Hello
If the computer hasn't got any sound function how easy is it to add(mod) it ?
-> Solder a sound card and a small speaker.
Motherboard chipset is = OPTi 82C557M Viper-N+
Computer = Siemens PG720P1 (1998)
BIOS v4.08 (Latest 2001)
-> No slots or such on board...
It has got some kind of beeper in it...but it is not a speaker or sound creating device.
To solder a card to a board, you need exposed traces/pins for some or other bus (ISA, PCI). Do you have hi-res pictures of the motherboard to show what is present?
Also, I get 0 hits on Siemens PG720P1. Are you sure that's the model#?
TBH I'd suggest rather looking into a dongle for USB or parallel instead.
PG720 Versions are:
PG720C ( Intel i486, DX4 )
PG720 (...)
PG720P ( Socket 7: AMD K6-I or Pentium 1 mmx )
PG720PII ( Pentium 2 )
Is the sound card adding like totally impossible or is it like super easy solding ?
- No USB. It has only 2pcs 16-bit 5V PCMCIA slots and sound cards probably don't exist in those ?
Found this ? Hmm...Can I solder my own DIY parallel port sound card ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3 … 9&v=z3DU2mNBa6M
RETRO Soundcards -OPL2LPT
https://www.serdashop.com/OPL2LPT
Is the OPL2LPT kit the one I need to work as "a easy sound card" for Windows 98 games ?
Is "Ad-Lib" = a word for regular sound card ?
The price is a bit high 53+20case+7shipping=total 80e! 😢
Is this the motherboard?
If so, that riser above the SIMM slots looks suspiciously like something bearing PCI and ISA slots... even if the riser is not present, the slot it plugs into could be.
Edit:
Looks like you need to swot up a bit on older PC sound technologies before attempting any mods like you are suggesting.
"AdLib" is one of the oldest PC sound standards, for 8 bit mono FM synthesis. Iirc it dates back to 1987. Almost everything that followed is AdLib compatible in one way or another. AdLib used a single Yamaha OPL-2 chip. Almost anything in DOS that uses sound supports AdLib. Later standards built on it. Creative's SoundBlaster refined OPL-2 8b mono, the Soundblaster Pro added a second OPL-2 (or later a single OPL-3) to give 8b stereo. After that things get complicated, with lots of competing standards with less interoperability - but the baseline is always AdLib, or SBPro 2.0 (i.e. the first OPL-3 stereo implementation).
There are other non-OPL, non-FM sound standards out there, but they are either severely limited and badly suported (Covox speech thing / Game Blaster), or rather specialised (MPU401 MIDI - which only works with pre-defined instruments). If you want general-purpose sound, something based on AdLib is the way to go.
I'd recommend getting a more normal Pentium-era board with ISA slots and a regular ISA sound card to get a feel for normal operation of DOS-era sound before contemplating hacking and soldering something like this.
And yeah, some of the stuff involved is pricey when produced in low volume for enthousiasts only 😉
Here I sketched. (Working so no detail photo).
It might be "Siemens-only" motherboard.
The newer PG740 is much better it has 2 slots in it so you can place your own graphic card to it and such.
PG720P has no PCI or AGP expansion slots in it.
OPL2LPT is not a sound card like you may think of it. Just like the adlib, it's an FM synth on a circuit, nothing more. Basically, you won't be truely able to play digitized sounds, only mono FM music/sounds and maybe some rare programs that manage to play digitized sounds with the FM chip, but that's like trying to play digitized sounds from a PC-speaker, it "works", but it is slow and programs rarely do that
Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative
wrote:Here I sketched. (Working so no detail photo). […]
Here I sketched. (Working so no detail photo).
It might be "Siemens-only" motherboard.
The newer PG740 is much better it has 2 slots in it so you can place your own graphic card to it and such.PG720P has no PCI or AGP expansion slots in it.
I can't find any pictures of that online, so to figure out what is possible we'd really need that photograph.
But maybe it's much easier: you're assuming there are no 5V 16b PCMCIA sound cards. That's not true: they do exist. Not common, but they exist. On eBay right now I can only find a cheap one in the US with no cables (Panasonic Sound/CD-Rom Interface Card) or a couple of expensive pro-versions (Digigram Model VXPocket V2) with cables. The thing to watch for is the colour of the connector. Grey/silver means 5V, 16b PCMCIA. Copper/brass means 3.3V 32b Cardbus. So the common Soundblaster Audigy 2 Notebook adapters are Cardbus and not usable here. Good chance you can find something usable within a few weeks.
