X-Fi - how can they get away with this ?

MoodyB · 27 Apr 2007 at 23:56

Hey all,

Bought an OEM XtremeMusic about 2 months ago. Had a hassle getting it working, but finally did. Then it starts to play up a few days ago - BSOD on 1st startup, reset pc and it's fine. Other times the pc starts fine from cold boot, no sound from X-Fi, restart BSOD, restart and it works but only in Entertainment mode, restart - don't get a BSOD but the pc hangs while loading XP.....the list is endless. Even tried a fresh Xp install with only the X-Fi and my gfx card plugged in. BSOD when installing the X-Fi drivers :mad:

Probably doesn't help that I'm using a Asus NF4 motherboard ( last bios update was in March last year ), but afaik the XtremeMusic's with the heatsink on the chip have had the required epprom update to fix the NF4 issues ( according to posts on Creative's forums anyway )

Are we all mugs for buying Creative products when their drivers & lack of proper support appears to be utterly shocking ?

As I used to own a Terratec Dmx6Fire before this, would it even be worth considering an Audigy 2 or Audigy 4 as a replacement for the X-FI ? Are their drivers just as bad :confused:

Nelly · 28 Apr 2007 at 01:23

I presume you have tried a different PCI slot?

When I bought my original X-Fi Fatality, I installed everything put the sound card in & it would boot but everything would go black. . . so I ran OcUK & told them, they gave me an RMA number - they ended up replacing it, I've had this new X-Fi a year in May no problems at all.

The X-Fi was also used with an A8N-Sli Premium NF4 Motherboard with no problems whatsoever.

MoodyB · 28 Apr 2007 at 10:43

Tried all 3 pci slots with a full uninstall / reinstall / DriverCleaner before changing the slots, fiddled with the pci latency...

Psypher5 · 29 Apr 2007 at 10:35

complain and make them accept its faulty, then send it back...

they'll send you one that works then

Fireskull · 29 Apr 2007 at 10:40

Worries me as ive just ordered one to go in my Asus A8N32-SLI D :confused:

Psypher5 · 29 Apr 2007 at 10:57

You have rights as a customer.

Creative told me as it was software problem (same problem as OP) they cant touch it. One month later i got an xfi through the door.

Knowing your rights, quoting legal stuff and proving they are wrong = win

Gornall · 29 Apr 2007 at 11:13

count yourself lucky.

I bought an X-Fi for use in my new rig but they dun support vista.

There are drivers but no software works with it what so ever...pretty shocking really considering they had 8months working with vista prior to its release.

Psypher5 · 29 Apr 2007 at 11:16

Gornall said:
count yourself lucky.

I bought an X-Fi for use in my new rig but they dun support vista.

There are drivers but no software works with it what so ever...pretty shocking really considering they had 8months working with vista prior to its release.

I'm on vista...
mines working 100%.

youp pax drivers for vista (hacked/modded ones)

sharpy · 29 Apr 2007 at 12:47

Psypher5 said:
youp pax drivers for vista (hacked/modded ones)

Thats all very well but you shouldn't really have to rely on a 3rd party hacked drivers for equipment manufactured by a multi million pound company.
When i had an Audigy 2 and made the switch to XP from ME there was the same problem of driver support, i vowed from that day never to buy Creative products again.
So far i am still using the onboard sound on my EVGA 680 which is ok at best but will look to get a Razor, MAudio or B-Enspire over a Creative card.

MoodyB · 29 Apr 2007 at 12:59

Psypher5 said:
complain and make them accept its faulty, then send it back...

they'll send you one that works then

I might just do this to see where I get. I'm wondering if heat has anything to do with my problems, as if you leave your fingers on the X-Fi's heatsink for longer than 5-10 secs you'll burn them

Decided to install an old Pure Digital / Terratec card I had lying around, complete with 5 year old drivers. Doesn't sound as good as the X-Fi, but at least it works flawlessly with no crackles / pops / random reboots.

Edit : I bought the OEM card off eBay. I guess Creative won't cover that as their warranty states thay only repair / replace cards bought from a authorised Creative reseller :confused:

MoodyB · 29 Apr 2007 at 13:02

Fireskull said:
Worries me as ive just ordered one to go in my Asus A8N32-SLI D

You can only try it. After reading the Creative forum, you can have 2 people with the same motherboard & bios revision where the card will work on one, but not the other.

PhillyDee · 29 Apr 2007 at 13:03

Are we all mugs for buying Creative products when their drivers & lack of proper support appears to be utterly shocking ?

Yes.

I got this from Creative when asking where the mic boost was on Vista.

With regards to the issue at hand, we need to inform you that as Microsoft have changed the way DirectSound function in Windows Vista, thus there will be some issues involved in terms of getting the same functionality in Vista. You may wish to wait for updated drivers from us although we will not beable to provide you with the timeframe for the drivers to be released. Do check our website often for updates.

So its all microsofts fault apparently . . . . .

Fireskull · 30 Apr 2007 at 10:05

MoodyB said:
You can only try it. After reading the Creative forum, you can have 2 people with the same motherboard & bios revision where the card will work on one, but not the other.

Received it today but cant try till im at home

i might upgrade to the latest Beta BIOS for my mobo before i do that though just to be sure

z0mbi3 · 30 Apr 2007 at 10:25

sharpy said:
Thats all very well but you shouldn't really have to rely on a 3rd party hacked drivers for equipment manufactured by a multi million pound company.
When i had an Audigy 2 and made the switch to XP from ME there was the same problem of driver support, i vowed from that day never to buy Creative products again.
So far i am still using the onboard sound on my EVGA 680 which is ok at best but will look to get a Razor, MAudio or B-Enspire over a Creative card.

Creative X-fi Vista drivers off their site work fine for me. Combine this with the XP creative software (not drivers, just things like the mode switcher etc) run in compatibility mode and you're laughing.

I'll admit some features are lacking, but you don't have to rely on hacks to get it working.

pallys · 30 Apr 2007 at 11:18

I got an extreme with the heatsink. There was a compatibility issue with the original cards for all NF4 chipsets. It was fixed in two ways:

they told all Mobo manufactures to modify their firmware, but some said no because its not their problem (eg. DFI - my mobo).

Or you had to get a newer card with the fixed firmware which is indicated by the extreme musics that do have heatsinks.

I take it yours doesnt have a heatsink ?

MoodyB · 30 Apr 2007 at 11:23

It does have a heatsink, although you'd still burn your fingers on it after 5-10secs as it gets extremely hot.

z0mbi3 · 30 Apr 2007 at 11:36

pallys said:
(eg. DFI - my mobo)

See I never had a problem with my ultra-d and I've had an x-fi pretty much since they came out.

Fireskull · 30 Apr 2007 at 16:14

Another lame point ive just found out about the X-fi lol its 2 damn long, im actually going to have to jig stuff around on my mobo to get it to fit as its 2 long and touching my SB cooler :rolleyes:

Fireskull · 1 May 2007 at 08:38

Well im happy with some modding got it to fit, and so far all works, no popping or BSOD yet

and it sounds great lol