Deborah's computer (Dickens) has a Creative Labs CT1350B Sound Blaster 2.0 sound card which is too old to work with NetMeeting. So I bought a new sound card (Sound Blaster Live! MP3+) with the intention of using it to replace the one in my computer (Wizard) which is an AWE32, and installing the AWE32 in Dickens. That which should be simple, apparently is not. Below is the dialog between Creative Labs support and me, starting in April 2000 via a submission to their web site.
Date: 4/24/00 7:15:06 PM -- Submission to the Creative Labs web site
Email: otterthay@email.com
Name: Steve McCain
Phone:
Address:
Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.01; Windows 95)
Product: Sound Card: SB Live! MP3+
Portable: None
Graphics/Video: None
CD/DVD: None
Modem/Telephony: None
Problem With: SB
CT Number: CT4760
Serial Number: #
Date of Purchase: 4/14/00
I/O Addr:
IRQs: 9
DMAs: 0
Misc Settings:
System:
Brand/Model: FIC PA-2007 MB
OS: Windows 95 4.00.950 B
CPU: Pentium 166MMX
BIOS: Award
Problem:
The CT4760 is new. I intended to use it to replace a SB32/AWE32 (CT3600) that has been working fine for years in this machine. I use all of my IRQs, so I had to configure the BIOS for Legacy/ISA for IRQ 5 since so many DOS games don't recognize anything else, and I also set DMA channels 1 and 5 to Legacy/ISA. As I said, it's been working fine for years. Since the new CT4760 is PCI, I set the BIOS settings back to PCI/PnP. I deleted the old devices from the system configuration, then swapped boards. At the first reboot, Win95 found the new hardware and loaded the drivers from CD. It appeared to be working. At the next reboot, the system would be almost all the way up, then reboot itself into Safe Mode.
The only way I've found to get the system to boot normally is to reinstall the CT3600. It even works with the CT4760 installed simultaneously. The sound comes from the CT4760, but the system won't boot without the CT3600. I looked for every application I could think of that might be configured to look specifically
for the old card (NetMeeting, DirectX, CuSeeMe, QuickTime, etc.), and changed the settings to point to the new card. I reinstalled my ATI Mach64 (DirectDraw) video driver and ATI Player software. I tried dropping down to a Standard (non-proprietary) video driver. I've tried changing the BIOS settings back, removing the old Audio Application software, turning off all audio compression settings in the Multimedia applet, upgrading DirectX to 7.0a, renaming all the old drivers, disabling all the CT3600-related system devices, and disabling my Norton Anti-Virus software. I've looked through several bootlog.txt files, manuals, and your on-line troubleshooter.
Any ideas you can offer will be appreciated. Thanks.
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 11:33:22 -0500 -- From Creative Labs support
Mr. McCain,
Try removing and reinstalling the sound card drivers, making sure that you have first downloaded the November Drivers Update from http://www.sblive.com, by taking the following steps:
1. Go to Start>Run and type MSCONFIG, then click Ok
2. Click on the "Selective Startup" option and remove the checkmarks from every box beneath the Selective Startup option. Then click OK and restart the system normally.
3. Go to the Control Panel > System > Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers > and remove the Sound Blaster Live! device listing.
4. Open Windows Explorer and delete any of the following files which exist:
C:\Windows\Inf\CTMISC.INF
\EMU10K1.INF
\CreativeEMU10K1.inf
C:\Windows\AWEMAN.DLL
\AWEMAN32.DLL
C:\Windows\System\EMU10K1.VXD
\SFMAN.VXD
\SFMAN32.DLL
\SBLFX.DLL
\DEVCON32.DLL
\DEFAULT.ECW
\CTW16.DRV
\CTSYN.VXD
\CTSYN16.DRV
\CTMM16.DLL
\CIFMAN.VXD
\CIFMAN.CRL
\CIFMAN.DLL
\AUDIOHQ.CPL
\AHQCPRES.DLL
\A3D.DLL
\2GMGSMT.SF2
\4GMGSMT.SF2
5. Reboot the computer and hold down the left CTRL key as the computer boots. This will bring up the Boot-Up Menu.
6. Pick safe mode.
7. Once booted go to START > FIND > FILES OR FOLDERS and do a search for the following files and delete any that you find:
CTMISC.INF
EMU10K1.INF
CreativeEMU10K1.inf
AWEMAN.DLL
AWEMAN32.DLL
EMU10K1.VXD
SFMAN.VXD
DEFAULT.ECW
CTSYN.VXD
CTMM16.DLL
CIFMAN.VXD
AUDIOHQ.CPL
AHQCPRES.DLL
A3D.DLL
2GMGSMT.SF2
4GMGSMT.SF2
8. Go back to the device manager and see if you can find any listings for the sound card in ANY of the expandable sections. If you find any, remove them.
