Straight
from the blog post: "See that little thing labeled "B" over there on the left? It sure looks like a CD/DVD ROM drive audio connector on the D955XBK motherboard. It would make sense. You could tap into the integrated 8-channel audio subsystem. Guess what? It's OPTIONAL --and it's not on this board. Of all the frelling petty annoyances... Optional?!? What kind of a moron would make an optical drive's audio connect optional? (And even then, only include provisions for 1 of the buggers, if one happens to be installed!)"
I was, therefore, motivated to shut off the integrated audio and purchase a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. Not a platinum or a humzinger, just a plain old ZS. (Besides, even if "B" had been there, I do have two burners, both of which require audio connections. BTW: Intel never replied to my inquiry about why such a thing was the way it was.)
UPDATE: Geez, was I off the mark here.
Hmmmm.... The first business day after I mounted the front three pages of Project 840EE (which includes this one) I got an e-mail from my contact at Intel asking if I'd resolved the audio problem I was having. He said they eliminated the audio connectors because of the OD. "OD?" Hey, I don't know everything but I don't necessarily let on that I don't. What the heck is the "OD?" Well, five hours later after digging through the Internet and evening e-mailing Intel tech support (which I probably should have done in the first place) I think I have an answer.
There at the bottom of the e-mail from tech support, the very last item in the list, was this knowledge base topic:
On board CD-ROM Connector No Longer Required. In brief: The branded Intel® Desktop Boards listed below (which included the D955XBK) do not include an onboard ATAPI CD-ROM connector. These boards include a digital audio solution which does not require an additional cable connection between the CD-ROM drive and the onboard ATAPI CD-ROM connector. To enable digital audio, your CD-ROM/DVD drive must support digital audio and must be enabled for it. Check the properties of your CD-ROM/DVD drive in Device Manager (see example at left; click for larger image).
