Collected Audio Fixes [PC v1]

[Overture]

Okay, sound pops, clicks, dissappearing sound, sync errors and the like. Here are the threads.

The first two in combination fixed all my problems, including sync, pops and audio-dropout.

Try them all as you wish. Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

 

First and formost

 

RE-INSTALL or UPDATE Drivers

RE-INSTALL or UPDATE directX

 

Then::

 

EMULATED drivers fix (Works well if this is the problem)

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=194972

From Overture(me)

 

ADDENDUM TO EMULATED drivers fix

 

Download and install Creative's latest drivers manually. If it worked, dxdiag should identify your driver as "ctaud2k.sys." I am using an SB Live! 5.1, and it may be different for other cards.

 

I don't actually remember the name of the incorrect MS driver, but it was something like emu2k.sys. If that driver is listed in dxdiag, nothing you do to the registry will help. You can change the registry values all you want, but if it's still running the MS-provided dll, you are running emulated sound.

 

With thanks to SuperSocialist.

 

 

DOWNGRADE EAX.DLL to 3.0.6.6 (Works well)

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=194664

Hotlink to replacement file: http://webzila.com/dll/2/eax.zip

Link to search (type eax.dll) http://www.webzila.com/?wz=dll

From Lappys

Credit to Qjimbo (sorry dude) post: Original thread

Link to Alternative OLDER EAX.dll

 

Link to original eax.dll (if it makes it worse and you forgot to backup)

Newer EAX.dll

Thanks to Maf

 

 

CHECK SPEAKER CONFIG

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=195133

From Westsidebud

 

For NFORCE-BASED boards with realtek audio - REALTEK AUDIO DRIVER REPLACEMENT

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?act=ST&f=137&t=195505

Scroll down to Sound Fixes/Tips for details.

Direct link to realtek drivers (dont pick 64 bit unless you have XP 64): http://tinyurl.com/808g

From GoogleSta's Technical FAQ.

Another link to similar fix for nForce Here

From RS Bows

 

WIN98 Compatibility mode fix

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=194930

From Discaciate

 

DOWNGRADE DIRECT-X to 9.0B

Remove 9.0c using Direct X eradicator 2.0

Link: http://www.dpostill.karoo.net/downloads/dxe2005.zip

Update - DXE 2 doesn't support Service Pack 2, use this instead

directx happy uninstall 3.4:

DHU 3.4

From The-Loon

I'm told 1.2 is more stable than 3.4, give it a go:

DHU 1.2

Cheers to Neu_Lyf

 

ADDITIONAL DX FIX

Biohazard76 reported that he fixed an audio issue by installing directx8.1 over the top of 9.0c without downgrading. Could work as a last chance effort guys, don't discount anything.

 

DOWNGRADE ACCELLERATION LEVEL (Last Resort)

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=195008

From Jh00

 

Some people have said that downgrading the accelleration level should be the first thing to try. The only reason that I put this as last resort is that I believe the game should have been created to work properly using the hardware the way it was designed to be used, rather than cutting down the features that are enabled. Sorry if you disagree, this is just my ethos.

 

MISSING SOUNDS: like ambient etc it was pointed out by one user (sorry, can't remember who, PM me) that setting his SB Live card to quadraphonic worked for him.

 

CRACKLING SOUND: Walpurgis points out that he gets consistantly crackling sound only this game and battlefield 2 demo. This suggests that the game-libraries are not mature, so the eax.dll method above may have some effect, and then possibly the dx downgrade as well.

 

Don't forget to test with dxdiag to make sure the settings haven't been changed incorrectly

 

Post your additional fixes here.

 

Peace.

Edited August 2, 2005 by Overture

[westsidebud]

Ahh i see someone did notice my earlier post.

 

not a bad idea rounding them up like this.

 

the post i made was simply pointing out

for people intending on playing with two

standard channel stereo audio (like me)

that i was Only able to change the setting

with the bundled software that came with my Creative Audigy LS.

The control panel applet in windows did NOTHING !

