Which drivers did you install? filename etc...

Most drivers found on the net are mostly update drivers to existing drivers

I have the original CD. I installed from there. I'm trying some from the Creative website now. But I don't think it's going to work.

Did you check for resource conflicts? In theory, the SB 128 PCI should support IRQ sharing, but in reality this almost never works, especially on old chipsets.

If your system has ISA slots, consider getting a classic SB 16, it would provide far better DOS game compatibility than any PCI card.

Getting another card is out of the question. This is my last DOS-compatible card and I don't have money to spend on others right now.

There are no device conflicts or anything at all. It works there's just no sound that comes out....

Could something be wrong with the output?

Ok, something new I noticed here. Whenever sound is being used the system slows down considerably. It's like the message to play sound goes through and the levels on the volume control jump, but before it gets to the speakers something goes wrong and no sound comes out and the system slows to a crawl until the sound is supposed to have finished (which takes longer than the sound should play).

EDIT: Actually I've just noticed that even though I first installed the drivers and they were fine, after I restart the computer (after the initial installation of the drivers) the "Creative Sound Blaster PCI128 Legacy Device" stops working. The exact message is:

"The CONFIGMG.VXD device loader(s) for this device could not load the device driver."

I don't know what the Legacy Device has to do with the regular device (which is working fine) since that's only for DOS applications. Windows sound should be running fine. It's all very confusing to me...

MusicallyInspired wrote:

Getting another card is out of the question. This is my last DOS-compatible card and I don't have money to spend on others right now.

There are no device conflicts or anything at all. It works there's just no sound that comes out....

Could something be wrong with the output?

We're talking about $5 here - that's how cheap a SB16 ISA is. It's less than what you spend on food in one day. PCI 128 is NOT a good soundcard anyway - it emulates MIDI and sounds horrible in a lot of games. For DOS it uses Legacy drivers which

a) suck up loads of conventional memory meaning a lot of games using high amounts of conv memory will refuse to run
b) are a real pain to set up and you can run into many IRQ problems because Windows does weird things with the settings.

Agree, the SB128 is crap

Only good for Amiga's with PCI busboards 😁

Like I said, I have no money to spend. That means I don't have $5. And I know the PCI128 is crap but it's all I have.

MusicallyInspired wrote:

Like I said, I have no money to spend. That means I don't have $5. And I know the PCI128 is crap but it's all I have.

Have you tried any updated drivers from www.creative.com?

Sell it then or trade it for the SB16 😉

I've tried updated drivers but they don't even install. Says it doesn't detect any Sound Blaster hardware. The ones from the CD seem to be the only ones that will install. Maybe it's toast.

photograph the card for us 😀 Or at least get the CT**** number off of it. It might be some weird OEM version.

Also might want to try taking all cards out except it and the video card. And try different PCI slots. Depending on your mobo, the PCI slots will share IRQ signals with each other and some cards do not like to share with others.

Actually I've looked and I can't find any CT numbers anyway....very odd. It says Ensoniq at one part and PCi64 on another. But it's a PCI128. I'll have another look and get a picture as well.

Here's the card. On the back there's a sticker that says:

E1427881 AudioPci 9806
ASSYNO: 01 REV E

But no CT**** numbers anywhere. That I can find anyway.

http://brandonblume.commerceculture.co.uk/oth … ures/pci128.jpg

MusicallyInspired wrote:

Here's the card. On the back there's a sticker that says: […]
Show full quote

Here's the card. On the back there's a sticker that says:

E1427881 AudioPci 9806
ASSYNO: 01 REV E

But no CT**** numbers anywhere. That I can find anyway.

http://brandonblume.commerceculture.co.uk/oth … ures/pci128.jpg

That's no SB128 PCI, my friend

looks more like the SB64, it was a very common OEM card

Those liars....

Way back my dad bought this from a local computer store (not a chain). First we tried a SB Live, then an Ensoniq, then they gave us this one which they said was a PCI128. The install CD they gave us even says PCI 128 and has PCI 128 drivers....that's what always worked! Amazing.....weird as well since these drivers always used to work before.

Well that's good to know! I'll try PCI64 drivers, then!

Looks like an Ensoniq AudioPCI re-branded by Creative.
There is a very nice Wikipedia article about this card (seems to be written by board member swaaye 😀).

Although this is the best PCI card for legacy Sound Blaster compatibility, it still means more hassle than the real thing. But I'll shut up already. 🙄

...the best PCI card for legacy Sound Blaster compatibility...

Really? It always sounded horrible to me. But then maybe that's because I was using the wrong drivers the whole time....*shrug*

PCI64 16 and 128 use the same DOS drivers so why would it sound better on the SB64 ? It all sounds wrong - a lot of midi music in games use the wrong instruments.