The sb live was in the pc prior to the format and reinstall?
Your sure the same driver was used before and after the format?

Yeah

What driver are you using, VXD or WDM?

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-08-26, 15:19:

What driver are you using, VXD or WDM?

Idk I think it's this one
https://archive.org/details/soundblasterlive

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-26, 15:24:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-08-26, 15:19:

What driver are you using, VXD or WDM?

Idk I think it's this one
https://archive.org/details/soundblasterlive

That driver CD is going to have both WDM and VXD drivers - it can sometimes be tricky to install the VXD driver so you have to be sure that's what you are installing. As a rule you want the VXD version with Win98, though there may be rare exceptions.

Are there any definitive drivers online that I should use? Are the wdm drivers messing with windows?

The best driver for the application is the one that works with your system and the game(s) you intend to play. I have an SB0220 that I've used in many Win98 builds and I use the driver that Vogons provides. There is an image in the driver folder that show you exactly how to run the installer for VXD drivers for 98 which makes it easy. I do not know if this driver package would work with your card; I think I've used it with other models of SB Live! cards but I'm not completely sure. You might need to do the same procedure with a different driver version for your card.

To be sure, you had Win98 running smoothly with all drivers installed prior to installing the sound card and installing drivers for it?

http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=809&menustate=0

Well I had a full setup a few days ago but the drivers for various things (especially the sound blaster) weren't working right. I did a full formatting of the main hdd and installed Windows 98 from the beginning using method 1 from this guide:

http://www.putergeek.com/win98_install/

I didn't remove anything from the pc before or during the install process. Everything that's in there now was in there on the previous install. I'm just redoing the software and drivers from the beginning to see if that makes the sound blaster live work but it's having the same problem now that it did before... I'll try a vogons library driver. Thanks for the help. I'll probably need more assistance soon tho

You might try
Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Sound Blaster Live! cards (version 3.1)

Pickle wrote on 2024-08-26, 17:39:

You might try
Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Sound Blaster Live! cards (version 3.1)

Not a great idea. My guide is aimed at experienced retro enthusiasts who want to make the best possible use of their sound cards. It has a lot of steps that need to be followed very precisely. This is likely too complex for people that are relatively new to the retro scene, as seems to be the case with the OP.

Instead, I suggest checking the model number on the card and searching for an installation CD image which matches that number. It's always easiest to install the drivers straight from the CD that came with the card.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-08-26, 17:47:

Pickle wrote on 2024-08-26, 17:39:

You might try
Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Sound Blaster Live! cards (version 3.1)

Not a great idea. My guide is aimed at experienced retro enthusiasts who want to make the best possible use of their sound cards. It has a lot of steps that need to be followed very precisely. This is likely too complex for people that are relatively new to the retro scene, as seems to be the case with the OP.

Instead, I suggest checking the model number on the card and searching for an installation CD image which matches that number. It's always easiest to install the drivers straight from the CD that came with the card.

Hello Mr Joestar... your guide is awesome. Hella easy to follow. I used it a few months ago trying to get my 0060 to work. It was the only guide that (to my recollection) worked reasonably at all. I'll try both the vogons library and look for a specific driver cd. In the meantime, keep posting. It helps with the project and keeps the thread going
Thank yall

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-26, 17:33:

Well I had a full setup a few days ago but the drivers for various things (especially the sound blaster) weren't working right. I did a full formatting of the main hdd and installed Windows 98 from the beginning using method 1 from this guide:

http://www.putergeek.com/win98_install/

I didn't remove anything from the pc before or during the install process. Everything that's in there now was in there on the previous install. I'm just redoing the software and drivers from the beginning to see if that makes the sound blaster live work but it's having the same problem now that it did before... I'll try a vogons library driver. Thanks for the help. I'll probably need more assistance soon tho

Sometimes drivers have to be installed in a very particular order, so my advice would be to remove the sound card, makes sure you have a stable Windows installation with all other drivers installed, then install the sound card and ensure that you're installing VXD drivers.

Well I think I might have got it working somehow but it keeps crashing while just using the pc. I don't know why. There might be more problems soon. I'll let yall know when they come up

Yeah it just keeps crashing Ill look for vxd drivers

Yo @Joseph_Joestar I got the card working but with some crashes and I tried to replace the soundfont the way that your tutorial says to do it. It worked but when I edited the ctsyn.ini file (which was in the windows folder) the pc crashed on reboot. Does anyone know why this would happen?

I uninstalled the drivers because nothing worked after I changed the soundfont. I'll try some vogons library drivers or retry @Joseph_Joestar's drivers

some other ideas, hard drive failing? resource conflict with another device?
motherboard looks ok? caps look ok, no bulging or leaking?

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-26, 21:07:

I uninstalled the drivers because nothing worked after I changed the soundfont. I'll try some vogons library drivers or retry @Joseph_Joestar's drivers

Have you tried removing all other PCI cards from the motherboard and changing the PCI slot the live card is in? It could be a simple thing like a conflict with another PCI card or the Live card not liking a PCI slot that is shared.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-08-26, 17:47:

Pickle wrote on 2024-08-26, 17:39:

You might try
Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Sound Blaster Live! cards (version 3.1)

Not a great idea. My guide is aimed at experienced retro enthusiasts who want to make the best possible use of their sound cards. It has a lot of steps that need to be followed very precisely. This is likely too complex for people that are relatively new to the retro scene, as seems to be the case with the OP.

Instead, I suggest checking the model number on the card and searching for an installation CD image which matches that number. It's always easiest to install the drivers straight from the CD that came with the card.

Sometimes this is the only way to get them to work properly. I just set up my Pentium 4 system with WinXP and an SB0100. I let Windows Update install drivers for the card and it seemed to be fine, but in 3D 03 the sound test would crash. So I downloaded the Creative driver update for the card for 2K/XP and installed that, and 3D 03 then worked fine. But then I installed Doom 3 and it said there was no supporting hardware detected when I tried to enable EAX? I found an ISO of the original driver disk and that driver allowed me to select EAX, though it warns me that openAL isn't installed?