EpsilonP wrote on 2020-11-20, 01:34:

Hello all, […]
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Hello all,

I am currently building a Windows 95 OSR 2.5 retro system and am having real problems getting the Audigy 2 sound card working. Going by the serial number on the back of the card it appears to be a Dell OEM version SB0353.

I have attempted to run a regular installer by the means of the Audigy 2 driver disc downloaded from Vogons. As expected setup throws an error regarding an incorrect OS version, stating that Win98 SE is required.

I then tried extracting the .iso contents to a local directory. I've unpacked the CAB located in Audio\Drivers\VxD and attempted to update the driver from the Device Manager by pointing to the folder containing unpacked .inf files. I receive a prompt asking for the install disc containing ctaud9x.vxd file, and even when pointing directly to the folder containing the file, it is not being detected.

I have also tried running the CTZAPPXX.exe from Audio\Drivers directory. I am able to select VxD driver option and proceed with the driver update. The progress bar goes to a 100% , displays a 'please wait' prompt and freezes after a few minutes. Oddly enough, after this the card shows up in Device Manager as Sound Blaster Audigy, however I am not getting any sounds and the volume control bar in Device Manager\Multimedia is grayed out.

I wanted to know if anyone has managed to get this card working successfully in Windows 95 and if so what steps were taken? Is this even possible since the official documentation seems to list Win 98 SE as the minimum requirement in terms of OS compatibility.

The Audigy 2 you have likely officially comes with WDM drivers, which require Windows 98 SE or higher . If you can find VXD drivers that work with your card, you should be able to get them to install in windows 95 .

EDIT : Maybe this will work with your card Audigy 2 Win98 VXD drivers for non-ZS models
If no VXD driver that supports your card exists, it may be possible to modify a VXD driver's INF to allow it to install on your card, but there are no guarantees that will work either .

I'm pretty sure the drivers will use things that 95 cannot provide so chances of things starting to work are very slim. 98SE adds a lot of new calls to VXD side of things...

@darry

I've tried the CD from the link you provided, unfortunately no luck. It looks like I won't be able to get this card going on Win 95.

Any recommendations as to Win 95 compatible cards? Would SB Live! be acceptable? I have a SB0220 which is also a Dell OEM, and it also does not want to install, but reading through the forum it seems as though that version should be avoided anyway.

EpsilonP wrote on 2020-11-22, 13:46:

@darry

I've tried the CD from the link you provided, unfortunately no luck. It looks like I won't be able to get this card going on Win 95.

Any recommendations as to Win 95 compatible cards? Would SB Live! be acceptable? I have a SB0220 which is also a Dell OEM, and it also does not want to install, but reading through the forum it seems as though that version should be avoided anyway.

I would suggest either getting a Sound Blaster Live! card or switching to Windows 98 SE (unless using Windows 95 specifically is important to you for some reason) .

My go-to SB Live! model, which should be fine in Windows 9x, is the CT4830 . There are other just as valid (or better) options, this is just my preference (by force of habit more than anything else).

That said, if you like, I could try to modify the INF files from that driver CD to try to work on your card but, as tiido mentioned, that is not very likely to work in Windows 95 .

I managed to pick up SB Live! CT4620 for a decent price and install it using the CD image from Vogons database. Will post build pics of the machine in a separate thread once finished. Thanks for the help.