Asus Xonar Soundcard Drivers!

[Naish]

Okay, so Asus stopped releasing drivers for the older Xonar cards, but that doesn't mean they've stopped developing them. Lucky for us they all use the same base driver and each driver has the hardware specifications for all of our cards.

Big thanks to cladisch on the Asus forums.

"The driver itself (cmudaxp.sys) was originally written by C-Media for all CMI8788-based cards; it was later extended by Asus to handle the somewhat different hardware on Xonar cards. All driver files with the same version number are identical.

However, the driver packages also contain an .INF file that tells Windows, among other things, which hardware the driver is to be used for. This .INF file is different for each model.

To make another driver package work with your card, you have to use the D2X .INF file, or you have to add the D2X's PCI ID at the correct place in the other .INF file. The line with the ID looks like this:

%CMI8788.DeviceDesc%=CMPCI, PCI\VEN_13F6&DEV_8788&SUBSYS_82B71043


Note: Using another driver will not work if that driver is so old that it does not yet know about the D2X's hardware."

Here's a thread that describes how to "modify" the drivers to recognize a Xonar DX2
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20090127205101206&board_id=21&model=Xonar+D2X&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

Here's an upload for the 8.17.62 series driver
Vista/Win7 : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FEX4BHOO
XP : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5DX5X6GS

I copy/pasted to make sure we've got a copy here if Asus deletes that thread (if they even check their forums..)

[b1lk1]

Luckily ASUS does not monitor their forum. It is a peer to peer forum. I'll have to check this out. My only question is does updating to a newer driver accomplish anything?

[Rob Williams]

Clemens Ladisch is the same guy responsible for the Linux Xonar drivers, which I've been using for the past year, so huge thanks to him!

This is a cool work-around, I admit... funny that it's this "easy". I still need to follow-up with ASUS though and see if they can give me an update on the driver situation at all.

[Naish]

Clemens Ladisch is the same guy responsible for the Linux Xonar drivers, which I've been using for the past year, so huge thanks to him!

This is a cool work-around, I admit... funny that it's this "easy". I still need to follow-up with ASUS though and see if they can give me an update on the driver situation at all.

Yea, this was mostly a case of me being pissed off about the "EAX" type crashing and lack of a Win7 driver candidate. I'll probably test it out next time I'm bored enough to install it again (runs great on the lappy though). I've yet to try this version with Win7.

ALSO

While you may lose advanced features that only the d2x has, if it's absolutely needed, the Auzentech Meridian drivers actually work with the card because they use the same chipset. Kinda funny, no idea if that works yet on Win7 either. Gotta grab the 64bit iso first :\. I'm also curious to see what features would be enabled via the Meridian drivers as the cards are likely fairly different.

So long as Asus uses the Xonar chipset and keeps the line of sound cards in product we will always be able to get the updated driver with this trick because all of the newer card drivers recognize the old driver hardware. Now on the other hand, if you wanted to use a DX driver with a D2X this would NOT work, because the driver doesn't have any information about the D2X hardware as it was not known at the time the driver was developed.

It almost sounds like Asus' web/deployment/whatever team is supposed to handle this, because this clearly shows that the engineers(for lack of better term?) working on the drivers ARE developing the driver for all the cards, but their web/deployment/whatever team isn't picking up on this.

[Rob Williams]

Well, I wouldn't get too upset over the lack of a Windows 7 driver... I mean, the OS isn't even out. Sure, it's in a "great" state, but most company's have more to worry about than to support an OS that's not supposed to be here for another ten or so months (a final release date is still up in the air). W7 in my opinion should support that chipset without an external driver though, but the Xonar cards are a little different, so I'm not sure if it could. Typical CMI8788 and Xonar cards are differentiated in the Linux kernel, so I'm assuming there's more going on there than meets the eye.

It almost sounds like Asus' web/deployment/whatever team is supposed to handle this, because this clearly shows that the engineers(for lack of better term?) working on the drivers ARE developing the driver for all the cards, but their web/deployment/whatever team isn't picking up on this.

