Problem with Creative SB ZxR sound card

[SYBINX]

Hi,

 

I have a recurring intermittent problem with my sound card which started a few weeks ago and I'm scratching my head on what is causing the problem. So I thought I would ask to see if anybody else has ever experienced similar or had problems with the Creative SB ZxR. What happens is for some reason there is no power to the sound card whatsoever. But... Device Manager is it installed and working correctly. There are no conflicts, not hardware issues it's just not showing up. To make matters worse the Creative Labs forum is... Well no longer so I can't even ask them unless I go through the laborious process of submitting a support ticket to Creative. And if you have ever submitted a support tick to them before. You may as well forget about it and check your email in about a weeks time. they can be a bit on the slow side. I do have a set of Logitech G430 Gaming Headset. but that is used for gaming only...

 

I did find an article months ago about the same problem customers were experiencing but I cannot remember where or which website it was on as I didn't make a note of it at the time.

 

I have have uploaded some screenshots to give you an idea of where I am coming from.

 

There should be an interface in here but it is blank...?

 

No Hardware found...?

 

No Sound Card  discovered in the list...?

 

Sound Card Hardware list in empty...?

 

Parameter Error Message...?

 

Device Manager shows hardware is installed...?

[LaP]

I would like to help you but I gave up on Creative A LONG TIME ago. My Sound Poper X-Fi Cracklinium is still used as an expensive paper weigth. Anyway i wish you good luck.

[PGHammer]

I would like to help you but I gave up on Creative A LONG TIME ago. My Sound Poper X-Fi Cracklinium is still used as an expensive paper weigth. Anyway i wish you good luck.

I have the immediate predecessor (Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatality Professional) which uses the same SoundCore 3D DSP (the difference is the DAC section between the two series).  First off, which PCI-E slot is the card in on your motherboard?  (Yes - this can matter a great deal.)

 

PCI-E cards conflict less (far less) in the topmost PCI-Express x1 slot - generally the only reason NOT to put a PCI-E card in that slot is if it is physically blocked (which, unfortunately, some GPUs with third-party or other overlarge non-reference coolers tend to do).  I have my Recon3D (a factory-refurbished one) in that slot, sitting above a dual-slot (but factory-reference otherwise) EVGA nVidia GTX550Ti (which I am looking at replacing with ether an MSI or ASUS GTX970 - both are dual-width and non-reference) and I have absolutely no issues.

 

Multi-GPU configurations (or configurations where the topmost PCI-E x1 slot is blocked) instead tend to force the use of the second PCI-E x1 slot; however, this slot shares an IRQ (under normal conditions) iwth the second PCI-E x16 salot (which that second GPU is using) - therefore, conflict city.  (It is NOT unique to SLI - CrossFire is just as problematical.)

 

The PCI-based Sound Blaster X-Fi (which the Recon3D replaced) has two other (and unrelated) issues; due to the lack of EMI shielding, it IS prone to crackling in some configurations - this same problem affects other sound cards from other companies - it's not unique to Creative.  (However, because Creative has sold more sound cards than ALL their competition, it gets the most complaints.)  The other issue is more of an issue - the X-Fi DSP has an address flaw at the 4 GB address space; that location is used in all OSes that support PAE and/or x64.  Therefore, it is a major issue in x64 flavors of Windows.  It is the latter issue that put my X-Fi on the shelf.

[LaP]

I have the immediate predecessor (Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatality Professional) which uses the same SoundCore 3D DSP (the difference is the DAC section between the two series).  First off, which PCI-E slot is the card in on your motherboard?  (Yes - this can matter a great deal.)

 

PCI-E cards conflict less (far less) in the topmost PCI-Express x1 slot - generally the only reason NOT to put a PCI-E card in that slot is if it is physically blocked (which, unfortunately, some GPUs with third-party or other overlarge non-reference coolers tend to do).  I have my Recon3D (a factory-refurbished one) in that slot, sitting above a dual-slot (but factory-reference otherwise) EVGA nVidia GTX550Ti (which I am looking at replacing with ether an MSI or ASUS GTX970 - both are dual-width and non-reference) and I have absolutely no issues.

 

Multi-GPU configurations (or configurations where the topmost PCI-E x1 slot is blocked) instead tend to force the use of the second PCI-E x1 slot; however, this slot shares an IRQ (under normal conditions) iwth the second PCI-E x16 salot (which that second GPU is using) - therefore, conflict city.  (It is NOT unique to SLI - CrossFire is just as problematical.)

 

The PCI-based Sound Blaster X-Fi (which the Recon3D replaced) has two other (and unrelated) issues; due to the lack of EMI shielding, it IS prone to crackling in some configurations - this same problem affects other sound cards from other companies - it's not unique to Creative.  (However, because Creative has sold more sound cards than ALL their competition, it gets the most complaints.)  The other issue is more of an issue - the X-Fi DSP has an address flaw at the 4 GB address space; that location is used in all OSes that support PAE and/or x64.  Therefore, it is a major issue in x64 flavors of Windows.  It is the latter issue that put my X-Fi on the shelf.

