Sound Blaster Recon3Di Defect Discussion Thread - Questions/Solutions Here [M18x R2, M17x R4 Audio]

Quoted from thread I closed a few minutes ago...

 

I had the same issue. Tried all the suggestions here, but could never get the sound card detect. In my case, what I did and fixed the issue, was, change video card via FN + F7, I have the ATI 7970, which I use all the time, I don't bother with the intel hd 4000, but whenever I change to the last one I mentioned, the audio will come back imediately, and then I will switch again to the ATI, reboot, and walla !!, Audio is back, I don't even have to install the drivers (bare IN MIND I DID DOWNLOAD AND INSTALLED before THE DRIVER FOR WINDOWS 8) Hope this helps to others.

 

Hi,

Just to close out my issue quoted above by Mr Fox.
I resolved this by installing the missing windows media update (which was needed as Windows 7 Ultimate N does not come with Windows media included)
It seems in my case that the SoundBlaster control panel needs some element of this update to function properly. The sound always worked just the control panel functionality didn't. All good now and working as should
Iam pleased to be back on Windows 7 now. Curiously though if I do a Windows score my system now the processor has dropped from 8.2 score on Windows 8 to 7.9 on Windows 7???
Thanks for everyone's help

Chris (cwiggy78)

 

That's because Win 7 WEI scores only go up to a max of 7.9 - Win 8 goes up higher, 10 I think.....

 

That's great information. Thanks for sharing it.

As steviejones pointed out, the number rating system is different. Below are the WEI rating for my dual-boot Windows 7/8 system running on exactly the same hardware.

Spoiler

 

cwiggy78, you shouldn't rely on the WEI score anyway. That scoring system is very unreliable and has nothing to do with actual benchmark or real world performance.

 

Can someone confirm that my Alienware m17x r4 has a Recon3d chipset or it's just software to appear as a soundblaster card?

I'm thinking of buying one SoundBlaster Recon3D USB and I would like to know if I would get some improvement over the one in the laptop in terms of gaming (3D sound positioning)

Thanks.

 

All the R4's have the Recon3Di sound chip in them. I have no idea if the Recon3Di does virtual surround sound processing like the USB Recon3D does. The only way to tell for certain is by going into the play back tab of the sound control panel. Then right-click on the Recon3Di device and select configure speakers. If the option to set them up as 7.1 channel shows up, then the Recon3Di could be processing sound input into virtual surround sound.

 

It does virtual surround. I plug my earphones and I can feel the sound coming from everywhere.

What I'm really interested is in the chipset. It's worth buying a Recon3D, or I will get the same "experience".

Thanks.

 

I HATE SoundBlaster

Made my sound soo weird and frustrating, until I turned of THX Trustudio or whatever it was called then everything was fine and will never look at the SoundBlaster control panel again xD

 

No both the USB Recon3D and the R4's Recon3Di are the same chip. The R4 just has it integrated into the motherboard. The only other difference is my USB Recon3D has an optical in whereas the R4's sound system has an optical out. So no biggie. They both have the exact same sound processing output levels and the same control panel options (believe me I've checked).

If you hate it, then don't use it!

I keep that stupid THX Trustudio thing off too, as well as the scout mode. They're both just more post processing that makes the final sound more distorted. It comes out fine if I just let FFDShow audio do its thing.

 

Thanks!!!!

That's what I wanted to know. There's no point in buying another soundcard if there's no inprovement in quality.

 

ok i read over this thread and looked around to see if there wasnt anything more specific to my issue but i didnt find anything and since this is about the audio and some problems with it i figured i would ask here. my issue is this, i use analog (3.5mm jack standard head phones) 5.1 headphones (technically 5.0 since there is no sub in them) and when setting up the sound for 5.1 i HAVE to go in to the mixer, turn the front and center channels down to 10% and turn the rear channels up to 80% just so they all have equal sound accross all the speakers. could trying what is described here as for unistalling and installing the microsoft driver version fix my problem? or is it just that the system comes with lower powered rear speakers by design (my roomie had a similar issue with his desktop soundcard with one channel being underpowered by design). or is this possibly a hardware problem?

the headphones i have a a set of zalman 5.1 analog unpowered headphones and my system is an m17x R4 (got at the end of november). they are old and i have repaired the cables in them numerous times so i know its not a physical issue with the headphones. i should look at new/better headphones but its not in the budget right now.

thanks

 

Hi Mr. Fox.

