Return of the VIA-SBLive Crackling Curse

AMD Duron 800, 256MB SDRAM, Asus A7VPro w/VIA chipset, Win2000 Pro, SBLive
(MP3+, though it's seen as a "value"), two IDE HDs (both on channel 0,
master/slave), Lite-On LTR-32125W CDRW (channel 1, cable select).

I have recently upgraded the NIC in the system from an old 3C509 Combo to a
new 3Com 3C590, so to get the obvious benefits of 100Mb/s, and a four-port
Firewire card (TI OHCI-compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller).

In the process of upgrading the NIC I encountered "shadow" devices'
installations left over from previous removals/uninstallations (View Hidden
Devices), which obfuscated the NIC's access to the net. These have been
uninstalled without trouble, at which point the NIC was fully functional.
Before I'd discovered the View Hidden Devices method, though, there was a
good amount of card switching slots-wise. End result has everything running
apparently fine - with the exception of crackling, which has returned to
this PC after four years.

Previous to the Lite-On CDRW the CDRW was a SCSI-based Yamaha 4416s - the
Adaptec SCSI card was a pain in the tail to configure AND keep it out of the
way of other devices, but I *did* get it to eventually behave. Mind you I
lived in fear and loathing of any hardware changes while the SCSI element
was present, and the speed of the new unit was also a joy. So I figured
with the SCSI card gone it'd be a breeze.

Not so. I've gotten ALL the Creative drivers/programs reinstalled and
updated, and still problems with the crackling. I find it's worse when disk
access is occurring, and even worse when it's a WAV and not an MP3 playing.
For instance I'll be playing an MP3 with no crackling, then start reading
the hard drive - and the pops begin. I've updated all the VIA programs, AND
set the latency to everything from 0 to 32, no change.

Suggestions beyond playing musical card slots? Thanks.


--
Stephen Goodman
* Cartoons about DVDs and Stuff
* http://www.earthlight.net/HiddenTrack