Removing Creative soundblaster from Dell XPS410

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster (this
will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell specific
drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I believe I will have
just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the card and use the on-board
audio (which I believe already works with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to unscrew
anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes from the
Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably for the front
audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug from the card,
where does it need to plug into on the motherboard in order to provide
the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:27:25 +0000, Andrew Hodgson
wrote:

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster (this
will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

Should have said 710 sorry.

Andrew.

When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell specific
drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I believe I will have
just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the card and use the on-board
audio (which I believe already works with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to unscrew
anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes from the
Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably for the front
audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug from the card,
where does it need to plug into on the motherboard in order to provide
the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:27:25 +0000, Andrew Hodgson
wrote:

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster (this
will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

Should have said 710 sorry.

Andrew.
When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell specific
drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I believe I will have
just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the card and use the on-board
audio (which I believe already works with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to unscrew
anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes from the
Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably for the front
audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug from the card,
where does it need to plug into on the motherboard in order to provide
the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.

I can't help with the cable, but the Dell docs for the 710 parts
replacement are found here;
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1073386

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:27:25 +0000, Andrew Hodgson
wrote:

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster (this
will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

Should have said 710 sorry.

Andrew.
When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell specific
drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I believe I will have
just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the card and use the on-board
audio (which I believe already works with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to unscrew
anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes from the
Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably for the front
audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug from the card,
where does it need to plug into on the motherboard in order to provide
the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.


The Creative Labs Sound Blaster cards used by Dell in its desktops are
not so customized that they are vastly different from the ones sold in
the stores. The only difference is that the Dell OEM cards have the
long skinny white connector to accept the cable from the front panel of
the chassis. In all other respects, they are the same as the retail
cards and they use the same drivers which can be downloaded from the
Creative web site. I do not know what issues you have with these cards
and Vista, but I would give the Creative card a try with Windows 7. The
Creative sound cards generally have better audio quality than the
built-in chips on the Dell motherboards, altho the Dell built-in audio
is not bad either.

Any Dell chassis with an audio cable to the front panel has a
motherboard with a skinny connector to attach the cable. It is white.
It has the same shape as the connector on the Creative card. It is
sometimes located between PCI slots, other times somewhere near the back
(the side with board slots) of the motherboard.

The repair info for the XPS710 on the Dell web site may have a good
diagram showing the location of this connector on the motherboard.

.... Ben Myers

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:14:51 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:27:25 +0000, Andrew Hodgson
wrote:

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster (this
will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

Should have said 710 sorry.

Andrew.
When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell specific
drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I believe I will have
just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the card and use the on-board
audio (which I believe already works with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to unscrew
anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes from the
Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably for the front
audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug from the card,
where does it need to plug into on the motherboard in order to provide
the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.


The Creative Labs Sound Blaster cards used by Dell in its desktops are
not so customized that they are vastly different from the ones sold in
the stores. The only difference is that the Dell OEM cards have the
long skinny white connector to accept the cable from the front panel of
the chassis. In all other respects, they are the same as the retail
cards and they use the same drivers which can be downloaded from the
Creative web site. I do not know what issues you have with these cards
and Vista, but I would give the Creative card a try with Windows 7. The
Creative sound cards generally have better audio quality than the
built-in chips on the Dell motherboards, altho the Dell built-in audio
is not bad either.

Ok, I did some research on this and tried a Windows 7 install and got
the same issues as others were saying - i.e, very crackly sound, and a
few other issues. The Creative drivers just caused the sound to go
silent, so I don't believe they will work either.

I have currently just did a clean install of Win 7, and disabled the
card, and am using the Dell onboard card which is fine for my needs;
at some point I may get round to move the Creative card from the
system.

Thanks.
Andrew.

Andrew Hodgson wrote:

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:14:51 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:27:25 +0000, Andrew Hodgson
wrote:

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster
(this will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

Should have said 710 sorry.

Andrew.
When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell
specific drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I
believe I will have just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the
card and use the on-board audio (which I believe already works
with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to
unscrew anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes
from the Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably
for the front audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug
from the card, where does it need to plug into on the motherboard
in order to provide the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.


The Creative Labs Sound Blaster cards used by Dell in its desktops
are not so customized that they are vastly different from the ones
sold in the stores. The only difference is that the Dell OEM cards
have the long skinny white connector to accept the cable from the
front panel of the chassis. In all other respects, they are the
same as the retail cards and they use the same drivers which can be
downloaded from the Creative web site. I do not know what issues
you have with these cards and Vista, but I would give the Creative
card a try with Windows 7. The Creative sound cards generally have
better audio quality than the built-in chips on the Dell
motherboards, altho the Dell built-in audio is not bad either.

