soundblaster live problems

ok, i wasn't sure if i should post here or on software board. anyway, yesterday i was watching a news clip with my headphones on and all was good. later on i wanted to play something out loud (speakers), and there was no sound from my speakers. i tried a few things (checked settings), and all seemed ok, i then rebooted. well, i don't remember if i changed anything (i'm pretty sure i didn't), but then i had no sound from my headphones (jack in sound card). so i wound up with no sound from my headphones and speakers. i checked some settings and couldn't find anything wrong, so i decided to uninstall the software and reinstall. well, as of now i've uninstalled and reinstalled the software about 5-6 times. the 1st time things didn't seem to install correctly, so i uninstalled and reinstalled, i rebooted and it supposidly recovered from a critical error, and i got a link for a creative fix (stand alone). i wound up installing that fix, and it still didn't help. my problem has gone from no sound from speakers and headphones, to speakers working and no headphones, then speakers not working and the headphones do (this is how it is currently). i've tried different things, uninstall software, delete what i can from device manager (sound, video and game controllers). installing my software from disk, and then the download, and even just trying the download, instead of my disk.

ok, i had gone to the sblive site, and found something on the message board there. i did most of this (couldn't do it all, mabye for different version?)

How to un-install Sound Blaster drivers and applications?
When the Sound Blaster drivers and applications are installed correctly, it is recommended that you un-install them with the Windows Add/Remove Programs wizard located in Control Panel. If the normal removal procedures are not satisfactory, or if an application is not listed within the wizard, you can try to manually un-install.
To un-install Creative Disc Detector
To cleansweep/un-install Sound Blaster audio cards under Windows XP
1. Go to Control Panel, Add Remove Programs and un-install all listings related to your audio card. Do not restart your computer when prompted so.
2. Go to Control Panel, and switch to Classic View. Click System, Hardware tab, Device Manager button and delete all sound cards entries in Sound, Video and Game Controllers as well as any previous sound card entries from the Device Manager.
3. Reboot the computer and cancel out of any driver installation if you are prompted. Insert the Creative Sound Blaster installation CD into your CD-ROM drive. Exit from the installation wizard if it autoruns.
4. Click Start, Run and then Browse. Browse to Z:\Audio\Drivers\CTZAPXX.EXE, where Z represents the CD Rom Drive. Choose YES if you receive a prompt "Overwrite existing shared creative audio driver files?"
5. Select Driver un-installation for WDM drivers and click OK.
6. When prompted to restart, say No.
7. Click Start, Run, type MSCONFIG and press Enter.
8. Check the box next to Selective Startup and deselect Load Startup Items.
9. Select the SERVICES tab and select Hide All Microsoft Services.
10. Uncheck all results and click OK.
11. Browse to the C:\Temp folder and C:\Windows\TEMP (if it exists) - all files and folders in the temp folder need to be either deleted or moved to a new folder.
12. Browse to Program Files, Creative and delete the Sound Blaster Folder - if you get a file that won't delete, right click on the file, click Properties and clear all the attributes. The file should then be able to be deleted.
13. Empty the Recycle Bin, and reboot the computer.
14. If you wish to reinstall your software & drivers, do this now. For more information on how to install your product, please visit the Product Guide page for installation instructions. Otherwise, go to the next step.
15. Click on Start, Run. Type MSCONFIG and press Enter.
16. Select Normal Startup, and press the OK button.
17. Reboot the computer

i couldn't do 3,4,5,6. is there a way to not let windows load the files that i delete from device manager on reboot? when it reboots i get a message (pic below), and i have to reboot again. i'm not sure if this is part of my problem? any ideas or suggestions?

sorry about the book. - sos

 

ok, i'm still somewhat working on this, as well as reinstalling my os again (just did it about 1.5 - 2 mos. ago)!!

#3 - i can't do because i'm never prompted (it just reboots).
#4 - i can't do with my disk because it's not a oem disk? (it's a gateway disk). however i have sblive on my other computer also, so i used that disk to remove the extras, to no avail (?).

anyway, somehow my stuff got all corrupted (uninstall/reinstall), that i couldn't even boot up correctly, so i wiped it clean somewhat, and have started from scratch (new windows xp install), but i had an error on my sblive software install (something about hardware not found). i'm now thinking i should take out my sound card, and reboot it (too lazy to move my tower again, for like the 4-5 times + this week), let it reset?, and then reinstall it. or it might have bitten the dust??!!

fyi, i also got the soundcard error when i was trying to install an updated version of the sblive software from their site (at that time it was working). so, i'm not sure if it's because i have an older card or what? sblive value is what i actually have. i would also have thought that reinstall of my os would have fixed my problem as well!! - sos

 

well, i actually fixed this problem the other day (i think the day after my previous post). anyway, the windows drivers(?) wanted to load everytime i rebooted. so i just kept rebooting into safe mode (of course they did load), and i slowly deleted the drivers from device manager (wdm last), then deleted temp files, and i finally got it working again.

(Sound drivers - see pic below)
1) removed sblive software from add/remove programs
2) rebooted
3) deleted drivers from "device manager" (prompted to reboot)
4) rebooted into safe mode, something loaded (rebooted again into safe mode)
5) deleted drivers (wdm last), and rebooted into safe mode.
6) deleted all temp files (ccleaner)
7) rebooted
8) delted sblive folder "c:\ProgramFiles\Creative"
9) rebooted
10) reinstalled software, and things started working (sound thru speakers, and headphones) - started getting "DEVLDR" not responding (had this prior as well)
11) all is good now!!
12) i did look at gateway website (i have a gateway) and found a patch, which fixed my "DEVLDR" problem that i was having (which is sblive driver related)

anyway, i thought i'd post. - sos

 

you've got to love creative

 

I don't know about their newer stuff, but trying to install some of the "older" SoundBlaster cards can be an absolute nightmare (especially on XP), even with the latest drivers.

 

well, let me just say that it works!! i just had to reload my os again as my computer got hosed (couldn't read certain sectors, etc.)!! anyway, i did a low level format on that drive and everything seems well. however next time i do it (which will probably be in 2 mos., when i move, cause my os loaded on my 1st drive which is now called my "g" drive), i'll try deleting everything 1st before i try to install the software. - sos

 

I have just installed a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 digital card in the PCI slot (bottom one) of my motherboard, installed the software, connected the 2 pin digital cable from the card to the back of the CD/DVD drive as instructed by the manual.

I rebooted, waited for the usual Windows XP start....but my screen remained blank, the monitor does not even register that it is connected to the computer. I connected the monitor to another computer and it works fine.

My computer runs on XP home edition, 2.0GHz processor and 768 RAM, 40 Gb HD.
I have an on-board video card that is part of the motherboard...in other words I do not have a seperate video card in my machine.


So has for some reason the sound card changed the video driver settings?

I literally cannot get the computer to start....or if it has I would not know because the monitor remain blank. It does not even flicker at start up, not a sausage!

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

have you tried taking out the card and moving it to another slot? it's possible that it might not be seated correctly, or that slot isn't working? you might try taking it out, bootup computer (to make sure it's still working), then turn off and reinstall card. - sos