Sound Loss In 1.3 Games

[ZOEBart]

I am using Aureal Vortex 8830 sound card driver under XP.  I have never experienced any problems with my sound card until now.  I have lost sound in every single 1.3 game I have played in.  Can anypone help me on this one.  I have tried various settings in the game sound options with no luck.   Sometimes the sound will last for 10 or 15 minutes or longer.  last night the sound shut off  after a few seconds in three different games.  When I retrurn to my desk top, the sound is still gone.  I have tried switching my card to different pc slot-- no change.  

I would appreciate any input.

[aougli]

Have you run DX diagnostics?

In the "Run" box type in "dxdiag".  This will bring up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.  Select the Sound tab and then the "Test DirectSound" button.

In Options, you have set selected "auto"?

With the same o/s as your 1.3 install is, do you have any other sound problems?  When playing other games, MP3s, DivX, etc. ?

Do you have any on-board sound with your motherboard?  Maybe try using that temporarily to narrow down where the problem lies.

[Spacecomber]

There may not be much that can be done.  The support for Aureal sound cards under XP is weak, at best.  I think MS grabbed the beta drivers that Aureal had made available for Win2K before Aureal went belly-up.  These drivers were never fully developed, as at the time, Aureal was more focused on getting their Win98 drivers right.  (This was when Win2K was not really thought of as a gaming platform.)

In the meanwhile, v1.3 of BZ2 has ripped out all the old audio code and redone it in DirectX 8.  While BZ2 originally supported the Aureal sound code, the implementation of this was very buggy.  Rather then try to fix sound code that supported an audio format that had become obsolete with the death of Aureal, it made more sense to start from scratch.

The bottom line is that if you have an Aureal based sound card, you are stuck trying to run current audio code on hardware using drivers that haven't been updated for over four years.


My advice, from someone who still owns, but no longer uses a Diamond MX-300, it may be time to move on.

[wug]

If you need Aureal support, check out this site:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/chris.day/

Do you know what driver version you are using?  The best one for XP is the driver on the CD (2560).  If you used the Windows Update version, it's hosed.

Also, the driver reports incorrectly the number of channels available, and I wrote a workaround for that in an earlier thread.

[ZOEBart]

I am going to try the XP Control panal fier you directed me too.  If that doesn't work, I may just purchase a new sound card.  I am also going to look for your previous thread.  Thanks for the info on the sound codes as well guys.

[Speedy]

Its not only sound loss. When on hardware and when my channels max out, sometimes all sounds stop working for the rest of the game.

I suggest we all use software sound setting until these issues can be worked out. Thats what I'm doing. Sound is improvement, nevertheless!

[ZOEBart]

I am puchasing a Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS Sound Card today.  My card and drivers are several years old.  It is time I upgrade anyway.  I tried different settings and played two complete MPI games without sound loss.  I thought I had it resolved. Last night I played 3 strat games and lost sound in all 3 games.  It's a hassle I am tired of dealing with...

Thanks for all the input. I  will post how my new card performs in a couple days for anyone interested.

[ZOEBart]

I purchased a Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS Sound Card.  I love it.  64 channels, never heard sounds before that I am now able to hear.  No sound loss after playing a number of games, both MPI and strat.

I am looking into upgrading my speakers as well to a digital setup.

[Avatar]

SBLive cards can be found for under $50 now, and if money is really tight CompUSA has their own generic sound card (Yamaha, ESS Solo, whoever is cheap at the time)  for $20 that really doesn't sound too bad and is fully supported in all flavors of Windows.

I'm someone who hates to toss out still functioning hardware, but lately things get 'old' so fast it's pointless to resist...

-Av-

[OvermindDL1]

Have fun with it, I have the older Audigy 1 Platinum and have loved it since I got it, sad thing is, some motherboards come with almost the quality of my old Audigy 1 nowadays

EDIT:  Ah, don't toss out anything, I still use my old things.  I still have my old IBM 8088 computer.  As for old parts, I combine those till I get another functioning computer.

[AcneVulgaris]

...and those old cases in the garage make such lovely homes for the mice.

[ZOEBart]

Yeah well, I have no intention of throwing anything away.  ( I have built 4 computers over the years and have little nieces and nephews running around who love to play...)

and a few mice in the backyard.

Yes, the on board sound is fine as well.  My Abit MB lacks it, but that is what I ordered.

[Ditto00]

I get a problem with CD music stop playing whenever someone joins or attemps to join a server when I am hosting (didn't test it yt when I am not). Perhaps your sound prob is related?

BTW I have an AC'97 Card, pretty new.