X-Fi Vista Support Pack v2.15.0004 Driver SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A

Quite a few people have contacted me asking about the Sound Blaster X-Fi Vista Support Pack v2.15.0004. The SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A driver seems to have vanished from the internet without trace. I know you X-Fi noobs are eager to get your hands on them, and maybe if I post it - you’ll stop asking.

Big thanks virtualex for the heads up, and daniel_k for the fixes.

< Compiled on Feb 13 2008 by Daniel Kawakami >

Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista (including Service Pack 1)

Supports all X-Fi cards with a Hardware CA20K DSP chipset (OEM / Retail models)

Does NOT support the following OEM / Retail models:

- Host / software-based cards including X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI and PCI-E
- any external X-Fi soundcards

This setup program will install the following items:

- Audigy series driver 2.15.0004.4
- APO Interface Module 1.30.00
- Audio Console 2.50.10
- MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.76
- SoundFont Bank Manager 3.20.20

Exclusive features in this unofficial driver:

- Dolby/DTS decoder (working on 32-bit/64-bit, requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)
- DVD Audio (32-bit only)
- Hardware MIDI synthesizer (includes 2Mb, 4Mb and 8Mb SoundFont banks)

Release notes / Known issues:

- Windows Security warning during driver installation
When prompted with “Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver software”, choose “Install this driver software anyway”.

- WaveRT Pull Mode enabled by default
Does not seem to cause any problems, but if you ever need to disable it, follow these steps:

• run the Registry Editor (Regedit) and open the following registry tree:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class
• Select Search (or press the F3 key) and type EnableWaveRTPullMode, deleting the value when found.
• Restart the computer. Restart the computer.

For more information on WaveRT, access:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devi [...] tport.mspx [...] Http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devi tport.mspx

- MediaSource DVD-Audio Player does not support the 64-bit edition of Windows Vista

- Built-in Decoder (Built-in Decoder (requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)
To use the built-in decoder, make sure it is enabled in Audio Console.

Select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of Select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of your player and then configure the AC3/DTS filter to send the stream through SPDIF.
When you restart your computer, the Tone settings (Bass and Treble) may not be applied. Just readjust one of the controls one time per boot.

- Windows Vista MIDI Device Configuration Utility
Use this utility to change the MIDI playback device for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.
The driver installer automatically selects the first hardware MIDI synthesizer found.

All files are property of Creative Labs, Inc.

Copyright (c) 2007 Creative Technology Ltd. All rights reserved.

Download
Mirror 1 (Rapidshare) - SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A -38.3 MB (40,230,029 bytes)
Mirror 2 (MediaFire) - SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A -38.3 MB (40,230,029 bytes)

Daniel Kawakami Says Goodbye

Daniel Kawakami has posted a farewell to the Creative Labs community. In his post on the Creative Labs Forums, he elaborates further on the purposely disabled driver features.

daniel_k Super Contributor My goodbye message to all supporters with some clarification and my legacy Unfortunately, the situation did not change for us.They did say an updated Audigy driver would eventually be released, but don’t be optimistic about it (their priority is the launch of X-Fi 2).What I can say for sure is the features I’ve enabled will not be made available in an official driver update.Although I still have my doubts, they’ve said I would not be threatened if I provided patches instead of the actual binaries, because of licensed technologies built into them (Dolby/DTS).While this could even be true, most of the disabled features are Creative’s own technologies, which means they’ve disabled them on their own choice.That’s funny when people think you are an idiot.They were after me and, on a chat session, they asked me what I’d like from them, as if I were expecting something.They’ve promised me a free X-Fi 2, but I told them it was not necessary, because I was getting a couple of cards from other companies that contacted me. Well, at least they are getting flammed all over the web and they are certainly mad about it and I could feel it while chatting with them. That is an enough reward for my hard work. I’m not releasing a patch to enable DDL on any X-Fi neither Crystalizer for Audigy because, as they’ve pointed out to me, providing an alternative for their customers is good for them and increase their sales, specially when someone is doing it for free. Given the current situation, I cannot let this happen. I just hope their competitor companies do something about it. And I really hope people don’t forget this. Thank you very much for your support and your donations. Best regards, Daniel Kawakami Below are the links for my drivers, beware where you download them from, I’ll add CRC32, MD5 and SHA-1 hashes to all files: SB Audigy series Vista Support Pack v2.15.0004EQ with Equalizer (02/24/2008)SB Live! series Vista Support Pack 2.10.0001A (03/07/2008) Gameport support pack for Vista 32-bit (x86), updated on 02/01/2008 SB Audigy Value/SE/LS & Live! 24-bit Windows Vista Pack 1.04.0077B (02/06/2008) SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio Windows Vista Pack 1.04.0078A (02/06/2008) There are people asking my PayPal account (dkbox2000@hotmail.com), so I’ll leave this link. Thanks again.

I really felt sad as I was reading through it. Daniel has helped thousands of people world-wide. Then I reached “I just hope their competitor companies do something about it” part. Now that part sounds promising.

A sad day indeed. We’re on our own now guys.

To be continued…

“We Need You daniel_K”.