I've been successfull using the Headphones setting and 2 Channel Stereo.

 

I've since turned my game off & on dozens of times

and its still working perfect except for the odd minor graphic glitch

but that probably pretty normal i think..

 

[Flames]

And it still doesn't work for me... Bloody annoying. If anyone knows anyway to try fix it with a SoundBlaster Extigy let me know. Something else I'll add, I've tried to see if when I ge into the actual game the sound fixes up, it doesn't, but my character is continually running diagonally. I managed to install it and play it, yet after that it hasn't worked.

 

Plllease help!

[The-Loon]

I had problems with the sound also (couldnt hear engines), downgrading my DX to version 0.9b cured my problems.

Edited June 13, 2005 by The-Loon

[Overture]

Hey Loon - could you edit your post to include the program or method you used to remove DX9.0c? It isn't that straightforward..

 

Cheers mate

Dave

 

[The-Loon]

Hey Loon - could you edit your post to include the program or method you used to remove DX9.0c? It isn't that straightforward..

 

Cheers mate

Dave

I used a program called Direct X eradicator 2.0 (Click to Download

 

Its really easy to use, dunno why everyone makes such a big fuss of downgrading DX when theres programs like this that do it all for ya.

 

 

Now all i need to fix is the graphic problem (Messed up Peds, and it goes funny when you go too high) and im sorted.

 

 

[Overture]

Yeah, you and I know that, but not everyone would even guess that type of software is available, since the general buzz people hear in the gaming community is that it can't be uninstalled. Thanks for that.

 

What GFX card you using? Have you tried switching to 16 bit mode? It might just be something that gets addressed in the first patch, but I believe that ati cards are having some issues..

[z00t]

running a SBLive

 

same problem as everyone else

 

none of these fixes worked [EDIT-havent tried downgrding DX yet-thats next didnt see that in here when I started this rant]

 

HEADS UP TO ALL YOU WHO THINK IT MIGHT HAVE WORKED FOR YOU...

as someone else has mentioned this problem may be related to rain SFX, or possibly just a large number of simultaeous SFX "voices" at once. go somewhere that it rains and see if the problem is still fixed.

 

I say this because I played for a day in LS with no problem, but while in LV it started to rain and that is when my sound went buggy.

 

another weird but probably only coincidental thing... when the problem started it was just a weird loss of engine sound, so I updated my SBLive drivers, and now everything but the radio goes out, and when I get back to the game menu the menu SFX are gone too [that didnt happen before]

 

one last sound thing- does everyone else have to manually scan their user music files - even though automatic scan is set to ON? cause I sure do-otherwise all I get is commercials even after 20 "skips"

 

I cant believe Rockstar would put something so buggy out when they had so long to test it. its not like they added any content since last octobler when the ps2 version was released. this FXXKING SUCKS!!

 

I swear if there is no patch soon Im returning GTA SA and just getting god of war for my PS2

Edited June 13, 2005 by z00t

[The-Loon]

Yeah, you and I know that, but not everyone would even guess that type of software is available, since the general buzz people hear in the gaming community is that it can't be uninstalled. Thanks for that.

 

What GFX card you using? Have you tried switching to 16 bit mode? It might just be something that gets addressed in the first patch, but I believe that ati cards are having some issues..

No probs, i know for a fact that DX 9.0c causes problems on AC97 audio chips (What i have) as i was previously using dx 9.0b and it worked fine, then i decided to upgrade as i was bored and then i got the audio problems.

 

I have also replaced the eax file mentioned above (tried this one first), but with DX 9.0c installed this fix made no difference at all.

 

Offtopic @ Overture - My card is a GF FX 5600, to be honest i think its the card at fault as its a cheap peice of crap, but i'll try it in 16 bit mode and see if that solves anything...

 

I'll also update drivers, but i hate updating them as everytime i do it usually Fuxxors something else up in another game..

 

Or i'll just wait for to fix it.. LOL

[Overture]

Zoot: Sorry to hear it (no pun intended). I never had the rain problem, and I run an SBlive! Value, the older chipset. After the sync fix, the rain was still fine.

