Problem with 5.1 speakers (Vista)

[Ronvdl]

I can't get surround sound working in UT3, I always get stereo sound.

Yes i've enabled the hardware OpenAL checkbox, i've got the latest drivers for my sound card, installed the latest OpenAL, and set the speaker setup to 5.1 in Windows.

I got surround sound working in almost any other game, and for media playback etc, but not for every Unreal Engine based games except for one: Bioshock...:confused:

I noticed something weird in Bioshock, when I set the speaker setup in Bioshock to 5.1, I get stereo sound, but when I set the speaker setup to stereo, I get surround sound!

Unfortunately, every other Unreal Engine game does not have the option to change this setting to try the same thing out...
Does anyone know how to force the speaker setup in UT3 to stereo? Maybe it'll work in UT3 too.:D

Same thing happens in UT2004 and UT, so if anybody knows how to fix that too would be really appreciated:)

I'm using an AC'97 onboard sound card and Windows Vista.
Surround sound worked when I had XP, but no way I'm going back to XP.:p

[psychok9]

Same problem!
With others games the sound work perfectly in 5.1! But with UT3 i got only stereo sound! :mad:
Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1
Athlon 64 X2 2.7GHz
8800 GT
Windows Vista Ultimate updated
OpenAL installed (but don't work).

Please fix the problem with Sound software system of Vista!!!

[psychok9]

Please support the sound system of vista! :(
I can't buy a X-Fi for 1 game... :(

[Ronvdl]

This is really a bug of UT3, because EAX does work, and surround sound works in almost every other game, which means my sound card really supports it.

UT3 is just using the wrong speaker setup. Like I told before, in Bioshock, surround sound DID work when I set my speaker setup to stereo, so it should be an easy fix for Epic...

[psychok9]

I don't understand why Epic don't fix this "easy" problem and don't reply...
Vista is "the OS for games"...

[DR SE7EN]

i have 5.1 sound on UT3 with XP & vista x64

maybe your sound card is not fully supported by UT3

[Ronvdl]

Like I told you, my sound card and it's driver support EAX and surround sound. Almost every other game works, except the unreal engine games.

This is a bug in the unreal engine, because you can make it work by setting the speaker setup to stereo (like in bioshock). This really needs to be fixed!

And if epic doesn't fix it, does somebody know how to force UT3 to use the stereo speaker setup, or to trick UT3 to think you have stereo speakers?

[psychok9]

i have 5.1 sound on UT3 with XP & vista x64

maybe your sound card is not fully supported by UT3

LoL now, with software sound system... my card doesn't support UT3?!!? LOL...
On the contrary, the problem is UTIII. It supports only 5.1 sound on X-Fi (the only OpenAL creative compatible card) and don't support Vista Software sound system... I got 7.1 sound with other games (ex. Jericho, beautiful sound).

Epic, please fix the problem!!!

[Ronvdl]

UT3 supports surround sound because bioshock does too, same engine, but it just doesn't do it!
So i'm asking, is epic going to fix it or does sombody know how to set UT3 to stereo sound? (what made bioshock work correctly on my computer..)

[bobekk]

same issue here all games (i mean all games) play fine with 5.1 and my realtek hd audio...

[Ronvdl]

anybody? does anybody know how to force speaker setup to stereo?

[yabbering yeti]

from the readme: "The Unreal Tournament 3 does not support more than 2 channel audio on cards without OpenAL drivers: The game only outputs 5.1 if the “Hardware OpenAL” checkbox is ticked and the sound card has OpenAL drivers." - And of course, the sound processor has to be openAl capable.

Also, OpenAL is an entirely different thing to eax. As far as I know, Realtek onboard does not support OpenAl. I know for a fact that i cant get 5.1 on my realtek97 - but my Audigy 4 works great. Not so sure about RealtekHD, tho - may want to update drivers, i think it may support it.

