Dell OEM Sound Blaster SB0460 prob in XP

[JCook]

Hi.
I have Dell XPS 600 with sound issues (cant install the audio device - no sound). Card in question is an SB0460. This happend once about a year ago (out of the blue-no sound) and I just reinstalled the drivers from the CD that came with the system. Worked after first try. This time it will not take.

What I have done:
1. Changed PCI slots (does nothing different)
2. Tested in another machine (works when drivers from CD are installed)
3. Checked to make sure onboard audio is turned OFF
4. Downloaded R126205.EXE driver from Dell (does not work)
5. Reinstalled ALL Creative software and drivers from CD that came with system a number of times. Does not fix and sometimes tells me that I have an incompatible device.

When this worked, the system named the sound card as a Sound Blaster X-Fi (or something like that). As you can see below, since I have been having problems with this, new hardware always detects as this WDM thing.
ALSO:I can confirm that in services.msc Creative Audio Service will not start and I get error saying that the system cannot find the file supported.

Please help - this is driving me mad.
Thanks

Here are details:

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Report Wizard
Computer DB4T66B1

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2008-06-21
Time 17:27

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name DB4T66B1


Motherboard:
CPU Type DualCore Intel Pentium D 930, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
Motherboard Name Dell Dell DXG051
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce4
System Memory 1024 MB
BIOS Type Phoenix (05/02/06)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS (256 MB)
Monitor ViewSonic A70f-2 [17" CRT] (23X013802142)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM) [NoDB]

Storage:
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA RAID Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA RAID Controller
Disk Drive ST3160812AS (149 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive Optiarc DVD+-RW ND-3570A
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 152539 MB (55531 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller (98.15.156.65)

Peripherals:
USB1 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - OHCI USB Controller
USB2 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - EHCI USB 2.0 Controller
USB Device USB Human Interface Device

[JCook]

Hi - I still haven't fixed this.
Anyone able to offer any advice/tips?

[slgrieb]

Overall, since you've done a pretty thorough job of looking at driver issues, then Windows problems become your next logical candidate. Try System File Checker. If that doesn't fix things for you, I'd say you are looking at a repair installation of Windows.

[NooNoo]

If you remove all drivers under sound, video and game controllers you will have to put back some native windows devices...
So remove all devices EXCEPT
Video Codecs
Media Control Devices
Legacy Video Capture Devices
Legacy Audio Drivers
Audio Codecs <<< Note this one is a bit difficult, check that it just says Audio Codecs and nothing else and there may two entries called "Audio Codecs".

It is of course possible to put them back after - just more hassle.

[JCook]

OMGml - Went ahead and gave the safe mode boot then load the creative link a try and nothing happened. (windows detects the Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM) btw and does not prompt for drivers install).

NooNoo -
Here's what is under Sound video and game controllers:
Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM)
Microsoft Kernal Acoustic Echo Canceller
Microsoft Kernal Audio Splitter
Microsoft Kernal DLS Synthesizer
Microsoft Kernal DRM Audio Descrambler
Microsoft Kernal GS Wavetable Synthesizer
Microsoft Kernal System Audio Device
Microsoft Kernal Wave Audio Mixer
Microsoft Streaming Clock Proxy
Microsoft Streaming Quality Manager Proxy
Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy
Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver

All with yelow '!'.

Since I recall seeing the codecs that NooNoo mentions listed in S,V & G controll. in the past, I'm gonna bet that I need to restore these codecs before next step...how to? All I have is a Dell XP SP2 reinstall CD on hand.

[JCook]

Sorry. To clarify:

When I went into safe mode to delete, I deleted Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM) which was the only thing in there (also took an unusual 3 - 5 min) after which it populated the S,V&G Contol section with this - Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver.

I deleted that and I then did the reboot. Upon reboot system detected the new device as Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM) and put all that kernal stuff I posted in there. Just did not prompt for driver install. That's what I meant. Sorry about that.

[NooNoo]

I'm afraid you are right JCook, because you removed on OMG's advice all the audio subsystem stuff, you have this situation.

The quickest way out of this is to:

Remove all those devices in sound, video and audio
Shut down the machine
Remove the sound card and turn off any onboard sound
Restart the machine - all traces of sound stuff should have gone and no more should be detected.

You then need to install the chipset drivers for the motherboard and install the video drivers again.... rebooting between each.

Now shut down the machine and insert the creative card - making sure it is correctly seated.

Boot the machine. When it has got to desktop (no egg timers) the new hardware wizard should appear. Ignore this and pop the dell driver cd in the drive or navigate to the downloaded dell drivers and install from there. (assuming this card was part of the machine when it was supplied by Dell)

You may also need to reinstall directX - let me know if you need links.

[JCook]

Still working on this. Some updates:

Checked card in PCI slot - it's in there good.

Deleted all Sound devices under sound video & game control. Took out card and reboot. I did a Windows XP upgrade using the reinstall CD that Dell supplied. The Video Codecs, Legacy Audio Drivers, Audio Codecs etc. all returned under the Sound vdeio and game controller section all with yellow !'s.

