Sound Problems

[Baron Jukaga]

Hello all.

I have read the 'Running Problems' thread, and tried all that it suggested, and my problem persists.

The music in the game skips and stutters after the initial loading screen, when the menu appears. It keeps right on skipping after that. When I tried to turn the music off, the sound effects started screwing up. I have no problems with other games, was hoping that someone here could help me, since I really hate playing with the speakers turned off.

PIII 800
128 Megs SDRAM
20 gig HD, 5 gig free
Nvidia TNT2 model 64 AGP graphics, 32 meg
Creative AudioPCI sound card

 

[Jos Theelen]

When you start dxdiag.exe (somewhere in program files/directX/setup), choose the tab sound and change the slider for hardware sound/full acceleration. I am not sure this will solve your problem (it solved another problem with the same sound-card), but you should experiment a little bit for the best settings.
More memory can also make the sound better.

 

[Baron Jukaga]

Thanks for the advice. Though I've been goofing with the hardware acceleration tab every which way from tuesday and still no good. More memory? I sure hope that it's the case since I'm upgrading to 256 in a couple of days. I sure hope that solves the problem.

If anyone else has any other ideas, please let me know.

 

[viper37]

try the latest patch, 1.02.

 

[Baron Jukaga]

Didn't mention that I Patched to 1.02, my OS is Windows ME.

 

[Baron Jukaga]

I also failed to mention, I am using a DVD drive for the game. Does this make a difference? I have only DVD and CDRW drives. Never ran into a problem before, and since the mp3s are written to the hard drive, wouldn't think that this is the issue.

 

[viper37]

more memory won't hurt, but I don't think it's your problem. Your drive type should only be an issue with the installation, not the sound.

to as Joe said, and reduce the hardware accelaration, then disable the music. Try to run the game and see if you have any sound problems.

in the control panel, sounds&multimedia, audio, advanced (for playback device), adjust the slider for quality to "best" (to the right) and see if it makes any changes.

 

[unmerged(1403)]

HI

ok 2 things come to mind here

1) update your sound drivers

also some times it works try install and run the game from your CDRW

also worth mentioning is to check for IRQ conflicts.

Cheers

 

[Baron Jukaga]

I've tried updating my drivers, but the problems got worse and started affecting my other games, so I rolled back to my original drivers.

I've also tried installing and playing from my CDRW, but it didn't change a thing.

Bright side is that I have been considering getting an EAX compliant card, so this just helps push me in that direction... funny even tho this game does not use EAX. Been wanting to get rid of this card for a while, it's one of those that they packed into the computer.

Stupid question, but how do I check for IRQ conflicts? Every diagnotic I've looked at said everything was functioning fine, and like I said earlier, I don't have any audio problems in other games.

The mp3s play great through WMP, I'd love to hear them in the game!

Thanks for all the replies thus far.

 

[viper37]

for IRQ conflicts:
control panel, system, device manager. right-click on computer, select properties. Check if everything is ok (no IRQ should be used by more than one devices).

Sound:
try to disable the music in EU2 Settings, and then lauch WinAMP and put the music files in your list (or on a new list). Lauch the game... (it might not work, but on most cards it should)

 

[Baron Jukaga]

Ok, when I disable the music, the sound effects stutter and this affects the stability of the game. I am experiencing frequent stalls in the interface because of this. Could it be something else affecting the sound card? I've looked and I have no IRQ conflicts.

 

[AndrewT]

It is possible it is the directx sound drivers. Go to Start, Run, and type in dxdiag and run that. Check out all the tabs for any reported problems, especially the sound one. Even if no problem is found there try moving the Hardware Acceleration slider to No Acceleration. You might also try updating to directx 8.1 from the Windows Update site (In Internet Explorer, Tools, Windows Update).

 

[Baron Jukaga]

Direct X is fine. Other than this game, everything's working fine. Are there unresolvable hardware difficulties associated with this game?

 

[viper37]

Originally posted by Baron Jukaga
Direct X is fine. Other than this game, everything's working fine. Are there unresolvable hardware difficulties associated with this game?

before doing what I told you, did you reduce the sound accelaration to "none" as per Joe's post?

SB cards seems to have big issues with this, don't know why. My older card was working fine, but with my new SB I need to reduce the accelaration to make it work. However, once done, it's working fine.

Also, try updating DX to 8.1, then applying the newest drivers. If you still have problems, revert back to the original ones.

In the control panel, sounds&multimedia, audio, make sure the playback device selected is the one you want to use (if you have more than one) and then check the box "Use only preferred devices".

 

[Baron Jukaga]

Ok I looked deeper at my IRQ settings and found that my display adapter and sound card are on the same IRQ 11. This does not raise any red flags and my attempt to manually change them was not successful. Could this be the problem?

 

[viper37]

it could be the problem. Usually, the sound card and the video card shouldn't share the same IRQ as this can cause conflicts.

to help you, I'll need you to post the complete list of your IRQs and the device attached, since I want to know first, if there is a free slot, second if there is something else that we can share an IRQ with.

 

[Baron Jukaga]

Ok, is there a way to get a comprehensive list of my IRQ settings? I found those other two out manualy, so I can't be sure which ones aren't in use.

 

[viper37]

unless you have a specific utility that will list it, what I told you, via the device manager is the only way I am aware of.

If you want to change your IRQ, you need to go in the device manager of the control panel and select either your sound card or your video card and move it. You need to go in "resources" and uncheck the box "use automatice settings", then select the "interupt request (IRQ) and click "change settings". There's a good chance it won't work, in wich case you will have to delete the device from windows so it can reinstall it properly. It will require a few more steps to do it safely, and you will have to wait until tomorrow night as I unfortunately need to leave now

 

[viper37]

ok, first, let's do a backup of the registry. We shouldn't need it, but just in case... Go to the registry editor (run - regedit), select the registry menu, export registry file, name it backup_today.reg, and select "ALL" in the export range.

Now be sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card, we will need to reinstall it later.

Follow this link:
http://www.americas.creative.com/support/kbase/article.asp?ID=864&Centric=47

It applies to Windows Millenium Edition (ME) and SB PC 512. If it's not the same OS & sound card, just search the Creative Labs knowledge base for the proper configuration and search for "manual uninstall". You'll find a link to a cleansweep operation similar to the one I gave you.

Make sure you have you windows CD near you.