Solved Sound Card stops Windows from starting

[warfighter67]

Okay so recently I did a fresh install of Windows 7 x64 on a SSD, and I have (more like had) a Creative X-Fi Titanium. It was working fine until I decided to install my old copy of FL Studio 10. I went into the Audio settings and set FL Studio to use Creative ASIO, at which point my whole PC locked up for a good 30 seconds. Afterwards, my sound didn't work at all. I decided to restart my PC to possibly solve the issue, and when it restarted and got to "Starting Windows", it just froze there. I waited a good 2-3 minutes (it usually takes less than 3 seconds) and nothing happened, so I did a hard shutdown and restart and it still wouldn't move. I took the sound card out and used onboard audio and Windows started fine. So I turned off, put the card back in, and then had the same issue. What happened?!

TL;DR: Set FL Studio to use Creative ASIO on my X-Fi Titanium and that screwed up my sound and prevented Windows from starting after a restart.

 

[fireberd]

I have a studio using Sonar X3. I had an Xfi Titanium (the one with the separate front I/O console) and it caused conflicts within Sonar with my recording interface unit (a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 at the time). I had to uninstall the SoundBlaster sound card and use my on-board that did not have an ASIO driver for my regular PC audio. (I now have a Roland Octa-Capture for my recording interface unit).

Do you have the on-board audio disabled in the BIOS when you are trying to use the SoundBlaster? If not, give that a try.

You could also try a startup repair, with the SoundBlaster installed and see if that helps. Here is how to run startup repair from Microsoft CLICK ME

 

[warfighter67]

I have a studio using Sonar X3. I had an Xfi Titanium (the one with the separate front I/O console) and it caused conflicts within Sonar with my recording interface unit (a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 at the time). I had to uninstall the SoundBlaster sound card and use my on-board that did not have an ASIO driver for my regular PC audio. (I now have a Roland Octa-Capture for my recording interface unit).

Do you have the on-board audio disabled in the BIOS when you are trying to use the SoundBlaster? If not, give that a try.

You could also try a startup repair, with the SoundBlaster installed and see if that helps. Here is how to run startup repair from Microsoft CLICK ME

Thank you for the possible options. I will disable the on board audio next time I install the sound card.

For good measure, I'm going to delete everything Creative related and do a fresh driver install as well. I will let you know how it goes

 

[warfighter67]

Disabling onboard (Realtek) HD audio did not work. I set FL Studio's Audio settings to use Creative ASIO and it froze up on me again but eventually set it, but my sound once again did not work. I restarted my PC and opened up FL Studio and it locked up on the logo splash screen for a good 15 minutes before I gave up and hard-rebooted. Startup Repair also found nothing, but the good news is that if I am more patient, it just takes a few minutes to start up if that ever happens again

Any reason Creative ASIO locks me up like that?

 

[fireberd]

Maybe its a problem or audio configuration issue in FL Studio? Does the SoundBlaster audio work OK in other PC applications?

 

[warfighter67]

Maybe its a problem or audio configuration issue in FL Studio? Does the SoundBlaster audio work OK in other PC applications?

Yes it works for other applications but after doing some googling, apparently Creative ASIO is a pretty shoddy driver and it's hit or miss whether it works for your setup or not, and I'm guessing my SSD doesn't like Creative (Other people have complained about SSDs before)

 

[fireberd]

I don't think its the SSD (I have two SSD's, one for Win 7 and one for Win 8). I've had my SoundBlaster installed, temporarily, in my Win 7 system and had no problems.

Although I don't like it and its hit or miss you can try the ASIO4ALL driver, or if the SoundBlaster has a WDM driver use that in FL Studio and see if it works.

 

[warfighter67]

I don't think its the SSD (I have two SSD's, one for Win 7 and one for Win 8). I've had my SoundBlaster installed, temporarily, in my Win 7 system and had no problems.

Although I don't like it and its hit or miss you can try the ASIO4ALL driver, or if the SoundBlaster has a WDM driver use that in FL Studio and see if it works.