More Creative Fun!

Ok I just found some more hilarity. Creative labs decided to comment on recent events. Still no official word from Phil O’Shaugnessy, the man who launched a thousand ships.

Dale-CL
Moderator
Posts: 2400
Registered: 07-13-2006
We have read the strong feedback about Creative’s forum post regarding driver development by Daniel_k and other outside parties. Creative’s message posted on our behalf by our Company spokesperson tried to address our concern about the improper distribution of certain software which is the property of other companies. However, we did not make it as clear as we would have liked that we do support driver development by independent third parties. The huge task of developing driver updates to accommodate the many changes in the Vista operating system and the extensive testing required, including the lengthy Vista certification requirements for audio, makes it very difficult for Creative to develop updates for all past products. Outside developers have been very helpful to Creative and our customers by developing updates for many of our Sound Blaster products, and we do support and appreciate these efforts. This however does not extend to the unauthorized distribution of other companies’ property. We hope to work out a mutually agreeable method for working with Daniel_k in supporting his efforts in driver development. Going forward, we are committed to doing a better job of working more closely with third parties to support their development for our products and our customers.

Amid calls for Phil O’Shaugnessy’s resignation, the typical response of Creative fan-base can be seen here. The images speak for themselves really. So I’ll leave it here and go do some real work.

 

 

Creative Get Slaughtered On Cafepress

I’ve just found this really interesting selection of products. A user on the Creative Labs support(?) forum saw this on cafepress. Drivers not working? Not allowed to donate to daniel_k? The solution could be a nice cuppa, from your Creative Sucks mug. Failing that, check out the T-shirts.

Daniel Kawakami Speaks On Wired

For those who missed it, I thought I’d post the interview with daniel_k at Wired.com. It’s a really great insight into the Creative Labs company. He’s a hero, so I guess we know what that makes Creative…

ALchemy

It all started when Creative released the first beta of ALchemy for X-Fi cards, saying it used X-Fi’s advanced capabilities (EAX5).

After some investigation, I’ve found an EAX5.0 check and patched it… and it worked!

Sometime later, they released the final version of ALchemy X-Fi and the paid version of ALchemy Audigy.

I was realy mad at them, they didn’t release a new Audigy driver and were charging Audigy owners for a software that runs on top of bugged drivers? What is the point of that?

Then I modified the X-Fi “free” version of ALchemy, not the paid version.

I did the same with the later versions, but when they released the 1.00.11, I couldn’t patch it anymore.

So I bought it, just for the sake of it.

Well, I did manage to patch the latest version of ALchemy X-Fi to run on any card, without even removing Safecast, but I’m done with that.

The Audigy drivers

They took several days, countless Vista reinstalls.

Creative purposedly modified the Audigy drivers to disable some features when Vista is detected and also purposedly introduced some bugs to prevent some XP utilities from running.

I did a complete analysis of the driver to determine where all the checks and bugs were introduced and started modding.
Features that I’ve successfully enabled:

- Dolby/DTS decoding (originally discovered by another Creative forum member, but I’ve explained how to use it)
- CMSS, CMSS2 and Stereo Surround (originally only “CMSS” was available, this setting also affects ALchemy/OpenAL, so it is really useful)
- Advanced EQ and Special FX presets
- DVD Audio
- Hardware MIDI synthetizer (I wrote a small utility that automatically detects and changes the default Vista MIDI Synth during driver install or can change it later using its GUI. Some media players lets you choose the MIDI synthesizer)
- Equalizer (with preset saving, very hard to accomplish, had to deal with bugs in Creative software and use my creativity to find a workaround).
- WaveRT (a Microsoft replacement for ASIO, however I don’t know if it really works or not)

The Live!/Live! 5.1 drivers

Creative have always released UDA (Unified Driver Architeture) drivers.

They purposedly ruined the Live! support in Vista: 2.1 speakers setting resulted in distorted sound.

After some investigation, I discovered the culprit module and replaced it with one from the last XP version and the problem was fixed.

In the later releases, Bass Management, Equalizer and EAX effects using software processing and Hardware MIDI support were added.

There was also an ALchemy for Live! cards.

The X-Fi drivers

I’ve added the following improvements: Hardware MIDI and WaveRT.

I didn’t have a X-Fi to test, so modding was then limited to these features.
 

The Audigy LS/SE/Value/Live! 24-bit drivers

Officially, they lack Bass Management, Equalizer and EAx effects, once available in XP drivers.

I’ve found that the Audio Center utility (originally from the Vista Audigy Advanced MB drivers) worked just fine with these cards, so I made it available.

Also fixed an annoying bug present in the official drivers that cause the speaker type changing to Full Range speakers on reboot (disabling Bass Management).
 

The X-Fi Xtreme Audio drivers
Have the same speaker type bug. I fixed it.

Gameport support pack for Vista
Allows a limited number of gameport controllers to work on the x86 version of Windows Vista.

What Creative didn’t like

I’ve learned how Creative enables or disables a feature for a specific model.

Alchemy:
My last ALchemy release (1.00.08) was complately unlocked and could be used with any sound device from any vendor.

