Question OpenAL Issue with Games

[danherit]

Greetings,
I am not sure this is the right place for this but I don't know where else to go for sure. My issue is with OpenAL Soft sound. I play quite a bit of STALKER games and mods and have never had an issue with sound before. However, yesterday I decided to replace my Kaspersky free AV due to being unhappy with how intrusive and nagging it is to get you to upgrade to premium.
I uninstalled Kaspersky via Windows 10 Control Panel/Programs and Features, then rebooted. I downloaded and installed AVAST free AV. No issues were seen until I later wanted to play a STALKER mod. The game would not launch, but instead gave me an error which said OpenAL could not generate content.
I tried several other mods in the STALKER set but could not open any save one, which was using Generic Software for sound, rather than OpenAL Soft.
I tried uninstalling OpenAL via Windows 10 Control Panel, then downloading and installing a fresh copy from OpenAL. No joy, no help, still had the same error.
I tried uninstalling/deleting the game mods, rebooting, re-download and re-install of the game mod, reboot, then attempt to launch. I am still getting the same error.
I have updated my drivers for my video card and sound devices. I have moved from AVAST free AV to AVG free AV.
The issue persists. At this point, I have no idea what to try next.
Can anyone provide any ideas?

Thanks in advance, Dan.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Did you check Avast for any possible quarantines due to false positives on those mods?

I used to use Avast, but stopped using it for the same reason you got rid of Kaspersky. Now I just use Widows Defender, and I find it's more than adequate. Occasionally I have to set exclusions if it goes bonkers with something it's not familiar with, but it's really pretty easy.

 

[danherit]

Did you check Avast for any possible quarantines due to false positives on those mods?

I used to use Avast, but stopped using it for the same reason you got rid of Kaspersky. Now I just use Widows Defender, and I find it's more than adequate. Occasionally I have to set exclusions if it goes bonkers with something it's not familiar with, but it's really pretty easy.

No, I did not check, as I went to AVG the same day in an attempt to verify whether or not the AV provider had any different effect on my error. No effect changes were found, so I do not believe the issue lies with the AV provider. Perhaps the act of uninstalling Kaspersky? I don't know, but immediately after that is when I first experienced the issue. Also, prior to uninstalling Kaspersky, there were no flags or notifications from that AV concerning potential virus or malware, no notices of quarantine.

BTW, thank you for responding, Frag.

 

[hotaru.hino]

I suggest uninstalling whatever third party AV you have and stick with Windows Defender for now, and uninstalling/reinstalling OpenAL.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I suggest uninstalling whatever third party AV you have and stick with Windows Defender for now, and uninstalling/reinstalling OpenAL.

Ditto, and let us know if you find a solution as well OP.

 

[danherit]

Ditto, and let us know if you find a solution as well OP.

Hmmm . . . maybe I will give that a try. Not a big fan of Windows Defender as it is very much Windows-product-related AV, and I really do not like using either Chrome or Edge. I prefer Mozilla Firefox for most of my browsing, and Defender does not work great with Firefox as far as I understand. But at this stage I am willing to try anything reasonable.
Another reason I hesitate is that this issue only appeared after I uninstalled Kaspersky. Not saying that is what caused the issue, but the free AV/s of Kaspersky, AVAST, and AVG have not reported any scan result defining any virus or malware issues, or any quarantine issues. Due to that, across all three platforms, I am doubtful that AV has anything to do with this issue - again, unless it was the uninstall action with Kaspersky.

 

[danherit]

Hmmm . . . maybe I will give that a try. Not a big fan of Windows Defender as it is very much Windows-product-related AV, and I really do not like using either Chrome or Edge. I prefer Mozilla Firefox for most of my browsing, and Defender does not work great with Firefox as far as I understand. But at this stage I am willing to try anything reasonable.
Another reason I hesitate is that this issue only appeared after I uninstalled Kaspersky. Not saying that is what caused the issue, but the free AV/s of Kaspersky, AVAST, and AVG have not reported any scan result defining any virus or malware issues, or any quarantine issues. Due to that, across all three platforms, I am doubtful that AV has anything to do with this issue - again, unless it was the uninstall action with Kaspersky.

I wanted to let you all know that the problem is resolved.
Sequence to fix:
- I used CCleaner to perform an analysis and cleanup of my registry files, then rebooted my PC.
- I uninstalled OpenAL using Windows 10/Control Panel/Programs and Features, then rebooted my PC.
- I downloaded a fresh version of OpenAL, transferred the zip-file to my desktop, then used 7-Zip to extract the file. I then opened the new OpenAL.exe file as Administrator, and installed the fresh version. I then rebooted my PC.
- After the final reboot, I tested operation of OpenAL by launching one of my game mods which had previously failed with an OpenAL error message. This time the mod launched and the sound operated properly.

