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CS4232 - Digital sound works in DOS games but not FM synth

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First post, by KnuxTheDee

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I recently found a Toshiba Tecra 720CDT laptop at a thrift store and installed Win98 SE on it. I was able to get the sound working just fine under Windows and it plays midi files through its FM synth.
However, I can't get FM music to work in DOS games like Doom and Descent, but digital sound works perfectly fine.
I'm new to the DOS scene, am I just doing something wrong?

I have this line in my config.sys:
device=C:\WINDOWS\cs4232c.exe /A

and this line in my autoexec.bat:
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T4

The set blaster command should be correct, as the address, irq and dma address match what's in the bios.

EDIT: I simply had the OPL chip set to the wrong I/O address in the BIOS

Last edited by KnuxTheDee on 2022-12-08, 03:30. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 6, by gerwin

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The CS4232 sound chips does not have OPL3/FM functionality in itself. It needs an OPL3 compatible chip nearby to give FM music. Possibly the laptop designers omitted that part, assuming not many users would care.

Edit:
Well, there is an OPL3 FM chip visible on this system board, so that is good news:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/143301285187
Also I should read your message properly, saying it worked in windows.

Do you have the mixer utility for DOS? CS32Mix.exe IIRC.

--> ISA Soundcard Overview // Doom MBF 2.04 // SetMul

Reply 2 of 6, by KnuxTheDee

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I didn't have cs32mix running but I just tried that, and unfortunately that doesn't appeared to have fixed it. Again, it works under Windows, but there doesn't seem to be any difference in DOS games.

Reply 3 of 6, by gerwin

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KnuxTheDee wrote on 2022-12-08, 02:58:

I didn't have cs32mix running but I just tried that, and unfortunately that doesn't appeared to have fixed it. Again, it works under Windows, but there doesn't seem to be any difference in DOS games.

I don't know what you mean with "have cs32mix running". When you run cs32mix without parameters you get a graphical user interface with 6 vertical sliders. The 5th is titled "Synth", and when it is set low one cannot hear the FM music. So then set it to maximum and press OK.

Also there is the diagnostic utility CWDiag.exe. I suggest you start it to see what it says, and press "Test FM Music" there too.

Last edited by gerwin on 2022-12-08, 03:08. Edited 1 time in total.

--> ISA Soundcard Overview // Doom MBF 2.04 // SetMul

Reply 4 of 6, by KnuxTheDee

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gerwin wrote on 2022-12-08, 03:04:
KnuxTheDee wrote on 2022-12-08, 02:58:

I didn't have cs32mix running but I just tried that, and unfortunately that doesn't appeared to have fixed it. Again, it works under Windows, but there doesn't seem to be any difference in DOS games.

I don't know what you mean with "have cs32mix running". When you run cs32mix without parameters you get a graphical user interface with 6 vertical sliders. The 5th is titled "Synth", and when it is set low one cannot hear the FM music. So then set it to maximum and press OK.

My mistake, I meant that I turned the synth slider up, and saved it to my autoexec.

Reply 6 of 6, by KnuxTheDee

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Okay, so I'm just an idiot.
I completely overlooked one setting in the BIOS, which is the I/O address of the OPL. It was set to 314H instead of 388H for some reason. I set it accordingly and now everything works.
I really appreciate the help regardless.

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