9. Reboot the computer and cancel the reinstallation of the SB Live. After windows finishes loading, run the CD software installation. At the end of the installation procedure when it asks you to reboot the computer, select no and restart the computer AFTER the installation has completely finished and gone back to the desktop.
The drivers for the sound card should now be completely installed along with Liveware 3.0. You will now want to run the November Drivers Update. Return to a normal configuration, by clicking "Normal startup" in MSCONFIG.
Please let me know if the above suggestion worked.
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 06:35 AM -- To Creative Labs support
Ms. Meyers,
Sorry. I couldn't get past the first step. I was able to download the November update, so I'm ready for the last step, but I couldn't find MSCONFIG. I typed it in Run, but it couldn't be found. I used Find Files in Windows Explorer to search My Computer for it, but it isn't there. I then ran EXTRACT /D against all CAB files on my Windows 95 CD. It's not there either. Please advise.
Thanks,
Steve McCain
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 04:20 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
Sorry for the inconvenience, there was a new agent who was answering some of my mail, but I will be taking over from here out. :)
For Windows 95, you will not have the MSCONFIG option, so you may disregard that step.
You will also need to make sure that your computer has fully uninstalled the CT3600 before installing the Live. Here are these steps to follow:
3. Go to the Control Panel > System > Device Manager.
4. Go to Sound, video and game controllers group.
5. Remove any listings for the sound card.
6. Go to Start > Shut Down > Restart in MS-DOS Mode.
7. Go to the "c:\windows" directory.
8. Rename awe*.*.
9. Go to the "c:\windows\system" directory.
10. Rename sb*.*, wfm*.*, csp*.*, and cif*.*
11. Go to the "c:\windows\inf" directory.
12. Rename *.bin to *.cli
13. Reboot the computer and when it says "Starting Win95" hit the F8 key.
14. Pick safe mode.
15. Once booted go to Start > Find > Files or folders and do a search for the following files and rename any that you find:
WFM0200.ACV
WFM0201.ACV
WFM0202.ACV
WFM0203.ACV
SB16SND.DRV
SBFM.DRV
SB16.VXD
CSPMAN.DLL
CIFMAN.CRL
CIFMAN.DLL
AWEMAN.DLL
AWEMAN32.DLL
SBAWE32.DRV
SBAWE.VXD
16. Go back to the device manager and see if you can find any listings for the sound card in ANY of the expandable sections. If you find any, remove them.
17. Reboot the computer.
Try removing and reinstalling the sound card drivers by doing the following steps after having uninstalled the Sound Blaster Live! software via the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel:
1. Go to the Control Panel > System > Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers > and remove the Sound Blaster Live! device listing. This should remove everything from the group. If anything is left in this group for the sound card and also in the Creative Miscellaneous Devices group, then please remove them.