For some reason, I have doubts about this, only because I've found them to be extremely fast in the past. There have been times when I'd receive a motherboard a month before release, and it would actually be listed on the support page with drivers available. The issue here though, is that the website over here is handled by the US HQ, while the driver development is handled in Taiwan. There's a lot of miscommunication between the two, but I hope that will get fixed in time. I know there are a few people at ASUS who'd like to see new drivers come out, but it's really up to the upper management to decide where the time and effort is spent. It sucks.

[Naish]

Well, I wouldn't get too upset over the lack of a Windows 7 driver... I mean, the OS isn't even out. Sure, it's in a "great" state, but most company's have more to worry about than to support an OS that's not supposed to be here for another ten or so months (a final release date is still up in the air). W7 in my opinion should support that chipset without an external driver though, but the Xonar cards are a little different, so I'm not sure if it could. Typical CMI8788 and Xonar cards are differentiated in the Linux kernel, so I'm assuming there's more going on there than meets the eye.



For some reason, I have doubts about this, only because I've found them to be extremely fast in the past. There have been times when I'd receive a motherboard a month before release, and it would actually be listed on the support page with drivers available. The issue here though, is that the website over here is handled by the US HQ, while the driver development is handled in Taiwan. There's a lot of miscommunication between the two, but I hope that will get fixed in time. I know there are a few people at ASUS who'd like to see new drivers come out, but it's really up to the upper management to decide where the time and effort is spent. It sucks.

Yea, I can't blame them for not having Win7 drivers yet, though it'd be nice. Mostly I hate the lack of EAX support (GS3D crashes most anything nowadays) due to a low amount of updates. Either way, these new drivers seem to be working great so far!

And yes, you worded what I was trying to say a lot better. Miscommunication between two parties. Why else would there be info about the other cards in all drivers? :P. As it turns out, I'm not very good at writing while listening to a lecture on something completely unrelated :P.

[Rob Williams]

I had no idea that the EAX support was so poor. I guess for the most part though, that's where the card lacks, and that's always been known. You still get fantastic audio otherwise. I've had my Xonar for just over a year now, and I have never thought about switching. It's truly a fantastic offering, even under Linux, where we don't get "special" support, like Dolby Headphone (which is quite nice under Windows with a nice set of cans).

As it turns out, I'm not very good at writing while listening to a lecture on something completely unrelated :P.

Haha, it's no worries, I can relate to that all too well.

[Kougar]

I have been plagued with questions regarding whether or not my ASUS sound drivers could somehow be behind some game instability I've experienced, but I wouldn't know how to track something like that down. The crashes always are attributed to the hl2.exe file regardless... it doesn't help Steam never fixed the crash-at-application-close problem for Vista 64bit users either. L4D doesn't have the problem so Valve knows how to build a proper shutdown sequence, but they never bothered to actuall fix it in TF2 because it was too low a priority.

I have observed disabling the driver presets (such as DS3D, HiFi, or Music/Games) does seem to have an effect, but its nothing I could actually quantify which makes it all the more annoying.

[Rob Williams]

Are you saying that TF2 uses the hl2.exe file? Either way, I had a fair amount of crashes of Half-Life 2 while using it for benchmarking (one time in every 30 - 40 times maybe), but to be honest, I've had crashes with almost every game we benchmark with... it's just inevitable. Do you have that issue often, and is it just with HL2, or another related game?

I guess the only way to really get to the root would be to not use the Xonar for gaming for a while, but that obviously is the less-than-ideal solution.

[b1lk1]

I have Vista 64 and I play a fair amount of games on Steam and I have yet to have a single crash.

[Rob Williams]

I have Vista 64 and I play a fair amount of games on Steam and I have yet to have a single crash.

You are one of the fortunate ones, then. I've had a fair amount of issues with numerous titles. Just the other day, I had Mirror's Edge crash on me, but it remained running in the background. Of course, I noticed that fact after I benchmarked the next game (I love re-benchmarking, whoo!).

