Xonar Install Problems, Help?

[one swell foop]

Are there compatibility problem that I can't find on google wqith Xonar cards and the EVGA 750i SLi FTW motherboards? This is the second Xonar card I've bought that will not let me install the drivers. It says the extra power cable is not connected and aborts the install. I first purchased a Xonar DX and wound up returning it because I assumed it was an issue with the card itself. I got some more money and decided to go for a better card. I went back to my local Fry's and purchased a Xonar DX2 (another PCI Express card because the only decent gaming cards they had that weren't sound blaster were PCI Express and I've read great things about the Xonar cards).

Again, when attempting to install the drivers for the card, I am told I must connect the extra power cable. When attempting to install the last card I wound up updating the BIOS in case there were any conflicts or issues there, since I was running the first release BIOS for the motherboard and there was a PCI to PCI bridge issue listed in the device manager. It wasn't likely that this was the issue, but what the hell, it may have helped. It didn't. I've got the extra power cable connected. Unless it's the stupid four pin power cable that's worked previously for floppy drives or some sort of hardware incompatibility, I don't know what the issue could be.

My old ass Sound Blaster, PCI card from 2001 works, except for the lack of win 7 drivers that cause serious mic issues when I'm gaming. I was trying to support a local company, even though my first instinct was to order a PCI sound card from an online retailer.

Can anyone provide some input or advice?

 

[mlaine]

I think all Xonar PCI-E card drivers remind you to connect the power cable and the reminder will pop up whether the power cable is connected or not - it does not stop driver installation. Just to make sure - are you sure you are getting actual error message there, telling you that the power cable is not connected?

 

[one swell foop]

Yes, the reminder pops up at the first screen with the included disc and with the most recent downloaded driver. After this it asks me to plug in the additional power connector. There are "Retry" and "Cancel" options below. Upon clicking "Retry" it obviously looks to see if power is connected and sends me back to the same menu. Selecting the "Cancel" option aborts install.
Also, included in the packaging was a black 4 pin, female to female cable. Why is this included? Can one connect the card to the motherboard via the pin to power it? Never, not recently anyway, seen a male four pin power cable.

I'd like to test whether or not the power cable is the issue, but have no voltmeter and would rather not drive across town.

How I yearn for the days when installing a new piece of hardware didn't wind up being a tremendous pain in the ass and leave me searching the vasty internets for lists of potentially incompatible hardware. Then I think, "Oh wait, those days never existed!"

 

[mlaine]

That four pin female-female cable is internal audio cable for CD/DVD drive - no need for that one. Don't try to plug it into power connectors, otherwise bad things might happen.

It sounds like the floppy power cable might be cause of the problem, or the card is not being detected correctly. I'm assuming you are using floppy power connector directly from PSU? If you have molex to floppy adapter available, you might want to try with that too.

As for detection, can you check if it's showing up in device manager as unidentified device, as it should without drivers being installed or is it missing totally?

Might also be worth it to try different PCI slot, if you have more than one of them on your mobo.

Hope you'll get it sorted out!

 

[one swell foop]

Yes, floppy power connector directly from PSU. I initially had an adapter running from a molex connector, but then found my extra bag of PSU cables. Still a no go. I just returned the card and will purchase a card from somewhere other than Fry's. They don't seem inclined to stock any decent cards in PCI, only PCI-X. My motherboard has only one PCI-X slot on it, so trying another isn't an option for me. My only issue now is whether or not I try an asus card in PCI, or just go for a sound blaster. As much as I don't want to give money to Creative, I'm irritated at Asus for requiring that stupid extra power connector on their PCI-X cards.

 

[fullvietFX]

The Xonar have absolutely crap drivers, I'm using onboard until they get better.

 

[one swell foop]

I wish I could use onboard. I game, and the onboard mic input winds up being inaudible unless I literally yell.