UPDATE 3/25/05 - Installed new sound card (audigy 2 zs) and now I get random reboots/crashes/freezing

[HonkeyDonk]

Here's the scoop.

I bought a brand new Audigy 2 zs and installed it in my computer. It installed fine, drivers loaded, software installed no problems. However, when I play games or have intensive multitasking on the desktop, I will get some random reboots. My comp was solid before I installed the new sound card.

Here's my setup:

? Soyo P41 Fire Dragon w/ latest BIOS (it's over 2 yrs old tho)
? Pentium 4 1.6a northwood (not overclocked, idle is 48*C from boot up post, and god knows how hot while active)
? 1GB Crucial PC2100 DDR
? ATI 9600XT
? 120GB WD HD, 160GB Maxtor HD
? Creative Labs Audigy 2 Zs
? Lite-On DVD-Rom
? Samsung CD-RW
? Floppy Drive
? 3 extra fans
? 1-12" blue cold cathode light
? 350 watt power supply (don't know brand)

So, the only thing I changed was adding the sound card. I have been using On-Board sound before the audigy 2. I even tried different PCI slots and still has same problem.

I haven't tried taking the sound card out and going back to my onboard yet. But I'm sure that would be one way of fixing it. But my question is how to get my comp stable WITH the new audigy 2 zs.

Do you think this could be a power supply problem? The random reboots/crashes/freezes...perhaps not enough of a stable power supply? But 350watts should be plenty for what I got.

Bad RAM? Hmm..i don't know about that, the crucial has worked solidly before, no problems w/ it ever.

Maybe my CPU is getting to hot? Possibly. I am going to put a new layer of arctic silver 5 and switch over to rounded IDE cables for better airflow, but somehow, I don't think that's the problem.

I'm still thinking it's the PSU, but I wanted to get y'alls opinion. Time for a new powersupply? If so, which one for ~$35?

TIA.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: 3/25/2005

Ok, so I did a fresh install of win xp, reformatted and everything. Installed the audigy 2 zs drivers and it went fine. No problems whatsoever in winxp.

However, everytime I play a computer game (wc3 for example) I will get some weird audio artifacts every few minutes or so....then maybe about 10-15 min of playing, my comp freezes up and the sound goes haywire.

What the crap is going on? It works fine in windows, but any game I play it locks up!?

I am using the CD installation that came w/ the audigy. You don't think it could be a power supply issue do you?

This is making me really frustrated. I might just return the card and get a new one.

Thanks again to those that have tried to help me out already!

 

[ohnnyj]

Did you disable the onboard audio?

And is your CPU really that hot? My FX55 runs at 41C idle.

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: ohnnyj
Did you disable the onboard audio?

And is your CPU really that hot? My FX55 runs at 41C idle.

yes, disabled onboard sound and uninstalled those drivers.

yeah my cpu runs that hot...at least the mobo says so.

But I read that cpu temps of 40-60*C are normal..soo i dunno.

 

[ohnnyj]

Do you have another PSU to test with?

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: ohnnyj
Do you have another PSU to test with?

Sorta...i could use my dad's computer's psu, but i think that one would be even worse.

 

[daniel49]

did you also install creative software?
check in event viewer are you getting mass dcom errors?

I had the errors and rebooting also with the audigy2 zs
only thing that worked was uninstall all drivers and software that came with it. download drivers only from web and install those. ( do not use thier update feature and do not install over the top neither one of thes worked for me.) card started behaving for me after that.

no 2 download on this page
http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/download.asp

here are soundblasters directions for uninstalling thier drivers
http://dmzweb3.europe.creative.com/SRVS...lish,VARSET=ws:http://us.creative.com/

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: daniel49
did you also install creative software?
check in event viewer are you getting mass dcom errors?