[Naish]

The solution to not having the Xonar cause crashes is to turn off any DSP modes, especially "GX" (GS3D EAX emulation)

[Kougar]

Are you saying that TF2 uses the hl2.exe file? Either way, I had a fair amount of crashes of Half-Life 2 while using it for benchmarking (one time in every 30 - 40 times maybe), but to be honest, I've had crashes with almost every game we benchmark with... it's just inevitable. Do you have that issue often, and is it just with HL2, or another related game?

I guess the only way to really get to the root would be to not use the Xonar for gaming for a while, but that obviously is the less-than-ideal solution.

Yes, TF2 uses the old HL2 engine. The few times I do NOT see a crash message are the few instances where the hl2.exe remains running in the background after the game closes.

I have Vista 64 and I play a fair amount of games on Steam and I have yet to have a single crash.

This problem is specific to TF2. When exiting, closing, or shutting down Team Fortress 2 the game will close, and a Windows dialog box saying hl2.exe has crashed will appear. It has happened under every install of Vista 64 I have used, and also happens under Windows 7 64bit. Do you not specifically get this problem?

The solution to not having the Xonar cause crashes is to turn off any DSP modes, especially "GX" (GS3D EAX emulation)

I will give this a shot, usually I don't think about it.. The Dystopia mod is the least stable game and it is maddening to have a stock system act like it was running an unstable overclock. I am already half way tempted to clean out all ASUS drivers and use onboard sound to see if the problems cease...

[b1lk1]

Sorry Kougar, I misunderstood you. I thought this was a Steamwide issue. Unfortunately I don't play/have that game to test it out for you.

[Rob Williams]

That's a weird problem Kougar, if it persists like that. I've never experienced any game to give me problems quite like that before. I haven't touched TF2 since it was first released, so I'm not familiar with the issue at all.

[Kougar]

Sorry Kougar, I misunderstood you. I thought this was a Steamwide issue. Unfortunately I don't play/have that game to test it out for you.

Ah, no problem. :) It doesn't affect L4D or HL2, just TF2. I know it's a typcial problem as other users have complained to Valve about it, but as an individual mentioned Valve indicated it was at the bottom of the priority stack. That was around a year ago though, and the problem has existed since TF2 launched.

That's a weird problem Kougar, if it persists like that. I've never experienced any game to give me problems quite like that before. I haven't touched TF2 since it was first released, so I'm not familiar with the issue at all.

All you need is Vista 64bit, or now apparently Windows 7 64bit and (obviously) TF2. Valve is extremely lucky their survey indicates only 9.52% of Valve users have Vista 64bit, otherwise I am sure the sheer number of complaints would have gotten something done about it.

To be honest, this isn't much different than HL2 (And Episode One's) inability to properly use 5.1 surround sound with the Xonar. You can set the ingame sound to 5.1, but if you restart the game it is always "reset" to 2 channel stereo, and apparently never actually changes. I'm slightly fuzzy on the details and don't recall if Episode Two still had the problem or not, but I think Episode Two had it fixed. Or maybe not, because TF2 also has this 2 channel vs 5.1 channel problem, but I think there was a few work arounds for it. Unfortunately I'd need Vista to test them as the ASUS Xonar drivers are missing the channel masking option in Windows 7, apparently I hadn't noticed this before.

Thankfully L4D does not have this problem at all, but they changed how they implemented the sound stack in L4D as well so that'd be why...

[Kougar]

TF2 launched 17 months ago.... this morning Valve finally fixed this hl2.exe crashing bug for 64bit users, amongst other things :eek:

Update News - Steam
Latest Update: March 6, 2009
[-]March 6, 2009 - Steam client update released

-Fixed HL2.exe hanging on shutdown

[Merlin]

TF2 launched 17 months ago.... this morning Valve finally fixed this hl2.exe crashing bug for 64bit users, amongst other things :eek:
Plus they have redisgned the survey (http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/)

And the update was:

Fixed possible case where Steam would get stuck with "Downloading starting..." when trying to download
Added NTFS check when trying to install Empire: Total War
Added new dialog to inform the user they failed to register a CD key because they do not own a game which is required to register the key (Empire: Total War Special Forces)
Added more download regions for Australia
Fixed several update news links for games going to the wrong page
Added more information to the game launch display when first-time install steps are being ran
Fixed HL2.exe hanging on shutdown
Increased max width of links on game properties dialog (general tab) to match the now wider properties panel.
Fixed the 'launching game' dialog always waiting for user input if there was update news available
Updated localization files for dialog variable changes (fixes %s1 appearing in some languages)
New notification shown when an application is downloaded or updated
Added teamfortress.com, tf2.com, etc. to list of approved chat urls
Fixed case where retail install would be unnecessarily slow
Fixed third-party installers not running if an installer before it failed
Several Steamworks updates

[Ben]

Wow its about time they fixed the hang on shutdown issue. I had this forever and while its not really a big deal, Vista logs all this stuff and pops up the compatility issue thing which checks online for solutions all the time because it sees the hl2.exe has received an error.

[Naish]

I run Vista 32, never once had HL2 hang on shutdown or crash...

[Ben]

I run Vista 32, never once had HL2 hang on shutdown or crash...

Right, that's because the issue was specific to x64.

[Rob Williams]

I run Vista 32, never once had HL2 hang on shutdown or crash...

You run Vista 32-bit? You must be on your mother's computer, right? Right?!

I'm curious about this shutdown hang issue though. I don't recall having had the issue with Half-Life 2-based games, but I have it with Steam itself all the time. I'll go ahead and shut down Steam (and normally restart it if I'm on the benchmarking machine), and it will tell me that an instance is still open. Sure enough, Steam.exe would still be running in the Task Manager. Sometimes it lingers there for up to five minutes, so I usually just manually kill it.

I love Steam, but it definitely has its fair share of issues.

[Ben]

You run Vista 32-bit? You must be on your mother's computer, right? Right?!

I'm curious about this shutdown hang issue though. I don't recall having had the issue with Half-Life 2-based games, but I have it with Steam itself all the time. I'll go ahead and shut down Steam (and normally restart it if I'm on the benchmarking machine), and it will tell me that an instance is still open. Sure enough, Steam.exe would still be running in the Task Manager. Sometimes it lingers there for up to five minutes, so I usually just manually kill it.

I love Steam, but it definitely has its fair share of issues.

It wasn't a hang per say, but a dialog would pop up and say "hl2.exe has stopped working."

[Naish]

You run Vista 32-bit? You must be on your mother's computer, right? Right?!

I'm curious about this shutdown hang issue though. I don't recall having had the issue with Half-Life 2-based games, but I have it with Steam itself all the time. I'll go ahead and shut down Steam (and normally restart it if I'm on the benchmarking machine), and it will tell me that an instance is still open. Sure enough, Steam.exe would still be running in the Task Manager. Sometimes it lingers there for up to five minutes, so I usually just manually kill it.

I love Steam, but it definitely has its fair share of issues.

I run TinyVista, and the f***bag who releases it won't release a 64bit version, too lazy myself.

I'll switch to 64bit for Win7, since it already has a lot less fluff to worry about (and therefore I won't need to look around for a stripped version).

[Rob Williams]

It wasn't a hang per say, but a dialog would pop up and say "hl2.exe has stopped working."

Oh, alright. That's an all-out crash then. I can't recall off-hand if I've had that issue or not. Kind of strange, since I've always used HL2-based games for benchmarking. Unless it's just TF2 for some reason? L4D also uses the HL2 engine, and I've never had it crash like that.

I run TinyVista, and the f***bag who releases it won't release a 64bit version, too lazy myself.

I have never heard of TinyVista... is it even legal? Honestly though, Vista is bloated, but it's not so bad that you should just use some half-baked stripped-down version. You can spend a few minutes yourself and just cut down on what most consider to be "bloat" for the OS. To me, the biggest piece of "bloat" is the Windows Search feature. I've at times seen it use well over 100MB of RAM alone, so whenever I benchmark, I make sure it's turned off. To take things further, you could also turn off and disable Windows Defender, Error Reporting, Firewall, Security Center and Updates.

