Major problem with my MX300 sound card.

[Reverend Maynard]

This is an odd problem, so I will try to explain it right. I recently tried to change my sound drivers with the default ones that came on the CD to the Aureal references drivers. Everything seemed fine at first, but then when I restarted my computer it froze, and kept freezing every time thereafter. Once I removed the reference drivers it booted up no prob. I put the CD drivers back on and again the comp ran fine until I tried to restart. I have found that the only way I am able to boot into Windows now is if I disable the sound card.

I am running...
P3 450 @ 549
Soyo SBA3+ Mainboard
G400 MAX (of coarse)
Win98 SE
DirectX 7

I think that is everything significant. Has anyone had this problem before?

[HollyBerri]

Hi... sorry you had to wait so long for a reply.

Sounds to me like you didn't completely uninstall the Diamond utilities. Which utility runs in your system tray... the little diamond, or the big 'A'?

Check 'Add/Remove Programs' in the Control Panel and see if there's any Diamond stuff you can get off your system that way. Otherwise you'll have to use (or get a demo of) CleanSweep or something like that...

After you uninstall....are you just using the Aureal drivers, or did you want the demos and utilites as well?


After you uninstall, I'd say boot into Safe Mode and remove the Diamond Multifunction Parent and all its children (including the game port; can't remember if Diamond has its own driver for that or uses Windows') from the Device Manager. Unzip the Aureal drivers (and demos if you d/l'd the big file) into a temporary directory. When you reboot Windows, it will want to re-add the MX300, but won't have a clue as to what drivers to use. Tell it you want to 'search for a better driver for this device', and then uncheck all options for the search except 'specify a location'. Browse to the temporary folder and hit 'next'... everything should install (including the demos, I think... if not, I think there's a setup.exe in the folder they are unzipped to which installs them.).

Hopefully when you reboot, everything should be fine, and the 'A' should be in your tray (you don't have to use the tray control; it can be disabled, but it's a good indicator of whether your install has gone well).

Yes, we <u>have</u> seen this problem before among MX300 users; the Diamond utilities just don't like to uninstall, and the changeover needs to be handled almost as carefully as a GX00 driver upgrade...

------------------
Holly

Yeah, yeah, system specs, whatever...

System 1, (up and in the shower--i.e. Configuration Mode):

DFI 2BXPL, Celeron 333 (not currently o/c), 1 stick 128MB PC100 SDRAM, Maxtor 20GB HDD (woohoo!), Phillips Mag 107B 17" monitor;
Acer 10X DVD-ROM, HP 8100i CD-RW;
G400 MAX , Diamond Monster Sound MX300, Iwill Ultra66 controller, Trend 10/100 Fast Ethernet controller (disabled), Cirrus Logic v.90 PCI modem;
USB webcam and Acer 620 USB scanner;
....and a PS/2 keyboard and mouse ( )

System 2 (still in bed with the covers over its head):

A-Trend 6130 LX board, PII-266, 1 stick 128MB PC100 SDRAM, Maxtor 20GB HDD (yes, I bought 2; they were on sale!!);
Nakamichi 5-disk CD changer;
Iwill Ultra66 Controller (yes, I bought 2), Trend 10/100 Fast Ethernet card (bought 4), and my trusty old cards-- G200 8MB SGRAM , Ensoniq Soundscape, Boca Research 33.6 ISA modem;
...and a standard keyboard and PS/2 trackball (Logitech Marble, fyi )

Well, you asked....! All right, you didn't ask.... tough noogies.



[This message has been edited by HollyBerri (edited 09 January 2000).]