow you to check keys and other issues that seem out of place.
Normally, when removing the hardware, XP should remove all associated software as well. Of course, this is subject to the usual caveats.

Pascal

 

[SCFROMDC]

Use a trial version of system mechanic after going through all those steps up there before trying to re-install, clean the registry, works for me most of the time....manual registry editing can really screw the pooch, if untrained.
Also, before re-installing, never forget the old "GHOST" device issue.....startup in safe mode, then look in your devices....(even after disabling on-board sound) and look to see if either device exists, remove any instance.
Then start over with the install, by the book, restarting when asked.
Reinstall directx, latest version.(a force install would be best after all this hardware mess)....

http://www.deadcenter.us

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Confucius