I Need Help!

[Teliko]

Well, its a difficult problem, and I really didn't know where to post it. It isn't related to Winamp, but it is related to my sound card and many people on these forums are really good with sound hardware, so I felt it was worth a try.

I just recently purchased a Sound Blaster PCI 512 to be put in my computer, as I only had an on board sound chip previously and wanted some better sound. I complained many times in previous threads that without a sound card, when I scrolled down or changed any windows, that the music would skip and mess up, almost making a rumbling sound.

I have recently installed the PCI card in my computer, and to my surprise, the sound quality only got worse!

I have checked to make sure there were no IRQ conflicts. The old ESS Allegro chip had been disabled. The PCI devices were working fine.

The music skips much more now that I have a sound card and it is more like a screech than a rubble now, but I can tell it is still the same problem.

Even though the computer said there was no IRQ conflicts, I decided to change my sound card to a seperate one than my video card, but unfortunately I couldnt do it. I went into the BIOS and tried to change the IRQ of my sound card, but then when I did that it also changed my video card to the same one automatically. I can't get my sound card off of the IRQ with my video card.

Well, what could the problem possibly be? I know it isn't my sound card, as it was given very good reviews and a friend of mine has a Sound Blaster PCI 128 and it works fine for him.

What could it be?

[Teliko]

<bump>

[dylman]

Try putting the card into a different PCI slot (swap it with something if necessary).

[Namelessv1]

Originally posted by Teliko
Well, its a difficult problem, and I really didn't know where to post it. It isn't related to Winamp, but it is related to my sound card and many people on these forums are really good with sound hardware, so I felt it was worth a try.


Most of the posts here in GD aren't Winamp related.

[Teliko]

Do you know why it would still have the same problem that it did before I bought the sound card? I can't find any reason why I would continue to have the same problem after I have disabled the old sound chip.

[zootm]

Originally posted by Teliko
Do you know why it would still have the same problem that it did before I bought the sound card? I can't find any reason why I would continue to have the same problem after I have disabled the old sound chip.

possibly software? i'd check that your motherboard doesn't have a problem with that sound hardware (the soundblaster i mean) - i'm a victim of that very thing (on my Abit KT7A-RAID, which doesn't, admittedly, have onboard sound). type your mobo name into google, see what comes up...

[Teliko]

I'll give that a try tomorrow morning. Thanks for the tips. :D

[Jon Deaux]

Without knowing your system configuration I can only make some general sorts of suggestions.
First I'd close any programs which are running in the background to free up memory since most of the time when I encounter the problem you describe it is because of a low memory condition (I own a computer repair service).
I'd also check to be sure I had plenty of room on my hard drive for my cache to work properly.
I might also install XTEQ XSETUP and set the memory management selection to UNLOAD DLLS DIRECTLY.
If I had installed XTEQ I'd also use the CPU boost, and set the machine to the REAL TIME setting.
XTEQ also has a setting where you can decide if your machine is going to be a multi-media box, a gamer unit, or just a work horse.
I hope my suggestions are helpful.
I'll check this thread tomorrow to see if you have more questions or more details concerning your config.
Good luck, and welcome to the forums!

[Atmo]

What mobo is it?? Usually pci slots 1 and 5 share an irq, with pci slot 3 being the only one unable to share (not 100% sure about that though, varies from mobo to mobo).

Ideally your video and soundcard should each be on a seperate irq, but many systems share them with no aparent problems, so it may not be the cause.

Note down your bios settings, and load the defaults, with the only change being disabling the onboard sound, its worth a try, especially if you've been fiddling a lot. Also check for driver updates for all your hardware.

Posting some system specs would help.

[Teliko]

Well, I'm going to set all of my IRQs to their defaults again later, but I wish to try out this XTEQ first. I have heard it is similar to the XP PowerToys and I was wondering where I could go about downloading XTEQ.

Note: Don't worry about XTEQ, it's installing now...

[Teliko]

How do I setup those settings in XTEQ as I have never used it before.

[Teliko]

I think I have found another problem. When I go into DirectSound and set what card will be producing the music, it says "SoundBlaster Emulated" and when I go to mixing, it won't let me put it on "force hardware". It almost seems as if everything is coming from software processing and my sound card is doing absolutely nothing. What do you think?

[Teliko]

I'm just making one last "bump" to see if there is anyone else that can help me out with this problem. This is the last one, I promise. :igor:

[rm']

I know you've done it already, but double check to make sure your onboard soundcard is still disabled in the BIOS (probably a good time to check the level of your BIOS battery too), and that all old soundcard drivers have been removed from your system. After you've made sure there are no traces of the old card, install the latest drivers from Creative.

[Jon Deaux]

Hi again!
One of XTEQS user friendly features is the Wizard, if you allow the Wizards to run they will help you tweak and peak your machine while keeping you from making mistakes (nobody was born doing this, we ALL make mistakes).
You may not have the correct drivers installed for your sound card, I'd check the web for updates.
Emulated is not a bad thing, in fact it's a very good thing! The term emulated just means that it's the hardwares rendering of the instructions sent by the software.
You could emulate Scarlatti's Sonata in E minor on a kazoo, but you'd be considered at least a heretic by the most gentle of music aficionados, and friend Xerxes might shoot you.
Good Luck!