 

The XF-I platinum is a PCI (not express) sound card. My MB has one PCI slot only.

 

The Crackle, pop, snap problem of the xf-i platinum (and its cousins) under vista/7 64 bits is a very well documented problem and was unsolvable back in the days (believe me i tried everything). There was a very very very lengthy forum post on creative web site back in the days.

 

Card was working perfectly under xp 32 bits. Card was not working properly under vista/7 64 bits (same setup). Community modded drivers later resolved the issue i think but it was too late for me. It's a really cool 150$ paper weight honestly i like it.

 

Crative is on my do not ever buy again black listy along with Razer and other companies. I'm surprised the company is still in business to be honest.

[PGHammer]

The XF-I platinum is a PCI (not express) sound card. My MB has one PCI slot only.

 

The Crackle, pop, snap problem of the xf-i platinum (and its cousins) under vista/7 64 bits is a very well documented problem and was unsolvable back in the days (believe me i tried everything). There was a very very very lengthy forum post on creative web site back in the days.

 

Card was working perfectly under xp 32 bits. Card was not working properly under vista/7 64 bits (same setup). Community modded drivers later resolved the issue i think but it was too late for me. It's a really cool 150$ paper weight honestly i like it.

 

Crative is on my do not ever buy again black listy along with Razer and other companies. I'm surprised the company is still in business to be honest.

The snap/crackle/pop problem is not a new one, nor is it news - it affects more brands than just Creative as well.  (I'm familiar with it as a computer technician.)  The biggest cause is, in fact, electro-magnetic interference (EMI), which is related to radio-frequency interference (RFI) - both were far more common in the early days of PCs.  The biggest cause of the issue is inadequate (or none at all, in the case of most PCI sound cards - from Creative and others) shielding - it is NOT a requirement.  While the FCC in the US requires that devices used under normal conditions not emit too much electromagnetic radiation (if a device flunks FCC certification, it is not supposed to be sold for home/residential use), the problem of non-certified hardware DOES exist (or worse, hardware that has fraudulent certification - Creative is not the only company that has been rooked by such fraud).  I didn't have the problem personally.

 

However, you stated the x64 probem IS one that affected you - it affected me also, and is the problem I referred to as the "other issue".  That is a straight address flaw in the older X-Fi DSP itself.  The issue ONLY shows up in operating systems that support PAE and/or x64 - PCI-Express versions of the same card (with the same DSP) are not affected, nor as the successors with the SoundCore3D DSP - all of the latter are PCI-Express or USB.  In short, there are only certain circumstances that produce the problem - take one away and the problem goes away.

 

Here are the three circumstances that produce the flaw:

 

1.  A PC with 4 GB of RAM or greater.

2.  The OS must support PAE and/or x64 (addressing that particular address line containing the flaw).

3.  The offending card must be in a PCI slot.

 

Take one away and the problem goes away.  (Note that the issue is not Windows-specific, either -  Linux distributions are also affected.  However, as you yourself point out, XP32 wasn't affected; that is because XP32 is not XP64 nor does it support PAE.  When I originally crossed from Vista x32 to Vista x64, I wasn't affected because I was still under 4 GB of RAM; after upgrading to 7 x64, I also upgraded to 4 GB (the Great Memory Glut) - OUCH; I get bit by this bug.)  That is why the card is still on the shelf, as opposed to being tossed - there are still PCs - desktops, in fact - that will never suffer from this flaw due to lower amounts of system memory.

[SYBINX]

[RESOLVED] it rectified itself...?

 

Thanks for the replies chaps most appreciated. I have been so busy I haven't had time to think.I have managed to get a support form off to Creative Labs to get a reply is like finding hens teeth. So II got the CEO's details... I have my sources. Apparently it's a known common problem. It's never happened to me until I posted this topic. But it's fine now and working okay. Creative Labs are aware of this problem but yet not bothered to do anything about it. I have know some people to not have it working at all. I think this could be my last Creative Labs sound card and I have been a customer of theirs for nearly 20 years now... I have lost my faith in Creative Labs to be honest they haven't brought out a decent sound card since the ZxR and that was...? 2012 I think.

 

I know this is off the topic but. I'm doing a new mega build next year. All new up to date technology. I've a budget of 2.5K... that's including a 4K monitor as well... Who knows they might have a new flagship by 2015. Next build will include the NVidia GeForce 4GB DDR5 980 GFX card, I have learned to wait for the prices to drop. Event if it's only 100 total al-round it's still money off the total price.

 

Thanks again.