Dualbooting MSDOS/WinMe with dual sound cards? \ VOGONS

Dualbooting MSDOS/WinMe with dual sound cards?

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First post, by appiah4

Posted on 2017-05-30, 21:02

appiah4 Offline

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I'm considering reformatting my Slot 1 system and turning it into an MS-DOS 7.1/WinMe Dual boot. Currently it has an SB Live! Value CT4780 in it, and I like the card. It's contemporary and it works pretty well for Windows glide games. But it will be pretty crappy for DOS, since it requires a TSR to emulate an SB16 and it emulates one rather poorly. I'm considering adding an ISA sound card to this system, probably an ESS card or a CT2290. However, I do not want to use it for Windows Me, only for DOS.

How do I go about setting this up without causing a million IRQ/DMA conflicts? Do I just enable Plug n Play OS option in the BIOS and let Windows Me sort it out? and potentially even disable the ISA card in Device manager? What about DOS, do I only install the ISA card's drivers and ignore the Live! in the PCI Bus? Would it cause issues?

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Reply 1 of 4, by Jorpho

Posted on 2017-05-31, 05:05

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You shouldn't have any issues at all. IRQ/DMA conflicts aren't really a thing when dealing with PCI cards. Windows is perfectly happy dealing with two sound cards, and nothing in DOS will care about the Live! card if you don't load sbinit.com/sbeinit.com .

In theory, you should be able to run most things without problems from the WinME MS-DOS prompt using your Live! cad without having to boot into MS-DOS 7.1, but it depends on your needs.

Reply 2 of 4, by appiah4

Posted on 2017-05-31, 05:38

appiah4 Offline

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Jorpho wrote:
You shouldn't have any issues at all. IRQ/DMA conflicts aren't really a thing when dealing with PCI cards. Windows is perfectly happy dealing with two sound cards, and nothing in DOS will care about the Live! card if you don't load sbinit.com/sbeinit.com .

In theory, you should be able to run most things without problems from the WinME MS-DOS prompt using your Live! cad without having to boot into MS-DOS 7.1, but it depends on your needs.

Well, in theory, yes. But how good would it sound? For example, if I ran DOOM under WinME with the SB Live!, do I use SB16 emulation? How good is it on the SB Live! Would I get good GM? Does it have software synth?

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 3 of 4, by Jorpho

Posted on 2017-05-31, 05:45

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appiah4 wrote:
For example, if I ran DOOM under WinME with the SB Live!, do I use SB16 emulation?

There wouldn't be much alternative.

How good is it on the SB Live! Would I get good GM? Does it have software synth?

I'm pretty fuzzy on the details, but while Windows is running I think you can load up any soundfont you want.

Reply 4 of 4, by appiah4

Posted on 2017-05-31, 07:24

appiah4 Offline

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Jorpho wrote:
appiah4 wrote:
For example, if I ran DOOM under WinME with the SB Live!, do I use SB16 emulation?
There wouldn't be much alternative.

Fair enough.

How good is it on the SB Live! Would I get good GM? Does it have software synth?
I'm pretty fuzzy on the details, but while Windows is running I think you can load up any soundfont you want.

So basically it would be like using a better barebones AWE64 in Windows Me.

I think I may as well stick with just Me and Live! for this PC.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

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