Excuse my Ignorance but what's a WDM driver? I do plan on using ASIO4all but it's annoying that I can't hear anything else while composing (sometimes I like to open songs and listen while in my DAW to get on the spot inspiration, and other times I am in Skype calls with my friends, etc)

 

[fireberd]

In Sonar, I have the option of using ASIO or WDM/KS driver. My Roland Octa Capture and my MAudio Fastrack Ultra 8R both have ASIO and WDM drivers.

Windows Driver Model (WDM) (Windows Drivers)

 

[warfighter67]

In Sonar, I have the option of using ASIO or WDM/KS driver. My Roland Octa Capture and my MAudio Fastrack Ultra 8R both have ASIO and WDM drivers.

Windows Driver Model (WDM) (Windows Drivers)

Hmm, sounds interesting. Are there any WDM drivers for onboard audio? I don't recall having a WDM option with my Creative card installed (I took it out again because I don't need it for anything but music creation).

 

[Berton]

I didn't see it mentioned but when using Add-in cards it's always best to disable the onboard/built-in device in the BIOS before adding the new card. Some BIOSes automatically recognize an Add-in Video card and disable the built-in Video, guess that's so one can revert and still use the computer.

 

[fireberd]

You would be better off with a "real" recording interface unit than the SoundBlaster. You will have better latency, too.

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is a popular unit. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 | Sweetwater.com

 

[warfighter67]

I already have an Alesis iO2 Express interface my parents got me for christmas a couple years ago. The problem isn't latency (i don't record), it's underruns. Using my primary sound driver, even with a latency of 192ms, I still get underruns on my larger projects because the CPU can't handle all of the audio processing itself.

Edit: Actually I dug up my interface and I'm now using it as my sound device. It does a fine job handling all the audio so I guess I can consider this solved.

 

[fireberd]

My system is an i7 3770 with 16GB of RAM. I don't have any problems with large recording projects with both analog tracks and MIDI tracks. The latency in my Roland Octa Capture is 6.5 ms and I get about the same with the MAudio unit.

If you haven't done it, download and run the DPC Latency Checker. Getting the system cleaned up is the first priority. What you have for PC is mor ethan adequate. I have 16GB of RAM but I've never gone over 8GB. I have one demo project that was included with Sonar that has over 200 tracks (mostly MIDI). My backup system is an i5 3550 with 8GB of RAM.

I originally started out when I built the i7 system with an ASRock Z77 Professional (Fatal1ty) motherboard but it was defective (only 2 of the 4 memory slots worked). I had problems getting it replaced under warranty and as I needed a new recording system I got a Gigabyte Z77X UD5H motherboard and it is working OK. My backup system with the i5 is an ASUS Z77 motherboard. I keep a relatively "clean" PC because of the recording and my DPC Latency is consistently below 100Usec.

DPC Latency Checker: DPC Latency Checker System DPC latency can cause many recording problems.

 

[warfighter67]

My system is an i7 3770 with 16GB of RAM. I don't have any problems with large recording projects with both analog tracks and MIDI tracks. The latency in my Roland Octa Capture is 6.5 ms and I get about the same with the MAudio unit.

If you haven't done it, download and run the DPC Latency Checker. Getting the system cleaned up is the first priority. What you have for PC is mor ethan adequate. I have 16GB of RAM but I've never gone over 8GB. I have one demo project that was included with Sonar that has over 200 tracks (mostly MIDI). My backup system is an i5 3550 with 8GB of RAM.

I originally started out when I built the i7 system with an ASRock Z77 Professional (Fatal1ty) motherboard but it was defective (only 2 of the 4 memory slots worked). I had problems getting it replaced under warranty and as I needed a new recording system I got a Gigabyte Z77X UD5H motherboard and it is working OK. My backup system with the i5 is an ASUS Z77 motherboard. I keep a relatively "clean" PC because of the recording and my DPC Latency is consistently below 100Usec.

DPC Latency Checker: DPC Latency Checker System DPC latency can cause many recording problems.

I have a clea PC as well. Just steam (for games), Skype, Chrome, and of course FL Studio and all of its applications. My current megaproject I use for everything uses about 24gb of RAM (I write film music and symphonic metal, gotta love those giant orchestra libraries)

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