For my real Audigy 2 ZS, here are the hardware IDs of the various components listed in WinXP SP3's hardware manager.

OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_4001&SUBSYS_00101102&REV_04
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_4001&SUBSYS_00101102
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_4001&CC_0C0010
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_4001&CC_0C00

Creative Game Port
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_7003&SUBSYS_00401102&REV_04
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_7003&SUBSYS_00401102
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_7003&CC_098000
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_7003&CC_0980

Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (WDM)
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_20021102&REV_04
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_20021102
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&CC_040100
PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&CC_0401

Also, I think that 'Audio Device on High Definition Bus' may be for carrying audio over HDMI.

Update: turned out the unknown "PCI Device" isn't the Audigy 2, but the Radeon HD 7770's HDMI device. So it turned out the Audigy 2 ZS was totally invisible, and can only be detected and driver-installed by Daniel Kawami driver.

Anyway, KT7AGuy, nope, I don't think my problem is caused by running the Realtek on-board audio and Audigy 2 ZS at the same time, because normal Audigy 2 ZS driver failed to detect the card even when the Realtek audio was disabled from BIOS. I'm not sure what was going on. But the important thing is the Audigy 2 ZS works now.

Anyway, between the two pictures below, which one do you like better? Which one do you think has better AA quality?

Bottom pic looks better to me. Is that MDK? I need to get around to playing that game one of these days.

Also, you probably don't want to hear this. When I have problems like you're getting with your Audigy 2 ZS, I take it as a sign that it's time to do the partition-format-reinstall shuffle.

KT7AGuy wrote:

Bottom pic looks better to me.

May I ask why? 😀

KT7AGuy wrote:

Is that MDK? I need to get around to playing that game one of these days.

Yes, MDK, a DirectX 3 game, actually runs on Radeon HD 7770 --the same system where I previously had problem with Creative Audigy 2 on.

KT7AGuy wrote:

Also, you probably don't want to hear this. When I have problems like you're getting with your Audigy 2 ZS, I take it as a sign that it's time to do the partition-format-reinstall shuffle.

Which problem? The Audigy 2 ZS being undetected by stock Audigy 2 ZS driver, or the severe delay in shutting down Windows? In any case, I am going to partition-format-reinstall anyway. This is a test system anyway.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

KT7AGuy wrote:

Bottom pic looks better to me.

May I ask why? 😀

The bottom picture looks better to me because the white on the target looks more like a proper circle as opposed to the rough circle on the top picture, and the fonts look more natural too. just my opinion.

Good to know that you've finally got the card to work on your system, those old PCI Sound Blasters can be a struggle to get working sometimes.

Is the bottom picture software rendering?

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

May I ask why? 😀

The bottom picture looks more crisp and clear. The top one is slightly blurry, like some sort of AA effect is being used badly.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Which problem? The Audigy 2 ZS being undetected by stock Audigy 2 ZS driver, or the severe delay in shutting down Windows? In any case, I am going to partition-format-reinstall anyway. This is a test system anyway.

Both problems. Each one to me is a sign to reinstall windows. Both of them happening in concert tells me that something double-plus-ungood is happening.

I'm really OCD and particular about keeping my systems in perfect running order. I actually keep Ghost system images for each one so that I can bring them back to perfect condition quickly and easily. It's a pain in the ass initially, but the payoff comes later when I want to get my system back up and running quick. It's much faster than reinstalling Windows, installing drivers, downloading updates, installing software, configuring everything, etc. I just use my image and everything is already setup.

Also, I think that Audigy 2 ZS cards are a fine thing... when they work. It seems like all PCI Sound Blaster cards suffer from some sort of software or hardware deficiency. One of the worst is the dreaded Snap Crackle Pop bug. I've only experienced this on one of my PCs with an Audigy 2 ZS. The problem is intermittent, but I've had it happen when running both Deus Ex and X-Wing (in DOSBox). Since it's intermittent, it's very difficult to troubleshoot. So far, I seem to have eliminated the problem by disabling my motherboard's onboard SATA/RAID controller in the BIOS, disabling the Audigy's turbo mode, and also disabling the Audigy's onboard 1394 controller. The problem hasn't come back in awhile, so who knows if it is actually fixed or not.

