SOUND SYSTEM INITIALIZATION FAILED

[Buzzerker]

FIX IT NEOCORE GAMES You have had 4 years of this sound bug, fix it.

[chuckye]

Ever since the 2.5.2 patch I now have the same issue. Message is: 'Sound system initialization failed. Please run dxredist from the game library.' I've done all the tips out there I could find including 'run everything in the InstallUtil folder'. The game is now unplayable :(

[artorios]

I had the same thing with an old Xonar DX pcie sound card. Once I removed it and just used the RealTek sound on my mobo, I've had no sound problems with Inquisitor.

[Buzzerker]

I have an AORUS Z390 pro wifi mobo with Realtek onboard sound, never had any 'Sound System Initialization Failed' issues. It's a 3 year old system, closer to 4. But I keep a firm handle on every aspect of it. I know if my sound drivers or any other drivers are 'out of date'. I know if my drivers are 'spoiled', I check them regularly.

I haven't had this issue in the past with anything else I do with my rig, (I have with this game, this is not the first time), and I do not have it with any other games now. Been gaming for decades dude. I'm far from being a noob about anything. I build my own machines. You probably do too. Sounds like it anyway.

This recurring bug goes back to 2018 when the game came out and NEOCORE knows all about it. Here it is 2022 and it's rearing it's ugly head again after the February 1st patch. The last time I had this problem was after a patch. Don't remember exactly when, it was years ago. But I do remember because it's a rare thing and rare issues concern me, I fix them asap. I am all over it.

Neocore chooses to ignore it through every update and every patch. Uh, that would be going on 4 years brohim.

If the sound works for you, then you're just fortunate that the game is currently programmed for now, for your specific sound setup because in this area, the area of 'sound' the programming is finicky by omission.

I"m not saying it's on purpose because that would be stupid, but it would be nice if NEOCORE put a warning under requirements to any future customers going forward that their games, especially this one in particular, may require specific sound configurations and/or regular updates of the 'sound driver'.

That's what they suggest when the warning 'SOUND SYSTEM INITIALIZATION FAILED' pops up on your game before you can play it, you already know it failed because there's no damn sound.

The warning elaborates, it goes on further and suggests it's your problem and not theirs. Take my word for it, after 4 long years, it's theirs. It works for some, that's good enough for them. To hell with everyone else.

My sound drivers are up to date.

Anywho, I uninstalled the game, Lost Ark is up and running, I was just looking to kill some time and now I don't need to anymore so I could use the hard drive space.

Another suggestion Neocore 'offers', FIND AND RE-RUN THE DXREDIST file. This is apathy bro, that's all it is.

It's similar to a car dealership selling you a car, you take it into the shop because it isn't running right and they tell you to park it downhill so you can put it in neutral, let it roll for a while and then jump start it.

Why go to all this trouble explaining this issue? For future generations dude, for other gamers so they know. Like I said, it's been 4 freaking years.

IF you are reading this, it's probably not your problem, uninstall the game if you have sound for everything else. That's my advice. Just for the hell of it, check if your 'sound driver' needs updating, if you can update it, go ahead, why not, updated drivers are good, and then try it. Chances are it still won't work if the game has been recently updated or patched, Neocore ignores the sound bug, they have in the past they probably will in the future until people forget about this 4 year old game.

I mean it works for some, that's good enough isn't it?

On a side note, I googled this issue without specifying what game it was and this happens with other games. Apparently one game, someone went to the INI file in the game and changed the Sound Enabled=1 to a 0 and it worked.....lmao...I uninstalled the game so I would have to install it to find any INI files to see if it was similar and experiment. But maybe someone else can.

If that is the problem, one would think that Neocore.....could change that 1 to a 0 or tell us to do it....for real. Maybe programming the sound in their own games is just not their area of expertise. The game isn't half bad but when it comes to sound....lol....they need a private contractor apparently.

[chuckye]

I wanted to provide an update as I fix the sound issue. Again I was getting the message "Sound system initialization failed. Please run dxredist from the game library.'"

In Device Manager I disabled 'High Definition Audio Device' and now sound is working. Sound continues to work for everything else as well. The Manufacturer for this device is Microsoft.

I have a Asus Motherboard with Realtek Audio built in which is what I've been using all along. It seems patch 2.5.2 broke my sound. Maybe this work-around will help someone else.

[proba 1 2 3]

@Buzzerker please check what @chuckye tried out. Let me know if it helped!

[Taggart]

I'm not a Buzzerker, but I can confirm.
I use integrated sound on the ASUS Z97-K motherboard. After patch 2.5.2, I encountered the same error (Sound system initialization failed). The proposed solution (to leave only the Realtek high Definition Audio device with a Realtek driver and disable the second sound device with a Microsoft driver in the device manager) fixed the problem, the sound returned.
Thanks @chuckie for a temporary but working solution.

[ಠ_ಠ]

Originally posted by Buzzerker:

A whole freaking novel.

[xonare]

Originally posted by chuckye:

I wanted to provide an update as I fix the sound issue. Again I was getting the message "Sound system initialization failed. Please run dxredist from the game library.'"

In Device Manager I disabled 'High Definition Audio Device' and now sound is working. Sound continues to work for everything else as well. The Manufacturer for this device is Microsoft.

I have a Asus Motherboard with Realtek Audio built in which is what I've been using all along. It seems patch 2.5.2 broke my sound. Maybe this work-around will help someone else.

THIS!

I spent over 1 hour searching on how to get the sound to work in the game.