VOGONS


First post, by wbahnassi

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I'm wondering, if MS-DOS had a startup sound a la Windows 3.1/95/98...etc.. what would that be?

I'm thinking of adding one near the end of AUTOEXEC.BAT.. something that does both FM and a digital sound for example for ~1 second. Of course MS did quite some work to get Win95/Win98 startup sounds.. so for DOS it should really also sound well-thought, not cheezy.

Once I find a good sound I'll bake it into a tiny COM to run in AUTOEXEC.BAT.

Thoughts?

Reply 1 of 18, by Jo22

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHkYjv61D0

Just kidding!! 😂

No idea at the moment.
Maybe some melody, maybe of one of the early IBM systems (power on, error melody) if there's one ?

Or a tune derived from one of the MS-DOS commercials?

Edit: I *think* I've got something that fits your description.
It's from my early days of AdLib programming.
It's a short melody. I will search my backups, maybe I'll find it.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 3 of 18, by wbahnassi

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
DosFreak wrote on 2022-12-20, 23:47:

The startup sound is when you turn on your computer.

The machine boots, beeps and drives seek. It's classic, but doesn't signify the OS as then you can have Windows 95 or 98 etc, which play something above that too. To me the beep and drive seeks are the signature of an IBM-compatible machine.. but I feel happy everytime I hear Windows 95 startup sound or Windows 98 kickass Take a Tour theme with the signature "ahhhh" 😅

I'm trying to imagine what MS-DOS would've had.. some Adlib-based chime and maybe a digital sound with it when possible.

Jo22 wrote on 2022-12-20, 22:44:
Or a tune derived from one of the MS-DOS commercials? […]
Show full quote

Or a tune derived from one of the MS-DOS commercials?

Edit: I *think* I've got something that fits your description.
It's from my early days of AdLib programming.
It's a short melody. I will search my backups, maybe I'll find it.

Hmmm I like the idea of deriving it from the commercial, esp. if we have Steve Balmer's voice ij the mix 😅 (but that wouldn't be professional though). Good luck with the search.. I have here code for a little DOS COM program that can play an Adlib dump from DOSBox. Once we find a good start up sound, I'll embed it in the program and put the COM file for others to enjoy 😁

Reply 6 of 18, by Gmlb256

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

This would be a nice idea, a small program that simply makes a startup sound. Useful when putting it in AUTOEXEC.BAT after everything essential is initialized.

VIA C3 Nehemiah 1.2A @ 1.46 GHz | ASUS P2-99 | 256 MB PC133 SDRAM | GeForce3 Ti 200 64 MB | Voodoo2 12 MB | SBLive! | AWE64 | SBPro2 | GUS

Reply 7 of 18, by leileilol

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Usually the only sound is just the POST beep / memory tick and that varies by motherboard chipset.

In the DOS era though, the concept of a startup sound is a Macintosh thing and it'd probably be likely considered blasphemy.

apsosig.png
long live PCem

Reply 8 of 18, by Jo22

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

What about MS-DOS compatibles? Did any of those have a startup chime, by any chance ? 🙂

Personally, the only thing I remember is the melody hidden in GEM 1.
If you click the GEM icon in about dialog, a melody plays.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 11 of 18, by polpo

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

In the early-mid 90s when I had an IBM PC/AT w/ Hercules graphics and a Gravis Ultrasound card plugged into a full stereo system with subwoofer (a rather mismatched setup), I had autoexec.bat play a CD quality WAV of the THX "Deep Note" when starting up because I thought it was hilarious that such a crappy looking computer would sound so awesome.

Reply 12 of 18, by Sphere478

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Give it the old Macintosh start up sound

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 13 of 18, by Jo22

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Terminator theme.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 14 of 18, by Sphere478

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Jo22 wrote on 2022-12-22, 01:24:

Terminator theme.

Yassss!!!

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 16 of 18, by Sphere478

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
ahyeadude wrote on 2023-08-27, 01:41:

I was inspired by this thread and started working on my own DOS 6.22 startup beautification...

https://imgur.com/a/quSpgkh

Be sure to turn up the sound

What did you boot into?

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 18 of 18, by analog_programmer

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I think there was option for making pc speeker "beeps" the from command prompt. You may try to "echo" multiple <Ctrl> + <G> signs in autoexec.bat.

from СМ630 to Ryzen gen. 3
engineer's five pennies: this world goes south since everything's run by financiers and economists
this isn't voice chat, yet some people, overusing online communications, "talk" and "hear voices"