I keep crashing with sound loop

UnhappyG · 01-25-2005, 02:09 AM

I finally worked up the courage to build the following:

ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard
AMD64 3500 socket 939
1 GB corsair RAM
160 GB Western Digital SATA memory
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB
Audigy2 ZS soundcard
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case with Thermaltake 480W power supply

Everything went ok, other than a problem loading the SATA drivers (solved thanks to Drpino on this site).

The rig is ok, except when I attempt to play games like Half Life 2, Far Cry etc. As this is why I bulit the PC it is a considerable problem.

Basically the games begin and then after a variable period, the screen goes black and a permanent looping sound can be heard. I have to switch of the power source to reboot.

I've looked at Creative's own website and there appears to be a thread a mile long describing the same thing. All blaming the soundcard. This is supported by threads on Half Life 2's own web site.

There have been a number of suggested sloutions including:

1) Move soundcard

2) Disable soundcard

3) Remove soundcard

4) Update drivers

5) Switch off EAX

6) Increase power supply

7) Update drivers

8) Update motherboard BIOS

9) Change IRQ number allocation

I've done most of the above, but am a little confused by the last two options.
With regard to updating the BIOS I've had a look at the ASUS web site and this soundcard problem isn't mentioned. I assume I determine by current BIOS via DXDIAG. If so, do I just load the latest BIOS or everyone since that date ??

Also on my BIOS the allocation of IRQ numbers appears to be set to auto and I wouldn't know how to specify each item.

Has anyone got any advice or help as I am being drawn towards solution number 3) REMOVE THE SOUNDCARD and just play with onboard sound. Fortunately I kept my old Dell, which although it used to struggle with Half Life 2, it never crashed.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem, or do you have any any further advice.

Hoping for a miracle.

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FightingChance · 01-25-2005, 05:12 AM

Hmm. . . there could be many causes to this, but you're doing a good job so far of elminating possibilities.

The only real way of finding out what BIOS revision you have that I've found is to see what's up on the screen before Windows starts to load, when the system does it's self checks and RAM count. This doesn't last long I know, but it's really the only reliable way I've found. Once you have that, you can check it against the BIOS's that have been released since on Asus's website.

If I remember correctly, not only is there probably a new BIOS, but I think there's two different revisions of your motherboard out there? Correct me if I'm wrong. If there are two, then there will be two different BIOS ladders out there, one for each, so make sure you know which revision your motherboard is (it can be hard to figure this out via software, so what I like to do is to look on the board itself, usually near the name or in between the PCI slots in small print is the revision number)

I think that a BIOS update could indeed be what the doctor ordered to help remedy this (don't worry about IRQ manual assignment, you can leave it at auto). Updating the BIOS is pretty easy, but it can be daunting if you've never done it before, plus Asus leaves a little to be desired when it comes to documentation about this. Anyway, find out what BIOS revision and what revision your motherboard is and post back here so we can see what to do next.

UnhappyG · 01-25-2005, 05:53 AM

Thanks for responding I was beginning to think that no one cared !!

I've removed the sound card and so far Half Life 2 plays with no crash, so it definitely looks as though it was responsible.

As for my motherboard it is the Asus A8V Deluxe skt 939 K8T800PR. Looking at the ASUS website I think this is the only version.

As for my BIOS I believe it is: 09/15/04 12:37:03 ver 08.00.09.

Hope it means something to you, because it makes no sense to me.

Thanks

CountDooku23 · 01-25-2005, 06:04 AM

Did you disable the onboard sound in the BIOS while using your creative card? I heard that leaving it on sometimes causes problems. Also are you using the drivers provided by Creative on the disk?

You could try getting the newest non beta drivers and see if they work for you.

UnhappyG · 01-25-2005, 06:16 AM

Thanks

I did disable the onboard sound, but unfortunately it didn't help.

Sorry, what do you mean by 'Beta Drivers' and where would I get them ??

Cheers

FightingChance · 01-25-2005, 06:32 AM

Mmm. . . that looks like the BIOS revision, but it's actually not. I need what's printed at the black and white startup screen before the Windows XP logo pops up. (It'll be something like BIOS rev 1007, BIOS rev 1008, etc.)

CountDooku23 · 01-25-2005, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnhappyG

Thanks

I did disable the onboard sound, but unfortunately it didn't help.

Sorry, what do you mean by 'Beta Drivers' and where would I get them ??

Cheers

What i meant is use a driver set that is NOT Beta. Beta is a driver in testing. Heres a link.

http://www.asus.com/support/download...e=A8V%20Deluxe

Here you see the 1009 bios. It is not beta................ betas have #s like 1009.003 or 1007.004

Also on your motherboard disk there was Asus Update software that can update the bios in windows for you. The other way is in dos, but I zzzont like that. Anyways its easy fo sheezy to do in windows with the software. You might have to load your defaults or whatever you like in the bios after you reboot though. Peace

Emblurr · 01-25-2005, 07:19 AM

Yeah i've got the same problem and I have the same setup as you almost

asus a8v deluxe
audigy 2
ati 9800 pro
1gig corsair ram
numerous harddrives etc and 500w powersupply
1009 bios
I can't make it go away either..crashes in half life 2 and other games. with the infamous squeal of death. Unless creative or asus fix it. Might just have to bite the bullet and get another piece of hardware....soundcard probably.

