For anyone with an Audigy based soundcard and Vista...

snow patrol

snow patrol

snow patrol

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There's no 'official' drivers for vista if you have an audigy, but there are for xfi...and the xfi gamer ones work for audigy cards!

Someone on the Creative forums said that the X-Fi drivers will work. Extract the files from the archive (self-extracting exe), and run "Setup.exe" in the Drivers directory. Do not run the setup in the top directory.

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs...id=2377&view=by_date_ascending&page=10

I tried it myself and it works fine on my 2.1 setup. The only issue is that the overall volume seems to be a bit lower than in XP, and i have to subsequently turn my speakers up a bit more. Still, better than no sound at all!
 
snow patrol said:
Do the new betas expire as well though?
Click to expand...

I don't think it says so. I've copied the details below:

This download is a driver providing Microsoft® Windows® Vista 64-bit and Windows Vista 32-bit support for Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® series audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

Take note of the following:

THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver.
We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver for critical tasks.
This download supports the following audio devices only:

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy including Platinum and Platinum eX series
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 including Platinum, Platinum eX, and Value series
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS including Platinum and Platinum Pro series
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro and Sound Blaster Audigy 4
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA

Known issues:

Applications from the original Sound Blaster Audigy CD will not work with this download.
Users are advised to use Audio Console included in this download to change speaker configurations.
This driver does not support the following:
Decoding of Dolby® Digital and DTS™ signals
DVD-Audio
DirectSound®-based EAX games
Gameports
6.1 speaker mode.
SPDIF passthrough is supported on Vista 32-bit only.
Requirements:

Windows Vista 64-bit or Windows Vista 32-bit
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy audio devices listed above.
Notes:

DO NOT install this driver for Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit, Sound Blaster Audigy LS, Sound Blaster Audigy SE, or Sound Blaster Audigy Value.
To install the driver, do the following:
Download the SBAX_PCDVTBETA_US_2_12_0001.exe file into your local hard disk.
Double-click the downloaded file.
Follow the instructions on the screen.
To uninstall the driver, do the following:
Click Start -> All Programs -> Control Panel.
Double-click the Device Manager icon.
Double-click the Sound, video and game controllers option.
Right-click the Creative SB Audigy option, and select Uninstall.
From the the Confirm Device Uninstall dialog box, select the Delete the driver software for this device option.
Note: This check box must be selected to avoid reinstallation issues.
Click the OK button.
Restart your computer.
To reinstall the driver, do the following:
Double-click the SBAX_PCDVTBETA_US_2_12_0001.exe file.
When the message You must restart your computer to apply these changes appears, click the Restart Later button.
Follow the instructions on the screen.
 
thought vista was going to force mandatory signing of drivers ?

if so you wont be able to install unsigned beta drivers will you ? or is this only in the final release that nobodys got yet

because tbh this kind of shoddy behaviour towards driver testing needs to be put a stop to. They need to pay people to do proper beta testing like other companies do instead of using us as gineau pigs to do the beta testing free for them.
 
There are two swords to the signing process in Vista. Let me explain:

The first is Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) signing. This is basically where the hardware vendor sends its drivers to Microsoft to be tested and they in return receive a code signing certificate to attach to their driver. This prevents Windows from displaying the annoying "This driver is uncertified... do you still want to install it?" message from appearing.

The second is with, and only with, Vista x64. This OS will only load signed drivers. They do not have to be WHQL certified, just simply signed by their author. A signed driver of this type does not mean it has been tested by Microsoft at all. It simply means the driver file itself contains a valid code signing certificate and thus provides an assurance to the OS that it has not been modified since it was published and that the author who created it can be easily identified.

This concept is much the same as when you download a .EXE file, and run it for the first time, Windows XP SP2 and Vista will display a dialog saying who published the file - this is great because it allows you, as a user, to make a security trust decision. E.g. "Erm, I just downloaded a Microsoft hot fix and it this dialog says "Unknown publisher"... that's not good, I think I'll goto the Microsoft website to get a proper one..." See where I'm going with this?

In Vista x64 a similar process is performed with drivers. Except that it isn't the user making the trust decision, it is the OS. The OS simply does not trust unsigned drivers. Period.

The reason for this is security. Malicious hackers who make root kits cannot afford a relatively expensive (~£500) code signing certificate from Verisign. Any legitimate company wishing to distribute its driver can. If there is a hacker out there that can afford it (god he must be sad!) then Microsoft can blacklist the certificate and thus prevent the OS from even attempting to load the rogue driver.

Also note that actual kernel drivers of this kind are going to be increasingly uncommon soon. The only time you actually need to develop a kernel driver with Vista is for a graphics card. ALL other types of hardware or software can use a user-mode device driver. User mode device drivers do not require signing at all because they are, of course, not loaded into the kernel. Microsoft is increasingly trying to dissuade the development of kernel-mode device drivers - unless you're Nvidia or ATI they simply aren't required anymore. Yes it will probably take several years until this becomes a reality (points figure at lazy vendors like Creative...) but it will eventually happen. With every Windows release from XP x64 on, Microsoft is making it harder and harder to put your code in the kernel.
 
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If it's Vista x64 and a kernel-mode device driver, and it's been modified in some way then no it won't work. The driver will be rejected by the OS upon trying to be loaded.
 
I couldn't see the Audigy Player mentioned here for Vista, which I thought would be supported in Vista anyway like the Soundblaster PCI (in its day) was in XP for example. I've ordered the Vista 64bit OEM Home Premium and I have a Creative Audigy Player soundcard (this was the first version of Audigy and was a retail product I think) but when I ran the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor it said I wouldn't have any problems with the soundcard. It mentions not to use tha driver for the Sound Blaster Audigy Value, but my card is a Player not a Value. Do I have to buy a new one?
 
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