Vista is bloated, no one will disagree there, but your PC is powerful. It can handle it ;-)

[Naish]

Oh, alright. That's an all-out crash then. I can't recall off-hand if I've had that issue or not. Kind of strange, since I've always used HL2-based games for benchmarking. Unless it's just TF2 for some reason? L4D also uses the HL2 engine, and I've never had it crash like that.



I have never heard of TinyVista... is it even legal? Honestly though, Vista is bloated, but it's not so bad that you should just use some half-baked stripped-down version. You can spend a few minutes yourself and just cut down on what most consider to be "bloat" for the OS. To me, the biggest piece of "bloat" is the Windows Search feature. I've at times seen it use well over 100MB of RAM alone, so whenever I benchmark, I make sure it's turned off. To take things further, you could also turn off and disable Windows Defender, Error Reporting, Firewall, Security Center and Updates.

Vista is bloated, no one will disagree there, but your PC is powerful. It can handle it ;-)

No, of course it's not legitimate. And you should look into it, they get the installation size down to some pretty ridiculous amounts.

TinyXP has a 50mb version IIRC. I know the disc for TinyVista was cut down to 700mb, that's including drivers too (and it'll automatically install for you during install). It's a nice alternative for now.

I'll likely go legit with Win7 as I have no issues whatsoever on my laptop with the beta.

[Kougar]

Oh, alright. That's an all-out crash then. I can't recall off-hand if I've had that issue or not. Kind of strange, since I've always used HL2-based games for benchmarking. Unless it's just TF2 for some reason? L4D also uses the HL2 engine, and I've never had it crash like that.

I am not sure if L4D uses the hl2 engine or not, but the problem was specific to TF2, and not Steam itself. It was also specific to 64bit OS's and according to Valve's patchlog was due to hl2.exe hanging upon exiting out of TF2, thereby causing the OS to generate the HL2.exe has stopped responding error. Windows counts this against its stability index.

Probably the only reason Valve finally fixed it was because Microsoft was getting thousands of error submissions from crash reports and said something to Valve, is my guess. I was making sure to send every single one with Windows 7. ;)

[Naish]

I am not sure if L4D uses the hl2 engine or not, but the problem was specific to TF2, and not Steam itself. It was also specific to 64bit OS's and according to Valve's patchlog was due to hl2.exe hanging upon exiting out of TF2, thereby causing the OS to generate the HL2.exe has stopped responding error. Windows counts this against its stability index.

Probably the only reason Valve finally fixed it was because Microsoft was getting thousands of error submissions from crash reports and said something to Valve, is my guess. I was making sure to send every single one with Windows 7. ;)

Yup, L4D is a source engine game (I'd say the same upgraded version that TF2/EP2 uses)

[Rob Williams]

No, of course it's not legitimate. And you should look into it, they get the installation size down to some pretty ridiculous amounts.

Come on... I think the rule is pretty much a given to not discuss illegal software here, much-less recommend it. I don't use a single piece of illegit software, and I plan to keep it that way. I was the stark opposite years ago, when I had no money, but a decent job gave me a little more common-sense. Ironically, I still apply cracks to much of my software... funny how that works.

As for Vista, I really don't care for its bloat, but it doesn't really bother me either. I know how to trim it down where it needs to be.

I am not sure if L4D uses the hl2 engine or not, but the problem was specific to TF2, and not Steam itself.

Given that it's a Valve game, and the menu/graphics/engine looks identical to Source, I'm assuming it uses HL2.exe as its main executable. I can't verify until I turn the benchmarking PC back on though.

[Ben]

No, of course it's not legitimate. And you should look into it, they get the installation size down to some pretty ridiculous amounts.

TinyXP has a 50mb version IIRC. I know the disc for TinyVista was cut down to 700mb, that's including drivers too (and it'll automatically install for you during install). It's a nice alternative for now.