Also, x-fi is not the only creative card compatable w/ OpenAL, most of the augidy line is too.

seeing vista does not support directsound, games must go with either OpenAL or software sound - some games may offer 5.1 surrourd via software processing (which is what your hearing in vista if your sound processor and/or game doesnt support OpenAL). Other games require hardware processing to get surround working, UT3 being one of them, which requires openAL.

you dont get OpenAL capabilities just from installing the software package on your system, your hardware HAS to support it too

[AnubanUT2]

I'm confused ... are you saying that you are not hearing sound out of all your speakers or what? I use Vista and hear sound from every direction. So what exactly do you mean?

[Ronvdl]

I'm confused ... are you saying that you are not hearing sound out of all your speakers or what? I use Vista and hear sound from every direction. So what exactly do you mean?

i'm hearing stereo sound but i have 5.1 speakers. in bioshock surround sound worked when i set the speaker setup to stereo (yeah very weird), but i want to try that out in UT3 because it's the same engine, and i'm sure epic won't do anything about it so i'm asking if somebody knows how to force the speaker setup to stereo in UT3....

[Stringer]

This is really a bug of UT3, because EAX does work, and surround sound works in almost every other game, which means my sound card really supports it.

UT3 is just using the wrong speaker setup. Like I told before, in Bioshock, surround sound DID work when I set my speaker setup to stereo, so it should be an easy fix for Epic...


Just want to point out that EAX (Enviromental Audio eXtensions) is a Creative Labs technology and not Epic's. AC'97 audio codec's emulate this at a software level but by and large it is the games interaction with those audio codecs that causes the problems. I run a creative audigy and EAX is NOT supported under vista and never will be as creative are about the worse company to produce driver updates so yes you are stuck buying an X-Fi to get it but u need an additional bit of software called Alchemy to enable the EAX in Vista. Again i think it is outrageous of Creative to do this http://buy.soundblaster.com/_creativelabsstore/cgi-bin/pd.cgi?frompage=category&page=product_detail&fromcategory=Software&category=Software&pid=F2222X767VHL73GYR38

you have to BUY Alchemy to get your EAX back in Vista......

In short, buggy audio engine in UT3 as it is still not able to handle storyline audio while loading levels as has been posted elsewhere is this forum (see Unreal Tournament III audio stuttering) Personally i would liek to see a stable, uncrashing and good fps build of UT3 before worrying about whether or not 3 of my speakers work...

O yes and Bioshock IS the same engine but not necessarily the same implementation which may explain why it works in Bioshock and not UT3.

[Ronvdl]

hmmm okay, but still.. surround sound worked in bioshock when i set the speaker setup to stereo, so does anybody know how to do this in UT3 (IF they use the same audio engine..:rolleyes:)

[Stringer]

hmmm okay, but still.. surround sound worked in bioshock when i set the speaker setup to stereo, so does anybody know how to do this in UT3 (IF they use the same audio engine..:rolleyes:)

not as simple as that, by implementation i mean by how the audio code and engine is invoked in the game. I'm a programmer and different people use API's in different ways and may not implement all of the features available. Or if the methods in that API are labled as virtual or abstract as can be done in the .NET framework when you declare methods in your class ie i could declare a method called person like this.

public class Employee
public virtual void Person(firstName,lastName)
{
this.firstName = firstName;
this.lastName = lastName;
}

end class

public abstract class Employee

public abstract void Person();

end class

In this case a virtual method can be can be optionally overridden because it implements some functionality. The abstract MUST be overridden by any class that inherits from the employee class because it has no implementation declared. When a developer uses anothers API they are inheriting from the API and adding there own code to extend that API but don't need to use ALL of the API's methods and classes.

Without going into a real example of what I mean becuase there's alot more to it than that, its difficult to explain if you are not familiar with .NET but do you understand what I'm saying when I talk about implementation.

[Ronvdl]

:eek:
haha i didn't really need to know that..:D

i was hoping for an ini hack or a way to trick UT3 to think i only have stereo speakers, just to try it out...:rolleyes:
but if it's too difficult to do that, then never mind..

