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Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Problem
Hi everyone,
Apologies from the start if I've posted this in the wrong bit of the forum.
I've got a Dell XPS Gen 3 (P4 3.4Ghz) with Windows XP and BIOS version A07.
I've recently upgraded my graphics card from the nVidia 8500GT I had in it, to an ATI Radeon 5670.
Unfortunately, since I put the ATI Radeon into the machine I've had no sound, except for when I'm playing Armed Assault 2: Operation Arrowhead through Steam.
I've tried disabling the ATI HDMI Audio within the Device Manager but nothing appears to help. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Creative Sound Blaster 2 ZS drivers, but that didn't help either.
I don't really want to have to put the nVidida 8500GT back in because it's not as good a card as the newer ATI.
Any possible solutions anyone can offer (or advice), would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards to all,
Martin
fireberd
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April 8th, 2011 12:00
Apparently the ATI has set itself as the default playback device. Go into the Control Panel/Sounds and Audio devices and set your SoundBlaster as the default device, it it's not set that way.
Are you connecting anything to the HDMI port? On some Video cards, if you have an HDMI cable attached it automatically sets the HDMI audio as the default and that could cause the problem you are seeing too.
martin_madden
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April 8th, 2011 15:00
Hi Fireberd,
Thanks for your response.
When I go into the Sound & Audio devices it says "No Audio Device". All the various options are greyed out and I can't select anything.
I'm not connected through the HDMI cable. The monitor end of the connection is a VGA connector (little blue one) which connects to a DVI adaptor which plugs into the graphics card port at the back through the DVI port on the graphics card.
Is the VGA connector a possible problem? If so, I do have a DVI lead I can use for both ends of the connection - the monitor has a DVI port as well, but no HDMI so I can't plug it in that way.
As always, any help you or anybody else can provide would be much appreciated.
Kind regards,
Martin
fireberd
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April 8th, 2011 16:00
Check the Sound Blaster sound card. It could have been disturbed when you installed the new video card. With the PC powered off, "reseat" (unplug then plug back in) the Soundblaster sound card. The power on and watch when Windows starts, if that was the problem you see Windows report that it "found new hardware" and is installing the SoundBlaster.
martin_madden
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April 9th, 2011 10:00
Hi Fireberd,
OK. I took the SoundBlaster card out of the PCI slot as suggested, and put it back in.
Windows didn't detect any new hardware (it still says the SoundBlaster is where it's always been - PCI Slot 3 (PCI Bus 4, device 2, function 0).
The ATI HDMI Audio is at Location 65535 (Internal High Definition Audio).
This might be a long shot, but could it be something to do with the graphics card connectors? The monitor end of the connector is a little blue VGA connector which plugs into a DVI adaptor to plug into the back of relevant port on the ATI graphics card.
Is there anything in the A07 BIOS I can change to make this work or is the BIOS just too old?
Kind regards,
Martin
martin_madden
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April 9th, 2011 11:00
Fireberd,
The SoundBlaster is shown in the Device Manager as having status "This device is working properly."
I don't even remember seeing an option for "Integrated Audio" on the A07 BIOS screens - any ideas where it is?
Also, I'm really confused that the sound works on Armed Assault 2: Operation Arrowhead when I run it through Steam (but nothing else!), even though Windows can't find an audio device.
Kind regards,
Martin
fireberd
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April 9th, 2011 11:00
What is the Status of the SoundBlaster in the Device Manager? Does it show "working OK" or does it have an error code?
The VGA/DVI connection is not a problem. It would only be an issue if you were using the HDMI port.
The only thing in the BIOS would be if the Integrated Audio is enabled and conflicting with the SoundBlaster. It should be disabled in the BIOS.
fireberd
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April 9th, 2011 16:00
I know nothing about the game or "Steam".
The BIOS may refer to it as "legacy Audio"
When you go to the Sounds Panel, can you select the SoundBlaster card? for the various sound functions. I don't have an XP system and I don't remember exactly what is there.
If you still can't select anything and it shows as "woking properly" RIGHT click on the entry for SoundBlaster then LEFT click "Uninstall". Restart the PC and Windows will detect and reinstall it when Windows starts. If there were a corruption in the Windows status this will correct it.
martin_madden
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April 12th, 2011 09:00
The BIOS makes no mention of audio in any capacity, legacy or otherwise.
I can't select anything in the sounds panel as all the options are greyed out - presumably because it doesn't think I have audio (although Device Manager says that the SoundBlaster card is working properly!).
I've uninstalled the SoundBlaster about three times now and it still doesn't solve the problem when Windows detects the new hardware.
In a desperate attempt to get something to work I re-installed the nVidia 8500GT. Bizarrely, the exact same thing happened - no sound in anything except AA2:OA.
I'm just doing a malware check at the moment and it's brought up at least two "infected items". Is it in any way possible that these could be causing the problem?
fireberd
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April 13th, 2011 04:00
The "infected items" could cause anything however it's most likely that they are not.
Can you move the SoundBlaster to a different PCI slot? Worth a try.
You can also try reinstalling the Intel motherboard chipset drivers and then reinstall the SoundBlaster drivers. About the only other thing left is a corruption in Windows causing the problem.
martin_madden
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April 15th, 2011 16:00
Well, the infected items thing made no difference.
I moved the Soundblaster to the other available PCI slot and whilst Windows is still quite happy to find it and say it's "working properly" it clearly isn't because I can't hear any sound!
I'm getting dizzy I've re-installed the chipset and SoundBlaster drivers that often :-(
One thing that has occurred to me in the last few hours (been busy at work all week so not had time to check many things) is that the ATI Radeon and the SoundBlaster are sharing IRQ16. Could this be a cause of the problem and if so is there a way to change a device's IRQ in WIndows XP?