I find it hilarious that you need a "lite" version when your signature has this in it:

Intel Q6600 3.2ghz
4GB Mushkin DDR2-800
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
EVGA 8800GTX
2xSeagate Barracuda 250gb
1xSamsung 1tb
Samsung 2443BW 24" LCD 1920x1200
Logitech Z-5500
Logitech G15-B
Logitech G7

Have you ever seen what kind of hardware retail stores are selling Vista with? Half of those specs and they run it just fine. I'd like to see some benchmarks, standard Vista vs your "lite" version for me to believe any of this.

[Kougar]

Given that it's a Valve game, and the menu/graphics/engine looks identical to Source, I'm assuming it uses HL2.exe as its main executable. I can't verify until I turn the benchmarking PC back on though.

I wasn't entirely sure, the exe was renamed (And not the hl2.exe, that would have been obvious), although I have long wondered if the instability in the game might be due to the source engine being pushed to its limits.

According to the wiki at least, it is the source engine.

[Rob Williams]

I wasn't entirely sure, the exe was renamed (And not the hl2.exe, that would have been obvious), although I have long wondered if the instability in the game might be due to the source engine being pushed to its limits.

Not sure if that's possible. It might be, but it doesn't seem that reasonable. Sounds more like the client wasn't optimized enough or something, which is too bad given the game is so popular.

[Naish]

I can now confirm that the X64 version of the driver (8.17.64, AKA 6.12.1764) works perfectly with Windows 7 X64 (Build 7068).

Volume control returned, no major issues (setup may give you an error but Win7 will recommend you run it in Vista compatibility mode and then it will work fine).

Same problems with GX mode as before in XP/Vista, simply turn it off.

[Kougar]

Oh my god, they actually released new drivers?? I'll install these right now...

Not been having issues with GX mode as of late, I think I forget about that and left it on for the past two months. Now if only they'd release an actual Windows 7 driver... :)

First Edit: Yes, same install error as before. You can avoid it by ignoring the root setup file, and directly running the setup file within the subfolder. This does not require compatibility mode.

Second Edit: Well this isn't good. If I open up the Audio Control Center and change the # of speakers OR the # of channels Windows 7 promptly gives me a window saying the program stopped working and closes it out.

Third Edit: Six reboots later I've tried Naish's idea of using compatibility mode during the install (never needed to before)... but the program still crashes when I try to change almost anything! This driver is total crap for Windows 7 64.

[Rob Williams]

Doesn't sound like it is going to work the same for most people... that's too bad. Although I've felt that Windows 7 was a low-priority for driver releases, given it's not due out in final form for a while, I'm starting to think it wouldn't be a bad idea. The Steam survey kind of proves that a LOT more people than I thought are using the OS full-time, despite it still being in beta.

[Kougar]

I am not sure about the driver support issue this time around? Both ATI and NVIDIA offer WHQL drivers for Windows 7 beta... it took both companies months to do so after Vista launched! In their own words NVIDIA is planning to merge the driver codebase with Vista's when they release a new WHQL driver for Windows 7 RC1.

What is ironic is almost any driver that worked on Vista was almost guaranteed to work on Windows 7... in fact W7 was built so any Vista-certified driver would also work on W7. ASUS's new sound driver is one of the very few drivers that DID break, that was supposedly a very low percentage. That makes them special. I'm also amused their 6-month older pre-W7 drivers were much more functional.

[Merlin]

It's interesting that W7 and Vista have different compatibility issues, since W7 is built on Vista.
( Kougar ) which Vista OS, Home or Ultimate ? Could there really be a difference I wonder as far a s driver compat

[Naish]

Oh my god, they actually released new drivers?? I'll install these right now...

Not been having issues with GX mode as of late, I think I forget about that and left it on for the past two months. Now if only they'd release an actual Windows 7 driver... :)

First Edit: Yes, same install error as before. You can avoid it by ignoring the root setup file, and directly running the setup file within the subfolder. This does not require compatibility mode.

Second Edit: Well this isn't good. If I open up the Audio Control Center and change the # of speakers OR the # of channels Windows 7 promptly gives me a window saying the program stopped working and closes it out.