If you research the Snap Crackle Pop problem online, you'll find a wide array of users who've experienced it with SB Live cards as well as Audigy and Audigy 2 cards. There are also a wide variety of suggestions for fixing the problem; none of which worked for me. Only time will tell if the problem returns or not. It's so random and sporadic. I could go weeks or months without having the problem, then one night it comes back and fills my speakers/headphones with the most annoying sounds you can imagine.

Some great tools for testing your Audigy 2 ZS or other sound card:

RightMark Audio Analyzer and RightMark 3D Sound:

http://audio.rightmark.org/download.shtml

KT7AGuy wrote:

The bottom picture looks more crisp and clear. The top one is slightly blurry, like some sort of AA effect is being used badly.

I see.

Okay, the top picture has MLAA applied on top, while the bottom picture is straight SSAA.

KT7AGuy wrote:

Both problems. Each one to me is a sign to reinstall windows. Both of them happening in concert tells me that something double-plus-ungood is happening.

The Audigy 2 ZS remains undetected even after reformatting Windows, even after disabling on-board Realtek sound. So I guess reinstalling won't solve the problem.

KT7AGuy wrote:

I'm really OCD and particular about keeping my systems in perfect running order. I actually keep Ghost system images for each one so that I can bring them back to perfect condition quickly and easily.

Same with me. I will image the partition as soon as I understand which configuration is ideal.

Kreshna,

Something is wrong if WinXP isn't detecting your Audigy 2 ZS. I know your experience and skill is greater than my own, but please try some really obvious stuff:

Update BIOS to latest revision.

Remove all cards except video and audio.

Reset BIOS to optimized defaults.
Try BIOS failsafe defaults if that doesn't work.

Wipe your drive completely. Use DBAN, then have WinXP create new partitions while you're re-installing.

Try using different RAM, or less RAM.
(This has actually worked for me when troubleshooting a video problem.)

Try using a different video card. Try one without an HDMI output.

Is it possible that the Audigy 2 ZS is the problem? Do you have another you could try?

Try disabling your onboard SATA/RAID controller in the BIOS and switching to an IDE/PATA drive. It sounds crazy, but I've seen this have an effect under both Win98SE and WinXP SP3.

Aren't we going in circles here? I thought that the ZS works after installing the drivers from DanielK.

Yes, the problem has been solved by using Daniel K driver. I still wonder about severe lagging in shutdown and restart though; what's the cause?

Sorry for reviving but have the same issue. My card IS a Dell card though. Downloaded the ISO from the retail card here from Vogons but installer cannot detect the card. I'm able to install the drivers using the "have disk" option, but would love to have the full software suite 🙁

Does anyone know if it's possible at all ?

I found my old notes about installing the SB0358, edited them, and now I'll share them here. I really don't know why you would want to do this, but here ya go.

(Note: A genuine retail SB0350 is required.)

(Note: You may also be able to accomplish this without a retail SB0350 by editing whatever *.inf files record the hardware ID. I no longer have the SB0358, so unfortunately I cannot provide the hardware ID for it. I'm also too lazy to figure out how to hack drivers for a card I no longer own. Besides, the Daniel K drivers work great. My recommendation is to use them.)

Because the Dell Audigy 2 ZS card is a SB0358 variant, a bit of trickery is required to get the official drivers and software installed. A normal/retail SB0350 variant must be installed during installation of WinXP and the official Creative Labs driver disc. However, you then uninstall the SB0350 via Hardware Manager. Next, you swap in the SB0358 and then install the updated drivers and software. Detailed instructions here:

1 Do a custom install from the driver disc and choose these options:
Creative Diagnostics
SoundFont Bank Manager
Creative Speaker Calibrator
EAX Console
Creative Surround Mixer
Creative Speaker Settings
Creative Restore Defaults
Creative AudioHQ
THX Setup Console
Creative Graphic Equalizer
Midi Samples
SoundFont Banks
Online Manual
Music Creation Guide