Audigy cards:
Successfully enabled the software-based X-Fi Crystalizer for use with Audigy cards.

X-Fi:
Got Dolby Digital Live enabled on any X-Fi card. To clarify, I still didn’t manage to enable DDL on Audigy cards.
A friend of mine bought a X-Fi, so I could test it, it really works.
The only current X-Fi based card that supports DDL is the Auzentech Prelude.

The P17 to Xtreme Audio mod
P17 is the codiname for a simple PCI audio controller that powers the Audigy LS/SE/Value, Live! 24-bit and X-Fi Xtreme Audio host-based soundcards.

Completely modded the P17 drivers to transform any Audigy LS/SE/Value and Live! 24-bit into a X-Fi Xtreme Audio (enabling Crystalizer).

Modding is OK

I don’t think there was something wrong with mods themselves.

Modding is a common practice among enthusiasts and I don’t recall some company threatning a modder, unless you allow an exclusive feature to be used with competitor products (ie: SLI on non-NVIDIA chipsers or ALchemy on competitor products, as I’ve said before).

Remember the Promise Ultra to Fasttrak mod? It was even published on a well known review site.
There was also the GeForce to Quadro mod, the NVIDIA nForce 4 to SLI mod, also published on review sites.

What I did wrong

I’ve asked for donations.

Do I really need the money? No, thank God I don’t.

I thought it would be ok to ask for donations so I could buy new hardware to support.

I did buy some hardware: an used Live! 5.1 for ~$15 and a new Audigy SE for $60.

Computer hardware is really expensive here in Brazil.

An X-Fi Xtreme Gamer costs about $240 here, with taxes and shipping, The same card can be bought for ~$80 in the US.

I just can’t spend my money buying new hardware that I won’t even use.

Even the features I’ve enabled, I don’t use.

Later I tried to encourage donations to release the DDL feature for X-Fi and Crystalizer for Audigy.

I said something like “the more people donate, the faster I’ll release”.

This was even worse, but I was so eager to modding that I didn’t think straight. I was hoping to get a X-Fi asap.

While I did ask for donations, once released, the downloads would be public.

I do recognize that I deserve some criticism for that.

To date, I’ve got $146, with amounts ranging from $1 to $50 (this value is still uncleared).

Reversing ALchemy was also wrong, I know. But I reiterate, what is the point of improving ALchemy and changing for it, when it requires an improved driver? It was my protest against Creative.

What Creative did wrong

- They publicly threatened me, just to show their arrogance.
If they had contacted me by e-mail or private message I would do the same thing (remove everything) and no one would know about their insatisfaction.

- Removed everything I posted in the forums, even if unrelated to the “forbidden” stuff.
If they can’t provide better drivers, let people make their own choice.

- They did not recognize my hard work.
I’ve been supporting about every Creative PCI soundcard, would even support USB devices if I had one of them.

To date, the Audigy Vista Support Pack was downloaded about 20,000 times.

The current situation

DDL encoder and Crystalizer were not publicly released.

I’ve deleted the P17 to Xtreme Audio mod and ALchemy from FileFront (where I store the files).

I’ve been told they will allow me to continue with my mods, except the “forbidden” ones.
I’m also allowed to receive donations.

You can download all daniel_k’s files from here!

Sound Blaster Audigy series Vista Support Pack - Feb 24 2008 by Daniel Kawakami

Warning: These drivers and softwares are unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs, Inc.

Use them at your own risk.

Sound Blaster Audigy series Vista Support Pack - Compiled on Friday, April 25, 2008 11:47 AM by Daniel Kawakami

 

Changelog:

* 02/24/2008:

- Finally fixed Speakers and CMSS setting synchronization, so Audio Center was removed.

- Completely uninstall the previous version, including all applications, before installing this one.

* 02/21/2008:

- Under certain circunstances, Speakers and CMSS setting are still not synchronized.

- Now includes the full featured Creative Graphic Equalizer, with Preset saving, see screenshot below.

* 02/19/2008:

- Changed the driver version from v2.15.0004B to v2.15.0004EQ (with Equalizer).

- Windows speaker settings are now synchronized with Audio Console / Speaker Settings speaker configuration.

- Enabling CMSS in Audio Console or EAX Settings now properly activate effects in Creative APO; Stereo focus slider does not work, so Audio Center is still required for that.

- Audigy 2 ZS Notebook is now properly supported / detected by Setup

- Completely uninstall the previous release before installing this one.

Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista (including Service Pack 1).

Supports all Audigy card with a Hardware EMU10K2 DSP chipset (OEM / Retail models):

- Audigy (including ES, MP3+, X-Gamer and Platinum)

- Audigy 2 (including Value, Platinum and Platinum Ex)

- Audigy 2 ZS (including Platinum and Platinum Pro)

- Audigy 4 (including SE and Pro)

- Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (PCMCIA) - Uses software MIDI emulation that does not (currently) work in Vista.

