Try using the latest drivers - diagnose.exe or UNISOUND.

Did you use Creatives DOS PNP config (CTCM/CTCU) ? The CT3990 is a PnP card and requires the CTCM/CTCU for DOS.
you can get it here: https://support.creative.com/downloads/downlo … nDownloadId=230
The readme.txt is very helpful. The file is a self extracting .ZIP so you can view contents or extract with Winzip, Winrar or 7zip if you want.

Thank you both. I have tried different versions of diagnose, including the one from Creative's site. They all say that I need to change the configuration in Windows 95 (it isn't installed.) I tried unisound. It initializes, and the Crusader No Regret install detects the card and plays a test sound, but the game locks up, unless I select no sound card.

This is weird, because I know that I have used this card in DOS before, and it worked fine in the last Windows 9x installs. I don't know what could be telling the card that 220, 240, etc. are not available.

Diagnose will not setup the PnP card, just test if it is working. Try this: Go into your BIOS and set PnP OS to Disabled, then go back and re-run the CTCM/CTCU software and set the card at port 220.
Then run Diagnose and see what happens. I have a few older mobo's that the PnP BIOS part does not work proper and have to disable it.

Horun wrote on 2021-06-28, 01:32:

Diagnose will not setup the PnP card, just test if it is working. Try this: Go into your BIOS and set PnP OS to Disabled, then go back and re-run the CTCM/CTCU software and set the card at port 220.
Then run Diagnose and see what happens. I have a few older mobo's that the PnP BIOS part does not work proper and have to disable it.

I tried this and it didn't work. I then popped one of my Windows 95 SD cards in the SD-to-IDE drive and verified that the card was still working, but that I had to change the IRQ of one of the IRQ Steering listings under device manager.

I then popped the 8GB Dos card back in and turned the PnP option off again, and now it is working. I don't know why it didn't work the first time, though this is also the first time I ran into issues with this particular card.

Thank you your help. This project keeps having one issue after another, but it is getting there!

Argh! Now aweutil isn't working. Diagnose lets me set up the card and the sound/music testing works. However, it does not give me the option to test the DRAM or to test AWE32 music. It is basically acting as a plain SB 16.

CTCM will load, *if* I load it, manually. Trying to load it in the config.sys or in the autoexec.bat gives me the error that the configuration has been changed and that I need to deal with it in Windows 95. I was also getting these errors on the Windows 95 SD card when trying to install and deal with the DOS drivers. I began using the driver disc that came with the card. Either most people didn't use this in DOS and thus there was never a proper DOS driver set for this card (which I doubt,) or this card and my particular setup are having some compatibility issues. It is all built on a Tabor III Gateway motherboard.

I don't know what I can try to get the AWE initialized from the start up files. Maybe I'll try a batch file approach.

Since unisound is released i would recommend using it instead of the original drivers. Just set it up like you want in the Autoexec.bat (Blaster variables)
and in the line underneath the path for unisound.com
All information should be noted in the readme file.

I even managed to get a ct2940 working in my 286 and it's connected with a CD Drive and my Sc-55 ST🙂

By the way I have had the same problems before but in my case it is because my 286 (no pnp) is not mentioned to run that CTCM/CTCU Setup-Programm... and even if i got lucky starting it i finally got stuck at the base address Problem which were not available.
This is how my autoexec looks like for example

GuillermoXT wrote on 2021-06-28, 05:48:

By the way I have had the same problems before but in my case it is because my 286 (no pnp) is not mentioned to run that CTCM/CTCU Setup-Programm... and even if i got lucky starting it i finally got stuck at the base address Problem which were not available.
This is how my autoexec looks like for example

It is strange how the original drivers aren't working when operated from either the config.sys or autoexec.bat files, but will then run from the command prompt. I wonder what the mechanism for this is? The PC must go into some sort of "mode" during the boot process, and the "mode" seems to end once you can begin typing at a command prompt. I even made a batch file to try to load CTCM and CTCU at the very end of the start up process, and it still gave me the "Windows 95" error.

I read other posts where people are running into the same issues with their AWE64 cards. I have a feeling that it has to do with some sort of DOS version incompatibility, and that the files are looking for DOS 6.22. Trying to run CTCM from the start up files gives the "Windows 95" error, after all. Are you using DOS 6/6.22 or DOS 7.1? I wonder if the files can be tricked to run under 7.1.

At any rate, I am making a clean set of startup files and I am going to try Unisound again. I will probably have an easier time of optimizing my start up files for memory, and I don't think I need to load CSP and all of that. Unisound caused Crusader: No Regret locked up for me the last time I used it, but I was still loading the Creative drivers that would still work (just for the sense of completeness,) but I'm not sure if they are needed at all for gaming in DOS and Win 3.x.

wrote:

Are you using DOS 6/6.22 or DOS 7.1? I wonder if the files can be tricked to run under 7.1.

I am using MsDos 5.0 but i think it would be the same on 6.22 and so on if you keep the same settings.

GuillermoXT wrote on 2021-06-28, 21:27:

wrote:

Are you using DOS 6/6.22 or DOS 7.1? I wonder if the files can be tricked to run under 7.1.

I am using MsDos 5.0 but i think it would be the same on 6.22 and so on if you keep the same settings.

I have Unisound tested and working, and now I am trying to optimize my start up files. Unfortunately, these Gateway Tabor III boards like to lock up when using HIGHSCAN under emm386. I was in an accident in 2016 and it seems to take me longer to get wrinkles ironed out. I used to get 620k+ easily, but no matter what I do now, I can't get it higher than 575k. Once I get it figured out, I will try to get the original AWE drivers working, just to figure out what is causing the issue to occur. I am still thinking it has to do with my version of DOS being a Win9x DOS, since the errors keep mentioning Windows 95. I am looking forward to replacing this card with an AWE64 Legacy.

But at least it works now good job 👍

Until recently I didn't know that the volume in the line in was set to zero by default, which is why there was no sound from the roland even though it was active.