2 Reboot

3 Uninstall the SB0350 from Hardware Manager

4 Shut down and remove power

5 Remove the SB0350 from your computer

6 Install the SB0358 in the same PCI slot and put your computer case back together

7 Boot the computer

8 Disable the UpdReg autorun. This is the annoying product registration nag.
It can also be disabled in the registry at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

9 Reboot

10 Install updated drivers
SBAX_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0017.exe

11 Reboot

12 Uninstall the Creative Software AutoUpdate

13 Reboot

14 Install the DTS Neo 6 Update
SBA2_WEBUP_DTSCON_1_00_06.exe

15 Reboot

16 Install the WaveStudio Update
WAVESTD_PCAPP_LB_7_14_01.exe

17 Reboot

18 Install the MediaSource DVD-Audio Player Update
DVDA_PCAPP_LB_2_00_78.exe

19 Reboot

20 Install the EAX Console Update
SBA2_WEBUP_EAXC_031230.exe

21 Reboot

22 Optional - Install the Plugin for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
SBMC_PCApp_LB_2_01_02.exe

23 Reboot

24 Done!

Or, you could just install the Daniel K drivers and avoid all this bullshit. Dan K's package provides updated drivers and software that just work without any headaches.

Thank you for your insight. If I'd own a retail ZS though, I would have just used that instead 😀
I'm going to give it a search on "Audigy inf hardware ID editing" or something like that. The funny thing is that I'm able to install the drivers from the retail ISO and some of the apps.
Some apps work, others don't. The EAX console for instance throws the "No supported card found" error..

I just did a quick search of my OEM installer disc and it looks like you might be able to edit a single file to get it to recognize the SB0358:

X:\Audio\Drivers\WDM\wdma_emu.inf

Just replace any entries of "PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&CC_040100" and "PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&CC_040100" with the hardware IDs from your SB0358 and see what happens.

Well, here comes the plot twist: my card is simply designated as SB0350. There is no Dell specific marking anywhere, although it did came in the Dell machine originally. When the register window pops up after driver install, it also says "this is an OEM card", but from outside there is absolutely no indication of it.

I already followed your advice and went for Daniel K's 6.2 pack, which gave me everything I need, but just for the fun of it, I' might take an image of the HD just to screw around some more and I can always revert. So I'm going to try the suggestion of editing the file, but I reckon it will be for nothing because from what I can tell the check is not done on the driver package because I can install the drivers just fine by pointing device manager to the folder. I believe some trickery is going on in the installshield stuff.

To identify your card, please check my earlier post here:

"Setup could not detect any Sound Blaster Audigy 2 on your System."

and here:

"Setup could not detect any Sound Blaster Audigy 2 on your System."

I also previously posted the hardware IDs of a real SB0350 here:

Re: "Setup could not detect any Sound Blaster Audigy 2 on your System."

(Of course, it's possible to have a real SB0350 with hardware IDs that differ from mine.)

KT7AGuy wrote:

To identify your card, please check my earlier post here: […]
Show full quote

To identify your card, please check my earlier post here:

"Setup could not detect any Sound Blaster Audigy 2 on your System."

and here:

"Setup could not detect any Sound Blaster Audigy 2 on your System."

I also previously posted the hardware IDs of a real SB0350 here:

Re: "Setup could not detect any Sound Blaster Audigy 2 on your System."

(Of course, it's possible to have a real SB0350 with hardware IDs that differ from mine.)

Hi, sorry for reviving old thread, but I recently got a Dell variant of Audigy 2 ZS and cant for the life of me install any driver on Win98SE. Both ISOS on Vogons do not recognize the card (they dont like the dell variant). Where can I get the driver? It shows perfectly fine on HWINFO,
SERIAL: M1SB0358471000269C
HW ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_20061102&REV_04

I read http://kpush.tripod.com/tweaking/id33.html that I can mod the driver to support my card but I dont know the ID. Please help!

Creative's support website doesn't list an updated Win98SE driver for the Audigy 2 ZS. If the driver on the installer cdrom doesn't work, you may be out of luck.

KT7AGuy wrote:

Creative's support website doesn't list an updated Win98SE driver for the Audigy 2 ZS. If the driver on the installer cdrom doesn't work, you may be out of luck.

I dont have the original CD, so I cant get the driver anywhere.