ok this is the most annoying problem ever,

 

I just added a speaker system from Altec Lansing that is a 5.1 surround sound system i believe (4 speakers + woofer) on my new dimension E310 desktop from dell. The computer has Creative Mediasource and SB audigy advanced MB on it from the factory.

My problem is that I change the speaker configuration to "5.1 surround sound" in the sound options in the control pannel press apply and it all seems fine, but when i go into the speaker configuration for Creative, it says "2/2.1 speakers" even when i click the checkbox for "Synchronize with control panel". In the drop-down menu for the Speaker/headphone selection there are only two options headphones, or 2/2.1 speakers. Also the whole screen for bass management is grayed out and not usable. Even though it doesn't say it's running 5.1 surround i still have full sound out of all the speakers and the subwoofer but it isn't dividing sound between the front and rear speakers. When i try to test it with the "channel" button it only tests the whole left side and then the whole right side

 

My question is, is the problem i am having software related or not? My computer has a 3 hole sound card (red, green, and blue) and the speakers are hooked up for such a setting according to the placemat that the speakers came with. On my other computer that has surround sound the sound card has 5 slots (black, white, pink, green and blue i believe). Do I need a different sound card for my new computer, or is the problem only with the Creative software? If it is a problem with the software, how can i fix it?

 

here's the placemat from dell for the installation
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/acc/ada745/ada745.pdf

remember i used the configuration with the 3 hole sound card (2a top diagram)

 

thanks for any help that anyone can offer

this problem is really getting on my nerves :robotmad: