The Guide

Preparation

The first thing you will need to do is to download the entire software suite that
normally ships with an Audigy 2 sound card. As of this writing, there are two
locations from which to download the full Audigy 2 suite, coming in at 119MB
compressed. These links are:

http://users2.ev1.net/~dallasstar/a2/sb_install_multilang.rar
ftp://server.topo.auth.gr/topolab/temp/Smiro/Audio/sb_install_multilang.rar

You’ll also want to download all of the updates for the Audigy 2 drivers and
applications that have been made available since the original suite’s release. The
choice of software updates is up to you, but be aware that DVD-Audio will not
function on the older cards, so there is no point in obtaining that update. You can
get the updates here:

http://www.americas.creative.com/support/files/download2.asp?
centric=280&maincat=11&os=10&subcat=42

Once you’ve finished downloading the suite, you will need to use WinRAR to
extract the files into their own folder. If you’ve downloaded the updated driver
file, you will also need to extract that with WinRAR by right clicking the file and
extracting it to a folder of your choice. The application updates do not need to be
extracted.

Modification

There are two methods for modifying the Audigy 2 drivers to get them to install
properly using the Audigy and Live! cards, automatic and manual. The automatic
method is recommended, the manual method is only included in the event of
problems with the automatic method. However, there should be no difficulties if
you follow the instructions properly.

Automatic Method

Download this patch (thanks to DVDKingdom), run it, have it point to the
\Audio\Setup folder of the full software suite that you downloaded, and then
proceed with patching. If you’ve also downloaded the updated driver file from
Creative’s site, you must run the patch again and point it to the main folder
where you extracted it to. The application updates need no modification. If all
went well (very unlikely that it didn’t), then you should be ready to install and
can skip the manual modification.

Manual Method

If something went wrong using the patch, you can manually modify the drivers
yourself. The file you need to modify is buried inside the data1.cab file, located in
the \Audio\Setup directory of the software suite, and also in the main folder of
the driver update, if you downloaded and extracted that. To extract files from
these .cab files, you'll need a program called i6comp.

Specifically, you'll need to download this version, extract it, and put just the
i6comp.exe file (located in the Release folder) in the appropriate directory with
the data1.cab file. Then download this version, extract it, and put only the
ZD51145.DLL file in the same directory. The rest of the files are not important.

You’ll need to extract the file CTComp.dat from the data1.cab file using the tool
you just downloaded. Using Command Prompt (Go to Run and type cmd),
navigate to the directory where the data1.cab file is located. Once you're in that
directory from the Command Prompt, type i6comp e data1.cab ctcomp.dat to
extract the file.

Now, you can either edit the CTComp.dat file yourself in Notepad to get your card
recognized, or you can download an already modified version here (thanks to
kode54) to replace the one you just extracted. If you opted to edit the file
yourself, see below. If not, just skip to the next step.

Open CTComp.dat using Notepad, and scroll down until you see the only line that
starts with the letters “ID”. This line shows the IDs of the cards that the driver
will recognize. Right now the IDs are set for the Audigy 2 cards, so you'll want to
replace the entire line with the IDs of your specific card. These IDs are:

Audigy: ID = 02000051, 02000052, 02000053, 02000054, 02000055, 02000056,

02000057, 02000058

SBLive! 5.1: ID = 00801061, 00801062, 00801064, 00801069, 0080106A,

0080106B

SBLive!: ID = 00000020, 00000021, 0000002F, 00801022, 00801025,

00801026, 00801027, 00801028, 00801029, 00801031, 00801032, 00801040,
00801050

Replace the ID line with the line of your card, and save the file.

To put the modified CTComp.dat file back into data1.cab, go back into Command
Prompt again and type i6comp r data1.cab ctcomp.dat to replace the original. The
file was just copied in there, so CTComp.dat will still be showing in the directory.
When you are done, delete the leftover CTComp.dat, i6comp.exe, and
ZD51145.DLL files. Everything should now be ready to install.

Installation

Before installing any of this, make sure that your old drivers and software are
uninstalled. Do this by using Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, first
uninstalling any updated driver pack, then uninstalling the original software. Then
delete the Creative folder just to be safe.
To install the software suite, you can either burn it to a CD and have it autorun,
or navigate to the \CTRun folder and run Start.exe. The installation itself should
be pretty self-explanatory. If you have a Live! or Audigy drive that came with
your card, be sure to select the Audigy 2 Platinum as your device. Audigy users
should have no problems installing all of the software available to them in the
installation, but Live! owners should be absolutely sure not to install the EAX
Console or the Creative Speaker Calibration applications unless they want to be in
for a world of headaches. Unfortunately, these applications just don’t cooperate
well with the Live! cards.

After the main installation and a reboot, install the driver update and all of the
application updates you may have downloaded, and then reboot again.
Everything should have gone smoothly if you followed this guide properly, and
you can now begin enjoying the many improvements and enhancements than the
Audigy 2 brings.

Troubleshooting

I am having a lot of trouble trying to get everything working on my Live!

card!

As stated before, during installation you must remember not to install the EAX
Console and Creative Speaker Calibration applications. They are incompatible
with the Live! cards. Also, if you are having problems getting digital output
working on your Live! card, a fix can be acquired here (thanks to evil_one). If you
are still having difficulties, it is recommended to just go back to the previous
driver you were using.

I keep getting errors about missing files.

This is probably because you are using a non-English version of Windows. To fix
this, you will have to go to the setup folder for each of the applications you want
to install, open the Setup.ini file, and change both the line count=11 to read
count=1, and the line key0=0x0804 to read key0=0x0009.

My rear speakers are not playing any sound when listening to music.

Ensure that your speaker settings are set to 4.1/5.1, and then enable CMSS or
CMSS2 to get sound from all of the speakers.

Is there another way to obtain the full Audigy 2 suite, possibly already
modified?

Yes, if you check the eDonkey network, you should be able to find the suite
already modified, but be aware that it is slow going, and you may still need to
download the newer driver updates from Creative and modify them yourself.

GUIDE#2,
Taken from http://www.DriverHeaven.net located here

Using Audigy2 Drivers & Apps to Live/Audigy

1. Install hacked Audigy 2 Drivers and Apps found here,

http://users2.ev1.net/~dallasstar/a2/sb_install_multilang.rar
[url=ftp://server.topo.auth.gr/topolab/temp/Smiro/Patching/Audigy2
Software/Audigy2Multilang.rar]ftp://server.topo.auth.gr/topolab/temp/Smiro/Pat
ching/Audigy2 Software/Audigy2Multilang.rar[/url]
(both have wrong filename, it is only English)- so called Necrosis's Driver Pack or
Audigy2 CD Driver. Version is .283.

This file http://members.aol.com/dvdking2001/Pub/ctcomp.exe needs to be

extracted and executed from SB_INSTALL\Audio\Setup and then you need to run
SB_INSTALL\Setup.exe (main setup) - install all Apps if you use Audigy, and if
you use Live! don't install EAX Console and Speaker Calibration (they won?t work
and they?ll probably cause trouble).
If installer asks for the file ctrun.dbd, just point the SB_INSTALL/CTRun folder.

2. Download all updates for Audigy 2(short changelog

http://www.entcity.com/shownews.asp?id=2574 from here
http://asia.creative.com/support/drivers/newfiles.asp?
region=1&sa=&NumDays=7&x=9&y=8 .
3. Install application updates (CMSP021216.exe, EAXCONSP021213.exe,
SFBMSP021213.exe, SPKSETSP021213.exe). DVDA021213.exe not confirmed to
work on Audigy1.
4. Extract AUD2DRVL11021217.exe using WinRAR 3.10 to folder of your choice.
This is the driver version .323.
5. Run this file {ctcomp.exe - see above} and point to the same folder as
Audigy2 Driver (thanks to DVDKingdom, compatibility patch creator - version 6.0
currently).
6. Run setup.exe in that folder.
7. Enjoy!

Further Updating
New OFFICIAL drivers For Audigy 1&2 are out from Creative, version is .383!
-Download new drivers or apps from here:
http://asia.creative.com/support/drivers/newfiles.asp?
region=1&sa=&NumDays=7&x=9&y=8
and here:
http://asia.creative.com/support/drivers/welcome.asp?
region=2&LangID=1033&OS=10&prod=118&Select=Get+Files&Submit=Get+File
s&x=31&y=3

1. Extract the new drivers using WinRar to a folder of your choice and patch it
using the file ctcomp.exe (.383 need patching only for use with SBLives).
2. Run Setup.exe
3. Install the application updates, the application updates updates ecc.

FAQ:

Q: Is there any easier way to get my Audigy or Live! card working?

A: Of course - it weights only 2MB (with Mixer). It is called kX Audio Driver.
http://www.kxproject.com

Q: On which OSes I can use this?

A: It is for Windows 2000 and XP, for Windows 98/ME I recommend you to use
VXD drivers, which are way better.

Q: Do I have to install .283 driver first?

A: I think that you do (but I am not 100% sure). For applications, yes, because
these are only updates. For .324, yes, you have to install .323 first.

Q: Doesn't work at all on my Live! card.

A: (Thanks to Uzi): SoundBlaster Live!, to make it work correctly (well, more or
less) with those drivers (.323), do not install EAX Console and Speaker
Calibration - I've even managed to run AudioHQ, Diagnose and the Speaker
Settings program - but they will run ONLY if the EAX Console and Speaker
Calibration are not installed.

Q: Doesn't work on Audigy!

A: (Thanks to BiGBrOWnPimpsta): To install SB Audigy2 drivers, download these
files:
1. Hacked drivers (.283):
http://202.102.249.31/%7Esblivefan/Audigy2divers.zip
2. Audigy2 driver update (.323):
http://files.americas.creative.com/...RVL11021217.exe
3. Full Audigy2 CD (english only):
http://users2.ev1.net/~dallasstar/s...l_multilang.rar
4. evil drivers
http://www.republika.pl/evil_one2/wdma_evil_emu.rar
5. Optional: updates for Creative MediaSource and other Audigy2 programs found
at www.creative.com, which you can find in Audigy2 section of the site and
improved my sound performance.
Installation:When you have downloaded all of theme, please remove all previous
SoundBlaster software/drivers using Add/Remove Programs and reboot your
computer. When you come back to desktop, it may ask you for the driver
installation disk, cancel it. Same goes for the gameport installation after. Now to
do some mixing...
Extract sb_install_multilang.rar, audigy2divers.zip (it was mispelled) and
wdma_evil_emu.rar using WinRAR which can be downloaded from
www.rarlab.com. To extract the Audigy2 driver update
(AUD2DRVL11021217.exe), which is an exe, right click and select extract files to
do it. Once the update is extracted, open it and then go into the /Drivers folder,
highlight all copy it and paste it into the Audigy2divers folder (has the folders
common, win2k_xp and crap) and overwrite it all. Then from the extracted
wdma_evil_emu folder, copy and paste all the files into the the audigy2divers
folder again. When your in the audigy2divers folder, open up the win2k_xp folder
copy these files from there: CTDAUGHT.DAT, ctdlang.dat, CTSTATIC.DAT and
DEFAULT.ECW. then paste the files into the common folder of audigy2divers. Now
your ready to insall the drivers. if you look in the main directory of audigy2divers,
you will see a program called CTZAPXX.exe, run this select install drivers. press
ok, itl will update all drivers. Reboot your computer, and when you are back, the
sound should be working. then open up sb_install_multilang, folder Audio. Inside
open the setup programs and install the programs from these folders: ASR,
AudioHQ, Diagnose, DVDAudio, EAXCon, MiniDisc (if u got an MD), restore,
SF8Mgr, SpkCal, SpkSet, SurMixer and for the new MediaSource go back to the
main directory and open CMS, then the folder setup, then install MediaSource.
Reboot your computer and SB Audigy2 driver installation is complete, updating
the programs is optional but i recommend it i saw a significant increase in bass
quality. Get it at www.creative.com, section Audigy2 drivers. Download the
updates for the Speaker Calibration, EAX Console, MediaSource, DVD Audio.

Q: I did that, but I get some missing .crl files error.

A1: You need multilingual pack (370MB, whole Audigy2 CD).
There is also a way without downloading multilingual pack.
A2: (thanks to zeppy): There is also another way for those of you who have the
missing .crl files problem:
Just open the setup.ini in the setup folder of the app you want to install, let's say
SurMixer\setup.ini and change count=11 to count=1 Some of you also might
need to change key0=0x0804 to key0=0x0009 After that simply reinstall the app
and you should have it running without the .crl errors.
Q: Why I don't have multiple speaker output in windows apps when
listening to music (ex. Winamp).
A: (Thanks to _TAG_): 1. Speaker/Headphone: select 5.1 and mark the
synchronize with control panel option, then restart. (if you can't open speakers
settings for do that, do in windows control panel)
2. Open Eax console and surround mixer to test the speakers moving the
balance/fade dot around, with winamp playing something.
3. Disable all audio effects if you had enabled anything (otherwise it doesn't
work!).
4. Enable CMSS 3D, in CMSS 2 mode. Now you have sound in all speakers, but
the effect sucks, so...
5. Click on default button.
6. Now you will have CMSS 3D disabled (verify that the central speaker is not
sounding, as is normal in this scheme for winamp) but rear speakers are
sounding perfectly! You can move the dot in balance/fade panel to test.

Q: PCI512 is EMU10k1 based card, will this work on it?

A: PCI512 series will install, but you will most probably get no sound. This is what
I heard, but maybe you will be lucky.

Q: I have seen some Live!/Audigy specific updates on Creative's site.

A: If you are talking about this outdated language-only Audigy updates, they
aren't newer (the are all .253).
Also, Live! 28-Feb-2003 updates are .252 drivers (that were released by Compaq
in Aug/2002).
Both just proove Creative's greed for money and nonexistence of real customer
care (as does this thread).

Q: It works fine, do I need this Evil driver anyway?

A: You know how they say: If it ain't broken, don't fix it. This evil driver is one
more hack if it doesn't work, if it works... you don't need anything else.

Many thanks to RIV@NVX creator of the original guide and mod of

DriverHeaven.

Special thanks to:

1. Necrosis, for Audigy2 Driver CD
2. DallasStar, for hosting it
3. DVDKingdom, for making compatibility patch for it (and later updates)

For the full guide, FAQ, and forum support go to http://www.driverheaven.net.

Some links from this guide have been removed since they link to DriverHeaven
Forums Threads that are inaccessible if you are not a registered user.