I had the errors and rebooting also with the audigy2 zs
only thing that worked was uninstall all drivers and software that came with it. download drivers only from web and install those. ( do not use thier update feature and do not install over the top neither one of thes worked for me.) card started behaving for me after that.

no 2 download on this page
http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/download.asp

here are soundblasters directions for uninstalling thier drivers
http://dmzweb3.europe.creative.com/SRVS...lish,VARSET=ws:http://us.creative.com/

Yeah, I am using the creative labs drivers that came w/ my audigy 2 zs.

I'm not familiar with this event viewer thingy. Is that a program in the creative software that shows what errors it gets?

One thing I did do that I should mention. I installed the drivers/software from the CD that came w/ my audigy 2 zs. Then it was giving me some weird problems like not having 5.1 when supposed to. So I d/led from creative's website for their new drivers and instaleld those over the old ones. Perhaps I should completely uninstall the drivers/software and reinstall.

 

[HonkeyDonk]

I should also mention that I get weird sound artifacts when I play games. Like in warcraft 3, i'll get these static like echo/hisses every now and then....then after about 5 of those over the span of 15 min, the game freezes.

Same thing w/ KOTOR 2 and CS:S, except different sounds for the aritfacts.

 

[ohnnyj]

For starters, yes uninstall all the drivers for the card, follow the directions from the creative labs site and get rid of every trace of the drivers. Then only install the drivers from the website as daniel said.

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk
I'm not familiar with this event viewer thingy. Is that a program in the creative software that shows what errors it gets?

If you right-click on My Computer and go to Manage then expand the Event Viewer. There are separate categories for different aspect of system operations such as Application, Security, and System. I check the Application and System ones periodically for any problems that may pop up that you wouldn't otherwise know about, it is a very handy diagnosis tool and system monitor. You can also get there by going to the Control Panel then Administrative Tools then click on the Event Viewer icon.

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: ohnnyj
For starters, yes uninstall all the drivers for the card, follow the directions from the creative labs site and get rid of every trace of the drivers. Then only install the drivers from the website as daniel said.

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk
I'm not familiar with this event viewer thingy. Is that a program in the creative software that shows what errors it gets?

If you right-click on My Computer and go to Manage then expand the Event Viewer. There are separate categories for different aspect of system operations such as Application, Security, and System. I check the Application and System ones periodically for any problems that may pop up that you wouldn't otherwise know about, it is a very handy diagnosis tool and system monitor. You can also get there by going to the Control Panel then Administrative Tools then click on the Event Viewer icon.

ah, very cool, thanks!

 

[ohnnyj]

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk

Originally posted by: ohnnyj
For starters, yes uninstall all the drivers for the card, follow the directions from the creative labs site and get rid of every trace of the drivers. Then only install the drivers from the website as daniel said.

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk
I'm not familiar with this event viewer thingy. Is that a program in the creative software that shows what errors it gets?

If you right-click on My Computer and go to Manage then expand the Event Viewer. There are separate categories for different aspect of system operations such as Application, Security, and System. I check the Application and System ones periodically for any problems that may pop up that you wouldn't otherwise know about, it is a very handy diagnosis tool and system monitor. You can also get there by going to the Control Panel then Administrative Tools then click on the Event Viewer icon.

ah, very cool, thanks!

NP. Let us know how things turn out.

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: ohnnyj

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk

Originally posted by: ohnnyj
For starters, yes uninstall all the drivers for the card, follow the directions from the creative labs site and get rid of every trace of the drivers. Then only install the drivers from the website as daniel said.

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk
I'm not familiar with this event viewer thingy. Is that a program in the creative software that shows what errors it gets?

If you right-click on My Computer and go to Manage then expand the Event Viewer. There are separate categories for different aspect of system operations such as Application, Security, and System. I check the Application and System ones periodically for any problems that may pop up that you wouldn't otherwise know about, it is a very handy diagnosis tool and system monitor. You can also get there by going to the Control Panel then Administrative Tools then click on the Event Viewer icon.

ah, very cool, thanks!

NP. Let us know how things turn out.

definitely will....right now i'm doing a lot of data transfer/reformatting b/c i got a new 300gb hd...so it might be a while before i do anything heh.

