Curious if you added the ram or did it come with it ? I suggest pulling the ram out and try get the card working first. I have never used non-parity simms on a SB32/awe32 though theoretically should work according to some....
Did you read this: [Help] Msdos Drivers - Creative Labs SB32 ISA CT3670

Horun wrote on 2022-08-09, 04:58:

Curious if you added the ram or did it come with it ? I suggest pulling the ram out and try get the card working first. I have never used non-parity simms on a SB32/awe32 though theoretically should work according to some....
Did you read this: [Help] Msdos Drivers - Creative Labs SB32 ISA CT3670

I thought these cards were supposed to take non-parity SIMMs? RAM is brand new. Clips are broken but it seems tight enough. No difference when pulling the RAM.
That's the thread I was looking at before posting. I managed to install CTCM but the driver install fails because I have the wrong base I/O address (or it's not seeing the card at all).

Check for physical damages on the board - the card looks like had a tough life 😀 There may be also some shortages inside RAM slots.

varrol wrote on 2022-08-09, 10:22:

Check for physical damages on the board - the card looks like had a tough life 😀 There may be also some shortages inside RAM slots.

Yikes! I just discovered some of the big chip's pins are bent and likely shorting against each other. Might explain why it was getting abnormally hot.
Does anyone on this forum do mail-in repairs? I don't think I can straighten these out without breaking them and/or lifting pads.

kahlil88 wrote on 2022-08-13, 07:23:

[...]

Yikes! I just discovered some of the big chip's pins are bent and likely shorting against each other. Might explain why it was getting abnormally hot.
Does anyone on this forum do mail-in repairs? I don't think I can straighten these out without breaking them and/or lifting pads.

Just be gentle...

That looks ilke something that could be fixed with the blade of a sharp little knife (maybe a razor blade). Just slide it between the bent leg and the one it's shorting onto. Doing that gently should be enough to free them again.

Agreed with pulling out the RAM. As soon as you hit problems, you want to only change the absolute minimum every time. So first check the system boots & is stable without the card, then add the card without the RAM, finally, add the RAM one SIMM at a time, checking before adding the second one.

dionb wrote on 2022-08-13, 11:32:

That looks ilke something that could be fixed with the blade of a sharp little knife (maybe a razor blade). Just slide it between the bent leg and the one it's shorting onto. Doing that gently should be enough to free them again.

Agreed with pulling out the RAM. As soon as you hit problems, you want to only change the absolute minimum every time. So first check the system boots & is stable without the card, then add the card without the RAM, finally, add the RAM one SIMM at a time, checking before adding the second one.

I'm not so good at being gentle with tiny components and the legs on this chip are very fine. I tried to straighten them with tweezers but they won't budge. They may be solder bridged but I don't have a microscope to get a clearer view. I did try hitting the legs with hot air (very much a novice but I recently bought a station) hoping to at least avoid the risk of damaging the pads but there was an audible pop and I may have fried the chip.