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Troubleshooting: Sound Blaster Live! Sound Card User's Guide

Most Common Problems • Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Audio Drivers and Applications • Problems With Sound • Problems With Joystick • Resolving I/O Conflicts

Most Common Problems

Table 1. Most common problems encountered by users

Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Audio Drivers and Applications

Microsoft Windows XP Operating System

Reinstalling the Audio Drivers and Applications from the Installation Disc

You may want to reinstall the audio drivers and applications if you think they have been corrupted. To do so:

1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Add or Remove Programs icon.
3. Click the Change or Remove Programs button.
4. Select the Sound Blaster Live! entry, and then click the Change/Remove button.
5. In the InstallShield Wizard dialog box, select the Repair check box, and then click the Next button.
6. Click the Yes button.
7. Restart your computer when prompted.

Uninstalling the Audio Drivers and Applications

1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Add or Remove Programs icon.
3. Click the Change or Remove Programs button.
4. Select the Sound Blaster Live! entry, and then click the Change/Remove button.
5. In the InstallShield Wizard dialog box, select the Remove check box, and then click the Next button.
6. Click the Yes button.
7. Restart your computer when prompted.

Problems With Sound

There is unexpected excessive audio effects when an audio file is being played.

The last selected audio effect is an inappropriate audio effect for the current audio file.

To switch to an appropriate audio effect:

1. In Creative PlayCenter or Creative Recorder, click the EAX button. A dialog box appears.
2. From the list of effects, select "No effects" or an appropriate audio effect.

No sound from the headphones.

Check the following:

• The headphones are connected to the Line Out jack.
• In Creative Mixer, make sure the speaker mode selected is Headphones.

In a 6 speakers (5.1) or 4-speaker configuration, there is no sound from the rear speakers.

Check the following:

• The rear speakers are connected to the audio card’s Rear Out jack.
• In Creative Mixer, make sure the check box of the source being played is cleared.
• In Creative Mixer, make sure the speaker mode selected is 6 Speakers (5.1) or 4 Speakers.

No sound from the speakers.

To solve the problem:

• Check that you have connected your speakers to your card's output.
• Check that you have unmuted the correct source in Creative Mixer.
• If both these conditions have been met and you still do not get any sound, check whether the Digital Output Only check box is selected.
  If it is, you are in the Digital Output Only mode and so must connect to digital speakers to hear the sound from your audio card.

See the section on Digital Output Only in Creative Mixer’s online help for more information.

No audio output when playing digital files such as.WAV, MIDI files or AVI clips.

Possible causes:

• The speaker volume knob (if any) is not set properly.
• The external amplifier or speakers are connected to the wrong jack.
• There is a hardware conflict.
• The speaker mode in Creative Mixer is incorrectly selected.

Check the following:

• The speakers’ volume control knob, if any, is set at mid-range. Use Creative Mixer to adjust the volume, if necessary.
• The powered speakers or external amplifier are connected to the card’s Line Out or Rear Out jack.
• No hardware conflict between the card and a peripheral device. See "Resolving I/O Conflicts" in the section "Troubleshooting".
• The speaker mode selected in Creative Mixer corresponds to your speaker or headphones configuration.

No audio output when playing CD-Audio.
OR
No audio output when playing DOS games that require a CD-ROM.

To solve this problem:

• Make sure the CD audio cable between the CD-ROM drive and the audio card is connected.

Problems With Joystick

The joystick port is not working.

The audio card’s joystick port conflicts with the system’s joystick port.

To solve this problem:

• Disable the audio card’s joystick port and use the system port instead. For details, see "Enabling/Disabling Gameport Joystick Interface" in the section "Changing Audio Card Settings".

NOTE: Do not attempt to make changes to the BIOS unless you have experience with system software.

The joystick is not working properly in some programs.

The program may use the system processor timing to calculate the joystick position. When the processor is fast, the program may determine the position of the joystick incorrectly, assuming that the position is out of range.

To solve this problem:

• Increase your system's 8 bit I/O recovery time of the BIOS setting, usually under the Chipset Feature Settings section. Or, if available, you may adjust the AT Bus speed to a slower clock. If the problem persists, try a different joystick.

Resolving I/O Conflicts

Conflicts between your audio card and another peripheral device may occur if your card and the other device are set to use the same I/O address.

To resolve I/O conflicts, change the resource settings of your audio card or the conflicting peripheral device in your system using Device Manager in Windows.

If you still do not know which card is causing the conflict, remove all cards except the audio card and other essential cards (for example, disk controller and graphics cards). Add each card back until Device Manager indicates that a conflict has occurred.

To resolve hardware conflicts in Windows:

1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.
2. Click Switch to Classic View.
3. In the Control Panel window, double-click the System icon.
4. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button.
5. Under the Sound, Video And Game Controllers entry, select the conflicting audio card driver—indicated by an exclamation mark (!)—and click the Properties button.
6. In the Properties dialog box, click the Resources tab.
7. Make sure that the Use automatic settings check box is selected, and click the OK button.
8. Restart your system to allow Windows to reassign resources to your audio card and/ or the conflicting device.

NOTE: You can also refer to the Troubleshooting section in the Help file of Windows.

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