Creative releases beta Linux 64-bit driver for X-Fi sound cards

[btarunr]

The wait is finally over. All Tux64-pals can now use Sound Blaster X-Fi series cards and the Auzen X-Fi Prelude on 64-bit Linux.

Here's a link to the download page.

Please also note, that it's a beta driver and could be very buggy. It supports 64-bit linux and is a source tarball, meaning that you have to compile it.

There however is no driver for 32-bit Linux, my support email to Creative has no reply and they seem tight-lipped about it. But since most X-Fi users do have processors with either AMD64 or EM64T, most users won't have a problem. 32bit only users, sorry for the disappointment.

 

[Wile E]

Sweet, good to know.

Btw, shouldn't this be in the Linux/BSD/OS X section?

 

[btarunr]

Even I thought the same but since this pertains to a certain hardware, that has had no Linux support for 14 months after its release, I put in into this section. Most people who have X-Fi cards don't want to make the switch to Linux just because the card isn't supported. This thread is for them, had I placed it into the *nix/BSD section, only the uber-nerds who probably don't have a X-Fi card would view it.

 

[Ketxxx]

Creative suck. If manufacturers of on-board codecs can make 64bit drivers, so should creative, but they dont. Creative are just lazy bums who pawn even the smallest problem off on something else in the system instead of just fixing it, and 99% of the time when they do respond to a tech email their solution is to format

 

[btarunr]

It has more to do with Creative's affinity to Microsoft than its inability to offer support. Because it suffered a huge setback from Microsoft's discontinuation of DirectSound with DX10. So there are lot of factors that come to play. Microsoft pretty-much dictates how everything moves about in the IT industry. So if you're good at piss-and-moan at Creative just because you don't own a SoundBlaster, do the same with Microsoft. How good is Microsoft's tech support anyway?

 

[Ripper3]

This has been out a few months now, but no easy way to install this shit.
Wish they'd just give us the 32-bit ones, not like anybody with Vista gives a crap whether they get another soundcard update or not, it worked terribly under Vista for me, and I'm now back with XP, working so much better now.

 

[Ketxxx]

I've owned plenty of Creative crap, and is exactly why I wont buy their stuff anymore. Their drivers have always been bloatware and they just never fix real driver problems, just minor ones nobody really cares about.

 

[btarunr]

This has been out a few months now, but no easy way to install this shit.
Wish they'd just give us the 32-bit ones, not like anybody with Vista gives a crap whether they get another soundcard update or not, it worked terribly under Vista for me, and I'm now back with XP, working so much better now.

Agreed it is very buggy and has a dependency list far longer than a teenage girl's wishlist.

Who makes the most trouble-free, easy-to-install drivers for Linux?

Ans: NVidia.

 

[btarunr]

But look at the positives, Ketty, the current Windows Vista driver I have is so trouble-free. A Realtek codec doesn't even come a light-year close to X-Fi in sound quality and features.

 

[Ripper3]

Agreed it is very buggy and has a dependency list far longer than a teenage girl's wishlist.

Who makes the most trouble-free, easy-to-install drivers for Linux?

Ans: NVidia.

Certainly true, had Linux running on here, while I backed up from Vista, and reformatted, and I just enabled on-board sound, plugged my headphones in, and ther Nvidia soundcard was working, no additional tweakage needed, apart from the fact that the soundcards on the 6 series boards have REALLY low volume output. Didn't bother me too much though, I was more interesting in backing up than listening to music. I'm not sure if there's a fix for it or not, but I'll look next time around.

 

[imperialreign]

But look at the positives, Ketty, the current Windows Vista driver I have is so trouble-free. A Realtek codec doesn't even come a light-year close to X-Fi in sound quality and features.

Realtek's HD codecs have also been known in the past to not be true HD, either. Asides, having an acctual audio expansion card (Creative or not), removes the possibility of a lot of EMI from the mobo and components.

Anyhow, I've got to say that I've owned Creative components for as far back as I can remember . . . all the way to an old SB 2.0. I've never had any issues with any of their hardware or drivers . . . ever . . .

at least, until the X-Fi series; but, I'm not going to get into any of that. Creative's tech support has gone down the squatter since the Audigy release, that's for sure, but their hardware is still really good for what it is.


*BTW, I'll update my XSS thread with that beta info soon as I can. It's really hard for me to type anything right now, what with a finger in a splint and all. - earned myself 6 stitches today!

 

[btarunr]

Great so now it's confirmed that there is no 32-bit driver for Linux and also that Creative isn't working on one.

Unfortunately, market dynamics and usage patterns of our customers have pushed us into deciding not to put our resources into devising a Linux 32-bit driver. It is for the sole reason that the advanced features our X-Fi line of products are underutilized under the Linux platform and we feel not many 32-bit Linux users actually use the product .....blah...blah

Who is Creative to decide how I use it? I'm pissed for sure.

 

[btarunr]

Another important note

This driver only supports those X-Fi cards that are based on the CA-20K1 Audio processor.

It does not support the following products:

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI Express
X-Mod
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook (Express Cardbus)

It does support these products:

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum (Japan region)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1