Does NOT support the following OEM / Retail models:

- Host / software-based cards including Audigy LS / SE / Value, Audigy 2 SE, Live! 24-bit)

- any external Audigy soundcards

Integrated setup program to install the following items:

- Audigy series driver 2.15.0004 (the latest X-Fi driver)
- APO Interface Module 1.30.00
- Audio Console 1.20.57 (including Graphic Equalizer)
- EAX Settings 1.10.05

- MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.76 (32-bit only)
- SoundFont Bank Manager 3.20.20
- Speaker Settings 2.00.60

Exclusive features in this unofficial driver:

- Equalizer

- CMSS and Stereo Surround with Stereo focus control

- Advanced EQ and Special FX available (see notes below)

- Dolby/DTS decoder (working on 32-bit/64-bit, requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)

- DVD Audio (32-bit only)

- Hardware MIDI synthesizer (includes 2Mb, 4Mb and 8Mb SoundFont banks)

- 4 Gb RAM approved (tested on Intel C2D E6400, Gigabyte 965P-DS3, 4Gb RAM)

Release notes / Known issues:

- Windows Security warning during driver installation

When prompted with “Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver software”, choose “Install this driver software anyway”.

- MediaSource DVD-Audio Player requires Audigy 2 or better

Do not install if you have the first Audigy model.

The application does not support Windows Vista 64-bit and setup will close with an error message.

- WaveRT Pull Mode enabled by default
Does not seem to cause any problems, but if you ever need to disable it, follow these steps:

- run the Registry Editor (Regedit) and open the following registry tree:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

- select Search (or press the F3 key) and type EnableWaveRTPullMode, deleting the value when found.

Restart the computer.

For more information on WaveRT, access:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/audio/wavertport.mspx

- Built-in Decoder (requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)

To use the built-in decoder, make sure it is enabled in Audio Console.

Select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of
your player and then configure the AC3/DTS filter to send the stream
through SPDIF.

When you restart your computer, the Tone settings (Bass and Treble) are not applied.

Just readjust one of the controls one time per boot.

- EAX effects, Advanced EQ and Special FX

EAX effects only work in 4.1, 5.1 e 7.1 speaker settings.

Advanced EQ and Special FX only work in 2.1 speakers or Headphone settings.

- EAX effects, Advanced EQ and Special FX (Using SPDIF Out)

All effects work properly, but when you restart your computer, the Tone settings (Bass and Treble) are not applied.
Just readjust one of the controls one time per boot.

- There is no sound in games with OpenAL support or using Creative ALchemy

Disable Advanced EQ and Special FX selecting “No effects” before running the game or program.

- Equalizer settings are lost

It happens after you run a game with OpenAL support or using Creative ALchemy. This issue also occurs in Windows XP, so it is not specific to this Windows Vista driver.

When you restart the computer or run Equalizer, the saved setting is automatically loaded.

- No sound when CMSS is enabled using Audio Console (4.1 or more speakers)

Just move the Stereo Focus slider and set it back to the desired position, even if it is 0 (zero). Once the setting is saved, works properly. This issue does not affect EAX Settings.

- Windows Vista MIDI Device Configuration Utility

Use this utility to change the MIDI playback device for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

The driver installer automatically selects the first hardware MIDI synthesizer found.

Note: The Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (PCMCIA) does not have a hardware synthesizer.

Some screenshots:

- Equalizer:

- Stereo Surround:

- Decoder:

- Mplayer Classic: select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of
your player

- Mplayer Classic: configure the AC3/DTS filter to send the stream through SPDIF

- Hardware MIDI:

 

Download from: FileFront 61.03 MB (63,991,397 Bytes)

 

All files are property of Creative Labs, Inc.

Message Edited by daniel_k on 03-26-2008 10:05 PM

Message Edited by Dale-CL on 03-28-2008 05:14 PM

 

 

Creative Labs Kill Third Party Development

Well it had to happen sooner or later. Creative have chosen to step in and prevent people from “modding” drivers. This link to Creative Forums contains confirmation that Creative own the rights to Audigy software - and they don’t want you to use it under Vista. Finally some sort of stance from them I can believe.

Daniel_K:
We are aware that you have been assisting owners of our Creative sound cards for some time now, by providing unofficial driver packages for Vista that deliver more of the original functionality that was found in the equivalent XP packages for those sound cards.  In principle we don’t have a problem with you helping users in this way, so long as they understand that any driver packages you supply are not supported by Creative.  Where we do have a problem is when technology and IP owned by Creative or other companies that Creative has licensed from, are made to run on other products for which they are not intended.  We took action to remove your thread because, like you, Creative and its technology partners think it is only fair to be compensated for goods and services.  The difference in this case is that we own the rights to the materials that you are distributing.  By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods.  When you solicit donations for providing packages like this, you are profiting from something that you do not own.  If we choose to develop and provide host-based processing features with certain sound cards and not others, that is a business decision that only we have the right to make.

Although you say you have discontinued your practice of distributing unauthorized software packages for Creative sound cards we have seen evidence of them elsewhere along with donation requests from you.  We also note in a recent post of yours on these forums, that you appear to be contemplating the release of further packages.  To be clear, we are asking you to respect our legal rights in this matter and cease all further unauthorized distribution of our technology and IP.  In addition we request that you observe our forum rules and respect our right to enforce those rules.  If you are in any doubt as to what we would consider unacceptable then please request clarification through one of our forum moderators before posting.

