Serious Sound issues

[rossinator]

Hi,

I'm having serious sound problems with the game. I'm not sure what is causing this. I've tried turning off sound acceleration with DirectX, but I still get this stuttering sound frequently, whenever characters are talking or the "objective complete" chime starts.

Sometimes, if I hit ESC, and then return to the game, the sound issues goes away, but it comes back very soon.

Here are my system specs:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1

BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.0
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 1024MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce4 Ti 4600

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Hercules Game Theater(tm) XP 7.1

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

[Stolen_Away]

I would guess that your problem is that (as far as I can tell) the Hercules card doesn't support true EAX, and I don't think it's even truly compatible with EAX 4.0. While it is compatible with EAX in general (in that it will run some EAX titles), I think you may be having issues surrounding the absense of true EAX. I can't offer a solution aside from purchase an SoundBlaster Audigy 2 card. Though, someone else might have another idea.

Good Luck.

[rossinator]

Thanks for the response!

Is there a way to turn off the EAX stuff in the game (INI file, or whatever)?

I will get another sound card, but it might have to wait until Father's day :)

-Jim

[Stolen_Away]

I doubt it... and your game experience would probably decline below what I would consider acceptable if it lacked EAX. Then again, other people might know more about that.

Audigy 2 cards are running at a shade over $100 USD, last I looked... And of course, there are higher quality ones, also, since Father's Day is coming up ;)

Best of luck, Jim.

[Skanky Burns]

Interesting.

I get the stuttering too, but the only thing our PCs have in common is the GeForce4 Ti 4600.

[rossinator]

Well,

I bought the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum today, installed it and the latest drivers, re-installed the game, and...

I'm still getting that awful stuttering.

So much for that idea. (I like the new sound card, though.

The stuttering seems worse now. Almost unplayable (with sound).

Any other settings I should check?

PS: Why didn't the developers give us a sound setup with this game?

Thanks

[tootired]

Sorry I didn't see this to post ealier. I've got the Audigy 2 with the same prob and have been going around with them about it. No fixes yet except to hit quick save. and sometimes quick load right after. I bought the Audigy for it's recording and would hate to give it up. I've got the NForce 6.1 surround on my MB. BTW XP pro SP1, Athlon 2500, Nvidia 4200TI, SB Audigy2

Hey I just figured out that I can go into control panel, de select the A2 for play back but keep it for recording. I'd still be pi**ed but I might cure the stuttering.

[rossinator]

Thanks for the post. Glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem. I thought they made the game specifically around the Audigy 2 sound drivers? Strange. Please let me know if turning off the A2 stuff fixes the problem.

Did you install the latest drivers for your motherboard? I plan to try that tonight as soon as I figure out what motherboard I have. (Is there a way to figure that out w/o opening the case?)

Thanks again,

Jim

[tootired]

I have not updated my MB drivers. I downloaded them but have not flashed them. Creative had me uninstall the card and reinstall it. When I uninstalled it would only uninstall 65% then come up with a error and stop the uninstall. When.. oh heck, here's their reply.

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting Creative Technical Support.
In regards to your issue, I will advise you to first obtain the latest
Win XP service pack and updates from Microsoft's website (Windows
Update). Motherboard chipset/bios updates are also required. Once these
updates are applied, please do an uninstall and reinstall of the
soundcard with these procedures.

1. Click START / RUN / Type MSCONFIG and press ENTER.

2. Insert a check to the left of SELECTIVE STARTUP and deselect 'LOAD
STARTUP ITEMS'.

3. Select the SERVICES tab and select HIDE ALL MICROSOFT SERVICES.

4. Uncheck all results and click OK.

5. Click OK and reboot when prompted.

6. Enable the WINDOWS XP STARTUP MENU by rebooting your computer and
tapping F8 once every second OR holding the SHIFT key while rebooting.

7. When the menu is displayed, select SAFE MODE and press ENTER.

8. Once in SAFE MODE, insert the sound card's installation CD and exit
out of the installer

9. Click START / RUN.

10. Type "X:\AUDIO\DRIVERS\CTZAPXX.EXE into the OPEN field (REPLACE X
WITH THE APPLICABLE CD-ROM DRIVE LETTER).

11. Click OK.

12. When the CREATIVE DRIVER UPDATE UTILITY opens, select DRIVER
UNINSTALLATION under UPDATE OPTION.

13. If two out of the three options are disabled or grayed out under
DRIVER TYPE, click OK. Otherwise, select one of the options and click
OK. Once complete, repeat steps 9-13 again, selecting the other driver
option(s). You will then be prompted to reboot DO NOT REBOOT!!

14. Click START / SETTINGS / CONTROL PANEL / ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS.

15. Remove all Creative SB Audigy 2 programs.

16. Close all windows, and shutdown the computer. Move the soundcard to
the PCI slot furthest from the CPU. Reboot the computer normally (ENTER
NORMAL MODE).

17. The Audigy 2 will be detected by Windows. Cancel the ADD NEW
HARDWARE WIZARD when prompted.

18. Perform an installation via the CTRUN program on the CD
(X:\CTRUN\CTRUN.EXE).

19. Reboot if prompted.

20. Upon entering windows, return to msconfig and re-enable 'LOAD
STARTUP ITEMS'.

21. Visit the following URL to download all driver and application
updates for the soundcard. Use the manual download option.

http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/

If any errors occur during this procedure, please reply to this message
with the specific error information (When did the error occur, what is
the error message (error code), etc.).

