Sound Blaster

[Drailex_Mauder]

I recently ran across an issue which is documented in this thread:

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=53809

What I found out raised an interesting possibility: it should fairly easy to make software to switch modes with X-Fi sound cards. The community only needs to work together to make some third party software to get the job done.

When modes are switched for the X-Fi, the following folder is utilized (on XP, at any rate):

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Creative\Spi\
{00000005-00000000-00000007-00001102-00000005-00211102}\Modes

The files which are involved are named as such:

CTXFICMu.ini
CTXFICMu.rfx
CTXFIEMu.ini
CTXFIEMu.rfx
CTXFIGMu.ini
CTXFIGMu.rfx

The two 'CTXFICMu' files correspond to Audio Creation Mode, while the 'CTXFIEMu' files match Entertainment Mode and the 'CTXFIGMu' files match Game Mode.

The *.ini files are text files containing mixer information for each mode, and the *.rfx files are binary files. I suspect the *.rfx files may be related to the programmable nature of the audio chip, but I haven't messed around with them too much since it is outside the scope of my abilities.

The CTXFISPI.EXE process is making the reads and writes to these files, which seems to indicate that it does the dirty work when it comes to changing the modes of the card.

If the community can determine how to encourage CTXFISPI.EXE to switch modes (or if Creative decides to be forthcoming with the details), then third party apps can be developed to make the switch easier (tray app menu), faster (no animations), more efficient, and seamless (a scriptable method for changing modes would be great!).

Additionally, it shouldn't be too hard to make software which allows for per user mixer settings with the X-Fi. It is only a matter of switching in a particular user's *.ini and *.rfx files to the Modes directory before CTXFISPI.EXE loads them at log in, and then saving the same files again at log off.

So, I have a request for Creative: would you please release some documentation about how to switch modes programmatically or even from the command line?

I'm also throwing out this challenge to the community: if Creative is unable or unwilling to release the information needed, then let's get under the hood of the X-Fi and decode mode switching ourselves. If someone can expose how mode switching works, then I would be more than happy to whip up an interface for it.

Drailex_Mauder

[HaZe303]

Would be great with some better 3rd party switcher, that changes auto when games are started or something like that. Cant wait.

And i wouldnt hold my breath for the release of documentation from CL´s side. They will never give us anything for free. They wont even give people with the firmware problems, downloadable software and firmwares so people could fix their cards them self. No they want us to pay even more money to send the cards to them, so they can flash the cards.

but i really hope someone will come up with some great software for the x-fi, maybe then CL will start to listen to the community, what we want.

[Drailex_Mauder]

I have created a quick fix for the lack of mode switching options currently available. I would like to program something more feature rich in C, but for now VBScript is better than nothing. If we don't get a leg up from Creative, it may be a while as I will have to look into reverse engineering the software. This would require learning some new skills on my part.

These scripts work by loading the Creative Audio Console and pushing the appropriate keystrokes to change the mode. It is a dirty way to get the job done, but until more is known about how to change modes through CTXFISPI.EXE these scripts will have to do.

I am releasing these scripts under a BSD licence, which appears at the end of this message. Kinda silly for such small blocks of code, but it's there more to cover my assets with the legal disclaimer than anything else.

Copy each block of code into a separate text file and make sure that the file name ends in a VBS extension. Any up to date 2000 or XP machine should run these scripts no problem. I have placed shortcuts to the scripts in my Quick Launch Toolbar so that I can quickly change modes.

You could also add them to a script which switches to game mode, runs your game, and then switches back to entertainment mode.

VERY IMPORTANT: The Creative Audio Console must not be running when you run one of these scripts, otherwise the script will randomly change your settings.

And once again, if anyone can assist in determining how to coax CTXFISPI.EXE into switching modes, this will take things a long way to creating 3rd party mode switching software which meets the goals of my original post in this thread.

----- Start Of "Entertainment Mode.vbs" -----
Option Explicit

Dim WshShell
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell" )

' Start up the Audio Console
WshShell.CurrentDirectory = "C:\Program Files\Creative\AudioCS"
WshShell.Run("CTAudCS.exe" )
' On slower machines the Sleep value may need to be increased.
WScript.Sleep(1500)

' Send the keystrokes to change the mode
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{RIGHT}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{UP}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{UP}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{ENTER}" )

WScript.Quit(0)
----- End Of "Entertainment Mode.vbs" -----

----- Start Of "Game Mode.vbs" -----
Option Explicit

Dim WshShell
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell" )

' Start up the Audio Console
WshShell.CurrentDirectory = "C:\Program Files\Creative\AudioCS"
WshShell.Run("CTAudCS.exe" )
' On slower machines the Sleep value may need to be increased.
WScript.Sleep(1500)

' Send the keystrokes to change the mode
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{RIGHT}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{UP}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{UP}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{DOWN}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{ENTER}" )

WScript.Quit(0)
----- End Of "Game Mode.vbs" -----

----- Start Of "Audio Creation Mode.vbs" -----
Option Explicit

Dim WshShell
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell" )