Phil O’Shaughnessy
VP Corporate Communications
Creative Labs Inc.

Forum Moderator
Creative Labs

Well that’s really sad if you ask me. Grab them while you can, while the links are still available. Many thanks to daniel_k for all his hard work. Creative Labs even grudge us modding old drivers it seems. Come on lets all return the favour and buy new Creative soundcards… NOT

Pffft

Audigy Series Vista Driver Pack 2

No More Goat Soup are pleased to announce the second improved and updated Vista driver install package. Before installing any new drivers or software, please take a moment to end your CTHELPER.exe process. Then download and install Guru3D - Driver Sweeper.

FnF has updated the latest Driver Sweeper release to include a whole bunch of Creative files & entries that cause drivers to fail to install, or not install correctly. Many, many common issues are resolved by simply running this BEFORE installing new drivers.

Audigy Series Vista Drivers

Release Notes

Version 2.15.0003

This setup file is intended for Windows Vista. The driver should support:

• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy including Platinum and Platinum eX series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 including Platinum, Platinum eX, and Value series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS including Platinum and Platinum Pro series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro and Sound Blaster Audigy 4
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA

Known issues:

• Applications from the original Sound Blaster Audigy XP Software CD will not work with this download. For compatible software, please Download Daniel Kawakami’s Unofficial SB Audigy Series Software CD for Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista (32/64-bit)
• Users are advised to use Audio Console included in this download to change speaker configurations.
• This driver does not support DirectSound®-based EAX games. (Download ALchemy)
• This driver does not support 6.1 speaker mode.

Requirements:

• Windows Vista 64-bit or Windows Vista 32-bit
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy audio devices listed above.

Release History:

Version 2.15.0003:
• Utilized Creative Audio Console™ from previous release.
• Replaced ctac32k.sys with the Dell driver counterpart to provide better functioning AC3 decoding support.
• Updated device drivers to SBXF_PCDVT_LB_2_15_0003 (6.0.1.1303) 20th September 2007
• Adds MIDI Playback
• Adds EAX® Effects
• Adds PCM stereo output through Optical Out
• Adds Line-in connectivity
• Adds SPDIF passthrough (supported on both Vista 32-bit and Vista 64-bit) *UNCONFIRMED / MAY NOT WORK*
• Adds Recording capabilities.

Version 2.15.0002:
• Utilized Creative Audio Console™ from previous official release
• Updated device drivers to SBXF_PCDVT_LB_2_15_0002 dated 10th May 2007
• Replaced ctac32k.sys and ctdvda2k.sys with the Dell driver counterparts to provide better functioning AC3 decoding support and SPDIF in features.
• Added “Goat_Says_Read.txt” to install package

Install Instructions

• Simply download from the mirror of you choice, self-extract files to destination of your choice and run the setup.exe contained in Vista Decoder 2_15_0003 folder.

Download

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 - Mirror 0 (added 14th November 2007) 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 - Mirror 1 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 - Mirror 2 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 - Mirror 3 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 - Mirror 4 19.27 MB

Guru3D - Driver Sweeper v1.0 Final Relased

No More Goat Soup Salutes FnF
FnF has updated the Guru3D - Driver Sweeper. This release includes many improvements on previous version and even a handy Desktop Icon Position Restorer. Best of all, he’s very kindly added a whole bunch of Creative Vista files/entries for us. Mainly the files that have caused many hours of stress for many people here….

This utility is awesome. It’s going to solve many install errors, and I find it an essential tool for Creative updates in Vista. I’ll also take a moment to add that the Guru3D.com community rules.

Go download it right away!

Guru3D - Driver Sweeper is a fast tool to remove driver leftovers from your system. It’s very important to remove your drivers on a proper way, because driver leftovers can cause problems like stability and startup problems. You can use it if you want to update/remove drivers from your system. The current supported drivers are NVIDIA (Display and Chipset), ATI (Display), Creative (Sound) Realtek (Sound), Ageia (PhysX) and Microsoft (Mouse).

More info can be found at the Guru3D Driver Sweeper homepage.

System requirements:
The Guru3D - Driver Sweeper is fully tested on Windows 2000, XP and Vista. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are supported.

New functions: 

• Desktop Icon Position Restorer. This can restore the positions of your desktop icons. Only 32-bit Windows versions are supported at the moment.

Updated: 

• Help is now opened maximized.   
• Improved Creative File Cleaning. Thanks to MrBozack.   
• Improved Creative Registry Cleaning. Thanks to MrBozack.   
• New icons on toolbar.   
• Added Spanish translation. Thanks to GalForD.   
• Added Portuguese translation. Thanks to AmnesyA.   
• Optimalizations.   
• Window positions from Logs, Backups, Options and Desktop Icon Restorer are now at the center of main. Special thanks to Na’Ryan and Mr. T. for this release! 