For faster service please reply with previous correspondences when
replying to this email.

Best Regards

Goh Toh Siong
Technical Support
Creative Labs Americas

[rossinator]

Sounds complicated, but I will try just about anything at this point.

So the solution is to uninstall and reinstall the soundcard drivers?

Did this work for you? (Did it stop the stuttering?)

Thanks again.

[Quillan]

Ross, what's your motherboard? I have an Audigy 2, and have none of those problems. However, I've read that T3 doesn't work too well with onboard audio. If you have a motherboard with onboard audio, there might be some conflict between that and your sound card causing the trouble.

[padillah]

Also, I have the nForce2 chipset and on-board sound that I had to disable in the BIOS. Then I could install my SB Audigy1 and all was well.

Either that or your graphics card (I don't know, I'm just trying to think of everything. It is on the low end of the specs).

Might not help but it's all I got.
padillaH

[rossinator]

Thanks for all the help!

I found where I can disable the on-board audio. Should I remove the SB A2 card and all the drivers, then disable the on-board audio, re-install the card and drivers? (In that order?)

Translation: Can I just get away with disabling the on-board audio and not re-install anything?

(At work while I write this so all theory for now... :) )

[Stolen_Away]

I'm guessing that the long way would have a better chance of working. However, if you want to gamble with your free-time, you could always try simply disabling the on-board sound. It -should- work out, and if it doesn't, you can always try un/re-installing your sound card and drivers after you've disabled the sound (make sure it stays disabled after you've uninstalled everything -before- you attempt a re-install).

Though, it sounds like others might have a more informed opinion ;)

[rossinator]

Thanks again for all your help. I tried everything suggested, but I still get the stuttering.

My next step is to format my drive and do a fresh install of XP and start the process from scratch.

If that doesn't work, I will buy an Xbox...

Jim

[tootired]

I tried disabling my sound card and going with my on board sound (NForce 2 - ASUS A7N8X-X mother board). Still stutters. Haven't heard back from either ASUS or Creative. Tried checking out Ion storm's help didn't find anything there but was short on time so I didn't look too hard. Maybe check some more today. By the way, I couldn't play the URU demo for the same reason and thought at the time it was just a problem with the demo.

[rossinator]

After trying my sound card in every available PCI slot, I gave up and did the following.

1. Turned off computer
2. Removed all cards, but the video card.
3. Re-formatted my C drive.
4. Re-installed XP Pro.
5. Put sound card in, and loaded software (including Directx)
6. Installed Thief 3 and tested it, and it worked great with no stuttering :)
7. Added my other PCI cards one-by-one and tested the sound in the game after adding each one.

Seems like a tedious process, but it worked.

Thanks for all your responses,

Jim

[krims0n]

Same problem here, sound stuttering problem

Also crashing problems, but it's just the sound suttering that's annoying me at the moment


No idea how to fix it, very annoying

[tootired]

OK! Here's the scoop. When running dxdiag (click start, run, type in dxdiag) go to sound. When I ran the test, it went through all the software buffer test then said,"Your card does not support hardware buffering." I tried to repair windows by inserting the disk, telling it to do an install (NOT the repair with an ASR disk) then when it sees another windows on the computer it asks if you would like to repair that installation. This reloads everything without deleting any programs or files -- you even have the same desktop when you're finished. You just have to down load all your updates again.

Didn't work.

I copied everything I couldn't live without (NEVER have a computer with 1 hard drive and the 2nd is ONLY for data storage and back ups!!!!). Formatted C drive, reinstalled XP, my sound card, my video driver, dx 9.0b or what ever, ran DXDIAG and low and behold my card DOES support hardware buffering afterall. DUH!

Now everything works GREAT!!!!!

If you're having buzzing or stuttering problems then I guess this is the only fix. I've built dozens of computers (1/2 a dozen since Jan.) and I spent a week on this. I even talked with a 'senior manager' in Bejing from ASUS. From now on, when I install a sound card I'm going to test it with dxdiag before I'm putting anything else on it.

[thegrommit]

Originally posted by Stolen_Away
I would guess that your problem is that (as far as I can tell) the Hercules card doesn't support true EAX, and I don't think it's even truly compatible with EAX 4.0. While it is compatible with EAX in general (in that it will run some EAX titles), I think you may be having issues surrounding the absense of true EAX. I can't offer a solution aside from purchase an SoundBlaster Audigy 2 card. Though, someone else might have another idea.

Good Luck.

For future reference, just about all non-Creative sound cards support EAX 2.0. Unfortunately, TDS only supports EAX HD - which is restricted to Creatives Audigy series. This isn't as big a problem as it seems because sound propagation doesn't depend on EAX. However, Creative owners may get the benefit of additional sound cues (primarily environmental effects).

Congrats to tootired on getting it fixed :)

[tootired]

Actually I only did what rossinator did. I just banged my head against the wall first.

[krims0n]

After a reinstall of my sound driver it's fixed.

Now to figure out what causes these random crashes..

[garret76]

I think I had the sound problems described here. This fix worked for me, sound card still says emulated but the sound works, and i can choose eax.

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=328795

[tootired]

I'm glad that worked for you. I tried disabling the onboard but not the modem sound. When I reinstalled xp I took the modem out (got dsl).

By the way, when I read the other forum I kept thinking, "Why is he describing MY computer..." Then I got to the ATI 9700. I've got Nvidia G4 TI 4200. Other than that our systems are the same. Now I feel like that guy in the fast food comercial who tells the boss they ordered the same thing...