It seems X-Fi isn't any better: X-Fi Elite Pro getting Infamous Unable to Detect. And no, Daniel K drivers doesn't help either.
dr_st wrote:cyclone3d wrote:Some boards do have issues with some Creative cards though so it could very well be incompatibility rearing it's ugly head.
This is probably true in this case. Most folks run Audigy 2 cards without such issues as the OP describes.
How about Audigy 1? Is it less prone to the "unable to detect" issue, or is it actually worse? Yes, I knew Audigy 2 has better SNR and features, but at this point, I just want to have the card detected and installed.
Or perhaps I should drop genuine Creative cards and use two cards instead: Diamond MX400 for EAX 2.0 and below, and Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCIe for EAX 3 and above.
EDIT: it seems Audigy 1 also suffers from the same problem.
Audigy sound card not detected.
Sound Card-Creative Audigy (Not Detected)
Found this though:
The issue: for some reason only known to Creative, in certain cases the hardware id substring (a number used to identify the model number of your card) on the original Audigy sound cards becomes corrupted. This is described in more detail here: http://bottorff.net/Audigy/Audigy%20Project.htm. The driver setup program will then no longer allow you to install the drivers since 'a supported product can't be found'.
Now, let me point out that in my opinion
1. Creative ought to let you install any of their drivers for any pci card YOU decide, instead of forcing the installer to exit if a supported product supposedly can't be found.
2. Should take their responsibility and fix/replace the Audigy cards exhibiting this issue, or release drivers with a solution. The fact that this an older sound card is no excuse, since this is clearly an issue experienced by quite a number of people (search google).
However, there is one simple solution:
1. Install the excellent freeware Kxproject drivers (located at http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/). They will actually identify your card correctly, and also give better sound quality and many additional features Creative never bothered to make available (but which are supported by the chip on the card). This is the preferred solution since it's not to hard to install & configure these drivers.
If, however, you use Vista x64 (like I do), you're out of luck. Kxproject does not support x64 os-es. But, oh joy, I've found a solution!
Of course, on XP you could install the original drivers. But this option is more to my liking.
1. Download the driver package for the Audigy card from Creatives website
2. Open the .exe file in an archiving utility (eg. PowerArchiver), and extract the files somewhere
3. Open the extraction dir and go to the Drivers\wdm\ subdirectory
4. Open wdma_emu.inf in notepad
5. Press ctrl+F and do a search for "; Audigy, Audigy 2" (without the " of course)
6. Once you've found it, press enter, and on the next line paste
"%Audigy.DeviceDesc%=Audigy_Device,PCI\VEN_1102&DE V_0004&SUBSYS_00401102" (without " )
-- This adds the corrupted hardware id to the list of allowed model numbers for the driver installation, enabling you to install the drivers anyway. If your corrupted id is different (look for the Details > Hardware ids tab in Device manager where your card is listed) copy the line "%Audigy.DeviceDesc%=Audigy_Device,PCI\VEN_1102&DE V_0004&SUBSYS_00xxxxxx" (where xxxxxx is the number specific to your situation) instead. --
7. Repeat for the next "; Audigy, Audigy 2" line, and again, and again (so a total of 4 times). Smart people only need to do this step once, since it's only necessary for the section which applies to you ([Creative.NTX86.6] for x84 systems, [Creative.NTIA64.6] for itanium, [Creative.NTAMD64.6] for x64)
8. Save the file
9. Manually search for drivers in the device manager 'update driver' option, select the Drivers\wdm subdir and presto. Your drivers will finally install!
10. Run setup.exe located in the \Drivers subdir to tie up loose ends and complete the install.
You won't get all the creative bloatware this way (I haven't been able to fix the actual setup.exe program), but everything else will work fine and you'll be able to use your precious Audigy you paid good money for. If you want the FireWire/Gameport to work I fear you're out of luck too.. but vista wouldn't detect them for me anyway.
Good luck! You can reply or mail me (through the forum) if anything is unclear. And, in closing: shame on you, Creative.