[Stringer]

aye was long winded but couldn;t think of a way to explain wut i was on about :D

[CVROY]

Same issue here with vista, Epic, fix in 1.3 please. I get full 5.1 sound in every game but UT3.

[mexruler487]

i have the same problem, running vista and onboard audio with a yamaha 5.1 surround sond system, i played COD4 with optical and i coldnt ge the recieve to detect dolby digital and would only output stereo, i swtiched to Multi channel from the onboard audio and i fixed the problem for COD4, but the multi channel wont work for UT3, i get sond out of all speakers but not surrond. The sound with optical works flawlessly on th ps3 wit ut3 and COD4 so i dont tink its my reveiver, plus my realtek audio dvice manager says digital out (rca) so its like it doent even have the opticl optian, ive seen pictures on google of the same program but with a an optical out pictuer on t

[RLHacker]

I have a realtek onboard sound card and the audio in UT3 doesn't work...sorta.
It works on the cutscenes in campaign, but not on the menus or in game.
Is there any way to make the sound work with a realtek onboard sound card?

[VoodooMaster]

I have a realtek onboard sound card and the audio in UT3 doesn't work...sorta.
It works on the cutscenes in campaign, but not on the menus or in game.
Is there any way to make the sound work with a realtek onboard sound card?

Make sure you have the latest drivers for the sound card and that you are runing a stereo setup, don't use 5.1 or quad sound settings also don't enable OpenAL in the audio settings in-game.

[RLHacker]

Make sure you have the latest drivers for the sound card and that you are runing a stereo setup, don't use 5.1 or quad sound settings also don't enable OpenAL in the audio settings in-game.

I dont think i am using 5.1 sound settings.
The "Hardware OpenAL" box is checked in game, but it makes no difference, i tried using it unchecked and checked.
The latest drivers are installed because i had to install them because the game didnt even start up without them.
How would i check if i am using 5.1 settings?

[Jakey2.0]

What does the Launch log (found in My Documents\My Games\Unreal Tournament 3\UTGame\Logs) say? There's a section related to initializing the OpenAL sound device. It looks something like this on mine:



Init: ALAudio device opened : SB X-Fi Audio [9000]
Init: AL_VENDOR : Creative Labs Inc.
Init: AL_RENDERER : SB X-Fi Audio [9000]
Init: AL_VERSION : OpenAL version 1.1
Init: AL_EXTENSIONS : EAX
EAX1.0
EAX2.0
EAX3.0
EAX4.0
EAX5.0

Init: Device supports: EAX4.0
Init: Device supports: EAX-RAM
Init: Device supports: ALC_EXT_EFX
Init: Found EFX extension with 4 effect slots and 4 potential sends
Init: ...'reverb' supported
Init: ...'equalizer' supported
Init: ...'low pass filter' supported
Init: ALAudioDevice initialized.


If it says "Generic Software" in the entry titled "Init: ALAudio device opened" then OpenAL hasn't found a suitable native driver for your sound card, and only stereo sound will be available.

[RLHacker]

