X-Fi Screech of Death

screech and graphics driver there is no link , changes u make to your PC may delay the screech , but it will always return.  as ive tried an ATI card  and still get and have screech.

creative trouble shooting squad if  creative ever had one have given up on the issue if u read the creative mods replys to this issue.  

I meant Creative's troubleshooting squad. I know full well the effort being made over there by people like us. I tried that forum before this one with the issue, I felt that this was more prevalent considering I have a dell machine.

Creative just seemed to bursh the whole affair to one side. Not just Creative but Dell as well. I filled out their "Unresolved Support Request form" two days ago now, on that form it states " You will be contacted by a Dell representative via e-mail within 1 business day.". Dell must have some very long business days!!!

 

Going to use this computer all night, currently got some music playing via WMP will move to iTunes and then Youtube.

 

The indication of a impending screech is sounds from applications which haven't played sound it is usually cut of at the start with a small pop e.g. locking computer sound (winkey + L). Also audio can become slightly distorted.

 

I wonder if Dell will pay anybody if they find whats causing the problem ;)

I feel like we are all part of some crack troubleshooting squad. I wonder how many people at Creative are trying the same stuff we are with such vigor.

if u read the creative soundblaster forum many are trying to fix or trouble shoot the screech crackle pop noise issue , many have simply given up or bought a non creative card and simply put creative has given up on the issue .

Utemetsu , As for Dell with all it resources , Dell  cannot find a XPS 420 , 630 , 720 with the screech static , pops , noise  problem as they sent a machine to creative and could not find a problem. So said Dell Chris_M  Well i have an answer for that , Dell could look for the XPS 720 i send back because of the issue or Dell  can come and take my Screeching XPS 720 to research and fix this sickening screech issue  issue. i  beleive this issue will ever be resolved.  and ever few months Dell makes a Pathetic post stating they are not aware or  now are working on the X-FI screeching , noise , static , pops , freezing issues.  i beleive this is Dells Pathetic way to keep us quiet.  Need I say More . please search and read the over 1000, posts in these Dell Forums on screech . Pathetic Dell support on a Pathetic issue   

Personally I don't think Dell or Creative have an idea of whats going on. I'd be surprised if they have done in depth testing into it. I can tell that from my contact with Dell, short of saying "stop bothering us, we don't know we have your money now." thats what Dell are trying to tell me.

 

Still waiting for the response to their unresolved support queury to pop into my inbox sometime soon, I very much doubt it will though.

paulbeattie , are u telling me Dell has become pathetic steelers . i knew this already.. ive had enough of Dell. ive found my chosen PC brand . HP Blackbird  soon , ill have 2 as i just orderd another one with out srceeech . unlike my Dell XPS Screechen Patetic XPS 720 and the screech was free from dell no charge .

Well for me this is personally the first Dell I have bought and it screeched on day one with the soundcard AND the graphics card. The graphics, PSU and motherboard all got replaced shortly after delivery, well the graphics got replaced on one day so the computer could sit connected to the mains with the side off for anybody just to have a look inside, child, pet etc it wouldn't have been a pretty sight.

 

It's not good to see that Dell also wanted to kill me off with their engineers shocking health and safety. Turning up with completely the wrong parts, having to get another family member take a day off work to wait for the engineer who turned up late but with the correct parts the next day is minor really!

updating the graphics drivers to a DELL GRAPHICS DRIVER (most important!!) Driver may only fix the SOD on certain system configs such as mine, maybe if you have a similar setup to me it works i.e nvidia gfx and xfi extremegamer..(setup below)..I was concerned that NVIDIA had more recent graphics drivers than dell, so I installed them and the screech occured continuously. Popping amd crackling when playing music (exaggerated when moving windows and the mouse) and almost impossible to game. Playing games caused complete fade out, screeches, crackles and high pitch 'under water' sounds! If this solves at least one persons problems then its worth you guys trying, if it does not solve your system then at least I tried!!

 

-Nvidia 8800GT X2

-4gb Ram

-Nvidia 790i motherboard

-xfi XTREME-GAMER (dell hybrid)

 

 

 

 

 

Once last night, and once this morning, I have had an issue with the new video driver. Basically, the screen started making some windows black, and the only way I could make them repaint was to minimise each one and then restore it. After a few minutes it would happen again. The taskbar started to do some strange things too, looked kind of 'offset' a few cms left, and out of line with the rest of the display. A reboot sorted this out in each case. I was using an animated desktop at the time, which may have been related, as stopping it seemed to help. There is a native nVidia mode for animated desktops which I have switched on and this seems to have stabilised things.

 

But no SOD since I installed the video drivers over 2 days ago....

Honestly...

 

Dell and Creative are both the most notorious corporations regarding customer service and technical support. It's only natural that it would come down to us, the consumer, to determine the what, when, why, and how this god-forsaken sound issue happens and a fix.

 

Truth be told, I havent had the SoD in a couple days now, and the Ocassional crash I CAN deal with. I'm running an XPS 720 H2C with the Extreme Music (thats the one with all the I/O ports in the back) with Dual NVidia 8800 Ultras.

 

Driverwise I'm running factory-stock except for the Sound and Graphics. I'm using the Latest NVidia drivers as well as the 2.15 Drivers for the card.

 

If Dell cant fix it, Perhaps we can. I have half a mind to go create a website DEDICATED to this SoD and solving it.

For those New to the thread here are the Basic "Fixes" (and I use this term very very very liberally, considering it may not work at all :| )

 

a. Update to Creative's 2.15 Drivers [if you can]

b. Update to your latest Nvidia Drivers.

 

Doing both has lessened the SoD Occurance in my case. Other than that, Lets hope creative and Dell get off their collective rear ends and get to work on the problem for real.