Ok, I did some research on this and tried a Windows 7 install and got
the same issues as others were saying - i.e, very crackly sound, and a
few other issues. The Creative drivers just caused the sound to go
silent, so I don't believe they will work either.

I have currently just did a clean install of Win 7, and disabled the
card, and am using the Dell onboard card which is fine for my needs;
at some point I may get round to move the Creative card from the
system.

Thanks.
Andrew..

Andrew I think you are doing fine. Windows 7 drivers are right now
supposed to be similar to Vista but this may not be true for all like
your sound card. And you should not need to remove your sound card to
disable it and just use the internal one. You sound like you already
found this out.

--

Have you tried Daniel_k's drivers?
You did not say which card you have, but look for his drivers for your card
on
http://forums.creative.com/t5/Sound-...p/soundblaster

"Andrew Hodgson" wrote in message
ews.com...
On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:14:51 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:27:25 +0000, Andrew Hodgson
wrote:

Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster (this
will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

Should have said 710 sorry.

Andrew.
When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell specific
drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I believe I will have
just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the card and use the on-board
audio (which I believe already works with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to unscrew
anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes from the
Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably for the front
audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug from the card,
where does it need to plug into on the motherboard in order to provide
the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.


The Creative Labs Sound Blaster cards used by Dell in its desktops are
not so customized that they are vastly different from the ones sold in
the stores. The only difference is that the Dell OEM cards have the
long skinny white connector to accept the cable from the front panel of
the chassis. In all other respects, they are the same as the retail
cards and they use the same drivers which can be downloaded from the
Creative web site. I do not know what issues you have with these cards
and Vista, but I would give the Creative card a try with Windows 7. The
Creative sound cards generally have better audio quality than the
built-in chips on the Dell motherboards, altho the Dell built-in audio
is not bad either.

Ok, I did some research on this and tried a Windows 7 install and got
the same issues as others were saying - i.e, very crackly sound, and a
few other issues. The Creative drivers just caused the sound to go
silent, so I don't believe they will work either.

I have currently just did a clean install of Win 7, and disabled the
card, and am using the Dell onboard card which is fine for my needs;
at some point I may get round to move the Creative card from the
system.

Thanks.
Andrew.

Andrew Hodgson wrote:
Hi,

I have a Dell XPS410 which I got with a Creative sound blaster (this
will be the last time I ever buy Creative).

When upgrading to Vista, I had issues with the Creative/Dell specific
drivers (as this is an OEM card). On Windows 7, I believe I will have
just as much trouble, so I want to ditch the card and use the on-board
audio (which I believe already works with Windows 7).

I opened the case, but I am visually impaired, and not sure how to
open the part of the case to get the cards out - do I need to unscrew
anything to do this? Also, there is a cable that goes from the
Soundblaster to the front of the computer - presumably for the front
audio ports, which I do use. If I remove this plug from the card,
where does it need to plug into on the motherboard in order to provide
the onboard sound connection for these jacks?

Thanks.
Andrew.

Andrew,

You probably should find a nine pin connector near the sound card slot.
I had the opposite situation with my xps630. I just installed a creative
card to replace the onboard sound. For me the front panel audio cable
connected along the corner edge of the motherboard near the PCI slots.

Its hard to see, but "----Front Panel" should be written on the board
adjacent to the connector.

In my case, "front panel audio" was written on the cable as well. I only
mention that because the link Pen provided for 710 service manual
doesn't show a front panel audio connector on the board. Strange. See
what's written on the cable and go from there.


George

RnR RnR wrote:


Andrew I think you are doing fine. Windows 7 drivers are right now
supposed to be similar to Vista but this may not be true for all like
your sound card. And you should not need to remove your sound card to
disable it and just use the internal one. You sound like you already
found this out.


When you installed the card, did you disable the onboard through the
BIOS? I forgot to do that myself and had some issues initially.

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:18:52 -0000, "Jean Rosenfeld"
wrote:

Have you tried Daniel_k's drivers?
You did not say which card you have, but look for his drivers for your card
on
http://forums.creative.com/t5/Sound-...p/soundblaster

Thanks - will look into this, though to be honest, I am loving my Win7
(64-bit) experience with the Dell integrated sound card, and don't
believe I will ever go Creative again.

I have to use the sound card all the time when I use my system, since
I am partially sighted and use a screen reader which reads out
everything I am doing on the system. This is why I always went for
the Creative cards before - since the older integrated cards used to
leak noise from the processor/system, and would degrade if the system
processor was used heavily. I haven't noticed anything like this with
the Dell integrated mobo card so far.

Thanks.
Andrew.