Sound static on X-Fi sound cards?

[Keith_C]

I went onto steam after your posts saying a new patch was deployed, still had the same problem. I'll try again tonight, but I'm pretty sure I tried after that patch was deployed.

I saw someone mention updated open_al, is open_al the program in add/remove programs named "osmos" but with the logo of "AL"? How do I manually update open_al?

[Keith_C]

So, I went onto steam, Osmos said it was good to go, start it up, still have static... any other suggestions?

[Meal Worms]

Hey Keith_C,

You should be able to reinstall OpenAL by going to 'Add/Remove Programs' in your Control Panel and uninstalling OpenAL from there. Then, navigate to Creative Labs' download page and grab the latest OpenAL installer (oalinst).

Hope this helps!
Dave

[Keith_C]

Uninstalled sound card, reinstalled all the drivers and whatnot.
Uninstalled Open AL, reinstalled newest version from website.
Uninstalled Steam, reinstalled and reinstalled Osmos.

Still all I hear is loud, static instead of music

[Keith_C]

No other suggestions, am I out of luck until Azuntech releases new drivers for my SoundCard?

On a side note, I'm curious why the demo worked fine without problems, but the full version has sound problems? Is there some way I could replace parts of the full version with the demo version and have the music work? I'd prefer less music (as in, only the music from the demo) instead of horrible static that makes the game unplayable.

[Meal Worms]

Sorry Keith_C, I'm not quite sure what else to suggest.

Can you please describe to me in greater detail when the static occurs? Does the game simply start off with garbled sound? Is there a specific gameplay event that occurs that marks the beginning of the static? Does the static occur after a certain period of time (that is, the sound turns to static after the five-minute mark)?

I'm trying to determine if there is one particular soundtrack or soundeffect that is corrupting your audio device.

Thanks for your help,
Dave

[Meal Worms]

Keith_C, the problem is most definitely buggy X-Fi drivers, but there's a way to work around them:

We need to tell Osmos to manually select your Software Device instead of your X-Fi card. To do this, close Osmos and have a look in the Osmos logfile (Osmos.log, in the Osmos directory of your Documents folder). Look at the log for your most recent run (at the very bottom of the logfile) and you'll see a list of OpenAL devices -- it'll look something like the following:

Code: Select all

Getting OpenAL device list
Found 2 devices:
  Device 1: SB X-Fi Audio [8F00](127) (DEFAULT)
  Device 2: Generic Software(256)
Using and opening 0: "SB X-Fi Audio [8F00]"...


Now, open the Osmos config file (Config.cfg, in the Osmos directory of your Documents folder), find the soundDevice variable and change it to

soundDevice "1"

This selects device #2 in the list of sound devices specified at startup (they're indexed from 0 to num-1).

If you then restart Osmos, the static should be gone (because you're using software sound instead of your X-Fi card)

Dave

[Keith_C]

I can record it if you like and post a WAV of it somewhere, but for now I will try to explain. I open steam up, I double click on Osmos, it starts to load, and then goes full screen. The title screen begins to appear, the moment the music would start, loud static is heard instead. The static is literally what I would describe as static, random scratchy noises mixed with buzzing and soft popping, at time it almost would seem there is a pattern to the static (which makes sense if it's simply misinterpreted audio). I waited for a bit hoping the static would go away, and the is the odd occasional break where the actual music (or what I'm guessing is the actual music) and be heard, but it's only like 1-3 seconds worth every now and then, doing things like navigating through the menu seems to increase the occurrence of these momentary lapses in static.

I haven't actually played the full version, I just couldn't stand the sound so I usually try and exit fairly quickly. As I'm typing this I realize you responded again. I will try this when I get home. Thanks for all your help! I can't wait to fully experience this game, I pretty much bought it right after playing the demo.

[Meal Worms]

Thanks Keith_C. It would appear that the sound isn't working for you right out of the gate, indicating a driver problem. Hopefully pointing Osmos to your Software Device will fix the issue.

Dave

[Keith_C]

So that totally worked, switching the audio device to the software device worked I mean.

My question is, what's the downside? Or is there one? Is the hardware processor just more powerful? I'm not going to have a loss in fidelity am I?

Thanks for all your help!