I hate Creative.... Driver help?

Recently I bought a new pair of headphones, and for some reason, when I plug them into my desktop PC, there's a 50% chance it bluescreens immediately, (listing Creative's driver filename as the offender)
It happens even if no sound is playing, just plugging in the headphones triggers it.

Have anyone else ever experienced anything like this? Got any ideas for how to fix it?

OS is WinXP, sound card is SB Audigy 2. I've got the latest drivers installed.

And just for the record, the headphones work perfectly with my laptop, so....

 

Do you have CTHelper in the Startup tab (msconfig)?

Maybe http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=11308 could help.

 

hmm, interesting. I'll give that a try

Edit: Nope, no luck...

 

Did you deactivate onboard sound?

 

I haven’t used Creative sound cards in a while (after the Live 5.1 in my old desktop), therefore not sure about all the creative applications and stuff. But if it crashes soon as you plug in the jack, then it has to do with the jack sensing part of the driver. Disable it and fix the configuration of your audio ports.

 

Yes, it must be related to the module that detects when the headphones are plugged.

 

yeah, but that doesn't tell me how to fix it.
I disabled cthelper.exe, no difference. I found out it also happens when I plug in my speakers (not just headphones)

In the end, I just removed the sound card and switched to using onboard... At least I don't get bluescreens now.

 

Just a guess, Jalf, but I think you shoud probably disable onboard if you didn't already, before trying to use the Audigy card - as you would in a system with integrated graphics if you were to install a video card.

 

Yeah, onboard was disabled, didn't help. :/

 

Hmm, could you explain that further? Do you just mean setting it to stereo/headphones/surround/whatever?

 

Yes. Usually when you plug in a jack to one of those configurable ports, is asks you whether it’s a headphone, mic, surround front/rear/center etc. right ? In most drivers there is also an option to make that selection permanent or disable auto sensing completely. Since I’m not familiar with new Creative drivers I can’t tell you exactly where to find it. But I'm guessing it is there somewhere..

 

Err, no?

Not that I've ever noticed. Not sure my card supports that kind of fancy stuff.

 

Could you post the available Creative programs installed? (in the start menu)

 

Jalf, I have a fairly new eMachines desktop into which is installed an Audigy 2 ZS from a Voodoo desktop which recently self-destructed when the liquid-cooling blew apart. The headphones plug into the control pod for the speakers, Logitech Z-2300. A few minutes ago, I turned on the system with the intention of listening to a new CD. The speakers wouldn't work; plugged the headphones into the pod - zilch! LOL If I plug the headphones directly into the card at the rear of the case, they work fine.

The machine otherwise works properly - no blue screens, freezes or the like, but the speakers aren't working at all now in Windows or Ubuntu, and the headphones only work if plugged directly into the card. This is your damn fault!

I'm glad I've got two smart boys. They'll be able to fix this for me later, and I won't have to deal with it.