 

[ohnnyj]

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk

Originally posted by: ohnnyj

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk

Originally posted by: ohnnyj
For starters, yes uninstall all the drivers for the card, follow the directions from the creative labs site and get rid of every trace of the drivers. Then only install the drivers from the website as daniel said.

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk
I'm not familiar with this event viewer thingy. Is that a program in the creative software that shows what errors it gets?

If you right-click on My Computer and go to Manage then expand the Event Viewer. There are separate categories for different aspect of system operations such as Application, Security, and System. I check the Application and System ones periodically for any problems that may pop up that you wouldn't otherwise know about, it is a very handy diagnosis tool and system monitor. You can also get there by going to the Control Panel then Administrative Tools then click on the Event Viewer icon.

ah, very cool, thanks!

NP. Let us know how things turn out.

definitely will....right now i'm doing a lot of data transfer/reformatting b/c i got a new 300gb hd...so it might be a while before i do anything heh.

I know what you mean, I have a 400GB Seagate that took me almost 2 hours to format.

 

[HonkeyDonk]

So update:

Still freezing But it seems to only happen when I'm playing games like warcraft 3, KOTOR 2, or CS:S.

I did the whole uninstall per creative's instructions and reinstalled but that didn't seem to work.

I guess I will have to do a reformat, and if that doesn't work, I'm gonna buy a new Power Supply. I'm so confused why it's doing this....maybe my comp just doesn't like the audigy 2 zs.

 

[ohnnyj]

Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk
Here's the scoop.

I bought a brand new Audigy 2 zs and installed it in my computer. It installed fine, drivers loaded, software installed no problems. However, when I play games or have intensive multitasking on the desktop, I will get some random reboots. My comp was solid before I installed the new sound card.

Here's my setup:

? Soyo P41 Fire Dragon w/ latest BIOS (it's over 2 yrs old tho)
? Pentium 4 1.6a northwood (not overclocked, idle is 48*C from boot up post, and god knows how hot while active)
? 1GB Crucial PC2100 DDR
? ATI 9600XT
? 120GB WD HD, 160GB Maxtor HD
? Creative Labs Audigy 2 Zs
? Lite-On DVD-Rom
? Samsung CD-RW
? Floppy Drive
? 3 extra fans
? 1-12" blue cold cathode light
? 350 watt power supply (don't know brand)

So, the only thing I changed was adding the sound card. I have been using On-Board sound before the audigy 2. I even tried different PCI slots and still has same problem.

I haven't tried taking the sound card out and going back to my onboard yet. But I'm sure that would be one way of fixing it. But my question is how to get my comp stable WITH the new audigy 2 zs.

Do you think this could be a power supply problem? The random reboots/crashes/freezes...perhaps not enough of a stable power supply? But 350watts should be plenty for what I got.

Bad RAM? Hmm..i don't know about that, the crucial has worked solidly before, no problems w/ it ever.

Maybe my CPU is getting to hot? Possibly. I am going to put a new layer of arctic silver 5 and switch over to rounded IDE cables for better airflow, but somehow, I don't think that's the problem.

I'm still thinking it's the PSU, but I wanted to get y'alls opinion. Time for a new powersupply? If so, which one for ~$35?

TIA.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: 3/25/2005

Ok, so I did a fresh install of win xp, reformatted and everything. Installed the audigy 2 zs drivers and it went fine. No problems whatsoever in winxp.

However, everytime I play a computer game (wc3 for example) I will get some weird audio artifacts every few minutes or so....then maybe about 10-15 min of playing, my comp freezes up and the sound goes haywire.

What the crap is going on? It works fine in windows, but any game I play it locks up!?

I am using the CD installation that came w/ the audigy. You don't think it could be a power supply issue do you?

This is making me really frustrated. I might just return the card and get a new one.

Thanks again to those that have tried to help me out already!

You should have bypassed the cd and used the latest drivers from the internet (that is if there are newer ones).