FinFET · 01-25-2005, 07:56 AM

For what it's worth I experienced something similar with my recent build and it had to do with the NX Bit protection being enabled, that comes with SP2.

From what I read it was mostly prevelent on Nvidia Based VC's with certain driver versions, but I fixed the problem by editing my boot.ini file and changing the line that says

"/noexecute=Optin" to "/noexecute=AlwaysOff"

Alt+tab was almost a sure fire way for me to get the black screen, sound loop then BSOD error.

UnhappyG · 01-25-2005, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emblurr

Yeah i've got the same problem and I have the same setup as you almost

asus a8v deluxe
audigy 2
ati 9800 pro
1gig corsair ram
numerous harddrives etc and 500w powersupply
1009 bios
I can't make it go away either..crashes in half life 2 and other games. with the infamous squeal of death. Unless creative or asus fix it. Might just have to bite the bullet and get another piece of hardware....soundcard probably.

Thanks. I agree.

I've looked at the thread on the Creative website and I really don't have the patience or the technical ability to try all the things they suggest. Basically, Creative need to design a driver to alleviate the problem, but they don't seem to be in an hurry to do so.

I was considering getting some other hardware including the Phillips external sound card, which has received some favourable reviews and just plugs into a USB slot without the aggravation. However, I think when the Creative kit works it is the best, so it seems a shame to settle for something inferior.

:

FightingChance · 01-25-2005, 08:39 AM

In my mind, it's the creative cards that are inferior, for reasons listed.

Via Envy24HT and HT-S soundcards a nice alternative. You could also use your onboard, though Realtek is the poorest of the onboard audio makers.

UnhappyG · 01-25-2005, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinFET

For what it's worth I experienced something similar with my recent build and it had to do with the NX Bit protection being enabled, that comes with SP2.

From what I read it was mostly prevelent on Nvidia Based VC's with certain driver versions, but I fixed the problem by editing my boot.ini file and changing the line that says

"/noexecute=Optin" to "/noexecute=AlwaysOff"

Alt+tab was almost a sure fire way for me to get the black screen, sound loop then BSOD error.

Thanks for the advice, but without you travelling a few thousand miles to do it for me I really don't have the technical knowledge or confidence to risk altering anything. With my luck the sound would start working just before the fire started !!!

I think I really am looking for a miracle or at least something I could just download and do nothing other than press 'run' and/or 'open' to get it installed. I know I should feel embarrassed by my laziness and ignorance, but I'm past caring.

Thanks for the advice anyway, it is appreciated and nice to know that I'm not alone.

Regards

UnhappyG · 01-25-2005, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FightingChance

In my mind, it's the creative cards that are inferior, for reasons listed.

Via Envy24HT and HT-S soundcards a nice alternative. You could also use your onboard, though Realtek is the poorest of the onboard audio makers.

I've actually been enjoying the Realtek onboard experienceas it doesn't make my screen go black or deafen me !! But I take your point.

Have you tried the other cards yourself and are they similar in price to the Creative ??

Thanks

MarkP · 01-25-2005, 10:19 AM

Did you install win xp sp2?If so Make sure you are using via's latest chipset drivers the 4.55's.If not then you are probably using via's gart driver and not microsofts.Since sp2 microsoft has developed its own unified gart driver and using via's with sp2 can cause crashs sound loops that sort of thing.

UnhappyG · 01-25-2005, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkP

Did you install win xp sp2?If so Make sure you are using via's latest chipset drivers the 4.55's.If not then you are probably using via's gart driver and not microsofts.Since sp2 microsoft has developed its own unified gart driver and using via's with sp2 can cause crashs sound loops that sort of thing.

Thanks MarkP

This is the first time I've heard this suggestion. Where would I find this driver and how would I know, which one I was currently running ??