I found an nVidia driver pack for my board so I applied that next, then all the drivers from the Dell Cd then reboot then put the card back in - same problem. New hardware detected is still Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM) with no new hardware wizard. Windows is not giving me the option to install with my own drivers and it removes the Audio Codecs, Legacy etc. with the yellow !'s and puts all of that Microsoft Kernal stuff in there. I gave the Dell Sound Blaster drivers a try and that did nothing.

So I am pretty much where I started 2 weeks ago. I'm going to take this over to the Dell forum and see if I get any bites. Possible the NVida drivers I found don't mesh with the board. Probably doing something out of order too. Could be some deal with windows. Who knows at this point.

[JCook]

when window finds the new device point to the sound cards driver disk.

This is pretty much the problem. XP home edition calls this Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM) becuase of the drivers/software XP AUTOMATICALLY finds when card is detected and the drivers from the disk won't install because XP is calling the card the wrong thing. I routinely get 'unsupported device' errors when trying to force the CD drivers on the system. This is just how I am interpreting this which could very well be wrong.

Anyway to keep XP Home Edition from automatically finding and applying these bad drivers upon new hardware detection?

What do you guys make of this thread?

http://www.overclock.net/sound-cards-computer-audio/292687-trouble-installing-sb0670-x-fi-xtrememusic.html

Symptoms are essentially the same as mine and a solution appears to be offered on pg 2. Looks way more advanced than I can handle.

[NooNoo]

The patch file resides on a pay site as well... the fix itself is not complicated since you have the CD, you don't need to download the ISO or extract it - you can just copy the files directly to your hard drive. Without being able to download the patch files and seeing what has been done, I cannot tell you whether it is worth doing or not. Sorry.

[JCook]

Hi - Thanks for the interest.

No, I haven't. I have tried all of your suggestions, including your most recent one regarding the driver disk. I also found a X-FI ISO CD online for the SB0460 and gave that a try (maybe my CD drive was reading bad I thought). I have also tried wiping all remnants of Creative software, including the registry and started from scratch with the disk. All with the card out then, put back in and reboot.

I have also had a RL friend with more experience than me try to help out for about 4 hrs the other day, in person. Same results for every single thing I/we have tried. Card sits in Sound, Video and game controllers as a Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM), which means the correct drivers are not being replaced, along with all the codec files with yellow !'s (which is probably another problem as well).

I can post image files of directories/devices tonight if you are feeling helpful. Other than that, I hope to have a different brand (RETAIL!) of card in hand by the end of the week to see if that will work. I don't really know what to expect.

[JCook]

Hi - onboard is a Realtek AC97.

I tried a retail ASUS Xonar D2 friend lent me last night and installed using drivers from CD. NO good. Same issues as the Creative card.

[JCook]

Yes - with new hardware wiz and all. After install of the CD and reboot it wa sitting in S,V & G Controllers with the good ol yellow exclamation just like the Creative card.

[NooNoo]

So you have a corrupt sound/os problem. Suggest you uninstall the creative stuff, remove the sound cards and do a repair install of xp, run the windows updates again, then try.

[JCook]

Suggest you uninstall the creative stuff, remove the sound cards and do a repair install of xp, run the windows updates again, then try.

This was done already over the weekend. I should give it another try. Should I uninstall the vid card and board drivers too?

[NooNoo]

hmmm there is definitely something borked with your install. Annoying as it is, can you back up, format and start again?

[JCook]

My friend and I discussed this - he is looking for his XP Pro disk as we are hesitant to try with the XP Home disk from Dell.

[NooNoo]

no, don't mix home and pro disks.

Why are you hesitant to use the dell disk?

[JCook]

Mostly because the reinstall didn't work and my friend's bias I guess.

What types of problems could we expect with a re-format and installation of the diff os? Similar issues with the OEM hardware installation?

[NooNoo]

Mostly because the reinstall didn't work and my friend's bias I guess.

What types of problems could we expect with a re-format and installation of the diff os? Similar issues with the OEM hardware installation?
The problem would be that the COA would not work with the XP pro disk... meaning you will have to buy an XP Pro licence....

Repairs and formats and reinstalls are two different things entirely. If your xp home disk is scratched, you will have a problem.

[JCook]

Will give this driver a try later, although I believe that I tried it already, need to check when I get home.

I have run system file check already with the Dell XP disk in - runs - takes a VERY long time with progress bar - then closes without details- is that normal? I figured no.

[NooNoo]

no, not normal, it will tell you what it did.

[JCook]

Hi...finishing up at work and killing time so I figured you may want to know about the (eventual) happy ending to this story.

I finally fixed this issue about 3 weeks ago. Backed up, reformat and I did a re-install attempt, got some evil BSOD's and finally found this...

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=150594

Dell sent XPS 600 buyers an XP CD that doesn't have the correct SATA driver on it. I called Dell, gave some BS about losing the CD and had a new one sent to me. Came next day and was thankfully sent for free.

Anyway - the replacement XP CD worked and sound issue has been fixed.

[NooNoo]

Glad to hear it JCook. Sorry it took so long to reply.