 

The-Loon: I know what you mean about driver updates. I usually just stay on the one before the current update. At least it has a chance to get run-in. R* will likely patch this issue, I'd imagine. It shouldn't be a card problem, since the 5600 still has hardware t&l, the only noticeable difference should be performance and quality. Oh well.

 

will solve all soon, there's too much of this crap for them not to.

 

 

 

As for "long enough since PS2 version" - the only common thing between the two versions is the assets (textures, models etc). The engines are entirely different, the PS2 engine has the benifit of single architecture. Us lot in here are stuck with a million configurations of computer, it's not surprising that there are a few issues at release. Still, these issues seem a little large for a game that has gone-gold (i.e. cleared for manufacture).

 

 

 

[westsidebud]

I think not only mentioning specs is a good idea

as the pinned/stickied post suggests..

 

but

 

Also for people complaining about sound problems

(missing engine sounds / cut scenes)

How are you listening to the audio ?

 

Stereo, Mono, Headpnones, 5.1/7.1 speakers ?

And

What type of amp is powering the sound ?

 

because like i said earlier

It seems although the game has one audio setting

and that is multi channel surround sound..

 

so...

 

when ya put on headphones or a 2 stereo RCA plugs

to a two channel amp there is a crap load of missing audio !

i've tested this with more than 1 pc / stereo and game install.

 

My problem is that installing the newest audio driver was not enough

because GTA SA apears (to me) to have trouble seeing what you have

set the speaker configuration to in the windows control panel applet.

 

Test this theory out your selves tell me if im wrong here..

 

oh yeah and yes i too still have the audio cut out during the rain problem..

the rain sounds ok but the voices / engines etc are missing till the rain stops.

 

Oh and it seems to me the audio sync problem (i havn't had at all)

is a seperate audio problem all together..

[Overture]

Yeah, the sync is a seperate issue to the rain, since I had the sync prob but never the rain prob.

[Degeneratemoo]

I managed to fix the cut-scene audio sync problem.

 

My motherboard (abit IC-7) has an onboard AC97 soundcard, I have just installed the lastest drivers from the abit website (AC97 driver) and now the problem is gone!

 

I am still running dx 9.0c and I haven't played for long so I may experience the loss of sound that others have after 10 minutes of playing but I'll see.

 

I have turned off the dx hardware acceleration for sound and I have not tried to put it back on yet.

 

Hope this helps someone!

[Googlesta]

Okay, sound pops, clicks, dissappearing sound, sync errors and the like. Here are the threads.

The first two in combination fixed all my problems, including sync, pops and audio-dropout.

Try them all as you wish. Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

 

Mind if I link to you and/or quote you in my FAQ?

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?act=ST&f=137&t=195505

As well, there's at least one solution in my FAQ for sound you dont have and that you are welcome to quote here

[Overture]

No worries mate.

 

You may want to link to this file as well -

 

GTA_SA medium settings

 

It's a gta_sa.set file where all the graphics options are

800x600 16bit

medium draw distance

mipmap off

anti-aliasing off

heathaze off

 

For people who can't get into the advanced section, but need to in order to run the game properly. I don't know if it will work, it wasn't my idea but it is my file.

 

Dave

 

[Blandyj]

I'm having trouble with DirectX eradicator and i'm wondering if anyone can shine some light on it. When i start the tool it says:

"This version of windows is not supported. DirectX Eradicator will now close"

 

I'm running Windows XP with service pack 2 and all windows updates have been done?

 

any help would be much appreciated.

 

 

[Overture]

hey, I aint a n00b bud, I just didn't bother registering until I could be of some help.

 

Direct-x eradicator doesn't support SP2 I believe. You could try uninstalling that first, if you're desperate. I'm looking for another way atm...

