Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-12-11, 07:07:

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-11, 04:15:

SB0353 (Dell OEM), I think.

Yeah, OEM variants sometimes removed certain features to save the company a few cents. The missing AD_EXT connector on your card is one such example.

These cards can also be very picky about their drivers. Under WinXP, DanielK's Audigy pack should work, but you may also want to look into Dell's own drivers, just in case. The easiest way to find them is by looking up the relevant Dell Part Number, which should also be printed on one of the stickers on the back of the card. Whichever drivers you end up using, be sure to also install the latest version of EAX Unified and Creative's OpenAL after that.

Thanks!

I'm using it under w98se with your audigy 1 drivers. If I get around to dual booting xp, I'll look into the Dell drivers, though Danielk's would probably be easier.

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:19:

I'm using it under w98se with your audigy 1 drivers.

You mean from my guide?

If so, I'm a bit surprised that those drivers worked with an OEM card. But it's interesting to know.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:39:

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:19:

I'm using it under w98se with your audigy 1 drivers.

You mean from my guide?

If so, I'm a bit surprised that those drivers worked with an OEM card. But it's interesting to know.

Yup, they installed without any problems, except for the fm synth which installed a dummy and needed updating. I got it off ebay from a seller in China. It was listed as an Audigy 2 zs. Maybe the device ID was flashed?

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:50:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:39:

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:19:

I'm using it under w98se with your audigy 1 drivers.

You mean from my guide?

If so, I'm a bit surprised that those drivers worked with an OEM card. But it's interesting to know.

Yup, they installed without any problems, except for the fm synth which installed a dummy and needed updating. I got it off ebay from a seller in China. It was listed as an Audigy 2 zs. Maybe the device ID was flashed?

The second major problem with X-fi/Audigy after the capacitors near the DSP dry out is firmware failure.
As far as I remember, the second byte of the device identifier is usually damaged.
In the worst case, the card starts to identify itself as an ‘generic Kx processor’.

If I'm not mistaken, it's been around since the days of SBlive! But I'm not a big fan of theirs, so I didn't pay much attention to it.
https://sblive-narod-ru.translate.goog/BAD_ME … &_x_tr_pto=wapp

shevalier wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:59:

The second major problem with X-fi/Audigy after the capacitors near the DSP dry out is firmware failure. As far as I remember, t […]
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sharangad wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:50:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-12-11, 08:39:

You mean from my guide?

If so, I'm a bit surprised that those drivers worked with an OEM card. But it's interesting to know.

Yup, they installed without any problems, except for the fm synth which installed a dummy and needed updating. I got it off ebay from a seller in China. It was listed as an Audigy 2 zs. Maybe the device ID was flashed?

The second major problem with X-fi/Audigy after the capacitors near the DSP dry out is firmware failure.
As far as I remember, the second byte of the device identifier is usually damaged.
In the worst case, the card starts to identify itself as an ‘generic Kx processor’.

If I'm not mistaken, it's been around since the days of SBlive! But I'm not a big fan of theirs, so I didn't pay much attention to it.
https://sblive-narod-ru.translate.goog/BAD_ME … &_x_tr_pto=wapp

I remember reading somewhere that the device id being lost was a bug in the drivers or somewhere which overwrote the device id in a flashable chip. I *think* CTZAPXX could still install the drivers if you ran it manually, but there's no auto-detection. In the case of my rusty old card, it doesn't show up in the slot. The BIOS of the machine I tested it in shows the device class and type for all its slots. It doesn't show up at all, almost as if there's nothing in the slot.

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-11, 09:33:

*think* CTZAPXX could still install the drivers if you ran it manually,

I'm not sure.
As far as I remember, the firmware for the DSP (which is strictly necessary for the sound card to work) is loaded by the driver specifically via the DEV_ID, and the Creative applications themselves track the DEV_ID.
The DEV_ID itself is not stored in the DSP, but in the EEPROM located nearby.

Strictly speaking, there is an ‘initial dev_id’ in the DSP, so even without EEPROM, the card will be identified, but as ‘some generic Creative card,’ and the drivers will not work either.