Hi,
I have just acquired a creative Audigy 2 Platinum Pro (Model SB0290) from a friend, however Windows can't detect it so I can't install the driver. In device manager a device called Multimedia Audio Controller shows up under Other Devices.
Thanks in advance!
If you haven't done it, disable the Integrated (on the motherboard) audio in the BIOS first. Two audio devices can conflict and cause problems.
The Multimedia Audio Controller is part of the sound device/drivers. When you get the SoundBlaster properly installed that should go away.
On the other hand, the old (and that is an old sound card) card may not work on your Win 7 system or may be defective. Actually, if you have a relatively new PC (or motherboard) the integrated sound on the motherboard is as good or may even be better than the old Audigy 2 sound card.
I disabled that yet it still didn't work. Windows still doesn't think it's attached
I would suspect that either its bad or not compatible. That is a relatively old sound card. I had one of those back in the Windows XP days.
Did you try reseating the card (with the PC powered off)?
I'm not sure what to expect from Windows.
Did you try installing the Creative drivers directly?
http://support.creative.com/Products...rodName=Audigy 2 Platinum&subCatName=Audigy&CatName=Sound+Blaster&VARSET=prodfaq:PRODFAQ_150,VARSET=CategoryID:1
(The card is supposed to be supported under Win7 X64.)
I recently installed a new power supply and a new Video card. The Video card is installed, as was the previous one, in the PCI Express 2 X16 slot. When I restarted my PC the Xi-Fi Extreme sound card was seen again. I reinstalled all the drivers for it etc and it worked for one whole day. Then the sound card disappeared again. In fact it disappeared in the middle of playing a video. This card is a fairly old one but why was it seen again after the other hardware upgrades and then lost again? I am running Windows 7 64bit.
Check the proper seating of the card. I had a similar problem with a sound card. After hours of figuring it out, I found the problem was alignment with the case. When I screwed the card in, it picked up the rear of the card just enough where Windows would see it sometimes but most of the time didn't. I loosened the bracket screws just a slight bit and never had another problem. YMMV and you may have a different problem.
Sorry to resurrect this thread, however, for the record it need be said. While these cards are getting very long in the tooth, it is still possible to get great value out of them as they are cheap as dirt on ebay. Creative no longer updates drivers for most if not all the Audigy 2, 1 and Live series of sound cards and none of which are officially supported in Windows 7 to my knowledge. There are however a couple of aftermarket drivers available such as the KXproject drivers that work remarkably well in 7.
That said, the nature of modern machines working with older hardware can be a bit more complex then just plug and play. If your on a modern motherboard, as am I, search in your BIOS under the PCI settings and look for a setting the likes of 'PCI BIOS priority' or something similar. If there is an option to prefer 'LEGACY BIOS' select it, save the setting and restart the machine.
My new PC refused to acknowledge my Live or Audigy cards until I changed this setting. Every BIOS will probably call it something a bit different but close enough for you to identify. Haven't tested this with any other 'Legacy' PCI devices but this will probably be the case for most others similarly.
Hope this helps someone.
Agreed, my Sabertooth declined to allow my awesome Audigity 2 ZS to work in the only PCI slot on the motherboard. Worked fine and dandy on a 2 year old Asus AM3 motherboard on 64 bit Windows 7. I was using legacy bios. Had to buy a new card (shame :) ). You sometimes have to retire perfectly good hardware as things move forward. Have placed the ZS sound card in an older motherboard and it is sounding great. They were designed for Windows XP.
Its rather disturbing that Creative Labs forces you to update from your otherwise perfectly good card by simply dropping driver support. In contrast you can get just about any legacy video card to work with at least basic functionality on modern systems. However this is usually due to Windows installing some generic driver for it. Doesn't seem to work like that with Creative sound cards. I'm sure third party drivers really get creatives goat and if so I'm glad.
Paid over 200 dollars for my Live! Platinum back in around 2000. I think the last driver update from Creative was in 2004. They actually dropped support even before certain issues were resolved running under XP. I remember in particular several titles from Ubisoft including Splinter Cell had horrible static. The only fix was to start using the KXproject drivers and I have never looked back since. Still using an Audigy under Window 7 today I have a bit of satisfaction knowing that when Creative tried to screw me, I turned around and screwed them in some small part.
Used to lover Creative cards however having experience Creative's policy of forced obsolescence I don't think I will ever buy anything from them ever again, if not just out of principle. The problem is, for most people if the sound card is working they don't see a need to upgrade to 24bit resolution or 192Kbps sampling rates. Creative worked themselves into a corner by making sound cards so good that from one generation to the next the improvements are so minimal for your average user upgrading is not justified.
I don't mind spending hard earned money if there is a good reason for it, however Creative's need to boost revenue alone is not a good enough reason if you ask me.
Basically all you wind up doing to paying for a new driver and as a side effect replace perfectly good hardware for little to no reason. The beautiful part is, now you can get some really great 'Legacy' sound cards on Ebay for under $20 buck that work great in Win 7 if you know what you are doing.
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