After installing the Audigy 2 ZS in Windows 98 SE, I have run into some issues.

The most noticeable issue is that after performing a reboot in Windows 98 (either via the shutdown menu or an auto reboot), Scandisk always triggers during startup. This doesn't happen after doing a full shutdown and power on. I also had a couple intermittent lock-ups when attempting to reboot.

After some experimentation, it appears the culprit is the Firewire controller on the Audigy 2 ZS. After disabling the device in the Device Manager, Scandisk no longer triggers after a reboot and I haven't had any spontaneous lockups.

I've also been testing using the Audigy 2 ZS in conjunction with an ESS Solo-1. Both cards do seem to work in relative harmony. For example, I have CD Audio and MPU-401 playback set to go through the Solo-1, with digital audio via the Audigy 2 ZS.

One issue I ran into is using the SB Emulation with MPU-401 with the Solo-1. Playing Doom causes a total system lock-up after about 10 seconds. Changing the Audigy SB16 Emulation settings or disabling that device has no effect. The conflict seems to be with the Audigy 2 ZS MIDI port. Disabling that device in Multimedia -> MIDI settings appears to have fixed the issue.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-03-03, 20:36:

After installing the Audigy 2 ZS in Windows 98 SE, I have run into some issues.

After some experimentation, it appears the culprit is the Firewire controller on the Audigy 2 ZS. After disabling the device in the Device Manager, Scandisk no longer triggers after a reboot and I haven't had any spontaneous lockups.

At a guess, your system ran out of resources and didn't have a free IRQ to assign to the FireWire port. Or the IRQ got shared with another device which didn't appreciate that. Disabling the FireWire port through Device Manager is fine, and will do no harm to the sound card.

I've also been testing using the Audigy 2 ZS in conjunction with an ESS Solo-1. Both cards do seem to work in relative harmony. For example, I have CD Audio and MPU-401 playback set to go through the Solo-1, with digital audio via the Audigy 2 ZS.

I do mention in the instructions that the Audigy should be your only sound card during the installation. While it's possible to have another sound card alongside it, that's a whole different can of worms, and far beyond the scope of this guide.

In short, you need to ensure that both cards are assigned different resources (IRQs, DMAs, ports etc). This isn't always easy, especially for the FM synth port and sometimes the MPU-401 port as well. In that case, I find that using "Basic Configuration 0004" for the Audigy's SB16 Emulation in Device Manager allows for the most flexibility when manually assigning different parameters to it.

From what I recall, that setting automatically disables the Audigy's FM synth emulation, thereby freeing up port 388 for another sound card. Then, you need to reassign the MPU-401 device to a port that's currently unused (likely 300). And afterwards, check that no IRQ, DMA or port is shared with another sound card. But again, that's beyond the scope of this guide, which is complex enough as is.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-03-04, 00:23:

I do mention in the instructions that the Audigy should be your only sound card during the installation. While it's possible to have another sound card alongside it, that's a whole different can of worms, and far beyond the scope of this guide.

In short, you need to ensure that both cards are assigned different resources (IRQs, DMAs, ports etc). This isn't always easy, especially for the FM synth port and sometimes the MPU-401 port as well. In that case, I find that using "Basic Configuration 0004" for the Audigy's SB16 Emulation in Device Manager allows for the most flexibility when manually assigning different parameters to it.

From what I recall, that setting automatically disables the Audigy's FM synth emulation, thereby freeing up port 388 for another sound card. Then, you need to reassign the MPU-401 device to a port that's currently unused (likely 300). And afterwards, check that no IRQ, DMA or port is shared with another sound card. But again, that's beyond the scope of this guide, which is complex enough as is.

My approach has been to install one card, install all needed drivers, then fully disable it in the device manager, physically remove it, before installing the next card.

I'll have to play around with the resource settings more. I'm not super familiar with the Audigy 2 ZS under Win 98, since I only ever previously used it with Windows XP.

I appreciate this is beyond the scope of this guide/thread, so I won't bogart the thread any further. 😉

8. SC-55 Sound Font Installation (optional)

8.1 Download Patch93's SC-55 soundfont and extract the archive contents to C:\AU3
8.2 Download SF Pack and extract the archive contents to C:\AU3
8.3 Run C:\AU3\SFPACK.EXE > Ok > File > Add Files > Files of type: SFPack Files > C:\AU3\SC-55.sfpack > Open
8.4 After that, click File > Go/Stop. Wait for about 30 seconds. Now, if everything worked ok, you should have a SC-55.sf2 file in C:\AU3 (file size should be 45.1 MB)
8.5 Start > Programs > Creative > SoundFont Bank Manager
8.6 Click on "Midi Devices" and use the slider to set SoundFont Cache to slightly more than 50 MB then click Ok
8.7 Click on "Bank" then click on the default soundfont (2GMGSMT) to select it, then click Replace, point to C:\AU3\Sc-55.sf2 wait a few seconds until it loads then click Ok
8.8 Run your favorite DOS game (like Doom for example) and in setup choose General MIDI for music

From my testing, it appears that GS support varies between Creative's default soundfonts. These are my testing notes:

• 2GMGSMT.SF2 - lowest quality samples, nearly complete GS support (default soundfont which is initially installed by the drivers)
• 4GMGSMT.SF2 - decent quality samples, nearly complete GS support
• 8GMGSMT.SF2 - high quality samples, incomplete GS support

Similarly, here are my testing notes on the ECW sets which are used in pure DOS:

• EAPCI2M.ECW - lowest quality samples, incomplete GS support, basic MT-32 support (default set which is initially installed by the drivers)
• EAPCI4M.ECW - decent quality samples, incomplete GS support, optimal MT-32 support
• EAPCI8M.ECW - high quality samples, complete GS support, possibly broken MT-32 support

In summary, I recommend 8GMGSMT.SF2 if you're playing DOS games in General MIDI mode and want high quality samples. However, if you're playing games which make use of GS instruments, and you want to select the "Sound Canvas" option in setup (or similar) then it might be better to go with 4GMGSMT.SF2. Dune 2 and Stonekeep are two examples of games which can make use of GS instruments.

