x-fi extreme music card not working

[ktd5440]

I cannot get the sound to work right in Windows 7 RC build 7100 64 bit with an x-fi Extreme Music sound card. I've tried the beta drivers, I've tried the 2.0 pack from Daniel K...everything. It seems that some have been able to get this card to work, so I don't know what is wrong. The sound is nothing but buzzes, pops, and crackling. Video playback stutters as well and is unwatchable when the drivers are installed, I don't know what causes that. I've heard of problems with the extreme music card and 64 bit systems, should I just give up on this ever working and get a new sound card? Can anyone recommend one that they know works with Windows 7 RC 64 bit or have an idea what will get my existing card to work? I have a Dell XPS 710 with 4GB RAM.

Thanks

 

[bubba in nv]

I have the x-fi USB external card. I had a similar problem with the 7 Beta. I just had to download the current drivers from Creative (Vista drivers) and use them. I used the same drivers for the 7 RC install. But it did work before I used the Creative drivers.

I sent an email to Creative about the issue, their response was "we do not provide support for any version of Windows 7". MY response to them was, you better get your head out of your rear end cause it will be here soon and people like me that have always bought Creative products, will go elswhere real quick. They did not respond to that message.

 

[appdevman]

I have same computer

I have same computer man: Dell XPS 710 H2C.

Same symptoms, totally.

Can someone recommend ANY PCI sound card that is known to work with Windows 7 x64? (only interested in confirmed knowledge of x64)

thanks!

 

[r00o9huy]

I have the same card and it works great... maybe there is something setup from Dell that causes this problem?

 

[gzt7d8]

I have the x-fi USB external card. I had a similar problem with the 7 Beta. I just had to download the current drivers from Creative (Vista drivers) and use them. I used the same drivers for the 7 RC install. But it did work before I used the Creative drivers.

I sent an email to Creative about the issue, their response was "we do not provide support for any version of Windows 7". MY response to them was, you better get your head out of your rear end cause it will be here soon and people like me that have always bought Creative products, will go elswhere real quick. They did not respond to that message.

I loved your response. I got a similar response from Diskeeper on their defrag program. These manufacturers better get their act together real soon and stop living in denial.

Greg

 

[bubba in nv]

I did get it working in Win7 beta by re-installing the software a couple of times. But when I went to Win 7 RC I had no problems with any of my software or hardware.

 

[Dakana]

Check out my post at http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/17195-soundblaster-x-fi-issues.html
The ONLY way to solve the problem is by setting the Max Memory to 4096 in MSConfig advanced boot options. You will lose RAM though - I have a 640 MB gfx card, so I lost 640 MB due the the maximum addressable memory being 4096.
Creative Labs will refuse to help - that's to be expected. Anyone who's had anything to do with this company will know that their technical support and driver programming is virtually non-existent. Unfortunately, they are the market leader, so they can get away with it. As for not supporting Windows 7 at this time, that's one thing, but I can assure you, you will have the exact same problem in Vista 64 bit.
It took about a year after Vista was out for Creative to make half decent drivers for it. All of the third party modded drivers for the X-FI such as the Daniel_K and YouPax drivers made no difference for me, so I'm stuck with having to limit my maximum addressable RAM which sucks since I upgraded to a 64 bit system to use all 4 gigs and now it's the same as before.
This problem has been around since the X-Fi and 64 bit systems existed, several years in fact, and Creative has zero intention of doing anything about it. A search of their support forums will confirm that.
I personally am disgusted with the company - their support or lack thereof is very unethical as is the fact that their drivers are next to useless for many systems. I've been searching the net for a week now trying to find answers - but the only thing i've found is the boot config I mentioned. If anyone has further info, please post!

 

[Dakana]

By the way, if you do have the patience to contact Crapative Labs, just say you are using 64 bit Vista. As far as these issues are concerned, they are EXACTLY the same. It's due to a memory hole issue, and it will be the same in any 64 bit system with similar hardware config.

From what I've read, this problem typically occurs in any 64 bit system with 4+ GB RAM and often, but not limited to, nForce Mobo chipsets, at least before nForce 570.