Download:

• Download (with installer) :
  http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1655
• Download (no installer, pure binaries) :
  http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1672

*UPDATED* Unofficial Audigy Series Software CD for Win2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista 32/64-bit

Daniel Kawakami has just posted an updated installation CD for Audigy Series on the Creative user forums. The CD has been compiled for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista 32bit and Windows Vista 64bit. He’s put a lot effort in, and produced a great multi language installer. I’ll try and arrange some alternative file hosting, but for now Daniel’s original links are located at the bottom. Enjoy!

Unofficial SB Audigy Series Software CD for

Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista (32/64-bit)

by Daniel Kawakami

Fully integrated and automated install, supporting Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), installs proper drivers. Includes all latest software available.

It is MANDATORY to disable UAC (User Account Control) before installing the package on Windows Vista (specially the 64-bit version).

Known “Windows Vista only” issues (so far):

- Diagnostics is incorrectly available in Setup under 64-bit. It does not work under that OS.

- “Speaker Settings” crashes during uninstall; just close the “Windows encountered a problem” and uninstall will proceed.

- Environment presets acts as Karaoke presets (effects are applied to Microphone).

- Advanced EQ and Special FX presets are available through “EAX Settings” application. You can edit and save the presets, but you can’t delete or edit them once saved.

Known issues:

- The Microphone controls may be disabled in Karaoke player. Just use the Windows Mixer and “EAX Settings” / “EAX Console” and to adjust the Microphone volume and effects, respectively.

- Do not install Entertainment Center unless you have one of the supported remote controls (RM-900, RM-1000, RM-1500, RM-1800), otherwise it is useless.

Hardware supported:

- Audigy
- Audigy 2
- Audigy 2 Value
- Audigy 2 ZS
- Audigy 2 ZS Notebook
- Audigy 4
- Audigy 4 Pro

Software for Windows Vista:

- AudioConsole
- EAX Settings
- SoundFont Bank Manager
- Speaker Settings
- Volume Panel
- Diagnostics
- DVD Audio Player (32-bit only, Audigy1 is not supported)
- Karaoke Player
- SB Performance Utility (Audigy2 ZS Notebook)
- Smart Recorder
- Wavestudio 7
- Vienna SoundFont Studio
- Media Toolbox
- Entertainment Center
- MediaSource 5
- Online Manual (PDF / CHM)
- MIDI Guide
- Drivers (working Advanced EQ presets)

Software for Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003:

- AudioConsole
- EAX Console
- SoundFont Bank Manager
- Speaker Settings
- THX Console
- Speaker Calibrator
- Surround Mixer
- Volume Panel
- Diagnostics
- DVD Audio Player (32-bit only, Audigy1 is not supported)
- Karaoke Player
- SB Performance Utility (Audigy2 ZS Notebook)
- Smart Recorder
- Wavestudio 7
- Vienna SoundFont Studio
- Media Toolbox
- Entertainment Center
- Sound Blaster Plug-in (Media Center only)
- MediaSource 5
- Online Manual (PDF / CHM)
- MIDI Guide
- Drivers

Revision 2 release notes:
- Removed “Diagnostics” from 64-bit systems.
- “Smart Recorder” for Windows XP now works with MP3 files and has a more friendly “My Recordings” interface.
- Includes “MP3 write” codec, the latest free version included in Audigy CDs, doesn’t work with WaveStudio 7, though.
- Updated the Windows Vista driver to ver 2.15.0002.2 (build 6.0.01.1302), latest version for X-Fi which also works with Audigy cards.
- Removed old WHQL driver and non-WHQL multilanguage driver to save space.
- “Creative Engine” installer and modules updated. Installers of applications using this engine were updated as well.
- Do NOT use this new CD to uninstall or add components of a previous installation, remove the old version completely before using this new version (see note above).
Source: Creative Labs Support Forum

Note the ISO has been split into pieces, which must be extracted together to form the ISO file using WinRAR and then burnt using something like PowerISO

Download UPDATED RELEASE With Bittorrent:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Torrent

Download UPDATED VERSION In 2 Parts:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 1
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 2

Download ORIGINAL RELEASE In 2 Parts:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 1
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 2

Download ORIGINAL RELEASE In 5 Parts:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 1
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 2
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 3
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 4
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 5

All credits go to Daniel Kawakami. He’s the man to thank for this one.
You can download all daniel_k’s files from right here!

How To Fully Uninstall Creative Vista Drivers & Solve Install Problems

I’ve recently been fiddling about with multiple Audigy Vista drivers. In the quest to find the best working driver, I was experiencing issues with left over files. I didn’t fancy reinstalling Vista every time I had a new driver to test, so I consulted the Creative oracle -Daniel Kawakami. (Tsk.. I’m such a name dropper.) We then looked at Daniel’s list and compared it to our list of problem files and entries. The amount of things needing deletion (before new driver install) was quite astounding. Creative really added a whole bunch of stuff to Vista drivers. There are 2 ways to remove these files; the easy way or the hard way.

…but before we start -lets take a moment to uninstall any Creative programs that are already installed.

Ok everything Creative in add remove programs uninstalled?

Download latest driver, extract the package using 7-zip or WinRAR, navigate to Drivers folder
Here you will find setup.exe, run it and select Uninstall and Delete all shared files below. After you’re done, restart.