Can you confirm this package contains the Control Panel.

I've done a windows 8 clean install and I installed this one, but it doesn't seem to contain it.

Thanks.

 

Hey guys, my issue seems to be similar, and/or part of your issues. I have an M17xr4 that is running win 7. I couldn't tell you what caused it, whether it be a windows update as stated earlier, or something else. But my Sound blaster control panel no longer has any controls. It use to, because i used it before, but i cannot seem to get the controls back. I made sure to completely remove it from my system and restart. Upon boot-up windows tells me it’s trying to install drivers for a “high definition audio device” but it fails (see photo). I then try a fresh install off dells website for an m17xr4 Soundblaster drivers which installs and opens successfully, but still not controls. I tried the Microsoft fix it link, and I tried restore points all to no avail. I do not get the “audio device not detected” error you speak of, just the absence of the control panel controls.

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Check your antivirus software. I don't remember if the control panel uses .NET or Java but I know it uses one of them so both of those runtimes needs to be installed and active.

 

It would not surprise me if a .NET update hosed it. I have disabled Windows Updates because they have done more harm that good on my systems for the last 6 to 9 months. Security is worthless if it means stuff constantly gets broken.

 

I second that but I know it's not the case this time. My Sound Blaster Recon3D control panel works just fine and I've got WU set to auto, so I've got all the .NET updates installed. That's why I think maybe it's some other software or update which is disabling part of the .NET.

 

Are you saying that file with only 7mb contains control panel for recon3di??

Because i have net installed and i don't get it

 

Yup, that 7MB file does contain the control panel. But in all honesty, you don't need the control panel. All's you need are the drivers. The control panel only contains all the post-processing extras which don't do any real enhancements anyway.

 

Yes, it should. I also have it as a self-extracting archive is you prefer it that way. It should unpack to C:\Creative. Here is a link to it: Creative_Recon3Di.exe | Mr. Fox Google Docs

 

I liked the control panel simply because one of the equalizer presets produced much better sound for system. Only antivirus i have is Microsoft Security Essentials, but that does update with windows i believe. Any suggestions on what to do? I've tried all within my knowledge

Thanks

 

Think about the last time you were able to use the Sound Blaster panel. Just the date. Then from that date, look in your programs and features panel to see what you've installed since then and list those programs here. If haven't installed any apps since then, go into windows updates and check which updates you installed.

 

I couldn't tell you, its all on automatic updates. As for apps, i havent installed a whole lot lately besides steam games, not much i can think of that would interfere. Some new graphics card drivers maybe? But i can't see how that would make an effect.

 

It's possible that a GPU driver update messed it up if the package includes a C++ installation, which they typically do (for the Catalyst Control Center or NVIDIA Control Panel).

 

^^^^^True dat.

As for Windows Updates, you can check the update history by going into Windows Updates from the start menu (should be near the top of the programs list). In the Windows Updates window, the left hand toolbar should give a link to update history. That'll list the updates, what they did, and when they were installed.

 

Then what would my options be? installing older graphics card driver?, or going through and uninstalling windows updates 1 at a time? Or do you think this will be fixed in an update for the control panel?

 

Check your graphics card drivers first. You might have to uninstall Catalyst Control Center. But you shouldn't have to remove the display drivers. If that solves it, then install a previous Catalyst Control Center and just select custom installation and uncheck the driver files install boxes. That way the installer leaves the drivers alone and only installs the older CCC version.

 

do you think this issue is something that will be fixed in the future with an update?

 

Maybe. It depends on if Creative is aware of the bug or not. Might be worthwhile to drop Creative support an email along with your screenshot to see if there is a patch in the works.

 

That is a good idea. I don't remember who it was, but one person previously posted that one component of the Creative Control Panel was AWOL... I think it was the equalizer, but everything else was there.

 

The problem is you need a product serial number to shoot a support request. Obviously with my sound card built into the motherboard i have no such thing.

