No Sound + XP

[Drewcifer]

After a very lengthy and thorough search of both this forum and most every link I could Google, I decided to try my luck here.

Intel Core 2 Duo e2160 1.8 GHz OCed to 2.47
Corsair XMS DDR2 (2x1GB) (not OCed)
GeForce XFX 8600 GT Fatal1ty 1GB PCI-E (not OCed)
Asus P5N-E SLI (On-board sound=Realtek HD Audio)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
Windows XP Pro

The game itself runs great and smooth. The trouble is that I get absolutely no sound after the intro movie. I have tried everything mentioned in the forums here. Trouble is that most solutions are for Vista and I do not intend to upgrade from XP until they either fix Vista or the next OS comes out. I upgraded the graphics card from ATI X1950Pro. Couldn't get it to start even with the new card until I did the whole "; before FMOD" thing.

I have updated every driver (sound, graphic, you name it.)
Updated the bios
Latest version of graphics drivers
Latest audio drivers for both sound systems
Updated the heck out of WinXP
Latest DirectX9.0c
Latest c++
Latest OpenAL
Latest FMOD
Made every adjustment both in WinXP and default.ini imaginable
Uninstalled and reinstalled the game numerous times
Removed extra codecs
Restarted with minimal drivers
Been in quasi-contact with 2K Tech support for about a week now and they cannot solve it.

Thought about buying a new audio card, but am holding off as there seems to be no guarantee that will work, either.

Any suggestions not previously mentioned in the forums?

[coffee009]

could it be your speakers? Anyway, my buddy at school had the same problem and i told him to google a "Bioshock sound fix"

[CherryIcee]

BS requires that the soundcard also be DirectX 9.0C compliant and I don't believe the Live! cards are. You'd need at least an Audigy in order to be within the sound requirements of the game.

Have you tried using the onboard audio? I'd use that anyway, the SB Live 5.1 card is pretty outdated.

[Drewcifer]

Coffee009: I use headphones, and yes, they work fine.

CherryIcee: I've tried the on-board and have had the same effect. Walmart has a newer CL Audigy SE. You think that would work?

[CherryIcee]

Yeah, an Audigy SE should be just fine. I've run BS on an older system using one and the sound was fine.

[Drewcifer]

Using the Audigy SE, would I have to keep doing the "; before FMOD" thing or will that work as normal? What settings would work the best for it? Would the EAX be un-greyed for use?

[CherryIcee]

You shouldn't need to do the FMOD thing and as for the EAX support, the Audigy SE supports EAX Advanced HD3.0 so it should be available (but don't quote me on that lol.)

[Drewcifer]

Have had no word from the company for a little while. I plan to hold off on getting the card until they can confirm that it will work. For having 24-hr phone tech support, they're rather slow in responses and updates.

Update: The new sound card does nothing for me. I have determined that FMOD itself crashes Bioshock. It seems that their tech support have no clue how to get anything running. The game runs fine if I add a ";" in front of "AudioDevice=FMODAudio.FMODAudioSubsystem" but then I get no sound. Without it, the game doesn't even run. I am returning the new sound card and the game to the retailers. It's been 2 weeks of non-stop working on this and I can't take it anymore. Maybe I'll buy it again when the 1.2 patch (yeah, right, like that'll happen) comes out and I see it in the bargain bin at Target. Oh, and EAX was not un-greyed.

Update #2: Turns out that Circuit City will not accept the software back as it had been opened so now I'm stuck with a game that doesn't work. To top it off, I called 2K again and a guy I had talked to was supposed to elevate my issue and did not. Note to other users: Do not call near or on the hour as they seem to want to get you off the phone so they can go home.

[Drewcifer]

Bump. No XP solutions?

[maf]

Using the Audigy SE, would I have to keep doing the "; before FMOD" thing or will that work as normal? What settings would work the best for it? Would the EAX be un-greyed for use?

You will never get sound with any sound card with the FMOD line commented out. Take the ";" out before the FMOD and try again. The game has no support for any other sound but FMOD. Some people were commenting out this line for troubleshooting the causes of crashes only, it does not fix the sound and the sound cannot perform with the line commented out.

Have you checked for conflicting codecs? If not, go to device manager and under Sound/Video/Properties, Click on each codec and mentally note or write down its parent program.
I would then uninstall any you know for sure that you don't need from Add/Remove programs or just disable them one-by-one in device manager to test for conflicts. I would look for suspicious audio codecs as well.

I believe this is why some have had success after reloading Windows, because the offender is thus removed. Have you tried starting the game in Safe Mode? Updated you sound card drivers?
Also, if you do not set Audio to disable EAX and exit and restart it will crash immediately as well. I believe the 1.1 patch solves that problem at least by automatically disabling EAX for those not cards that are not capable, but I am sure it is not fool-proof.

[Drewcifer]

Maf, thanks for responding. However, the game would crash if I didn't have the ; in place. As for codecs, I had removed all but the basic windows ones (now my divx video converter doesn't work). I think I only have 3 codecs listed anymore from 7, but I will continue looking into those. Yes, I had updated to the latest drivers for sound and even bought a new sound card that was EAX compliant. EAX didn't even show up as a possibility with it. I did also try safe-mode and booting with minimal services.

[Drewcifer]

Well, I've downloaded a program called DXMan which shows all the audio codecs on my system. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out a way to export this list for posting here. There is a rather long list and I daren't start removing one thing after another. Is anyone familiar with the program or know of something else to use to show/export a list of codecs installed on a system?

[maf]

Using Regedit, go to:

HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/drivers.desc

Right Click on this folder and select export, select text file and directory to save to.

Here's my list. I'm using XP Home SP2 and currently have no problem with the game.

msaud32.acm Windows Media Audio Codec
sl_anet.acm Sipro Lab Telecom Audio Codec
iac25_32.ax Indeo® audio software
ir50_32.dll Indeo® video 5.10
l3codeca.acm Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec
wdmaud.drv SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
mciavi32.dll
mcicda.dll
mciseq.dll
mciwave.dll
mciqtz32.dll
midimap.dll
imaadp32.acm
msadp32.acm
msg711.acm
msgsm32.acm
tssoft32.acm
iccvid.dll
msh263.drv
ir32_32.dll
ir41_32.ax
iyuv_32.dll
msrle32.dll
msvidc32.dll
msyuv.dll
tsbyuv.dll
msacm32.drv
msg723.acm
msh261.drv
serwvdrv.dll Modem Wave Driver
vfwwdm32.dll WDM Video For Windows Capture Driver (Win32)
vct3216.acm Voxware Compression Toolkit
scg726.acm Sharp G.726 Audio Decoder
alf2cd.acm
AC3ACM.acm AC-3 ACM Decompressor
mcdvd_32.dll
xvidvfw.dll XviD MPEG-4 Video Codec
mpg4c32.dll MS MPEG-4 v1,2,3 driver 4.1.0.3927
qtwmci32.dll [MCI] QuickTime for Windows
vp6vfw.dll EA VP6 Codec
frapsvid.dll Fraps Video Decompressor
vp6vfw.dll
pvmjpg30.dll PICVideo 3 M-JPEG VfW Codec
pclepim1.dll Pinnacle PIM1 32-bit AVI Codec
vdrcodec.dll Pinnacle Codec
DivX.dll DivX 6.8.0 Codec

[Drewcifer]

Here's what I currently have:

msaud32.acm=Windows Media Audio
sl_anet.acm=Sipro Lab Telecom Audio Codec
C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\iac25_32.ax=Indeo® audio software
ir50_32.dll=Indeo® video 5.10
C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\l3codeca.acm=Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec
iac25_32.ax=Indeo® audio software
wdmaud.drv=SB Live! 24-bit
lhacm.acm=lhacm.acm
mpg4c32.dll=MS MPEG-4 v1,2,3 driver 4.00.0.3688
mciavi32.dll=(MCI) Microsoft Video for Windows
mcicda.dll=(MCI) CD Audio
mciseq.dll=(MCI) Midi Sequencer
mciwave.dll=(MCI) Sound
mciqtz32.dll=mciqtz32.dll
midimap.dll=MIDI Mapper
imaadp32.acm=IMA ADPCM Audio CODEC
msadp32.acm=Microsoft ADPCM Audio CODEC
msg711.acm=Microsoft CCITT G.711 Audio CODEC
msgsm32.acm=Microsoft GSM 6.10 Audio CODEC
tssoft32.acm=DSP Group TrueSpeech(TM) Audio CODEC
iccvid.dll=Cinepak Codec by Radius Inc.
msh263.drv=msh263.drv
ir32_32.dll=Indeo codec by Intel
ir41_32.ax=ir41_32.ax
iyuv_32.dll=iyuv_32.dll
msrle32.dll=Microsoft RLE Codec
msvidc32.dll=Microsoft Video 1
msyuv.dll=msyuv.dll
tsbyuv.dll=tsbyuv.dll
msacm32.drv=Microsoft Audio Compression Manager
msg723.acm=msg723.acm
msh261.drv=msh261.drv
huffyuv.dll=huffyuv.dll
wmv9vcm.dll=Microsoft Windows Media Video 9 VCM
3ivxVfWCodec.dll=3ivx D4 4.5.1 Pro
xvidvfw.dll=XviD MPEG-4 Video Codec
LameACM.acm=Lame ACM MP3 Codec
vp7vfw.dll=vp7vfw.dll
CDVCCODC.DLL=Canopus DV Codec
VFCodec.dll=VFAPI Reader Codec v1.05
vfwwdm32.dll=WDM Video For Windows Capture Driver (Win32)
ctwdm32.dll=Creative inf(WDM)
DivX.dll=DivX 6.8.2 Codec
i420vfw.dll=i420vfw.dll

I'd appreciate it if you, Maf, or anyone else can tell me which, if any, might be causing the issue. Thanks.

[maf]

Sorry, but I do not work for 2K and it is a pity that this has never been addressed. Such is the state of affairs with console ports nowadays. Other than going to audio and/or video codecs in Device Manager, right clicking on Properties, select the Properties tab, select the suspect codecs one by one and right click and select Properties again and you can select the "do not use" button. Restart system and restart game. A pretty tedious process to say the least. If you start in Safe Mode, it may narrow the list down considerably.

Before you do this, have you forced recreation of the ini files since you started editting them? If not, I would do that first. Just delete the entire Bioshock folder in the Documents and Applications/username/Application Data folder and restart the game. The folder will be recreated.

If you are adventurous, have backed up all your data, created restore point, backed up registry (i.e. ERUNT) and have your original Windows Install disc, you can try running sfc /scannow from the Start/Run command line to replace any corrupt Windows files. It may prompt you for the install disc. If so, I would investigate the registry hack to force Windows to replace files from your I386 folder rather than the install disc to avoid having to re-apply all the Windows updates, especially if the install disc is not at least an SP2 version.

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

[Drewcifer]

I appreciate the help you have provided so far, Maf. I know you don't work for them and they really need to expand their tech support numbers. In any case, I had tried the ini reset and used sfc not too long ago, so those are good. I just sent a copy of this list to 2k support, but I don't expect anything as they have dutifully ignored me for over a week now. They will not respond to my issue updates. Maybe I'll give people time to find this thread on Google and hopefully more ideas will pour in. There's plenty of solutions for Vista, but not for XP. Some of us are not willing to sacrifice performance and stability for DX10. I'll wait until someone hacks it onto XP. I know people have to be working on that.

[maf]

I seriously doubt this ever gets addressed. It is a problem many have had since August of last year. Have you tried the no-DVD version?

[Drewcifer]

There's a no-cd version? You mean the pirated version or just using a no-cd crack?

[maf]

The no-DVD version of the exe. The one from Darkcoder does not crash when you loot.

[blwh]

As you mentioned in this thread... It is no problem with Vista if you have a better computer. Just wanna say that.

[headkase]

Do you have a program called BSPlayer installed? That ones been known to muck up Bioshock.

Edit: Sorry, meant GOMPlayer!

[Drewcifer]

blwh, sorry. No Vista. I'm trying to solve it for XP here. And I'm pretty sure my computer is good enough for the game.

headkase, until I started researching this problem a couple weeks ago, I've never even heard of GOMPlayer so, no, I do not have it installed.

maf, I've been trying a bit with .iso's of the game and the no-DVD cracks, etc. to no avail thus far. It will switch resolutions then crash back to desktop, just as normal. No error message. It has to be FMOD interfering or being interfered with somehow. I will attempt some more later this weekend.

[maf]

There's a BioshockTweaker.zip file from DiGiTaLuK that you might try installing. It lets you customize resolutions and such without having to edit the ini files. Others have reported success with avoiding crashes with it. I have installed it and it certainly doesn't hurt anything.