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 Home > Views & Reviews > Hercules pathetic Technical Support |
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The Hercules Game Theater XP (GTXP) looks an interesting soundcard. It's one of the new breed of
cards that has an external 'break-out box' that sits on the desk, offering a multitude of
connectors. I bought one not only for these many audio connectors, but also because I was on the
lookout for a small, cheap USB hub for my home machine - which the GTXP includes.
I replaced my ageing Soundblaster Live! Value with the GTXP. It claimed to include EAX support, so I would only gain features. When I first got the card, it installed first time with no problems, however, I soon put back the SB!Live because I used the Creative Mixer a lot to tweak the Environmental Audio features (Reverb, Chorus, Distortion, etc.) when I had my guitar connected and also in MIDI. The GTXP doesn't include any equivalent mixer applet. After my latest machine rebuild - new motherboard, processor, etc. - I used the guts of the previous machine to build a computer for my son. "No problem", I thought, "I'll use the GTXP as the soundcard in that machine". One clean install of Windows 98 SE later, I popped the card in and rebooted. Windows detected it, I fed it the drivers and booted once again. This is where the problems started... When Windows booted, it would bring up a GPF as the Desktop appeared. When I Ok'd that and a subsequent message, I'd get running, but no sound. If I loaded the GTXP mixer applet, that didn't complain, however, if I selected the MIDI tab, it would GPF once again and unload. I decided to contact Hercules Technical Support... Here's what I wrote:
I'm installing the GTXP on a near-clean Win98 SE installation, meaning I have literally just finished installing Windows from scratch; very little software is installed apart from the latest Windows Update fixes (IE6, DX8.1, WiMP 7.1, etc.). I have downloaded the latest GTXP drivers. The machine's spec. is: - Home-built - Abit BE6-II MoBo (w/ latest BIOS) - PIII-700 - 192Mb PC100 - Quantum DMA66 on HPT366 controller - GeForce 256 On first boot, the machine detects the new card and reboots. At this point, the machine seems to hang. If I open C-A-D, I can see two processes; Explorer and Rundll32. If I kill the Rundll process, it will continue booting to the desktop. However, I then get a "white error" window, showing an error in Msgsrv32. I if I hit the Ignore button, I get another "Illegal Operation" message in Msgsrv32. If I expand the Details, the message is "MSGSRV32 caused a general protection fault in module CWCMMSYS.DRV...". I close this message and Windows desktop is visible. If I load the mixer applet form the tray, it appears fine. However, when I select the MIDI tab, I get another illegal operation, this time: "RUNDLL32 caused... in HERCPLGS.CPL" and the mixer closes. In Device Manager, the GTXP is shown with a yellow exclamation. Any thoughts? Now, I personally think that's a pretty clear description of the problem, covering all the facts and hopefully not leaving much detail out. Here's the reply:
If you have any further questions, please feel free to email us. Regards, Felix Serrata Hmmm, not impressed...
You can't have looked very hard. I found the page for this motherboard in about 15 seconds. To save you time, here's a link: [deleted] The BE6-II does not have any on-board sound module. I will *not* re-install Windows, because you can see below that I had only just installed it anyway. I think this is a very poor excuse - to ask me to re-install - especially as I already stated that that's where I'm at anyway. Did you actually read my original message? So, where else shall I look? FYI, I removed the GTXP and put in a very old ISA card and it worked first time. However, this card is pretty poor and I would prefer to get the advanced features of the GTXP working with your help. Jon Ok, so some minor hostility on my part at this point... A couple of weeks go by and another reply finally arrives. I've cut this short; it was basically a MSKB article pasted into the message. I've included the URL instead of the full text.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to email us. Regards, Felix Serrata The article above covers a known error message with C-Media CMI8330 chipsets. The GTXP doesn't have this chipset - not just a different model, but not even made by the same company. Rage sets in...
Once again, you've displayed a total lack of interest in solving this problem. Therefore, I think I wish to escalate this to someone in a higher position within your Support organisation. Please let me know who that is; their name, e-mail address and phone number. Your support 'efforts' have been an utter joke so far... For example, the article below refers to a different chip manufacturer. You have obviously not bothered to even read the article you have forwarded. It's pathetic! Oh, and if you could escalate this in under two weeks, I'd appreciate it. Jon Almost instantly, a reply comes back. Evidently, this is a common request that Felix sees from the customers he's 'supporting'. In the heady excitement he feels in finally getting me off his back, he disregards all knowledge of the English language and replies:
If you like to be help by my supervisor please replay this e-mail with att. to David. If you have any further questions, please feel free to email us. Regards, Felix Serrata So, I replied and indicated that the message was for the attention of David. As yet (early Jan-2002) I've not heard anything...
Hopefully, the replacement will have a decent card that does what it claims to be able to do... The moral of the story is clear: Don't buy Hercules products because they perform very, vary badly and they can't provide the support to rectify any problems you find. |
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