There is no Init: ALAudio device opened.
heres all the "Init:"s


Log: Log file open, 09/22/08 16:16:05
Init: Version: 3601
Init: Epic Internal: 0
Init: Compiled: Jul 31 2008 05:21:52
Init: Command line:
Init: Base directory: C:\Program Files\Unreal Tournament 3\Binaries\
Init: Character set: Unicode
Log: GConfig::LoadFile has loaded file: ..\UTGame\Config\UTEditor.ini
Log: GConfig::LoadFile has loaded file: ..\UTGame\Config\UTEditorUserSettings.ini
Log: GConfig::LoadFile has loaded file: ..\UTGame\Config\UTCompat.ini
Log: GConfig::LoadFile has loaded file: ..\UTGame\Config\UTEngine.ini
Log: GConfig::LoadFile has loaded file: ..\UTGame\Config\UTGame.ini
Log: GConfig::LoadFile has loaded file: ..\UTGame\Config\UTInput.ini
Log: GConfig::LoadFile has loaded file: ..\UTGame\Config\UTUI.ini
Log: Deleting old log file Launch-backup-2008.09.22-16.16.05.log
Init: Computer: GEOFFGAME
Init: User: RLHacker
Init: CPU Page size=4096, Processors=2
Init: High frequency timer resolution =3.579545 MHz
Init: Memory total: Phys=2095952K Pagef=4194303K Virt=2097024K
Init: WinSock: version 1.1 (2.2), MaxSocks=32767, MaxUdp=65467
Init: Presizing for 83221 objects not considered by GC, pre-allocating 0 bytes.
Init: Object subsystem initialized
Init: WinSock: I am GEOFFGAME (192.168.2.56:0)
Init: Startup System Settings:
Init: System Settings:
Init: StaticDecals=false
Init: DynamicDecals=false
Init: DynamicLights=false
Init: DynamicShadows=false
Init: LightEnvironmentShadows=false
Init: CompositeDynamicLights=true
Init: DirectionalLightmaps=false
Init: MotionBlur=false
Init: DepthOfField=false
Init: Bloom=false
Init: QualityBloom=false
Init: Distortion=false
Init: DropParticleDistortion=true
Init: SpeedTreeLeaves=false
Init: SpeedTreeFronds=false
Init: OnlyStreamInTextures=false
Init: LensFlares=false
Init: FogVolumes=true
Init: FloatingPointRenderTargets=true
Init: Trilinear=false
Init: OneFrameThreadLag=true
Init: UseVsync=false
Init: UpscaleScreenPercentage=true
Init: Fullscreen=true
Init: AllowD3D10=true
Init: EnableHighPolyChars=false
Init: SkeletalMeshLODBias=1
Init: ParticleLODBias=2147483647
Init: DetailMode=0
Init: ShadowFilterQualityBias=-1
Init: MaxAnisotropy=0
Init: MaxMultisamples=1
Init: MinShadowResolution=32
Init: MaxShadowResolution=512
Init: ResX=800
Init: ResY=600
Init: ScreenPercentage=100.000
Init: SceneCaptureStreamingMultiplier=1.000
Init: FoliageDrawRadiusMultiplier=0.000
Init: ShadowTexelsPerPixel=2.000
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_World: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_WorldSpecular: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_Character: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterSpecular: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponSpecular: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleSpecular: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_Effects: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 256,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 512,LODBias=2)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_UI: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap: (MinLODSize= 256,MaxLODSize= 512,LODBias=1)
Log: TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget: (MinLODSize= 1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
Init: Friendly System Settings:
Init: TextureDetail=Level1
Init: WorldDetail=Level1
Init: bUseVSync=0
Init: bUseMSAA=0
Init: ScreenPercentage=100
Init: UpscaleScreenPercentage=1
Init: ResX= 800
Init: ResY= 600
Init: Fullscreen=1
Init: AllowMotionBlur=0
Init: OS stats:
Init: Windows Vista Service Pack 1
Init: RemoteDesktop=0
Init: Memory stats:
Init: Physical: 2046MB
Init: Virtual: 2047MB
Init: PageFile: 4095MB
Init: CPU stats:
Init: MeasuredPerformanceTime: 482.165 (stored result)
Init: Hyperthreaded: 1
Init: NumProcessorsPerCPU: 1
Init: NumLogicalProcessors: 2
Init: NumPhysicalProcessors: 2
Init: MaxSpeed: 3000
Init: CurrentSpeed: 3000
Init: CoresPerProcessor: 2
Init: IsOnBattery: 0
Init: BatteryLevel: -1
Init: Manufacturer: AMD
Init: CPUName: AMD Sempron
Init: L1CacheSize: 64
Init: L2CacheSize: 1024
Init: Architecture: x64
Init: GPU stats:
Init: VendorID: 00001002
Init: DeviceID: 00007183
Init: DriverVersion: 7.14.10.612
Init: DeviceName: Diamond Radeon X1550
Init: DriverName: atiumdag.dll
Init: PixelShaderVersion: 3
Init: VertexShaderVersion: 3
Init: VRAMQuantity: 256
Init: DedicatedVRAM: 255
Init: AdapterCount: 1
Init: SupportsHardwareTnL: 1
Init: GPU DeviceID found in ini: (2) Radeon X1300/X1550 Series
Init: Machine detected compatibility level: Composite: 2. CPU: 4. GPU: 2.
Init: Previous detected compatibility level: Composite: 2. CPU: 4. GPU: 2.


The rest is all "Log:" and other things.

Tried to find (ctrl-f) OpenAL and couldnt find anything
same with ALAudio

[Jakey2.0]

There is no Init: ALAudio device opened.

The rest is all "Log:" and other things.

Tried to find (ctrl-f) OpenAL and couldnt find anything
same with ALAudio

That's a little odd, but it goes some way towards explaining the lack of sound in game and menu - the game isn't even trying to open the ALAudio subsystem. I'm at a loss, I'm afraid. :(

[Jakey2.0]

i have the same problem, running vista and onboard audio with a yamaha 5.1 surround sond system, i played COD4 with optical and i coldnt ge the recieve to detect dolby digital and would only output stereo, i swtiched to Multi channel from the onboard audio and i fixed the problem for COD4, but the multi channel wont work for UT3, i get sond out of all speakers but not surrond. The sound with optical works flawlessly on th ps3 wit ut3 and COD4 so i dont tink its my reveiver, plus my realtek audio dvice manager says digital out (rca) so its like it doent even have the opticl optian, ive seen pictures on google of the same program but with a an optical out pictuer on t

Realtek audio drivers don't include native support for OpenAL, I'm afraid. In Vista, this means you'll always be stuck with OpenAL's "Generic Software" device, which equates to boring old stereo sound.

In XP, surround sound through OpenAL works with Realtek devices because OpenAL includes a fallback device called "Generic Hardware". This converts OpenAL calls into DirectSound calls. This doesn't happen in Vista, though, as Microsoft removed support for hardware DirectSound.

Other games work with 5.1 support in Vista as they use different sound APIs. For example, COD4 uses the Miles sound system which supports surround through Vista, and BioShock uses FMOD despite being based on Unreal Engine.

There's no way for Epic to fix this, short of ditching OpenAL altogether. If anything, Realtek need to be nagged to include native support for OpenAL in their drivers, but don't hold your breath! :(

[Ronvdl]

good news (i hope)
i already forgot about this thread, but realtek released something called "3D SoundBack":


Realtek 3D SoundBack restores audio effects, including surround sound, reverberation, and spatial effects, for legacy game titles when running on Windows Vista

you can download it from the realtek HD audio page
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

i installed it while i actually have an AC'97 card, but i don't have my 5.1 set atm, so could anyone try this out?

don't hear any difference on my headphones though

[Jakey2.0]

good news (i hope)
i already forgot about this thread, but realtek released something called "3D SoundBack".

SoundBack doesn't work as such (it caused the game to lockup for me), but it did include something that does seem to work: What looks to be Realtek's native OpenAL library (or at least a prototype!).

Anyway, I've extracted this library on its own (a file named rtk_oal.dll - approx. 3MB in size) and placed it on RapidShare. Download it by clicking here (http://rapidshare.com/files/147765581/rtk_oal.dll.html).

Copy it to the Program Files/Unreal Tournament 3/Binaries folder (substitute Program Files for wherever you've installed the game).

