HL2 5.1 not working on nForce 4

PrayForDeath

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
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Yesterday I connected my 5.1 Klipsch speakers to my nForce4 system. I am using the on-board sound. And everything's working good. I did several tests on the speakers and they are working fine. I also tried several games and all worked on 5.1. But when I played Half life 2 and CSS and set the audio setting to 5.1, sound only came from the center speaker. None of the other speakers worked. And in CSS the sound not only comes from the center, but it also has an echo effect all the time. I don't understand why this happened. I have the latest drivers for the sound and chipset. What do you think?
 

PrayForDeath

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
3,478
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Any thoughts :(
I just tried Doom 3, and all the channels are working. In HL2, I tried other setups like 7.1 and 4 but all gave the same result. In 4 there was no sound at all because there's no center. I checked tweakguides to see if there are any commands that control this, but nothing helps me there. Do you know any website that might help me?
 

Cha0s

Banned
Nov 30, 2004
725
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check if nothing is muted, also check if you have latest directx.
i dunno what else
 

Keyvan

Senior member
Dec 13, 2004
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i get the same thing using my on-board intel sound (915 chipset).
i checked on hl2 forums, and it seems that this happens with some on-board sound cards and their solution is to just use 2.1 instead (which is ghetto imo)
 

LikeLinus

Lifer
Jul 25, 2001
11,518
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Originally posted by: Keyvan
i get the same thing using my on-board intel sound (915 chipset).
i checked on hl2 forums, and it seems that this happens with some on-board sound cards and their solution is to just use 2.1 instead (which is ghetto imo)

ghetto is using onboard sound :) Get a real soundcard for those speakers. anything else is a complete and utter waste
 

PrayForDeath

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
3,478
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Gosh, that really sucks. Are you sure there's no solution to this problem? I hope nVidia releases a driver or Valve releases a patch that fixes this problem because it really sucks to play HL2 on 2.1.
Oh, and you have no idea how mad I am because nVidia didn't include SoundStorm in nForce4. :|
 

imported_bum

Golden Member
Jan 15, 2005
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If even there isn't a fix, you should be jumping on a new soundcard if you want to enjoy those speakers.
 

PrayForDeath

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
3,478
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Originally posted by: bum
If even there isn't a fix, you should be jumping on a new soundcard if you want to enjoy those speakers.

Well, the thing is I already have an Audigy on my other machine. Both computers are connected to the same speakers, thanks to YOyoYOhowsDAjello for his suggestion on buying 3 splitters and 3 line-in cables. So I am not really thinkin' of buying another soundcard at the moment. I thought the onboard on nForce4 can hold me for a while. Right now, It's working fine on everything except HL2. I already finished the game a while a ago, and now I just play online, so I guess it's not a big deal. But I still prefer it to be 5.1.
 

PrayForDeath

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
3,478
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I GOT IT FIXED!!
Today I was thinking about the problem, and I searched on google for it, and I found a thread over at nforcers regarding another problem with HL2's sound. One guy suggested using the command "snd_digital_surround 1", I am not sure what it does. Anyway, I thought let's try it and see what it does for me. And it fixed it!! Now all the channels work on 5.1 and the audio test on CSS confirms that. I don't know how that happened since I am using analog cables.
Anyway, I thought I'd share my experiece for those who are interested.