Ok let’s try to get things really clean now.

The Easy Way: Guru3D Driver Sweeper
The automatic uninstall method is very easy, two steps in fact. First you need to kill the CTHELPER.EXE process in Window’s Task Manager if it’s running. It’s very important as files in use cannot be removed.

Next step, we need some help from the Gurus. FnF, from the Guru3D community, kindly added our lists of the problem files and registry entries into the latest version of Guru3D - Driver Sweeper.
Guru3D - Driver Sweeper is a fast tool to remove driver leftovers from your system. It’s very important to remove your drivers on a proper way, because driver leftovers can cause problems like stability and startup problems. You can use it if you want to update/remove drivers from your system. The current supported drivers are NVIDIA (Display and Chipset), ATI (Display), Creative (Sound) Realtek (Sound), Ageia (PhysX) and Microsoft (Mouse).

The Hard Way: Manual Removal Of Files
This Manual uninstall method is quite complex and isn’t suited for most users. Always backup your valuables, registry etc. If it goes wrong, don’t blame me. It’s worth noting too that UAC should be disabled, in case anyone out there is crazy enough to be using it. I don’t recommend this way -it’s really a last resort thing.

1) Firstly begin by totally uninstalling anything with the Creative tag on it.
Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Programs > Uninstall a program

2) Next we need to remove any tricky start up entries, again anything Creative must go.
Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Programs > Change startup programs

3) Now we need to remove Creative registry entries, and there’s quite a few.

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Creative Tech
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Creative Tech
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Creative Tech
• HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\Software\ASIO

4) Remove these files/folders:

• C:\Windows\System32\BMX*.rfx
• C:\Windows\System32\Data
• C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Data *(64-bit only)
• C:\Windows\{*.BAK
• C:\Windows\{*.CDF *Under Vista, requires additional actions to be successfully deleted, see below.
• C:\Windows\CTDCRES.DLL
• C:\Windows\System32\cttele32.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CTOSS2K.SYS
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CTSFM2K.SYS
• C:\Program Files\Creative (delete whole folder)
• C:\Windows\CTXFIRES.DLL
• C:\Windows\CTPRES.DLL
• C:\Windows\Updreg.EXE

To remove .CDF files, type the following two commands in the Command Prompt (requires Admin Privileges or UAC disabled)

takeown /f C:\Windows\*.CDF

and

cacls C:\Windows\*.CDF /G User:F

User is your username, which must have admin rights. Answer Y (yes) to confirm the changes.
Now close the prompt, open Windows Explorer and delete the files with filenames like these:
 

{00000005-00000000-00000002-00001102-00000004-20021102}.BAK
{00000005-00000000-00000002-00001102-00000004-20021102}.CDF

After all of this, restart and begin to install your software. I noticed that after using this method, my Creative driver packages would install much quicker. It even solved a few little bugs I was having. Bonus.

I’d like to say a big thanks to Daniel Kawakami and RejZoR for providing us with further information, thus allowing us to compile this list of problems better. Without their hard work and will to help, many of us would have no sound.

I’d also like to say a big thanks to FnF from the Guru3D.com community for adding the huge list of entries to the Guru3D.com Driver Sweeper, thus eliminating much work.

Praise them.

02/07/08 EDIT: Updated, adding instructions for official Creative uninstall tool. Thanks to Tarkan2467 and RejZoR from the Guru3D.com community for the improvements.

31/07/08 EDIT: Creative have changed the installer programs. Some files may not be present -there also will be some new ones…. Some of the advanced removal details may be out of date and inaccurate. We will add more info when available on the new uninstallers.

Playing DTS Audio Files In Windows Media Player

I’m a big fan of dts. I knew that I prefered my DVDs in dts, but I was amazed how nice dts audio files sounded for music through PowerDVD.

Sadly, I hate PowerDVD with a passion, WMP11 is my media player of choice for most formats because of the strong software links to Windows MediaCenter. I began searching for a way to play my beloved Nirvana - Nevermind [DTS] - 03 - Come As You Are [DTS].dts

I started my quest and tried dts codec after dts filter. I didn’t have much luck at first, but then I found something interesting by chance.

What I’m referring to is a rather cute little filter that provided perfect sound quality for me. It comes with an easy installer and works fantastic compared to the other filters I had struggled with. The filter I’m talking about is simply named dtsFilter. It allows analogue output or digital output where most dts filters only support SPDIF output. I have to say it’s very suited for Creative multi-speaker output.

“Great! Give me the download link!” I hear you cry, but first I need to get one thing clear. The program setup is in Korean!

Install Instructions:
• Firstly download and Install dtsFilter
• Next, visit Start Menu\All Programs\DTS+AC3 ÇÊÅÍ and run the red Icon labelled DTS+AC3 ÇÊÅÍ ¼³Á¤
• A dialogue box should appear called DTS+AC3 ÇÊÅÍ ¼³Á¤  Here you will find the speaker configuration device settings. I simply selected the option ?? 3?? + ?? 2?? + ????  (which I’m sure means 3 front, 2 rear and subwoofer).
• Now click ok and open your .dts files with Windows Media Player!