2. Open Windows Explorer and delete any of the following files which exist:
C:\Windows\Inf\CTMISC.INF
\EMU10K1.INF
\CreativeEMU10K1.inf
\DRVDATA.BIN
\DRVIDX.BIN
C:\Windows\System\EMU10K1.VXD
\SFMAN.VXD
\SFMAN32.DLL
\SBLFX.DLL
\DEVCON32.DLL
\DEFAULT.ECW
\CTW16.DRV
\CTSYN.VXD
\CTSYN16.DRV
\CTMM16.DLL
\CIFMAN.VXD
\CIFMAN.CRL
\CIFMAN.DLL
\AUDIOHQ.CPL
\AHQCPRES.DLL
\A3D.DLL
\2GMGSMT.SF2
\4GMGSMT.SF2
\8GMGSMT.SF2
\AC3API.DLL
4. Reboot the computer and when it says "Starting Win95" hit the F8 key.
5. Pick safe mode.
6. Once booted go to Start > Find > Files or Folders and do a search for the following files and delete any that you find:
CTMISC.INF
EMU10K1.INF
CreativeEMU10K1.inf
DRVDATA.BIN
DRVIDX.BIN
AWEMAN.DLL
AWEMAN32.DLL
EMU10K1.VXD
SFMAN.VXD
DEFAULT.ECW
CTSYN.VXD
CTMM16.DLL
CIFMAN.VXD
AUDIOHQ.CPL
AHQCPRES.DLL
A3D.DLL
2GMGSMT.SF2
4GMGSMT.SF2
8GMGSMT.SF2
7. Go back to the device manager and see if you can find any listings for the sound card in ANY of the expandable sections. If you find any, remove them.
8. Reboot the computer and add the drivers back from the cd out of the D:\Audio\English\Win95drv directory. You should also be prompted to run through the install of the software. At the end of the installation procedure when it asks you to reboot the computer, select no and restart the computer AFTER the installation has completely finished and gone back to the desktop.
The drivers for the sound card should now be completely installed.
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 02:03 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
Thanks for the prompt response. However, it's still not working for me. Below is what I did and the responses I got. There was no mention in the directions as to when I should remove/install the sound cards, so I guessed.
I started with both sound cards installed, and functional sound from the CT4760, and performed step 3 (which is where the instructions started).
At step 4, I also removed the SB IDE controller entry from Hard Disk Controllers.
At step 5, I assumed that "the" sound card referred to the CT3600, and only deleted its listings. I left the Live! entries there.
At step 6, my attempt to restart in MS-DOS mode failed. Shutdown never completed. So I rebooted and used F8 to boot to Command Prompt only. While I was there, I REM'd out the environment settings for the sound card (i.e. SET BLASTER=).
I performed steps 7 through 16 without deviation or problem.
Since step 17 began to refer to rebooting and reinstalling drivers for the CT4760, and you said to "make sure that your computer has fully uninstalled the CT3600 before installing the Live", I assumed that by this point all references to the CT3600 should have been removed. So I shut down the computer and remove both cards. I then powered on the computer. It again almost made it to the point where it would display the Win95 GUI, and it auto-rebooted.
So I powered down, reinstalled just the CT3600, and booted successfully. As it discovered the "new" hardware, I cancelled its requests for drivers. I then went through all the steps again up to step 16 (except reboots) to be sure that all the files that I had renamed had not reappeared. The only ones that had reappeared were DRV*.BIN (which I deleted since I already had renamed copies in the directory). In Device Manager, the Live! entries had disappeared (including the heading for Creative Miscellaneous Devices). I removed the SB16 entries (which of course had exclamation marks since I hadn't loaded the drivers for them) so that the only entries left under Sound, Video, and Game Controllers were "ATI Multimedia Driver" and "Wave Device for Voice Modem".
Step 17 also referred to removal of the Live! software which I had never gotten around to installing, so there was no entry in Add/Remove Programs to remove.
I decided that since the CT4760 had been removed, that I could/should continue with the steps to clean everything up. At step 2, I found that CreativeEMU10K1.inf was in the C:\WINDOWS\INF\OTHER directory. I deleted it at step 6. I continued without incident through step 7.
Since step 8 referred to reinstalling the drivers, I assumed that at least by this point I should be able to boot without the CT3600. So I tried it. It failed with the same symptom. I changed the BIOS settings for IRQ 5 and DMA channels 1 and 5 from Legacy/ISA to PCI/PnP and tried again. Same symptom. So I changed the BIOS settings back to how they were, reinstalled the CT3600, booted successfully, and began drafting this reply.
Date: Tue, 2 May 2000 06:42 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
Unfortunately, Creative Labs does not support two sound cards within a system, I was under the impression that you were replacing the CT3600 with the SB Live sound card. I apologize for any inconvenience. It is possible to get both cards working within your system, but Creative Labs does not support it.
