4 speakers, where are thou?.. - by Gabucino
Gabucino on 30/5/2013 at 16:22
Hi guys.
Back then in ye olden days we were able to use a nifty SB Live 5.1 with 4 or more speakers, and have the complete surround experience - footsteps coming from behind! Well that was Win98 (or was it XP?).
But not so much with Windows 7! Alas, there is an user-supplied Live driver here: (
http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=698996&) (it includes ALchemy) - and it does enable EAX if "Hardware acceleration" is set to OpenAL.. but! The rear speakers are completely silent if Windows is set to 4 speaker mode, and in 2 speakers mode they just mirror the front ones (of course).
So no clear distinction between sounds coming from the front, and from behind. At least the EAX effects seem to work, though.
Did anyone devise a proper solution for 4 speakers, or should I get back to fixing my 450MHz Voodoo 1 PC? (that's... slow...)
AntiMatter_16 on 30/5/2013 at 16:47
Can you verify that the rear speakers are actually working in a speaker test?
What happens to the rear speakers if you try Hardware Acceleration: Off, or Hardware Acceleration: On, as opposed to OpenAL?
Have you tried uncommenting the line "snd_oal_device Generic Software" in cam_ext.cfg?
Gabucino on 30/5/2013 at 20:04
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, the speakers are working independently in windows' built-in test.
Thanks for the device override hint, although it didn't help (Thief 2 was already using the Generic Software device), but I entered SB Live as override, and got this:
: OpenAL Init...
: OpenAL32.dll: 6.14.357.25
: wrap_oal.dll: 2.2.0.7
: Default device: Generic Software
: Enumerating devices without validation...
: Device: Generic Software
: Device: SB Live! Audio [EC00]
: found 2 unvalidated device(s)
: Opening user defined OpenAL device "SB Live! Audio [EC00]"...
: Skipping device "SB Live! Audio [EC00]", does not support minimum requirements
: failed to open device
: Opening default OpenAL device "Generic Software"...
: Device 0 (default)
: name : Generic Software
: version : 1.1
: version str: 1.1
: vendor : Creative Labs Inc.
: renderer : Software
: 3D sources : 248
: 2D sources : 8
: EFX : 1
: EAX2 : 1
: EAX3 : 0
: EAX4 : 0
: EAX5 : 0
: occlusion : 1
: XRAM : 0
: Opened device 'Generic Software'
: EAX reverb support enabled
: occlusion support enabled
I'm rather curious about that requirements detection routine...
AntiMatter_16 on 31/5/2013 at 05:08
In the Thief2 Audio options menu, Hardware Acceleration can be set to "Off", "On", or "OpenAL". Do the rear speakers work when Hardware acceleration is set to "Off" or "On"?
Hardware Acceleration "On" would use Creative ALchemy, so you'd have to set up ALchemy for Thief2 in order for it to work. I'd guess that would be your best bet.
Gabucino on 31/5/2013 at 17:06
Then I am out of luck, since EAX is greyed out if "Hardware Acceleration" is On, despite having ALchemy copy the dsound.dll and dsound.ini files in the game's folder. This with the official Thief2.exe, and with the fanmade one too.
EDIT: dsoundlog.txt says: "Failed to initialize Creative ALchemy, falling back to dsound.dll"
Maybe the benevolent entity behind the updated EXE will fix OpenAL support in the future... I'd be happy to help with it.
LarryG on 31/5/2013 at 18:45
I believe that the "Opening user defined OpenAL device "SB Live! Audio [EC00]"..." means that you did not take AntiMatter_16's advice and try specifying "Generic Software" in cam_ext.cfg? The command would be
snd_oal_device Generic Software.
This is from my log, as you can see I have several sound options.
Code:
: OpenAL Init...
: OpenAL32.dll: 6.14.357.19
: wrap_oal.dll: 2.1.4.0
: Default device: Speakers (SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio)
: Enumerating devices without validation...
: Device: Speakers (SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio)
: Device: SPDIF Interface (SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio)
: Device: Speakers (SoundTap Recorder)
: Device: Generic Hardware
: Device: Generic Software
: found 5 unvalidated device(s)
: Opening user defined OpenAL device "Generic Hardware"...
: Device 0
: name : Generic Software
: version : 1.1
: version str: 1.1
: vendor : Creative Labs Inc.
: renderer : Software
: 3D sources : 248
: 2D sources : 8
: EFX : 1
: EAX2 : 1
: EAX3 : 0
: EAX4 : 0
: EAX5 : 0
: occlusion : 1
: XRAM : 0
: Opened device 'Generic Software'
: EAX reverb support enabled
: occlusion support enabled
I'm using Generic Hardware because that was the first device I tried. It worked. So I stayed with it. Based on the log, maybe I could have also tried "Speakers (SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio)" and "SPDIF Interface (SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio)" and "Speakers (SoundTap Recorder)" and "Generic Software" as well, but I was happy, so never did.
From your log, it looks like you only have two devices defined in your system, "SB Live! Audio [EC00]" and "Generic Software", and you are defaultling to "SB Live! Audio [EC00]". Try switching to "Generic Software" by uncommenting the line
snd_oal_device Generic Software in cam_ext.cfg and see what happens.
You could also try to find and install additional software sound devices compatible with your system. I believe that there are some possibilities out there.
Gabucino on 31/5/2013 at 19:50
"Generic Software" was my default, and that doesn't work with 4 speakers. And the "SB Live" device can't be used, as seen above.
LarryG on 31/5/2013 at 20:16
Since 5.1 surround works for me, I have to suggest that the problem is with your rig. Either you don't have the right drivers &/or device software for your sound card/motherboard or they aren't working properly or the hardware is not working properly or ...
My suggestion is to contact the manufacturer for your sound hardware and ask for help diagnosing your problems. Or just buy a new sound card . . .
In any event the indications are that it is not a NewDark problem.
Gabucino on 1/6/2013 at 06:06
Thanks, it's good to know that it should work with NewDark!
May I inquire about the type of your soundcard?
