XPS Screech Of Death (SoD)

link to the new Creative 2.18.0004 driver july 30/08

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=Vista&thread.id=33670

OK - just installed the new drivers - they install as version 6.0.1.1283 - and installation went without a problem. The first thing I noticed is that Creative Smart Recorder doesn't work any more. The installer on the Creative website for this doesn't recognise the Dell card so I cannot re-install. I might dig out the dell install disk and see if this can be installed on its own.

Played Track Mania for an hour and no sound problems - in fact the issue I had with the beta release seems to be resolved too. Switched in and out of iTunes whilst playing and no problems to report. I will be using the PC for the day tomorrow so I'll give it a better work out then!! But so far, so good...anyone else anything to report?

I just received an Email from Creative about the screech issue , has any one else .  the email is  very interesting to share or disclosure my email info and i quote "Maybe unlawful"  and may be "Legally Privileged" u know what i think .

I got the email.

> Subject: Intermittent Screech for Dell X-Fi XtremeGamer
> To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com
> CC: Christopher_Mixon@Dell.com
> From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com
> Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> Hi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
>
> I am from Creative Tech Support Team. Our Dell Counterpart, Christopher
> Mixon told us that your system encounter the screeching issue, even with
> the beta drivers provided, and requested our help to look into this.
>
> I'm sorry for the trouble you have encountered and hope that we can resolve
> this quickly.
>
> To help us narrow down which component causes this problem, (Note that this
> component can be drivers, software or other component including motherboard
> or BIOS), appreciate if you could do the following steps:
>
> 1. Go to Audio Creation Mode->Bit Matched Tab and check the "Enable
> Bit-matched playback" checkbox.
> a) Launch Audio Creation Mode
> b) Click on Setting button on the bottom left corner
> c) Check the "Enable Bit-matched playback" checkbox
>
> 2. If the problem still exist, please
> a) Launch Control Panel
> b) Double click on Sound icon
> c) Go to Playback tab
> d) Double-click on Speakers for Creative SB X-Fi
> e) Go to Sound Blaster tab
> f) Check "Disable Enhancement"
>
> 3. If the problem continue to exist, please change the various sampling
> rate and check whether problem still exist.
> a) Launch Control Panel
> b) Double click on Sound icon
> c) Go to Playback tab
> d) Double-click on Speakers for Creative SB X-Fi
> e) Go to Advanced tab
> f) From the Default Format section, change the sampling rate(44.1Khz,
> 48Khz, 96khz & 192khz)from the drop-down combo box
> g) Click on Apply button to apply changes.
>
> Also, your system information would be very helpful in troubleshooting.
> Would you be able to send me your system information by going to "Start >
> Accessories > Systems Tools > System Information" and export out into a
> text file? You can view the file and remove any information that you are
> not comfortable to share.
>
> If we could not pinpoint any suspect from the above, the last option is to
> perform remote access to your system. This allows us to put in some
> debugging tools too. Would you be open to this option?
>
> Thank you in advance for giving us an opportunity to try to resolve this
> problem.
>
> Regards
> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Creative Technology Ltd
> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com
>
> Notice
> The information in this message is confidential and may be legally
> privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this
> message by anyone else is unauthorized. If you are not the intended
> recipient, any disclosure, copying or distribution of the message, or
> any action taken by you in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be
> unlawful. If you have received this message in error, please delete it
> and contact the sender immediately. Thank you.

Gotta Love the C-D alliance.

You know what? I don't care about your legal mumbo-jumbo. You send an e-mail to someone, It becomes their property. THEY have the rights to make it known or unknown. The fact that you are keeping these fixes a secret, and keeping them confidential is proof that you know there is a problem even after you have denied your ability to recreate the problem. This is something that I intend to report to the Better Business Buereu.

all the  Creative solutions for screech is posted at the Creative Forms from the mods in the threads about screech ,  the email from Creative {July 31/08} is excatly the same solutions on the Creative Forum threads  as suggested by the Creative modarators. These suggestions i have tried , over and over again with every known driver release nothing has worked for the Screech on My  Dell XPS 720 Screeching OEM Dell Branded X-FI Extreme gamer .. the Email Today July 31/08 is a rehash of the creative solutions at the creative soundblaster forums. Normaly on the Creative forums if u have an OEM card Creative will not help. as they tell u to contact the OEM , or completely ignor your OEM Problemed sound card post  as its not their Retail Card. therefore u get no support from Creative for an OEM Card .

I just finished submittting a complaint to the BBB with the email.

are you telling us that they sent you a list of what was on the forums and then said to keep it hush hush?

haha. I hope they eat to S's and die.

I have a solution.

We send our sound cards to Dell. They mail us non-Dell replacements of the same model. Simple, Screech-solving.

And as to "Engaging With us", I call this a slap in the face. It shows that they simply repackage their generic fixes for multiple problems and send them out as fixes.