 

Here use this, it's called directx happy uninstall 3.4

http://www.superfoxs.com/software/udx.zip

 

[Colt.1911]

For people having random crashes read on. when I first started playig the game (few days) I had no problems with crashes, I had noted that others were posting that they were, and I was glad I didnt. Later, I started having random crashes, I tracked it down to (mainly) users tracks, though I can say that I think it has crashed on loading a regular radio channel track. But this is a fact, I started turning the radio 'off' all the time, not ONE single crash since.

[z00t]

for those who asked, I run a sblive, have tried all the stuff on this post [except DX downgrade-which I will start after doing this post. and I Have tried all the options in the speaker configuration-still doesnt help.

 

Ill keep you posted on how the DX downgrade works.

[livingzombie]

I can't downgrade Direct X. That program won't let me do it because I don't have the backup files for some reason and I can't get them without registering the damn thing! Is there another way to do this?

[Neu_Lyf]

hey, I aint a n00b bud, I just didn't bother registering until I could be of some help.

 

Direct-x eradicator doesn't support SP2 I believe. You could try uninstalling that first, if you're desperate. I'm looking for another way atm...

 

Here use this, it's called directx happy uninstall 3.4

http://www.superfoxs.com/software/udx.zip

hey i didnt mean to call you noob dude i meant the dates we joined thats why them mods think that this aint no good anyways directx happy uninstall 1.2 is more "stable" than the 3.4 if you know what i mean

[Overture]

That's cool bud, it was more aimed at the mods than at you.

 

Cheers for the 1.2 info

 

 

EDIT: - Know where to get it? It's not on the dev website.

[Neu_Lyf]

That's cool bud, it was more aimed at the mods than at you.

 

Cheers for the 1.2 info

 

 

EDIT: - Know where to get it? It's not on the dev website.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/DirectX_Happy_Uninstall_d4347.html

 

here you go bud

[z00t]

just an update-I have tried all the fixes listed on this board for the SBLive /rain bug and nothing worked[problem goes away when not raining-so if you think yours is fixed go to LV, where it happens to me and wait for it to rain. then you will know for sure if it is fixed]

 

I should say the only one I havent tried is uninstalling SP2 and downgrading DX. as I said in another post it seems like a bunch of crap to have to rip sp2 out to play especially when they could test a g2mx vidcard, but cant be bothered to run a rig with a sblive sound card in it in all eax environments

 

whatever, Im just super pissed off about this. Ive spent all day [actually 2 and a half days] trying different drivers, different utilities, different system restore rollbacks...DAMN

[Overture]

Updated - Cheers neu_lyf.

[livingzombie]

Bump - the con rocks on!

 

Hey Living Zombie - Have you tried both programs for DX downgrade?

Yea I did. The first one doesn't work cos of service pack 2 and the second one can't find any backup files.

[Neu_Lyf]

hey zombie dude you need to insert your original win xp cd in your drive to backup dx 8.1

 

peace tell us when it works

[Overture]

ALso Zombie, try 1.2 of happy dx uninstaller rather than the 3.4. Link should be above.

[Neu_Lyf]

hey overture that emulated fix you found is real cool dude the only problem is that when changing the values make sure you only turn wdm to 1 cause some peeps had conflicts with it

 

peace

[livingzombie]

 

ALso Zombie, try 1.2 of happy dx uninstaller rather than the 3.4. Link should be above.

Ah thanks. I did try it before and it didn't work but I tried again and it did Oh well, it's uninstalled now.

 

But I'm a little confused about this (sorry about being a complete noob) but could anyone help me as to where I can get DX 9.0B? I looked on the microsoft site but there's loads of them and I tried downloading a few but none of them had an installer or anything!

 

Edit: Ah nevermind, got it. Didn't fix the problem though

 

I've tried downgrading the EAX and the Direct X, I tried the Emulated drivers fix, I checked my speaker config and tried dowgrading the aceeleration level and none of them stopped the sound from cutting out every now and then. Any ideas?

 

Edit 2: Ok, I tried compatibility mode and I think that fixed it. I need to test it for a bit longer but I need to get to bed now Thanks everyone!

Edited June 14, 2005 by livingzombie