Due to all of the previous activities resulting in failures, and the final sequence resulting in success, I am convinced that the errors involved were somehow linked to the registry files. By cleaning the registry of errant and orphaned files, the rebooting between each distinct operation-which set the registry each time-the final result contained the properly set registry files.
This seems logical to me, although I recognize I could be completely wrong and not realize it. At any rate, all seems well at this point.
Thank you each for your effort in responding and offering your insights.
Dan

 

[hotaru.hino]

Hmmm . . . maybe I will give that a try. Not a big fan of Windows Defender as it is very much Windows-product-related AV

The thing is, Microsoft has a reason to make their AV software actually decent: it protects one of their main product lines. Meanwhile other 3rd party AV software vendors may do something that actually makes your computer less secure, like circumventing ASLR so it can peek at what apps are doing.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I wanted to let you all know that the problem is resolved.
Sequence to fix:
- I used CCleaner to perform an analysis and cleanup of my registry files, then rebooted my PC.
- I uninstalled OpenAL using Windows 10/Control Panel/Programs and Features, then rebooted my PC.
- I downloaded a fresh version of OpenAL, transferred the zip-file to my desktop, then used 7-Zip to extract the file. I then opened the new OpenAL.exe file as Administrator, and installed the fresh version. I then rebooted my PC.
- After the final reboot, I tested operation of OpenAL by launching one of my game mods which had previously failed with an OpenAL error message. This time the mod launched and the sound operated properly.

Due to all of the previous activities resulting in failures, and the final sequence resulting in success, I am convinced that the errors involved were somehow linked to the registry files. By cleaning the registry of errant and orphaned files, the rebooting between each distinct operation-which set the registry each time-the final result contained the properly set registry files.
This seems logical to me, although I recognize I could be completely wrong and not realize it. At any rate, all seems well at this point.
Thank you each for your effort in responding and offering your insights.
Dan

Congrats for getting it resolved. I myself had a slightly similar problem where some of the Razer software I installed for my new Basilisk V3 mouse was conflicting with my front right speaker being able to play audio correctly, even when just on TV input.

I probably shouldn't have installed the THX Spatial Audio app included in the Razer software suite, but I only did so because their Synapse 2 software could work with any headphones. The THX designation is typically for THX certified devices though, and my headphones aren't.

I still think it's odd that the Razer software suite in no way informs you it's only for THX certified devices, and when I uninstalled it using their software GUI, it left bits behind, which I found were causing the problem. So I had to use the uninstall tool I have, Revo Uninstaller, to manually remove ALL the Razer bits left behind, then reinstall Synapse 3 only, with no addons.

With problems like these, I can really see why many whom grew up on console gaming don't like, or at times even can't deal with, the complexities of running a Windows gaming PC. Their OS is like a double edged sword, it is compatible with a ton of software, but that also leaves it open to software developers making horrible install/uninstall tools, and potential conflicts with third party software.

 

[danherit]

Well, my OpenAL issue came back with a vengeance. After playing my STALKER mod one time, the next time I tried to launch I once again experienced the issue of seeing the error message stating that "OpenAL was unable to create content." Mod failed to launch. Several other STALKER mods using OpenAL also failed to launch.
I have tried uninstalling, deleting, rebooting, re-installing of the game mods, OpenAL, and running Anti-virus and Anti-malware, plus using CCleaner to clean my registry. I tried each of those items in various combinations and rebooting between operations.
None of it helped at all. I am totally at a loss now, and have no idea what to try next.
I have searched FAQ's and forums for OpenAL, for Windows 10, and some independents like here at Tom's. No site or response from others has had any lasting effect on my issue, or pointed me in any firm direction as to the cause or source of this issue.
The only thing that I have seen consistently is the failure.
I have used three different AV's and Malwarebytes to confirm my system and multiple drives have no known virus or known malware.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. My only other alternatives are to keep seeking or to begin nuking and repaving sequences.

 

[Frag Maniac]

At this point I have to think the mods are causing the problem. I stopped using mods some time ago due to performance and other problems with them. It wouldn't be the first time a game mod has been the culprit regarding system issues.

That said, have you tried an SFC scan after an image restore to see if any system or Open AL files were corrupted by that Kaspersky uninstall?

Using System File Checker in Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to run System File Checker in Windows to check if your computer has problems with files.

support.microsoft.com