Isn't this something you only need for PCI sound cards? The AWE64 Gold is an ISA card and that's all you need 😀

IF your board has ISA slots then just use ISA cards. The whole NMI only matters for boards that have no ISA slots.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Isn't this something you only need for PCI sound cards? The AWE64 Gold is an ISA card and that's all you need 😀

IF your board has ISA slots then just use ISA cards. The whole NMI only matters for boards that have no ISA slots.

The AWE64FAQ mentions NMI required for General MIDI emulation using AWEUTIL. I know for a fact it's not working, it hard locks my computer anytime I try to use General MIDI in games.

It does it on every retro PC I have, [one is a Slot-1 Pentium III based Gateway Performance 550 with an Intel Tabor 3 motherboard and the other is an self-built PC with an AOpen AP53 Pentium 1 / Pentium MM motherboard] and a google search reveals this is a lack-of NMI support on certain motherboards. Neither motherboard has memory parity checking settings in the BIOS.

Further testings shows the hardlocks happen in pure MS-DOS, and FreeDOS v1.1 as well. So i'm coming to the conclusion it's lack of NMI support.

This is from the AWE64 FAQ...

110.  My PC system does not have a working NMI. What can I do to
2  use AWEUTIL?
3  
4        One  of  the most common causes of a system not having  a
5  working  NMI  is that the system’s memory parity  checking  has
6  been  turned  off.  You can check your system’s  memory  parity
7  checking  status  by  activating  your  system’s  BIOS   setup.
8  Consult  your system’s user manual on how to activate BIOS/CMOS
9  setup and memory parity checking.
10  
11        If your system does not have a working NMI or you have  a
12  DOS protected mode game, then you can only play games using  FM
13  music.

Interesting...

To be honest I wouldn't wory too much about it. The AWE64's GM support isn't that great IMO you are better off saving the time / hassle / money and just buy a external Roland Sound Canvas!

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Interesting...

To be honest I wouldn't wory too much about it. The AWE64's GM support isn't that great IMO you are better off saving the time / hassle / money and just buy a external Roland Sound Canvas!

🤣, I don't have that kind of money just laying around, btw, I love your soundcard videos on YouTube! 😁

Anyways, anyone, anyone at all know which motherboards, or know if the ASUS P3B-F supports NMI?

Are you playing these games in Windows or in DOS mode? MPU-401 emulation will not work for protected mode games in DOS mode (on an AWE), only Windows. I've tried and in most cases, it just hangs the computer.

I have a SB Live! working (General MIDI and all) in DOS mode on an Intel SE440BX (I know that's not technically a Pentium III motherboard but still...)

AdamP wrote:

Are you playing these games in Windows or in DOS mode? MPU-401 emulation will not work for protected mode games in DOS mode (on an AWE), only Windows. I've tried and in most cases, it just hangs the computer.

I have a SB Live! working (General MIDI and all) in DOS mode on an Intel SE440BX (I know that's not technically a Pentium III motherboard but still...)

It's in pure DOS mode. Yeah I know protected mode games won't run with it, however simple games such as Lost Vikings the music played for about a minute before it crashes and sounds AMAZING then or doesn't play at all, just hard locking the PC. This isn't the only non-protected mode game that it'll lock on it does it to all non-protected games when I select General MIDI.

I seem to remember getting MPU-401 emulation working by jumping the "MFBEN" jumper. Whats weird is that I don't ever recall loading AWEUTIL under DOS to have it work, but its been a LONG time since I used a AWE32/64 card under DOS without either native support or my MT-32 on the MIDI port.

The 440BX should support NMI. I don't recall if its the last Intel chipset to 100% support all the obscure ISA features. Some non-Intel chipsets might support it, but don't count on it. Creative got a lot of flack with how the SB Live! handled bus mastering on VIA chipset boards.

Does the SE440BX2 support NMI?

Try playing the games in Windows.

440BX boards typically support NMI.

BTW, OP, there have been many conversations on NMI here so try a forum search for some meaty threads.

swaaye wrote:

440BX boards typically support NMI.

BTW, OP, there have been many conversations on NMI here so try a forum search for some meaty threads.

Thanks swaaye, I did search prior to my post however i'll do some more reseatch on it.

I'm (hopefully) receiving an ASUS P3B-F v1.04 motherboard in the next few days. It's an awesome P3 board [used to have it back in the day] and it will be 100% better than this OEM Intel Tabor 3 board that I have in my Gateway Performance 550. *crosses my fingers that AWE64 GM emulation works on it*. 😀

Your Intel Tabor 3 seems to be an Intel i440BX chipset mainboard already.

gerwin wrote:

Your Intel Tabor 3 seems to be an Intel i440BX chipset mainboard already.

It's an OEM board for Gateway therefore it's an extremely crippled board and nearly no options at all in the BIOS for anything. 😵

Have you tried any other cards on it, particularly a PCI sound card with SB emulation?

During the time Tabor 3 was in use (440BX in general), the common audio cards were the AudioPCI and Live!. It's unlikely that they would have broken the DOS SB emulation support of those cards.

Have you looked for any BIOS settings called "Passive Release" and "Delayed Transaction"? These can affect if ISA cards work correctly, in my experience.

swaaye wrote:

Have you looked for any BIOS settings called "Passive Release" and "Delayed Transaction"? These can affect if ISA cards work correctly, in my experience.

What do these settings do, exactly?

I tried switching them on and off a few times but can't say I noticed any difference.

They affect how PCI and ISA interact. I've run into problems with ISA soundcards on my 440BX-based Abit BF6 and found changing these settings to solve them.

http://www.bp6.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=916

PhaytalError wrote:

gerwin wrote:

Your Intel Tabor 3 seems to be an Intel i440BX chipset mainboard already.

It's an OEM board for Gateway therefore it's an extremely crippled board and nearly no options at all in the BIOS for anything. 😵

Is the BIOS chip soldered or socketed? If it is socketed you might be able to use a retail BIOS ROM to unlock it.

swaaye wrote:

During the time Tabor 3 was in use (440BX in general), the common audio cards were the AudioPCI and Live!. It's unlikely that they would have broken the DOS SB emulation support of those cards.

Heh, I remember my AOpen AX6B+ having that SB-Link connector for the AWE64 PCI. The Live! DOS emulation definitely worked on that board.

NJRoadfan wrote:

Heh, I remember my AOpen AX6B+ having that SB-Link connector for the AWE64 PCI. The Live! DOS emulation definitely worked on that board.

It was fairly common on BX boards. It links a PCI card to ISA IRQ and DMA signals. It also goes by the name "PC/PCI". Only a few sound cards used it but apparently it does work very well.

Just an update so people looking for a good NMI supported board will know.

The ASUS P3B-F does support NMI, and non DOS4GW [aka protected mode] games no longer lockup the system with GM emulation on my Awe64 Gold. 😀

So that means SB Live! should work correctly too in pure DOS mode as well. 😀