OK thanks a lot. I've dug up 2 external synths to test - one GM, the other being an MT-32. But I've run in to a strange problem with this Epox mobo. If I boot in to DOS 6, I can't get SB Pro sound effects to work. Doom does not complain about any missing SB Pro card, but I just hear silence when I test the sound effects. I then ran Via's DOS SB Pro driver (called VIAUDIO.COM), but it didn't solve this problem - I still hear silence.

However, if I boot in to Windows 98, and then shut down the PC in to MS-DOS mode, I can get SB Pro sound effects to work. I then checked the PC's memory by running mem /c /p at the DOS prompt, and the VIAUDIO.COM driver was not present! I am really confused. Anyone know how this mobo handles its onboard SB Pro sound effects in DOS please? Thanks a lot!

retro games 100 wrote:

However, if I boot in to Windows 98, and then shut down the PC in to MS-DOS mode, I can get SB Pro sound effects to work.

My windows / MS-DOS mode knowledge is a bit rusty.

There is a batch file that gets run when you go into MS-DOS mode. Dosstart maybe?

Have a look and see if any special audio drivers get loaded.

It's likely a simple driver issue...

I did think of that, but the thing is that when I am in DOS "restart from Windows" mode, and I do mem /c /p at the DOS prompt, I see no VIA audio driver loaded in to memory. And that makes me think that nothing is being run when the machine is being shut down from W98 in to DOS. I think it could be a hardware resource issue. Perhaps something to do with how the mobo is assigning DMA?

It might just init the card and not stay in the memory.

Can you turn on the machine and go straight into MS-DOS mode? Like through holding down a F key or something like that?

It might work like that, but I have tried running this Via sound driver at the DOS prompt, and when I do, it then appears inside the mem /c /p memory listing. I have also tried running this driver with the /? switch, to see if there are any options for it, but there don't appear to be any.

When the PC is booting up, if I press the F8 key, which allows you to bypass everything including Windows, and then I get to the DOS prompt, the SB Pro sound effects do not work. If I then run this Via sound driver at the DOS prompt, the SB Pro sound effects still do not work. This is one reason why I am confused about how all of this is working / not working.

Edit: BTW, which Gateway game does not work with an "unintelligent" MPU? Is it Gateway 1 or 2? Thanks.

Hmm...

It seems that the windows driver might do some init that the DOS driver needs to work fully...

EDIT: I have tested Gateway 1. You should get an error "Unable to detect MT-32 on IRQ 2" or something like that...

To force MT-32 mode launch the game with GATEWAY MT32

You must be right. Inside Windows 98 Control Panel -> System, I disabled all of the Via sound resource devices. I then shut the machine down in to DOS mode. Now, the SB Pro sound effects no longer work. That solves that mystery, but I wonder what the Via DOS sound driver (called viaudio.com) is for? I got it from DriverGuide. Maybe it's for some other crappy piece of Via based hardware, and not intended specifically for the Epox 8KTA3Pro mobo?

Next up, I'll test Gateway 1 with the mobo's MIDI gameport. I've already got an MT-32 box + Doom working inside "pure DOS 7". Not "pure DOS 6" 😉 I set the game's music to General Midi, and the music seems to sound OK. On the back of the MT-32, there are 2 audio output sockets. I plugged in a pair of headphones in to the socket marked L mono. L must be left, and mono is OK to test, but why does it sound so quiet? Are those 2 sockets intended for amplification - that is, I need to attach leads from these 2 output sockets on the back of the MT-32, and then feed these leads in to the back of an amplifier? Thanks a lot.

I just tested the game "Gateway" using the DOS command prompt of: gate.exe mt32, and you're right, it pops up with a message saying that it can't access the MT32 on IRQ channel 2.

retro games 100 wrote:

L must be left, and mono is OK to test, but why does it sound so quiet? Are those 2 sockets intended for amplification - that is, I need to attach leads from these 2 output sockets on the back of the MT-32, and then feed these leads in to the back of an amplifier? Thanks a lot.

Yup they need to go into an amplifier.

A cheap / easy option is to get an RCA > headphone lead and plug the MT-32 into the line-in of whatever soundcard you have in your PC.

You will also need to get adapters for the two jacks in the back. They sell on ebay and go from the MONO phone jack to RCA.

The MT-32 (new) and all later units come with an amplified headphone port out of the box.