Date: Tue, 3 May 2000 03:23 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
Please think. I took the time to write a detailed response; I would appreciate a reciprocal effort. I have no intention of leaving both sound cards in the PC. That's just where I happened to start. I am trying to purge my system of its need for the CT3600. As I have said, the PC will boot and sound will work with the CT3600 AND the Live! card installed, OR with ONLY the CT3600 installed. It doesn't matter what cards are installed while I'm deleting files. Please reread the history, and provide a reply that contains something useful. I have been unable to boot my system without the CT3600. That means without ANY sound card. I thought I had made clear that I understood the point you made about the importance of deinstalling the CT3600 before installing the new card. There is something still remaining in my PC's configuration that REQUIRES that the CT3600 be installed. It won't boot without it. I don't know how many times I have to say that before it becomes an offense to your intelligence. Please, please, please help me. I have spent 15 to 20 real hours trying to troubleshoot this.
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 03:32 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
I immediately apologize, it is finals week.
The ATI video card may have audio functionality, so I would suggest that you disable the sound support for this card, then I would pull the CT3600 out of the system. Send me what happens when you do this. We will take it step by step, and I will make your mail first priority.
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 06:59 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
Thanks for the recommendation. My video card doesn't have sound capabilities, but my modem does. Last weekend, after I sent you the results of the steps you suggested, I removed the "Wave Device for Voice Modem" entry from Device Manager, and physically removed the modem. The reboot symptom remained. It's possible that support software for the modem may still be causing the conflict. It may be this weekend before I find time to try it, but I'll delete it from Device Manager, use Add/Remove Programs to delete the DialTone support software, and again physically remove the card. I have an external V.90 modem also, so it should not pose a problem for me to leave the internal modem completely out of the system until we get the sound card problem resolved.
There is one other entry listed under S, V, & G Controllers -- ATI Multimedia Video Driver. I tried deleting that software prior to my first request for assistance. The symptoms remained. If you would prefer, I can delete that software and leave it uninstalled until we resolve the problem.
You may find the attachment to be useful. It is a breakdown of some of the resources used by the various devices in my PC. It's in MS Word format. If you need it in another format, just let me know. I can convert it to just about anything.
Thanks for your help,
Steve
Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 03:56 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
In the list that you have given me, the CT3600 is still listed. I will need to know what the error message that shows up when the sound card is pulled from the system.
Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 10:15 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
The list I sent is the last functional configuration of the PC. Consider it "square one". As soon as I find a stable combination of settings that work for the new Live! card (with the CT3600 removed), I will update the list.
Regarding the error message when the sound card is pulled from the system, there is no error message. The PC just reboots. I expect to have time this weekend to make further attempts to troubleshoot the problem.
Thanks,
Steve
Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 03:10 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
When the system reboots, is this with the Live in the system or out of the system?
If in, I would suggest changing the sound card to a new PCI slot.
Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 05:26 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
I spent another 9 hours trying various things to get this to work. I started by using Add/Remove Software to remove the proprietary DialTone modem software. It didn't uninstall cleanly, so I had to manually clean up files and win.ini. I then removed the Leopard Shark modem from Device Manager, shut down, and physically removed the modem. The modem will remain out of the system until the problem is resolved. So the resources previously used by the modem are now free. The PC rebooted OK, and sound still worked.
I then followed the steps you sent me to remove the CT3600. BTW, at no time was the Live! card installed. It will remain uninstalled until we successfully remove the CT3600. All further references in this dialog to SB, the card, etc. will be to the CT3600 unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, all generalizations about a reboot failing refer to the same problem we've been discussing unless explicitly stated otherwise. After completing all the steps, I shut down and removed the CT3600. Reboot failed.
I reinstalled the CT3600 and renamed the files back to their original names via Safe Mode. Since removing the modem hadn't resolved the problem, and I had some time, I shut down again to make some changes to the BIOS to see what effect it would have.
I set all IRQs and DMAs to PCI/PnP. Reboot failed. I tried again (for what reason, I don't know. Maybe I'm going insane), but got the same symptom. I changed IRQ 5 & DMA 1 & 5 to Legacy/ISA. I left IRQs 10 & 11 at PCI/PnP. Boot failed. I changed IRQs 10 & 11 to ISA. Boot succeeded with the SB choosing IRQ 11 in a configuration that didn't match any of its known configurations. Since the exact same symptom appeared/disappeared by a mere change to BIOS resources, I began to focus on the possibility that I'm experiencing a resource conflict rather than a driver/hardware problem. I must say that I have not been at all impressed with the Win95/PCI/PnP resource arbitration capability. It reminded me how long I fought when I first bought the CT3600 to find a combination of settings that worked.
