POS EMU0404USB POS DELL POS 64bit ATT RANT

analog_sa · 9th February 2012, 09:36 AM

Please note the following is completely unconstructive and a pure rant against both hardware and software makers. Do not read if you have anything remotely worthwhile to do

Some time ago i bought an EMUo4o4 USB mostly for measurements. It worked ok in XP and was nearly usable in 32bit 7. Having recently upgraded the laptop to a Dell XPS L502X i approached the issue of installing the EMU with a degree of trepidation. The Dell may not have been my wisest choice either as it only works with custom drivers for 64bit 7. No other OSs seem supported at all. Luckily, Creative have released a beta 64bit driver which seems to work on most systems. My Dell is not one of those. Neither the beta, nor the Vista 64 drivers like the Renesas USB3 port on the Dell. Both lock the OS to a hardware reset.

Of course i had to waste some more time and attempt a flash USB winXP boot. Don't know what i was thinking at the time... without Xp usb drivers. And virtual PC Xp mode.

In short, the EMU just cannot be made to work with this particular laptop, no matter what (or i am an idiot). The fact that Creative have released a Beta (!!!) driver for 64bit 7 by the end of 2010 and nothing since is also not so impressive. Can it be so hard to produce a working driver???

phofman · 9th February 2012, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog_sa

Can it be so hard to produce a working driver???

I think it is very hard to keep ahead of the windows moving target. Many many manufacturers struggle with it.

analog_sa · 9th February 2012, 10:15 AM

My last attempt will be Ubuntu. It seems both USB 3 drivers for Dell and working drivers for EMU are available. The EMU represents a tiny monetary value compared to the time i've already wasted. Just hate throwing things or admitting defeat. Hopefully there was a lesson somewhere in this, just not sure what.

Ouroboros · 9th February 2012, 10:26 AM

Sadly E-MU seem to have discontinued the 0404-USB. I also use one for amplifier and loudspeaker measurements, first using XP and now (with the beta drivers) on Win7 32-bit. The beta drivers work well for me on both my Sony Vaio laptops.

Creative are just as disgraceful as M-audio in terms of getting updated drivers out for their products. It can't do much for customer relations.

phofman · 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog_sa

My last attempt will be Ubuntu. It seems both USB 3 drivers for Dell and working drivers for EMU are available. The EMU represents a tiny monetary value compared to the time i've already wasted. Just hate throwing things or admitting defeat. Hopefully there was a lesson somewhere in this, just not sure what.

The lesson is simple - buying hardware for which documentation and thus fully working open source drivers exist. They may not be available for closed-source OSes (but often are too), but at least there is some option to go (open source OS). Unfortunately there are areas where this is not possible (e.g. graphical cards for which 100% complete open source drivers do not exist yet - AMD publicly documented GPUs vs. NVidia never releasing any specs but playing rather fair with its constantly updated closed-source drivers).

AFAIK, E-MU provided some documentation under NDA to one of linux alsa developers. Unfortunately the drivers are not complete. Perhaps the implemented features will suffice for your intended usage scenario.

analog_sa · 9th February 2012, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phofman

The lesson is simple

That's not simple at all. Simple would have been to keep my old laptop instead of giving it away as a present

phofman · 9th February 2012, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog_sa

That's not simple at all. Simple would have been to keep my old laptop instead of giving it away as a present

I did not say the solution is simple to do. But the lesson learnt is :-)

TheGimp · 10th February 2012, 01:06 PM

I've got an old laptop (don't remember the brand off hand) that is running 7. The E-MU404 seemed to load properly, but when I tried to access it from "AudioTester" it would crash.

At my son's suggestion, I unplugged the E0MU404, rebooted the system, started AudioTester, and then plugged in the E-MU404 to the USB port. AudioTester works fine now.

Strange.

nereis · 10th February 2012, 02:34 PM

Is there perhaps a firmware upgrade for 0404?
I has one included with the beta drivers for 0202 USB, which is suppose to fix certain compatibility issues.

Ouroboros · 10th February 2012, 02:47 PM

When I loaded the Win-7 beta driver package on the pc, I found that the first thing it did automatically when I plugged the 0404-USB in, was to perform a firmware update. I was surprised (and pleased) by this, especially as it still worked afterwards!

9th February 2012, 09:36 AM	#1
analog_sa diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sofia	POS EMU0404USB POS DELL POS 64bit ATT RANT Please note the following is completely unconstructive and a pure rant against both hardware and software makers. Do not read if you have anything remotely worthwhile to do Some time ago i bought an EMUo4o4 USB mostly for measurements. It worked ok in XP and was nearly usable in 32bit 7. Having recently upgraded the laptop to a Dell XPS L502X i approached the issue of installing the EMU with a degree of trepidation. The Dell may not have been my wisest choice either as it only works with custom drivers for 64bit 7. No other OSs seem supported at all. Luckily, Creative have released a beta 64bit driver which seems to work on most systems. My Dell is not one of those. Neither the beta, nor the Vista 64 drivers like the Renesas USB3 port on the Dell. Both lock the OS to a hardware reset. Of course i had to waste some more time and attempt a flash USB winXP boot. Don't know what i was thinking at the time... without Xp usb drivers. And virtual PC Xp mode. In short, the EMU just cannot be made to work with this particular laptop, no matter what (or i am an idiot). The fact that Creative have released a Beta (!!!) driver for 64bit 7 by the end of 2010 and nothing since is also not so impressive. Can it be so hard to produce a working driver???

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9th February 2012, 10:15 AM	#3
analog_sa diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sofia	My last attempt will be Ubuntu. It seems both USB 3 drivers for Dell and working drivers for EMU are available. The EMU represents a tiny monetary value compared to the time i've already wasted. Just hate throwing things or admitting defeat. Hopefully there was a lesson somewhere in this, just not sure what.

9th February 2012, 10:26 AM	#4
Ouroboros diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Nottingham UK	Sadly E-MU seem to have discontinued the 0404-USB. I also use one for amplifier and loudspeaker measurements, first using XP and now (with the beta drivers) on Win7 32-bit. The beta drivers work well for me on both my Sony Vaio laptops. Creative are just as disgraceful as M-audio in terms of getting updated drivers out for their products. It can't do much for customer relations.

10th February 2012, 01:06 PM	#8
TheGimp diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Johnson City, TN	I've got an old laptop (don't remember the brand off hand) that is running 7. The E-MU404 seemed to load properly, but when I tried to access it from "AudioTester" it would crash. At my son's suggestion, I unplugged the E0MU404, rebooted the system, started AudioTester, and then plugged in the E-MU404 to the USB port. AudioTester works fine now. Strange.

10th February 2012, 02:34 PM	#9
nereis diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2011	Is there perhaps a firmware upgrade for 0404? I has one included with the beta drivers for 0202 USB, which is suppose to fix certain compatibility issues.

10th February 2012, 02:47 PM	#10
Ouroboros diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Nottingham UK	When I loaded the Win-7 beta driver package on the pc, I found that the first thing it did automatically when I plugged the 0404-USB in, was to perform a firmware update. I was surprised (and pleased) by this, especially as it still worked afterwards!

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