Run the game, ensuring that you've selected Hardware OpenAL in the Audio Settings - you'll probably have to restart the game for this setting to take effect. It certainly looks positive going by my laptop's launch.log:


Init: ALAudio device requested :
Init: ALAudio device opened : Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Init: AL_VENDOR : Realtek Semiconductor
Init: AL_RENDERER : Software
Init: AL_VERSION : 1.1
Init: AL_EXTENSIONS : EAX EAX2.0 EAX3.0 EAX4.0 EAX3.0EMULATED EAX4.0EMULATED

I've not been able to check whether this definitely implements surround, though, as my laptop doesn't support it, but the audio did seem to be improved (clarity seemed better). Anyway, feel free to try it out - at your own risk, of course :D.

Why Realtek don't include their OpenAL library in their drivers is a bit of a mystery, but perhaps they're planning to soon... ;)

[RLHacker]

Realtek audio drivers don't include native support for OpenAL, I'm afraid. In Vista, this means you'll always be stuck with OpenAL's "Generic Software" device, which equates to boring old stereo sound.

In XP, surround sound through OpenAL works with Realtek devices because OpenAL includes a fallback device called "Generic Hardware". This converts OpenAL calls into DirectSound calls. This doesn't happen in Vista, though, as Microsoft removed support for hardware DirectSound.

Other games work with 5.1 support in Vista as they use different sound APIs. For example, COD4 uses the Miles sound system which supports surround through Vista, and BioShock uses FMOD despite being based on Unreal Engine.

There's no way for Epic to fix this, short of ditching OpenAL altogether. If anything, Realtek need to be nagged to include native support for OpenAL in their drivers, but don't hold your breath! :(

But see that is the problem.
I AM using stereo sound, and i still have no sound.
And like i said, the cutscenes in campaign mode work, and so do the front ads (Epic, Midway, Nvidia, Intel), but the menu sounds doesnt work and neither does the in-game sound.

[Jakey2.0]

But see that is the problem.
I AM using stereo sound, and i still have no sound.
And like i said, the cutscenes in campaign mode work, and so do the front ads (Epic, Midway, Nvidia, Intel), but the menu sounds doesnt work and neither does the in-game sound.

Your problem is obviously different to everyone elses on this thread, as you're not getting any sound except for the ads and cutscenes and they don't use the game's sound engine (they are just Bink (http://www.radgametools.com/bnkmain.htm) video files).

So, there has to be some kind of issue with your Realtek driver talking to UT3 on your PC. Certainly, the launch.log you checked seems to support that as the game isn't even trying to initialize the OpenAL sound system which is very unusual. It also means that I don't really have any other ideas as to what the problem might be - I was hoping there would at least be a mention of OpenAL in that log that may have given a clue as to what the problem might be.

Do other OpenAL games work? Games such as Gears of War, Mass Effect, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., GRID, UT2004 or Trackmania Nations Forever use OpenAL. I'd be interested to know if they work OK.

Also, could you try the rtk_oal.dll thing that I mentioned a couple of posts up (http://forums.epicgames.com/showpost.php?p=25535037&postcount=30)?

I'm sorry I can't be much more help beyond that - I'm afraid it's all guesswork for me as I haven't encountered this issue before. :(

[Ronvdl]

nope, not working, i even replaced the wrap_oal.dll with the dll you gave me, still got plain stereo sound, replaced openal32.dll, no sound at all..:(
maybe this just only works on the HD audio cards, cause it is on the HD audio download page:rolleyes:

my launch.log:


Init: ALAudio device requested :
Init: ALAudio device opened : Generic Software
Init: AL_VENDOR : Creative Labs Inc.
Init: AL_RENDERER : Software
Init: AL_VERSION : 1.1
Init: AL_EXTENSIONS : EAX EAX2.0 EAX3.0 EAX4.0 EAX5.0 EAX3.0EMULATED EAX4.0EMULATED AL_EXT_OFFSET AL_EXT_LINEAR_DISTANCE AL_EXT_EXPONENT_DISTANCE
Init: Device supports: ALC_EXT_EFX
Init: Found EFX extension with 1 effect slots and 1 potential sends
Init: ...'reverb' supported
Init: ...'low pass filter' supported
Init: ALAudioDevice initialized.

