Right, that's because the issue was specific to x64.
Asus Xonar Soundcard Drivers!
- Thread starter Naish
- Start date
Right, that's because the issue was specific to x64.
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."
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).
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.
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.
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)
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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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.
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.
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.
Nice desktop, that X3 Reunion wallpaper? Here's mine: Link
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.