Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-08-07, 06:16:

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-07, 05:50:

I reacquired an X-Fi Ti Fatality Champion series (a refurbished model with multiple broken warranty stickers on the shroud). I have problems with OpenAL audio conking out in Quake 4 after saving. They come back after passing through a door. When I played Quake 4 on an X-Fi extreme music, I don't remember this happening and on the Audigy RX it doesn't happen at all. I never got that far in Q4 on the XMusic, kept running out of ammo after the medical bay, multiple times.

Is this happening on modern Windows (10/11) or under WinXP? If it's the latter, you can always try using older drivers. But on Win10/11, DanielK's X-Fi support pack might be your best bet. This is assuming that there are no issues with the hardware itself of course.

If it helps, this is the install CD that came with my own X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro (SB0886). Same model as Champion, just without the front panel I/O drive. That disc works fine on WinXP/Vista/Win7. But I never tried it on any newer Windows versions.

Yeah this is on Win11.

Thanks, I have the original driver CD, the same as yours I guess. The audio died back in 2010 on the original card probably because of driver issues. I suspect this (Quake 4/Win 11) is an openal issue because the sound comes back after walking through a door.

Thanks dude, the Danielk drivers fixed all my problems! It's a titanium fatality pro without the drive bay doodad:

Here's Prey with the xfi:
https://youtu.be/iZ9XWTuQC4M

and the same sequence on the Audigy RX:
https://youtu.be/UW6YM-_S0bg

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-08, 17:16:

Thanks dude, the Danielk drivers fixed all my problems! It's a titanium fatality pro without the drive bay doodad:

Good to hear that. Newer official drivers for PCIe X-Fi Titanium cards had known issues with OpenAL, but DanielK seems to have fixed this, at least per the change log of his support pack.

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-08, 17:16:

Here's Prey with the xfi: https://youtu.be/iZ9XWTuQC4M […]
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Here's Prey with the xfi:
https://youtu.be/iZ9XWTuQC4M

and the same sequence on the Audigy RX:
https://youtu.be/UW6YM-_S0bg

Nice! Prey is one of those games that can fully utilize the X-Fi's capabilities, including using up to 128 hardware voices during heavy firefights. If you open the in-game console, you can see some interesting info, as shown here.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-08-08, 18:28:

Good to hear that. Newer official drivers for PCIe X-Fi Titanium cards had known issues with OpenAL, but DanielK seems to have f […]
Show full quote

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-08, 17:16:

Thanks dude, the Danielk drivers fixed all my problems! It's a titanium fatality pro without the drive bay doodad:

Good to hear that. Newer official drivers for PCIe X-Fi Titanium cards had known issues with OpenAL, but DanielK seems to have fixed this, at least per the change log of his support pack.

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-08, 17:16:

Here's Prey with the xfi: https://youtu.be/iZ9XWTuQC4M […]
Show full quote

Here's Prey with the xfi:
https://youtu.be/iZ9XWTuQC4M

and the same sequence on the Audigy RX:
https://youtu.be/UW6YM-_S0bg

Nice! Prey is one of those games that can fully utilize the X-Fi's capabilities, including using up to 128 hardware voices during heavy firefights. If you open the in-game console, you can see some interesting info, as shown here.

Bringing up the console showed me what's different with OpenAL with the danielk drivers; X-RAM support has been disabled; tested with Quake 4, Prey and OpenAL caps viewer. The stock Windows update drivers do support it on this card but not with the danielk version.

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-09, 10:41:

Bringing up the console showed me what's different with OpenAL with the danielk drivers; X-RAM support has been disabled; tested with Quake 4, Prey and OpenAL caps viewer. The stock Windows update drivers do support it on this card but not with the danielk version.

Interesting. I'm guessing there might be some Win11 specific reason why DanielK disabled it.

Under Win10 21H2 (LTSC IoT version) X-RAM works fine on my X-Fi Titanium with his drivers.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-08-09, 10:50:

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-09, 10:41:

Bringing up the console showed me what's different with OpenAL with the danielk drivers; X-RAM support has been disabled; tested with Quake 4, Prey and OpenAL caps viewer. The stock Windows update drivers do support it on this card but not with the danielk version.

Interesting. I'm guessing there might be some Win11 specific reason why DanielK disabled it.

Under Win10 21H2 (LTSC IoT version) X-RAM works fine on my X-Fi Titanium with his drivers.

Is that with support pack 8 (revision 3)? I think that's what I've got. I also used the build with "What-U-Hear" support.

I think I'm going to reinstall the stock Creative ones just to double check. Apparently quake 4 engine games have an option to disable X-RAM use, some sort of continuous streaming option, or at least that's what Google's Ai search seemed to suggest.

I'm on Win 11 25h2

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-09, 11:08:

Is that with support pack 8 (revision 3)? I think that's what I've got.

Yes, I'm using that version as well.

sharangad wrote on 2026-08-09, 11:08:

Apparently quake 4 engine games have an option to disable X-RAM use, some sort of continuous streaming option, or at least that's what Google's Ai search seemed to suggest.

I wouldn't trust AI slop on retro stuff, as it tends to hallucinate a lot when dealing with that subject. Personally, I've never heard of such an option, so I wouldn't put too much stock into it, unless you can find a reliable source or verify that independently.

I don't know what's up with the X-RAM, I didn't try the official Creative drivers. The white LED light doesn't work either in the shield, there is something on the card connected to it, raised white piece of plastic there.