' Start up the Audio Console
WshShell.CurrentDirectory = "C:\Program Files\Creative\AudioCS"
WshShell.Run("CTAudCS.exe" )
' On slower machines the Sleep value may need to be increased.
WScript.Sleep(1500)

' Send the keystrokes to change the mode
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{RIGHT}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{UP}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{UP}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{DOWN}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{DOWN}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{TAB}" )
WshShell.SendKeys("{ENTER}" )

WScript.Quit(0)
----- End Of "Audio Creation Mode.vbs" -----

* Copyright (c) 2006 Breen Ouellette
*
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Message Edited by Drailex_Mauder on 03-14-200610:35 PM

Message Edited by Drailex_Mauder on 03-14-200610:56 PM

[pjt213]

Thanks Drailex_Mauder, those scripts work a treat. I had to change the current directory though as CTAudCS.exe was in a different folder to yours. I've got the beta x-fi drivers installed. Now I've just got to work out how to get it to work with BF2 so it switches to game mode before BF2 starts and then changes back to entertainment mode when BF2 exits.

[Drailex_Mauder]

Getting the modes to switch when loading BF2 is trivial if you know how to write VBScript. However, there is one problem I need to point out. If you still want to try it there are some directions at the end of the message, but I expect you will need to spend some major time learning VBScript if you don't already know VBS.

Problem is this: if you have any mods for BF2 (including Special Forces) you will run into issues. Say you load original BF2 and then switch to a Special Forces map. BF2.EXE quits and reloads itself with Special Forces extensions. Your VBScript sees the BF2.EXE process exit and then switches back to Entertainment Mode, and suddenly your sound doesn't work when BF2 reloads with Special Forces. A more complex VBScript can be written to monitor the BF2.EXE process and see if it reloads itself, but this is more trouble than it's worth (for me, anyway).

Just to be clear: every game behaves in a different way, which would mean that for each new game you would have to create a new script, probably over 100 lines of code, to deal with its idiosyncracies. This is why I consider it to be too much trouble.

However, writing a tray app in a real programming language (and not VBScript) is definitely worth my time. This VBScript lacks the robustness and finesse of a C program which could directly change modes.

What totally baffles me is the fact that BF2 is written to specifically take advantage of X-Fi cards. The game should switch to Game Mode when it loads and then back to Entertainment Mode when it quits. I can understand having the switching option for older games without X-Fi support, but to overlook automatic switching for games written specifically for X-Fi is a major oversight for both Creative and the game companies which support it. It would be like video card manufacturers requiring the user to switch to 1280x1024 resolution before they load a game if they want to play it at that resolution!

Fortunately, there has been a lot of noise created about the mode switching inadequacies of the current driver/software package. Creative has likely taken note of this, and with a little luck they will work with software vendors to ensure that new games do the right thing. If a game supports X-Fi then it should be able to detect that it needs to switch to Game Mode.

Anyway, here is my VBScript to load BF2. It contains references to Daemon Tools. If you aren't familiar with D-Tools, it allows you to take an image file of an optical disc and load it into a virtual drive, which your game sees as just another DVD-ROM drive. This saves me the trouble of loading the disc, plus wear and tear on my drive and my disc. You can use a program like Alcohol 120% to create an image file from your original disc.

You should be able to create what you are looking for by cutting and pasting the mode changing scripts into the appropriate places in the below script. You may have to add some additional Sleep code to ensure that the SendKey code works on the Creative Audio Console and not Battlefield 2. For a great VBScript reference, search for 'devguru vbscript' on Google. DevGuru rocks.

Of course, you will need to change the paths in the script to reflect the way you have things set up on your system.

The following script is subject to the same BSD licence which appears earlier in this message thread, Copyright (c) 2006 Breen Ouellette.

----- Start Of "startbf2.vbs" -----
Option Explicit

Dim WshShell

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell" )

WshShell.CurrentDirectory = "D:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools"
Call WshShell.Run("daemon.exe -noicon -mount 0," & Chr(34) _
&"D:\Program Files\Games\Disc Images\bf2_mini.mds" & Chr(34), _
1, True)

WshShell.CurrentDirectory = "D:\Program Files\Games\Battlefield 2"
Call WshShell.Run("BF2.exe +menu 1 +fullscreen 1", 1, False)
----- End Of "startbf2.vbs" -----

One last thing: if you decide to go the distance and make a robust script which monitors the BF2.EXE process, please post the code to this thread so that others can benefit from it. Thanks.

Drailex_Mauder

[pjt213]

Once again thanks for your help. I've bookmarked the DevGuru vbscript site and will take a look at it later. I've absolutely no VBScript knowledge at all so this is completely new territory for me.

I now only have to click on one icon and it changes to game mode and loads BF2 which is great and I also use daemon tools so that was also helpful.

[TheVirus]

Check this out guys

http://www.geocities.com/spectra9x/xfmc.html