As the system rebooted, I let it reload the drivers and got sound working again. I then shut down and changed just IRQ 11 to PCI/PnP.
Note: IRQ 10 is the preferred IRQ for the CT3600 IDE controller. In spite of the fact that I don't use it, it has to be allocated a resource. Allowing Win95 to try to figure it out on its own fails because it apparently first configures the PCI resources, then gives what's left to the PnP devices. If I don't set IRQ 10 to Legacy/ISA in the BIOS, and manually configure the IDE controller to use IRQ 10 in Device Manager, there will be a conflict that results in an exclamation mark. You will notice on the list that I gave you that the IDE controller is given IRQ 10, but it is disabled (with a red X in Device Manager).
Boot succeeded. The SB chose IRQ 5 this time.
I shut down and changed IRQ 5 and all DMAs to PCI/PnP. That left only IRQ 10 set to Legacy/ISA. Boot was successful. However, SB chose IRQ 11 instead of 5, and DMAs 3 & 5 instead of 1 & 5. IDE was still at IRQ 10 since it was configured manually.
Thinking that maybe if Windows had a previous configuration to look at that it could find a good combination of resources, I left everything configured and didn't rename any files, shut down, removed the SB and rebooted. It failed.
I reinstalled the card and booted. It still failed even though I hadn't changed anything else.
I set IRQ 5 and DMAs 1 & 5 to ISA. Booted OK. However, again SB chose IRQ 11 instead of 5 (even though IRQ 5 showed to not be used at all), and DMAs 3 & 5 instead of 1 & 5, and again reported that it was using a combination of resources that didn't match any of its known configurations. I clicked the button to set the SB configuration to manual, but left the box checked for automatic settings. It automatically chose normal resources (i.e. IRQ 5, DMA 1 & 5). That left IRQ 11 unused. I rebooted again, and it came up OK, but the SB again chose non-standard settings. Again, just clicking on the manual configuration button and letting Windows take another look helps it to find a good configuration.
Just to see what it would do, in Device Manager I set IRQ 11 as System Reserved. Reboot was successful, SB had an exclamation point by it and wasn't configured for any IRQ. I clicked the manual configuration button and let Windows try again, and it found a good configuration. Obviously that hadn't worked, so I unreserved IRQ 11. I noticed that the AWE 32 Synthesizer also had non-standard settings. I encouraged it to try again, and it worked.
I then shut down and changed in the BIOS the PnP OS setting from NO to YES, and changed the Legacy/ISA / PCI/PnP settings from MANUAL to AUTO. Reboot failed.
I changed the Legacy/ISA / PCI/PnP settings back to MANUAL, and IRQ 11 to ISA. Reboot failed.
I changed the Legacy/ISA / PCI/PnP settings from MANUAL to AUTO again, and IRQ 11 back to PCI/PnP. I powered off and removed the CT3600. Reboot failed.
I changed the PnP OS setting from YES back to NO, and changed the Legacy/ISA / PCI/PnP settings back to MANUAL, and reinstalled the CT3600. (Back to where we were.) Reboot was OK, but SB was still on IRQ 11. I clicked the manual configuration button and let Windows try again, and it found the normal configuration. I unchecked the box for automatic configuration.
With it left as a manual configuration, and no change to IRQs, I shut down and removed the card. Reboot failed.
I booted to Safe Mode and disabled (not removed) all CT3600 devices. I System Reserved IRQs 5 & 10, and DMAs 1 & 5. Reboot failed. I booted back into Safe Mode and restored the settings to how they were. I reinstalled the card and rebooted OK.
I guess we're back to square one (minus the modem), but maybe we learned something. What do you think?
Thanks for your continued support.
Steve
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 03:27 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
Please find out if your system will support the EMM386 for DOS Emulations. The ISA
card uses different drivers for DOS, and in your original message the situation started
after you set the BIOS to PCI/PNP configuration. You may also need to disable the sound
capabilities of your video card (ATI Player Software). The system Codecs may very well be set to use only the 3600 and the ATI, so if this is the case we may be able to reset these by uninstalling and reinstalling the Multimedia by this process:
Try completely removing and reinstalling the Windows Multimedia
software by doing the following steps:
Go to the Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup. In the list of Components, remove the check mark next to Multimedia and click Apply. After all of the multimedia software has been uninstalled, select Multimedia again and click on Details. Place a check mark into every single box and click Apply. Insert the Windows CD-ROM to install the software.