In the meantime here's Bioshock on the X-Fi:
https://youtu.be/y_BMMqwiJ0g

It does sound a lot nicer than the Audigy RX, which can be heard here:
https://youtu.be/K-cZkhtvpnM

Bioshock crashes after every new section with the danielk drivers.

sharangad wrote on Yesterday, 09:58:

Bioshock crashes after every new section with the danielk drivers.

From my experience, BioShock is very prone to crashing on PC. Not sure if it's related to sound card drivers specifically, but there are many reports about the game being unstable, both on this forum and elsewhere.

A few years ago, I played it on Win7 with my X-Fi, and it crashed every hour or so. Worst of all, it corrupted the config file following the crash, so all the settings would be reset to default. I had to back up that file, and restore it after each crash.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Yesterday, 10:39:

sharangad wrote on Yesterday, 09:58:

Bioshock crashes after every new section with the danielk drivers.

From my experience, BioShock is very prone to crashing on PC. Not sure if it's related to sound card drivers specifically, but there are many reports about the game being unstable, both on this forum and elsewhere.

A few years ago, I played it on Win7 with my X-Fi, and it crashed every hour or so. Worst of all, it corrupted the config file following the crash, so all the settings would be reset to default. I had to back up that file, and restore it after each crash.

The original game was stable with the RX though. I managed to capture everything in a single playthrough. It does sound noticeably worse. The difference with Prey was night and day. In an enclosed section, shooting at the metallic walls with the X-Fi you can actually hear a metallic sound. WIth the RX you just hear a harsher version of the gun which drowns everything else out.

Having said that positional audio with the RX is better defined, especially the rears. Maybe I'm just used to it.

Found this in the registry:

Google claims this registry key works:

1Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
2
3[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Creative Tech\Driver\PCI&VEN_1102&DEV_0005]
4"DisableXRAM"=dword:00000001

sharangad wrote on Today, 02:25:

Found this in the registry: https://nirvtek.com/downloads/Disable.XRAM.Screenshot%202026-08-13%20075211.png […]
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Found this in the registry:

Google claims this registry key works:

Copy code to clipboard

1Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
2
3[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Creative Tech\Driver\PCI&VEN_1102&DEV_0005]
4"DisableXRAM"=dword:00000001

I could be wrong, but I think ASIO is only used when the X-Fi is in Audio Creation mode. At least based on this support page. That mode is unsuitable for gaming though.

Anyhow, does toggling that setting to zero restore X-RAM functionality on your card?

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 04:38:

sharangad wrote on Today, 02:25:

Found this in the registry: https://nirvtek.com/downloads/Disable.XRAM.Screenshot%202026-08-13%20075211.png […]
Show full quote

Found this in the registry:

Google claims this registry key works:

Copy code to clipboard

1Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
2
3[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Creative Tech\Driver\PCI&VEN_1102&DEV_0005]
4"DisableXRAM"=dword:00000001

I could be wrong, but I think ASIO is only used when the X-Fi is in Audio Creation mode. At least based on this support page. That mode is unsuitable for gaming though.

Anyhow, does toggling that setting to zero restore X-RAM functionality on your card?

Nope.

If you have an old PC with WinXP, it might be worth testing the card there, using drivers from the original installation CD.

That would allow you to rule out any potential hardware issues.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 05:52:

If you have an old PC with WinXP, it might be worth testing the card there, using drivers from the original installation CD.

That would allow you to rule out any potential hardware issues.

Thanks, I'll try that on a Win 10 machine with stock Creative drivers. The LED in the shield doesn't work either.

I just tried installing the official Creative drivers and I get a security policy blocked CTEFXXFI.sys. I can't even reinstall the danielk drivers. It doesn't even recognise the certificate even on ctsysvol.exe. I'm guessing it won't even work on Win 10.

The sound card just disappears from device manager.

I have block insecure drivers turned off.

Even the Windows update drivers seem to have disappeared. I'm guessing the Audigy RX is not going to work as well.

(update:)
The RX appears to work. I ran the latest Windows updates today and I'm guessing that's why I'm having problems.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 04:38:

I could be wrong, but I think ASIO is only used when the X-Fi is in Audio Creation mode. At least based on this support page. That mode is unsuitable for gaming though.

Creative ASIO available in all modes, but differs: Audio Creation mode provides all channels, while Game mode only provides limited set of channels.

These are ASIO channels from X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition (SB046A PCI Card + SB0251 I/O Drive):

*Sigh* might have to build an XP machine to get this going.

They haven't blocked cross-signed drivers on Win 10. With the Windows update drivers and the danielk ones on Win 10 X-RAM is a no show.

Google suggested this, I don't know how true it is:

AI fact #1
"The original Creative X-Fi hardware design contains a legacy hardware-addressing flaw at the 4 GB memory line. When modern systems run 64-bit Windows with 4 GB or more of system RAM, the OS maps hardware addresses above the 32-bit boundary.This confuses the X-Fi architecture, causing it to fail to address its own onboard X-RAM or report it properly to software tools."

I can test this on a Core 2 Duo and knock it's RAM down to something silly, but not today.

Another AI fact:
"3. Untrustworthy Software DetectionLegacy testing utilities like RightMark 3DSound or older OpenAL caps viewers often break on Windows 10 and 11. They read the modern Windows memory abstraction layer incorrectly and report 0 MB or "Not Found" even if the audio driver is utilizing the X-RAM natively behind the scenes."