Ta

01-25-2005, 02:09 AM	#1
UnhappyG Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 20	I keep crashing with sound loop I finally worked up the courage to build the following: ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard AMD64 3500 socket 939 1 GB corsair RAM 160 GB Western Digital SATA memory ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB Audigy2 ZS soundcard Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case with Thermaltake 480W power supply Everything went ok, other than a problem loading the SATA drivers (solved thanks to Drpino on this site). The rig is ok, except when I attempt to play games like Half Life 2, Far Cry etc. As this is why I bulit the PC it is a considerable problem. Basically the games begin and then after a variable period, the screen goes black and a permanent looping sound can be heard. I have to switch of the power source to reboot. I've looked at Creative's own website and there appears to be a thread a mile long describing the same thing. All blaming the soundcard. This is supported by threads on Half Life 2's own web site. There have been a number of suggested sloutions including: 1) Move soundcard 2) Disable soundcard 3) Remove soundcard 4) Update drivers 5) Switch off EAX 6) Increase power supply 7) Update drivers 8) Update motherboard BIOS 9) Change IRQ number allocation I've done most of the above, but am a little confused by the last two options. With regard to updating the BIOS I've had a look at the ASUS web site and this soundcard problem isn't mentioned. I assume I determine by current BIOS via DXDIAG. If so, do I just load the latest BIOS or everyone since that date ?? Also on my BIOS the allocation of IRQ numbers appears to be set to auto and I wouldn't know how to specify each item. Has anyone got any advice or help as I am being drawn towards solution number 3) REMOVE THE SOUNDCARD and just play with onboard sound. Fortunately I kept my old Dell, which although it used to struggle with Half Life 2, it never crashed. Has anyone experienced a similar problem, or do you have any any further advice. Hoping for a miracle.
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 05:12 AM	#2
FightingChance Yes, I am better than you Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 4,068	Hmm. . . there could be many causes to this, but you're doing a good job so far of elminating possibilities. The only real way of finding out what BIOS revision you have that I've found is to see what's up on the screen before Windows starts to load, when the system does it's self checks and RAM count. This doesn't last long I know, but it's really the only reliable way I've found. Once you have that, you can check it against the BIOS's that have been released since on Asus's website. If I remember correctly, not only is there probably a new BIOS, but I think there's two different revisions of your motherboard out there? Correct me if I'm wrong. If there are two, then there will be two different BIOS ladders out there, one for each, so make sure you know which revision your motherboard is (it can be hard to figure this out via software, so what I like to do is to look on the board itself, usually near the name or in between the PCI slots in small print is the revision number) I think that a BIOS update could indeed be what the doctor ordered to help remedy this (don't worry about IRQ manual assignment, you can leave it at auto). Updating the BIOS is pretty easy, but it can be daunting if you've never done it before, plus Asus leaves a little to be desired when it comes to documentation about this. Anyway, find out what BIOS revision and what revision your motherboard is and post back here so we can see what to do next.
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 05:53 AM	#3
UnhappyG Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 20	Update Thanks for responding I was beginning to think that no one cared !! I've removed the sound card and so far Half Life 2 plays with no crash, so it definitely looks as though it was responsible. As for my motherboard it is the Asus A8V Deluxe skt 939 K8T800PR. Looking at the ASUS website I think this is the only version. As for my BIOS I believe it is: 09/15/04 12:37:03 ver 08.00.09. Hope it means something to you, because it makes no sense to me. Thanks
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 06:04 AM	#4
CountDooku23 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Arlington Virginia Posts: 88	Did you disable the onboard sound in the BIOS while using your creative card? I heard that leaving it on sometimes causes problems. Also are you using the drivers provided by Creative on the disk? You could try getting the newest non beta drivers and see if they work for you.
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 06:16 AM	#5
UnhappyG Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 20	Thanks Thanks I did disable the onboard sound, but unfortunately it didn't help. Sorry, what do you mean by 'Beta Drivers' and where would I get them ?? Cheers
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 06:32 AM	#6
FightingChance Yes, I am better than you Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 4,068	Mmm. . . that looks like the BIOS revision, but it's actually not. I need what's printed at the black and white startup screen before the Windows XP logo pops up. (It'll be something like BIOS rev 1007, BIOS rev 1008, etc.)
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 07:19 AM	#8
Emblurr Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7	Yeah i've got the same problem and I have the same setup as you almost asus a8v deluxe audigy 2 ati 9800 pro 1gig corsair ram numerous harddrives etc and 500w powersupply 1009 bios I can't make it go away either..crashes in half life 2 and other games. with the infamous squeal of death. Unless creative or asus fix it. Might just have to bite the bullet and get another piece of hardware....soundcard probably.
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 07:56 AM	#9
FinFET Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Regina, Saskatchewan Posts: 106	For what it's worth I experienced something similar with my recent build and it had to do with the NX Bit protection being enabled, that comes with SP2. From what I read it was mostly prevelent on Nvidia Based VC's with certain driver versions, but I fixed the problem by editing my boot.ini file and changing the line that says "/noexecute=Optin" to "/noexecute=AlwaysOff" Alt+tab was almost a sure fire way for me to get the black screen, sound loop then BSOD error. __________________
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 08:39 AM	#11
FightingChance Yes, I am better than you Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 4,068	In my mind, it's the creative cards that are inferior, for reasons listed. Via Envy24HT and HT-S soundcards a nice alternative. You could also use your onboard, though Realtek is the poorest of the onboard audio makers.
(Offline)

01-25-2005, 10:19 AM	#14
MarkP Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 9	Did you install win xp sp2?If so Make sure you are using via's latest chipset drivers the 4.55's.If not then you are probably using via's gart driver and not microsofts.Since sp2 microsoft has developed its own unified gart driver and using via's with sp2 can cause crashs sound loops that sort of thing.
(Offline)

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