 

So try posting in the Sound Blaster forums. But do a search there beforehand. Someone may have already had the same problem you've got and has already found a solution: Creative Discussion Forum

 

Turn's out Dell thinks i need a new motherboard, that the soldering on the audio ports is bad. Considering now, when i plug headphones, my computer doesn't register and keeps playing the sound through the laptop speakers. I don't see how a new motherboard will fix my control panel, but we will see. Maybe the integrated sound is going in and out and the control panel is having trouble picking it up.

 

I'm having the same problem. They are replacing the motherboard also.

 

i swear this audio issue is a pain in the . window 8 driver, w/e other drive, window default driver none of them will work if this issue already started, sleep wont work either with AC in, have to unplug AC and sleep it to get it back, or resetting CMOS, clearly a hardware issue either audio board or audio hardware isn't getting right amount of power or power isn't flowing.

when R3 comes out im gonna replace the mobo with that lol

 

Not quite following your logic there. You can buy an R3 motherboard online. You will also need to get the Sandy Bridge CPU for it as well.

 

What are the issues you are having?

 

im talking about m18x R3, which is not out yet lol

 

Ahh. Now it makes sense. But don't get your hopes up. The newer M17x/M18x revision probably won't be released until summer. I guess the question is can you wait that long?

 

Got my motherboard replaced and it fixed my issue until the next restart. Now the control panel is blank again, and i get extreme feed back when i plug an audio cable in. Also when i play through headphones, it also plays through the speakers of the laptop. So it plays through both at the same time. So weird. Is there any chance a bad cable would be shorting out my motherboard and causing these issues? I can't figure out if its hardware or software.

 

I seem to have found the fix for me and pellinore. I personally boot to an external monitor with my m17xr4 via HDMI and for some strange reason, if i boot the computer with the HDMI plugged in, the soundblaster control panel goes blank and the system sound is glitchy to say the least. But if i unplug the HDMI while the computer boots and then plug it in after the computer boots the soundpanel works! Also if i use a different video source such as VGA the soundblaster control panel has no trouble. It's the weirdest little glitch, but my guess for it being the HDMI, is i know HDMI carries sound and video and that has to be why the HDMI has trouble, but the other video sources do not. I have replicated this issue three times in a row and narrowed it down to the HDMI. It is some glitch that has to do with the HDMI input or output sound. I have yet to try the mini display port, but my guess is it would work just as the VGA did since neither carry sound. Best of luck to everyone!

 

That's great information. Glad you figured this out and shared it. Thank you.

What GPUs do you and pellinore have? It would be interesting to find out if this affects both AMD and NVIDIA in the same way. If it does not affect both brands in the same way, it might be only a glitch with the HDMI driver for the affected GPU brand. You can try deselecting the HDMI Audio driver when installing the Catalyst or Forceware driver package and let Windows install its own native HDMI Audio driver to see if that makes any difference. Please post with the additional GPU info and advice if the native Windows HDMI Audio driver works correctly.

 

I have the 660M, I received the computer back, they replaced the motherboard and graphics card. It's only been one day but I have done multiple restarts and the sounds has always been there.

Now that I think back the first time I had problems was after using the HDMI out for video and sound for the first time, so maybe it does have something to do with the HDMI. I had the computer hooked up to the TV and than the next morning booting up without anything connected I had no sound. I will hook up and HDMI device tonight and see if I lose sound.

But I have never had a problem with the sound quality using HDMI and it was working fine even with then the system sound missing.

Just to add I'm on Windows 8 and had the missing sound card problem with every driver I could use for it.

 

I have a AMD 7970m so it seems it doesn't matter the graphics card. My guess is its a glitch with the soundblaster hardware or software. My M17xr4 came with windows 8, but the 7970 drivers for win 8 were not working right out of the box, so i installed my own copy of win 7 professional. The best work around right now is to unplug the HDMI when the computer boots, and then plug it back in once your at your desktop, this will allow you to see the control panel, as well as no sound issues (for me at least). VGA also did not have this problem, and i am ordering a mini display port to HDMI cable so that i can test and see if the mini display port has the same issue. My last post had one error, display port DOES carry sound and video, but i have read that very few computer support the audio portion, not even macs. So we will see.

