Sound Drivers

[Jerry]

I am running the Dell version of Vista Ultimate and there is NO sound. In
the device manager, all the sound drivers are yellow.

I ran the RTM version of Vista Ultimate and the sound worked without any
problem.

My sound card is Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1. From all I have read,
Vista will NOT run the XP drivers that came with the sound card, so how do I
get the sound to work.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[BChat]

I am running the Dell version of Vista Ultimate and there is NO sound. In
the device manager, all the sound drivers are yellow.

I ran the RTM version of Vista Ultimate and the sound worked without any
problem.

My sound card is Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1. From all I have read,
Vista will NOT run the XP drivers that came with the sound card, so how do I
get the sound to work.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Head to Dell support, look up your model in the software and drivers
section. Download the appropriate one and install it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Glenn Shaw]

...

I am running the Dell version of Vista Ultimate and there is NO sound.
In the device manager, all the sound drivers are yellow.

I ran the RTM version of Vista Ultimate and the sound worked without
any problem.

My sound card is Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1. From all I have
read, Vista will NOT run the XP drivers that came with the sound card,
so how do I get the sound to work.

Any help would be appreciated.

Unfortunately, that's not an option for the OP -- Creative has declared
the SB Live! 5.1 as "End of Service Life", since it's been more than 3
years since the card was initially introduced:

Creative's End of Service Life (ESOL) Policy:
http://us.creative.com/support/eosl/?type=FAQ

Furthermore, Creative will not be producing Vista drivers for the card:

Creative.com: Windows Vista Driver Availability Chart:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ypx6x2

Note that driver development for the Sound Blaster Live! Series is listed
as "No Development Planned" -- meaning that the SB Live! 5.1 won't be
supported under Vista (or XP, for that matter, given the aforementioned
"End of Service Life" designation).

The Live! 5.1 will work with basic functionality under Vista using
Vista's native drivers, but some functions -- like the 20dB microphone
boost and and DirectSound 3D hardware acceleration -- are unavailable,
due to Vista's new audio architecture.

(The reason that I know of the above is that I initally ran an SB Live!
5.1 under Vista Ultimate. The card worked just fine, with the exception
of the microphone input -- audio coming through the mic sounded faint
compared to other sounds coming out of the speakers. Noting that the SBL
5.1 was EOSL WRT Vista, I bought and installed a SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio
card, but the mic problem remained. I eventually discovered that the
current Vista X-Fi driver lacks a 20db mic boost setting, which would
have resolved the mic issue *if* the feature were available.)

(BTW, the problem regarding Vista-compatible sound card drivers is not
unique to Creative; almost all vendors who make audio cards, whether
internal, external or onboard, are having to rewrite their drivers so
they work properly under Vista. This is taking quite some time, it would
seem.)

As Rick suggested, the OP should go to Dell's techincal support site and
look for updated drivers. Failing that, the OP should contact Dell's
technical support hotline.

Kind regards,

 

[Jerry]

Thanks for that link BChat but this is the response I got there.

You have selected Live! 5.1 and Windows Vista 32-bit.
Sorry, no Creative updates are available for the selected query.

The product you have selected has reached the end of its service life.
Support for this product is limited to materials available on the Creative
Customer Support website before its discontinuation. This may include
Knowledge Base solutions, drivers, application updates and product
documentation.

Oh well back to the drawing board.

 

[Jerry]

Glenn does this mean I can install the drivers that came with the Sound Card
and at least get sound with Vista??

 

[Glenn Shaw]

Glenn does this mean I can install the drivers that came with the
Sound Card and at least get sound with Vista??

Yep. But install *only* the drivers -- the other applications on the disc
won't work with Vista (I've tried; they all crashed hard).

 

[Glenn Shaw]

Yep. But install *only* the drivers -- the other applications on the
disc won't work with Vista (I've tried; they all crashed hard).

Scratch that last, Jerry -- I forgot that you were asking about your SB
Live 5.1 card. Sorry about that. <^^;;;;

The drivers that come with Vista *should* work with the SB Live 5.1,
although some hardware-based functions will be disabled. Unfortunately, I
don't recall enough of my struggles getting *my* Live 5.1 working on Vista
to be certain of that.

 

[Guest]

Jerry,

I'm not sure if you've already found the solution; if not, do a search in
this newsgroup for "sound blaster" and you should find a thread titled "For
those left in the cold with a SB Live!" from April 15th. It's a thread that
describes how to install the SB XP drivers under vista for SB Live value - a
similar card to 5.1 Live that's also at the end of its life cycle as deemed
by Creative.

Additionally, I have recently clean installed Vista and the SB Live value
has again been added to windows update so no need to install XP drivers.
Similar drivers appeared originally under windows update but were removed
soon after. It appears that they're back again as of at least June 5th.

Anyhow, hope this helps as I understand the frustrations with Creative and
their support or lack thereof.