It’s also worth saying that if you have any dts audio files in .wav format you can simply rename them to .dts for full support too. It’s a shame that WMP’s music library doesn’t list .dts files, but it will detect playlists for the more crafty of us here.

Download:

dtsFilter.exe - Mirror 1
dtsFilter.exe - Mirror 2

Fantastic. Now all you need are some quality dts recordings! I’d heard Nevermind thousands of times, but with the dts version you can really hear sounds that were inaudible before. Experience the clarity for yourself today!

Audigy Series Vista Driver Pack

THESE DRIVERS ARE NOW OUT-DATED

 Download Latest Version Here

No More Goat Soup has recently posted about the various work-arounds and fixes for Audigy Series sound cards in Windows Vista. Today, I’m pleased to announce an improved Vista driver install package. Before installing any new drivers or software, please take a moment to download and install Guru3D - Driver Sweeper. FnF has updated this release to include a whole bunch of Creative files & entries that cause drivers to fail to install, or not install correctly. Many, many common issues are resolved by simply running this BEFORE installing new drivers.

Audigy Series Vista Drivers
Release Notes
Version 2.15.0002

This setup file is intended for Windows Vista. The driver should support:

• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy including Platinum and Platinum eX series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 including Platinum, Platinum eX, and Value series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS including Platinum and Platinum Pro series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro and Sound Blaster Audigy 4
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA

Known issues:

• Applications from the original Sound Blaster Audigy CD will not work with this download.
• Users are advised to use Audio Console included in this download to change speaker configurations.
• This driver does not support DirectSound®-based EAX games.
• This driver does not support 6.1 speaker mode.

SPDIF passthrough is supported on Vista 32-bit only.

Requirements:

• Windows Vista 64-bit or Windows Vista 32-bit
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy audio devices listed above.

Version History:

• Utilized Creative Audio Console™ from previous official release
• Updated device drivers to SBXF_PCDVT_LB_2_15_0002 dated 10th May 2007
• Replaced ctac32k.sys and ctdvda2k.sys with the Dell driver counterparts to provide better functioning AC3 decoding support and SPDIF in features.
• Added “Goat_Says_Read.txt” to install package

Install Instructions

• Simply download from the mirror of you choice, extract files to destination of your choice and run the setup.exe

Download Driver Pack 2 (Recommended)

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 - Mirror 1

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 - Mirror 2

Download First Release Driver Pack

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150002 - Mirror 1

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150002 - Mirror 2

Getting Your X-Fi or Audigy’s Dolby and DTS To Work In Windows Vista (SPDIF IN Working Too)

So hopefully you’ve all got your Audigy’s working in 5.1 now. If you haven’t you need to go back and read Working 5.1 Audigy Series Vista Drivers. As far as I know this fix will work on most Creative Labs sound cards in Vista 32bit and 64bit.

5.1 sound is great when it works. Mine worked for me playing DVD’s and playing games, but when I played multi channel mp3 through Windows Media Player the sound would be 2 channel only.

Creative Labs released a FAQ that said:

 ”Will decoding of Dolby Digital and DTS signals be supported in the future? If not, why not?
These functions are not supported at driver level in Windows Vista and going forward will be supported at application level by applications such as Power DVD or WinDVD.”

What a load of rubbish! Creative Labs removed Dolby decoding on their mainstream drivers, yet saw fit to leave the feature in Dell drivers!

Please Note: The follow method is the advanced manual method. I strongly suggest you try the recently added Audigy Series Vista Driver Installer Package before you try this manual install.

Working 5.1 Audigy Series Vista Drivers

My story begins in October 2006. Like many people around that time, I installed my brand new Windows Vista operating system. I was pleased to find that a lot of devices had fully working drivers and Vista was actually quite good contrary to everything I had read.

The only devices missing adequate drivers were my economy printer and my beloved Audigy 2 sound card. The printer driver was clearly incompatible but it cost less money than a black ink cartridge would. The Audigy however was strange. The beta driver wouldn’t stick to 5.1 speakers, wasn’t decoding Dolby Digital and failed the Vista speaker test. Not only that, but it seemed EAX hardware sound had been lost due to lack of DirectSound support in Windows Vista.

Bummer. I sat and waited for Vista to reach the stores and perhaps a good driver would appear. January 31st 2007 marked the date of Windows Vista launch. It also marked the date that Creative Labs chose for my beta driver to expire. I pulled the card out, removed all traces of Creative Labs software and used onboard sound instead.

Fortunately they released another driver a few weeks later so I plugged in my soundcard, and installed the new driver.

…did I say new driver? I meant the same driver, but with expiry date removed. The driver I’m taking about is the current driver version 2.12.0002. Again I had 2 speakers only, multichannel audio wasn’t working in the slightest. The microphone wouldn’t mute, the driver was seriously sabotaged to say the least. After much researching, I finally found that newer and better working drivers were available, yet Creative Labs chose not to release them!

Please Note: The follow method is the advanced manual method. I strongly suggest you try the recently added Audigy Series Vista Driver Installer Package before you try this manual install.