 

Im afraid issue isn't that simple although its right to assume conflict in audio drivers. R2 is a nice machine, 3 drives bay, raid 0 Trim and all but sound is a major issue and a let down. this fix obviously doesn't apply to many of us which installs fresh window, and still with NO SOUND, window can't pick up sound device even with fresh install.

heres one thing definitely to take note of and could be similar to how Audio work in R2 and I have done multiple tests, over 10-15 times reinstall, multi boot n stuff.

some suggested fix
- driver provided by Mr. Fox on page 1, some say it works, some say works well but not 100%.
- windows 8 driver onto window 7, could be a permanent fix but failed on my machine.
- go into sleep mode, boot with only AC adapter, boot with only battery etc, power related.
- HDMI fix, I don't use HDMI at all so it's irrelevant in my case
- AC and battery out, hold power button for 30 secs, or CMOS reset (not bios F9 reset).
- deleting existing driver and let window detect and reinstall (same as fresh installed OS).

could be related to audio on the R2 machine
- touchpad lights turned off whenever external mouse device is detected (box checked)

now let me explain that touchpad is a bit weird and I will get to that eventually and you'll see how it's related. my system have tri boot window 7, OS A, B and C.

- A have default install which I did w/e I could, got sound recognized, installed Mr fox's driver as well as Dell windows 8 driver, had no issues for the longest time (a week) and made an image of that, but failed later.
- B fresh window, half the time sound not working, other half is working.
- C a pre made image from long ago with all of my files and only MS default drivers, once image loads it'll detect everything and installs themselves, however audio again is 50/50

from suggested fix, number 3 works half the time so if it's 50/50 means its a no-go. number 5 will ONLY work if sound is originally detected and you had the chance to install driver and that dependent on the boot up, so thats a no-go but note to get sound to work, window has to be installed no matter what. number 1 and 2 will and should work, for OS A but later failed after booting up B and C with no sound, switched back to A, A no sound too. number 4 currently worked everytime (especially resetting CMOS battery) but I try to avoid it. if it's a bad mobo then out of luck because power isnt getting to audio device properly.

touchpad. R2 touchpad driver disables backlit when external mouse plugged in and I tried to make it like R1 so light stays on at all time. so I went ahead and installed R1 touchpad driver onto OS C while I forgot to uninstall R2 touchpad driver from the same OS and that caused some major issue. touchpad stopped working and I was too lazy to uninstall driver and reinstall so I went to OS B with fresh window. sound disappeared (as expected 50/50), but what was not expected was touchpad light stayed off will not respond, even with external mouse out it still wont work. then I proceed to OS C (no sound atm), touchpad dead, installed R2 touchpad driver in OS C, still nothing. finally went back to OS A, uninstalled driver properly, shutdown, restart, installed R2 touchpad driver, restart, touchpad works again but no sound, which I had sound working for about a week and it hit me maybe power/hardware thing is carried over even with hard restart wont solve it unless CMOS is reset and residual power in all hardware are cleared.

maybe OS A had sound working the whole time with number 1 and 2 but soon as I switched to other OS with no driver, it failed then carried to OS A the same as touchpad issue. I didn't want to change my bios settings everytime so I unplug AC, battery out and power button for 30 sec twice to clear hardware leftovers and that solved no audio.

this somewhat concludes audio fail is probably power related, so it maybe combination of driver, Bios and mobo power regulation. once sound is working, get window 8 and Mr. Fox driver to work and stay with it and it'll probably stay working for a long time. if not, resetting CMOS or change mobo is needed.

 

My issue is different then yours which i did find a fix for. That's why i stated i figured out me and pellinores problem.

 

I can't understand why you all are having such issues with your R4's sound card. My neighbor's R4 hasn't had any of these problems and he goes between his DP monitor and his HDTV via HDMI all the time.

 

But does he boot the computer up with it plugged into a display and route sound to speakers?

 

Yup. His R4 normally sits on his desk plugged into his flat panel via DP and the sound comes out his built-in speakers. On occasion Jeremy will move his R4 to his living room to watch something on their big screen via HDMI. In that instance, the sound is routed out thru the HDMI port. I asked him again this morning. He says he has never had an issue with his internal sound card. His specs are i7-740QM, 8GB RAM, 128GB crucial M4, 500GB HDD, AMD 7970m, Windows 7 Ultimate x64. So his specs are pretty normal for that system model.