Third Edit: Six reboots later I've tried Naish's idea of using compatibility mode during the install (never needed to before)... but the program still crashes when I try to change almost anything! This driver is total crap for Windows 7 64.

Weird. I'm not using a DX though, I have a D2X. I was able to change my speaker config and the volume control works fine now too.

[Naish]

I am not sure about the driver support issue this time around? Both ATI and NVIDIA offer WHQL drivers for Windows 7 beta... it took both companies months to do so after Vista launched! In their own words NVIDIA is planning to merge the driver codebase with Vista's when they release a new WHQL driver for Windows 7 RC1.

What is ironic is almost any driver that worked on Vista was almost guaranteed to work on Windows 7... in fact W7 was built so any Vista-certified driver would also work on W7. ASUS's new sound driver is one of the very few drivers that DID break, that was supposedly a very low percentage. That makes them special. I'm also amused their 6-month older pre-W7 drivers were much more functional.

D2X drivers were released in March.

Edit; sorry for making two posts that had the same general subject.

Screenshot at link because Rob won't add spoiler tags to his forum.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2747/blehk.jpg

[Kougar]

It's interesting that W7 and Vista have different compatibility issues, since W7 is built on Vista.
( Kougar ) which Vista OS, Home or Ultimate ? Could there really be a difference I wonder as far a s driver compat

Windows 7 was based off the Windows Server 2008 codebase, but even MS detailed how careful they were to guarantee driver compatibility this time around. Considering the old ASUS drivers "functionally" worked even if the control panel mostly didn't, but the latest drivers are the exact opposite (control panel interface works properly now, but the functionality doesn't) ASUS took a step backwards.

Weird. I'm not using a DX though, I have a D2X. I was able to change my speaker config and the volume control works fine now too.

I did notice they fixed the control panel controls such as the volume, etc. What about channels, changing the # of channels for when one switches from music to games or to a movie also causes crashing here.

D2X drivers were released in March.

Yes, but I was referring to the drivers before the current release. The last set of drivers before this one was released in September and were "beta" drivers... that's a bit over 6 months ago.


Screenshot at link because Rob won't add spoiler tags to his forum.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2747/blehk.jpg

Nice desktop, that X3 Reunion wallpaper? Here's mine: Link (http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n129/Chanur64/desktop.jpg)

Notice the channels box is empty. If I attempt to set ANY # of channels it will crash. If I set any speaker config other than what it defaulted to it will crash (even headphones). All the other controls seem to work.

[Naish]

Strange, I'm able to change channels without issue. I'm runnin build 7068(64bit), not 7000.

And the wallpaper I use is called "Homeworld", and it's one of the user submitted wallpapers off of Interfacelift.com, awesome site for wallpaper.

[Rob Williams]

And the wallpaper I use is called "Homeworld", and it's one of the user submitted wallpapers off of Interfacelift.com, awesome site for wallpaper.

I agree. It's pretty-much the only wallpaper site I use now.

[Kougar]

Strange, I'm able to change channels without issue. I'm runnin build 7068(64bit), not 7000.

And the wallpaper I use is called "Homeworld", and it's one of the user submitted wallpapers off of Interfacelift.com, awesome site for wallpaper.

Well then, that might have something to do with it. Plenty has been changed since the initial beta build... I guess I will find out for sure once the RC1 build goes live.

I will have to check out that site!

[Kougar]

Strange, I'm able to change channels without issue. I'm runnin build 7068(64bit), not 7000.

Yeah, that was all the difference in the world.

Apparently they have done some major reworking from the beta to the more advanced versions you were using... I am now using the Windows 7 RC1 build and the exact same ASUS Xonar drivers now work flawlessly. All the control panel interface buttons are also functional, interestingly enough.

[Rob Williams]

Good to hear Kougar, glad things are shaping up. ASUS also recently announced full Windows 7 support on their top flight motherboards, so they seem to be taking things a little more seriously now.

[Kougar]

I saw that! They do not offer Windows 7 support on their audio drivers, however. The moment I saw those headlines I had to go and double check. Still, I'm happy that they at least work now. :)