For pure DOS, I recommend using EAPCI8M.ECW if you're playing games which use GS instruments. However, if you're playing games in MT-32 mode, you may want to use EAPCI4M.ECW instead.

Guide updated to version 3.1. Changes in this release:

• Added Creative's 4GMGSMT.SF2 and 8GMGSMT.SF2 to the modified image (the soundfonts were taken from this driver CD)
• Added Creative's EAPCI4M.ECW and EAPCI8M.ECW to the modified image (the sets were taken from this driver CD)
• Autorun has been disabled on the modified driver CD image

Basically, this update adds the option to use Creative's higher quality soundfonts and ECW sets. Also, the SC-55 soundfont is no longer used by default, but rather suggested as an alternative option. The instructions for using it have been moved into a separate post.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-03-07, 18:46:

Guide updated to version 3.1. Changes in this release:

Just want to thank you for the guide and its continuing updates, just installed the SB Audigy 2 eX Platinum's internal card on Win98SE according to it and everything went smoothly.

I don't have the external module and its cables with me at the moment but I assume it will just be a matter of plugging it in now that the internal main card is fully installed and running.

A reminder to everyone else that wants to use this guide and has the same card/external module combo, from what I've read on Vogons and beyond using the .vxd drivers removes the ability to use the remote control that comes with this set. Apparently it only works with the .wdm drivers. No big deal but be aware

andre_6 wrote on 2024-03-10, 23:28:

Just want to thank you for the guide and its continuing updates, just installed the SB Audigy 2 eX Platinum's internal card on Win98SE according to it and everything went smoothly.

Cheers, glad to hear that! 😀

A reminder to everyone else that wants to use this guide and has the same card/external module combo, from what I've read on Vogons and beyond using the .vxd drivers removes the ability to use the remote control that comes with this set. Apparently it only works with the .wdm drivers. No big deal but be aware

Interesting. I don't have an external module, but I do have an internal 5.25" front panel (SB0010) for my Audigy 1 (SB0090). Been a while since I've done this, but I was able to install the MediaSource Remote Center utility (or whatever it's called) with VxD drivers and use the remote.

I don't have that Audigy 1 set up at the moment, but I might be able to test it again at some later point. That said, maybe things are different for the external module, and it wouldn't work like that. Or maybe Creative restricted the functionality to WDM drivers on later cards, similarly to how the "CD Digital" input doesn't work on ZS cards with VxD drivers.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-03-11, 06:09:

Cheers, glad to hear that! :) […]
Show full quote

andre_6 wrote on 2024-03-10, 23:28:

Just want to thank you for the guide and its continuing updates, just installed the SB Audigy 2 eX Platinum's internal card on Win98SE according to it and everything went smoothly.

Cheers, glad to hear that! 😀

A reminder to everyone else that wants to use this guide and has the same card/external module combo, from what I've read on Vogons and beyond using the .vxd drivers removes the ability to use the remote control that comes with this set. Apparently it only works with the .wdm drivers. No big deal but be aware

Interesting. I don't have an external module, but I do have an internal 5.25" front panel (SB0010) for my Audigy 1 (SB0090). Been a while since I've done this, but I was able to install the MediaSource Remote Center utility (or whatever it's called) with VxD drivers and use the remote.

I don't have that Audigy 1 set up at the moment, but I might be able to test it again at some later point. That said, maybe things are different for the external module, and it wouldn't work like that. Or maybe Creative restricted the functionality to WDM drivers on later cards, similarly to how the "CD Digital" input doesn't work on ZS cards with VxD drivers.

I don't think I've read any mention of the MediaSource Remote Center utility when people reported the issue, so it's worth a shot. I have no idea when I'll finally get access to the external module but I'll give it a go and report it here, if you don't get the chance to check it until then

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-03-03, 09:27:

And in case anyone's curious, here's what Creative states about VxD vs. WDM drivers with regards to the Audigy 2 ZS:

I'm in the process of setting things up with Windows Me and I'm wondering which drivers to use. Would it be better to use the WDM drivers instead of VxD?

I know the guide is written for VxD drivers specifically, but everything I've read about Windows Me suggests that WDM drivers are likely to be more stable.

Thoughts?

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-03-26, 16:50:

I'm in the process of setting things up with Windows Me and I'm wondering which drivers to use. Would it be better to use the WDM drivers instead of VxD?

VxD drivers work fine on WinME.

I've been using that OS on my Athlon64 system for a couple of years now. No issues whatsoever with the Audigy.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-03-26, 16:56:

VxD drivers work fine on WinME.

I've been using that OS on my Athlon64 system for a couple of years now. No issues whatsoever with the Audigy.

Perfect, thanks! I'll stick with the VxD drivers.

I found Windows ME to be just as stable as Windows 98. However, it has a number of unique drawbacks which makes it more frustrating to use.

Unique problems of Windows ME as an alternative to Windows 98

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-03-26, 18:54:

I found Windows ME to be just as stable as Windows 98. However, it has a number of unique drawbacks which makes it more frustrating to use.

Unique problems of Windows ME as an alternative to Windows 98

Fortunately I'm putting it on a system with 7 other operating systems, so any limitations can be worked around. 😉