Can't find working driver for Creative Sound Blaster Live! (CT4830) (running windows 8)

[johnnny]

Hello everybody

The onboard audio on my desktop stopped working, so, since it's a 7 year old computer and I don't want to spend too much money, I decided to buy a cheap used sound card - a Creative Sound Blaster Live! (CT4830).

The sound card shows up as unrecognized in Device Manager. I tried installing drivers from several sources but most of them would say they couldn't detect the sound card. Others would say they couldn't install on this operating system

I recently installed Windows 8 on this computer and that might be the reason why some of the drivers are not working...

I think I shouldn't have tried to purchase such an old sound card, but if there's any chance someone could point me to a working driver, I'd be most thankful

 

[ThomasJ93]

Isn't the Sound Blaster Live! pretty much an ancient card? If so, I'm not surprised it won't work on Windows 8.

 

[noidea_77]

If it's 64bit, this is the only one that might work: http://kxproject.com/

 

[johnnny]

It's 32bit.

And yes, I botched the purchase. I should never have bought a sound card from the last century to put on a 2006 computer. Especially since I upgraded to windows 8 recently. Still, if it would work, it would probably give good enough sound for what I want

 

[johnnny]

I guess the lack of answers shows there's no magic solution here, but here's a follow-up question:
If I downgrade to windows xp, will I be able to install working drivers do this soundcard?

 

[DrLoco]

If it's 64bit, this is the only one that might work: http://kxproject.com/

Thanks noidea_77, this works also for windows 7 32 bit!

i had the same problem - onboard audio stopped to work so i used my old computer's parts and put my only audio card - SoundBlaster ct4830.
but it took me a while to make it work so i wrote a guide for those who still looking for a solution:

1. enter to the downloading page:
http://download.kxproject.lugosoft.com/?file=
2. download the driver.
for me, the first driver (kX Driver 5.10.0.3550 (09/18/2009) ) did Not work. it install it but after reboot it says that i do not have any Sound Blaster card....
so i download the second option and an older version (kX Driver 5.10.0.3549 (08/18/2009) ) which did Not displayed an error message after reboot.
3. for some maybe its enough, but i had to do a few more steps. so if there is no sound, you should check if the sound icon on the right side of the taskbar has no red X on it. you should uninstall and reinstall the audio drivers (also the onboard) because maybe the onboard driver is colliding with the soundblaster driver.
4. after there is no red X on the sound icon on the taskbar, press on it a right click and choose: "Open Volume Mixer"
5. Under "Device" there is a picture of Spearker or HeadPhone or something and under it, there is small Arrow that let you change and select another option.
press on that arrow and each time select a different option. after each time you change the option, press on the volume bar and turn your speaker loud enough so you could hear if you found the right option (you can also open youtube or something that will make a sound)
also check that you plug the Speaker 3.5 mm jack cable to the right place.
if you still didn't hear the windows sound (or the youtube's sound or something), you should try a different place to plug the cable in the soundblaster card. for example, i've got 2 options for audio out on my soundblaster card.
6. after you found it, remember it's name! (example: for me it was something like "Wave Output 4/5" that makes sound). and close the volume mixer
7. press right click on the volume icon on the task bar and this time, select "Sounds" and go to "Playback" tab.
8. on that list, select the working sound you found in section 5 (in my case, it was the "Wave Output 4/5"), press right click on it and select it as default. after that press "apply" and "ok" to close this window.

and that's it, you should test it on youtube or something and after that, restart your computer just to make sure its working.


btw, if it still doesn't work, you should try again with a diffrent driver (section 2) and/or with diffrent sound option (section 5).

good luck and thanks again!