3D soundback is still beta so i'll just wait and hope they also fix it for the AC'97 cards...

[RLHacker]

Your problem is obviously different to everyone elses on this thread, as you're not getting any sound except for the ads and cutscenes and they don't use the game's sound engine (they are just Bink (http://www.radgametools.com/bnkmain.htm) video files).

So, there has to be some kind of issue with your Realtek driver talking to UT3 on your PC. Certainly, the launch.log you checked seems to support that as the game isn't even trying to initialize the OpenAL sound system which is very unusual. It also means that I don't really have any other ideas as to what the problem might be - I was hoping there would at least be a mention of OpenAL in that log that may have given a clue as to what the problem might be.

Do other OpenAL games work? Games such as Gears of War, Mass Effect, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., GRID, UT2004 or Trackmania Nations Forever use OpenAL. I'd be interested to know if they work OK.

Also, could you try the rtk_oal.dll thing that I mentioned a couple of posts up (http://forums.epicgames.com/showpost.php?p=25535037&postcount=30)?

I'm sorry I can't be much more help beyond that - I'm afraid it's all guesswork for me as I haven't encountered this issue before. :(

Yeah i tried the .dll file you posted, same thing. checked hardware openAL, still no sound. I played gears of war fine on this same computer with sound.

[Jakey2.0]

nope, not working, i even replaced the wrap_oal.dll with the dll you gave me, still got plain stereo sound, replaced openal32.dll, no sound at all..:(
maybe this just only works on the HD audio cards, cause it is on the HD audio download page:rolleyes:

my launch.log:


3D soundback is still beta so i'll just wait and hope they also fix it for the AC'97 cards...

Oh well, worth a try... ;)

[Jakey2.0]

Yeah i tried the .dll file you posted, same thing. checked hardware openAL, still no sound. I played gears of war fine on this same computer with sound.

That is strange - Gears of War uses the exact same sound engine.

[lordz]

I have such error with 5.1 and my realtek hd audio on Win Vista 64
but this worked at Win XP
EPIC Games FIX THIS!

[dominoes]

I'm posting to say I have the same problem, but in Red Orchestra, a Unreal2 engine game.

Vista 32-bit, Envy24 sound card.

I get 5.1 sound in all games but RO, which only outputs stereo. I've tried unchecking and checking system OpenAL driver, Hardware3D+EAX, Hardware and software 3D, but it still doesn't work.

Blaming hardware is stupid; every game works properly except for Unreal engine games. Can we can a reply by Epic confirming the bug? It sounds like it's been around for years.

[TylerD0815]

when anyone have problems with creative audigy 2 and 5.1 sound in UT3.
try to set full dynamic range in creative audio console -> decoder settings.
it works perfectly with my vista 32-bit and hw openal in UT3.

mfg
TylerD

[leox001]

Realtek audio drivers don't include native support for OpenAL, I'm afraid. In Vista, this means you'll always be stuck with OpenAL's "Generic Software" device, which equates to boring old stereo sound.

In XP, surround sound through OpenAL works with Realtek devices because OpenAL includes a fallback device called "Generic Hardware". This converts OpenAL calls into DirectSound calls. This doesn't happen in Vista, though, as Microsoft removed support for hardware DirectSound.

Other games work with 5.1 support in Vista as they use different sound APIs. For example, COD4 uses the Miles sound system which supports surround through Vista, and BioShock uses FMOD despite being based on Unreal Engine.

There's no way for Epic to fix this, short of ditching OpenAL altogether. If anything, Realtek need to be nagged to include native support for OpenAL in their drivers, but don't hold your breath! :(
After messing around with many ".ini" files I got to understand why this is not working under Vista, and I just have to say that I'm dissapointed.