Soundblaster 128 and Direct X 8.1 problems...

Cuckoorex

Junior Member
Feb 10, 2002
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Hi...I'm running Windows 98 second edition on a Compaq 7000; I've got SoundBlaster PCI 128, GeForce 2 GTS, and everything seemed to be running fine until I installed Direct X 8 (and later, 8.1). I've made sure that I have all the latest drivers for the sound card and video card, but I still have problems. Here is what the problem is: Running certain games (Diablo 2, for example), the sound is distorted and has an echo-like quality to it. This problem shows up in other games as well, like Hidden and Dangerous and Unreal Tournament. Turning off sound acceleration via DXDIAG or control panel helps in some games to eliminate the problem, but other games can't start because they're trying to autodetect the sound card and failing.

I emailed support at Creative Labs, and they were the ones that suggested turning off the acceleration, but they had no other solutions; Compaq told me that the issue is that Direct X 8.1 does not work properly with the Win98 SoundBlaster 128 drivers, but they offered no solution either. Does anyone know if this is a problem that is being worked on by Creative Labs or Microsoft? Is there a way to fix this problem? Will I have to upgrade to Win XP because of Direct X 8.1's apparent incapatability with the Soundblaster 128 drivers for Win98?
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
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The easiest solution would be to get rid of the old S/B 128 card and get one that is DX 8.X compatible. Upgrading DX can often be a problem because new versions are not always backward compatible. DX has always been a problem because it is very difficult to uninstall a new version.