I would also suggest that you set all of your IRQs in the BIOS to auto, and allow your
system to load the cards one by one, to the computer's liking.
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 07:34 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
Regarding your suggestion to "set all of your IRQs in the BIOS to auto, and allow your system to load the cards one by one, to the computer's liking", you will notice in the previous message that the first thing I did after removing the modem was to "set all IRQs and DMAs to PCI/PnP". The result is that the reboot fails. It works fine with the manual configuration. It does not work if I let Windows try to figure it out. Windows and PnP do a poor job of allocating resources.
I'm not sure I understand your reference to EMM386 for DOS Emulations. If I boot into real DOS, I of course would have to use the DOS drivers for the sound card. And yes, my system supports the DOS drivers and the EMM386 memory manager. However, under Windows 95, I use the Win95 drivers. I don't understand how that relates to the BIOS settings. Setting an IRQ to be Legacy/ISA instead of PCI/PnP just tells the PCI cards and the PnP arbitration procedure not to try to use that IRQ. As I understand it, it has nothing to do with which drivers get loaded to the device that uses the IRQ.
Regarding the sound capabilities of my video card, it doesn't have any. I do have an entry in Add/Remove Programs for "ATI VIDEO PLAYER". When I run the ATI Player, I don't see an option to disable sound (other than a mute button). So I uninstalled it. I'll leave it uninstalled until we resolve the problem.
I deinstalled/reinstalled all Multimedia Components per your instructions. I then shut down, removed the 3600, and rebooted. Reboot failed. I reinstalled the 3600, and rebooted successfully. So the system still needs the 3600.
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 10:05 AM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
Let's try this process for further information as to what is keeping your CT3600 from coming out of the system:
1. Pull both of the sound cards of the system.
2. Perform a bootlog.txt.
3. Send me the last few (5-7) lines. You may be able to just cut and copy these lines to the message to me.
Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 02:41 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
As requested, I removed the 3600 (which is the only sound card in the system) and booted to create a bootlog.txt. The boot failed of course. Here is the last bit of the file:
[000CDC43] INITCOMPLETE = ASPIENUM [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = ASPIENUM [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETE = PCI [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = PCI [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETE = ISAPNP [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = ISAPNP [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETE = BIOS [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = BIOS [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETE = CONFIGMG [000CDC43] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = CONFIGMG [000CDC44] INITCOMPLETE = VCDFSD [000CDC44] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = VCDFSD [000CDC44] INITCOMPLETE = MRCI2 [000CDC44] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = MRCI2 [000CDC44] INITCOMPLETE = IOS [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = IOS [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETE = PAGEFILE [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = PAGEFILE [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETE = PAGESWAP [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = PAGESWAP [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETE = PARITY [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = PARITY [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETE = SYMEvent [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = SYMEvent [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETE = REBOOT [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = REBOOT [000CDC48] INITCOMPLETE = NProtect
Since it failed on NProtect, I REM'd the Norton AntiVirus line in my AUTOEXEC.BAT, renamed SYMEVNT.386 and NPROTECT.VXD, removed Norton Scheduler from my StartUp folder, configured Norton to not load Auto-Protect at startup, unchecked all "Scan a file when" boxes, and rebooted to create another bootlog.txt. The boot failed in the usual way. The section from where it failed before to the end of the file is included as attachment BootLog8.txt. It gets significantly farther into the boot process before it fails.
When I reinstalled the sound card and rebooted (after putting the Norton AV stuff back to the way it was), the video was messed up. It took a few reboots and adjustment of video settings to get it back to normal. Let me know if you want the details.
I look forward to hearing your opinion about the bootlog files.
Thanks,
Steve
Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 04:40 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
I would suggest that you go into Safe Mode and rename the file atm32.dll to atm32.old, and then restart into Normal Mode and send me the results.
Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 06:34 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
Done as you suggested. The only difference I noticed was that after the GUI appeared, I got a Windows 3.1-style dialog box that said "Adobe Type Manager
I renamed ATM32.OLD back to ATM32.DLL and rebooted. Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Steve
Date: Between Mon, 15 May 2000 06:34 PM and Sun, 21 May 2000 12:08 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
I would suggest that you fully uninstall the Adobe Type Manager software, then see if there is any updated versions of the software, and then reinstall the software without the background running programs such as virus scans, task schedulers, or clean sweeps.
See if this will improve the installation of the Live card.
Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 12:08 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
I uninstalled ATM, turned off Norton AV, removed the 3600, and rebooted. As it was coming up, the wallpaper appeared without a mouse pointer or any icons, then it auto-rebooted as usual. I rebooted to create the attached BootLog9.txt. This time the pointer appeared, though it wouldn't move, prior to auto-rebooting.
I then removed all entries from the StartUp folder and the registry keys for Run and RunOnce, and rebooted. Same symptom (up to the point of the GUI). So I uninstalled the mouse driver and set it to the standard MS PS/2 Mouse Pointer, set the mouse scheme to None, and tried again. Boot failed.
I reinstalled the 3600 and booted OK. I set audio preferred devices to None, set the sounds scheme to No Sounds, and set AIM to not autoload. Reboot without the 3600 still fails.
I think we're making progress since it gets farther into the process before rebooting. What should I try next?
Thanks,
Steve
Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 09:45 AM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
I would like for you to cut and copy your System.ini file for me to look over, and then I would also like for you to shut off the system sounds within the Control Panel. This is to ensure that you do not get a startup sound or any other sounds during the session in Windows. We will enable the system sounds when we are finished. :)
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 09:21 AM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
Sorry for the delay in responding. My brother came in from out of town, and we went to Roatán. Been kind of busy.
Sound properties have now been set to No Sounds. My SYSTEM.INI is included below.
Thanks,
Steve
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2000 02:01 PM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
You will need to rem out the line under 386Enh containing the "device=vpmtd.386".
If you do not use the MS Macro Assembler additions any longer, I would suggest un-installing the program as well.
Did you install Windows 95, or did you do the update from Windows 3.1?
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2000 06:30 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
"device=vpmtd.386" has now been rem'd out. What is it?
MS Macro Assembler does not appear to have an uninstall routine. So I rem'd out the three drivers in SYSTEM.INI, and searched the registry for any reference to the path to the drivers (none found).
I upgraded from Windows 3.1. Actually, it's not that simple. I had a Windows 3.1 installation on an old 486. I built a new computer, loaded DOS 6.1 on it, then copied Windows 3.1 from the old computer to the new one. Later, I upgraded to Windows 95. Even later, I upgraded to OSR2. I have also upgraded much of the hardware -- including the motherboard and processor -- and have reinstalled OSR2 on top of the current installation for various reasons. In spite of my attempts to keep my registry clean, SYSTEM.DAT is 6501KB. In other words, it's a kludge. However, I have so many applications loaded, and so much customization, that it would literally take weeks to get back to where I am from a fresh install (which is what I really need to do). I plan to dedicate the time to do it, probably when Windows ME comes out.
After the above changes, I tried to remove the CT3600. The symptom remains.
Thanks,
Steve
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2000 08:11 AM -- From Creative Labs support
Steve,
I would suggest a format of the hard drive and then a clean installation of the Operating System. I don't suggest upgrading any operating systems, nor the install over another installation. These two processes create many problems that show themselves in various ways, and I would highly suggest a fresh install of the OS.
Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 03:02 PM -- To Creative Labs support
Jessica,
As I said, I agree. However, I don't accept it as a solution to our problem. I am not exaggerating when I say that it would take weeks to reinstall. My GAMES directory has 65 subdirectories with at least one game per directory, and there are 86 registered programs, not to mention the dozens of others which aren't registered in Add/Remove Programs. Many of the games require special Boot-to-MS-DOS configurations which would have to be noted and recreated. It's also likely that I've lost the original installation media for many of the applications.
Please work with me so I can get a refund for the purchase of the Live! card. I purchased it from MultiWave Direct, order number XX-5467755-24946. They have been easy to deal with in the past, but I don't know if their return policy will allow for a refund after so long. I believe I have made more effort to upgrade the sound card already than I should have to make to justify a refund.
Sincerely,
Steve McCain