VOGONS


First post, by Totempole

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So I'm well aware that the Sound Blaster Live!'s SB16 Emulation is quite bad, but I can't seem to get it working at all. I have a CT4670 and the driver CD that came with it. Everything installs fine including the SB16 Emulation driver and also the DOS driver. The problem is none of the games I try acknowledge its existence.

In device manager, SB16 Emulation is configured as follows: A220 I5 D1 H5 P330.

I've only tried a few games, but none of them detect the card at all. The games I tried are Duke3D, Raptor and Death Rally. There is no sound or Midi at all. Running the game in pure DOS doesn't help either even though the SB live DOS driver appears to initialize.

Am I doing something wrong here? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

My Retro Gaming PC:
Pentium III 450MHz Katmai Slot 1
Transcend 256MB PC133
Gigabyte GA-6BXC
MSI Geforce 2 MX400 AGP
Ensoniq ES1371 PCI
Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA

Reply 1 of 24, by filipetolhuizen

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Is the set blaster line before the SBLive TSR on autoexec.bat? I think none of these games has soundcard auto-detection. You should try one that the setup can autodetect your card to see what happens.

Reply 2 of 24, by collector

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You don't mention what OS you are trying to use. If something of the NT line, then you will have to use DOSBox or if NTVDM, you will need to to use a sound emulator like VDMSound. If 9x, you will need to load the DOS drivers for the card.

The Sierra Help Pages -- New Sierra Game Installers -- Sierra Game Patches -- New Non-Sierra Game Installers

Reply 4 of 24, by JayCeeBee64

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What kind of motherboard are you using Totempole? If it's for Pentium 3 or lower then it should work (barring any kind of hardware conflict or misconfiguration); if it's for Pentium 4 or higher then it will be very difficult to have SB16 emulation working (lack of NMI being the most common reason).

Ooohh, the pain......

Reply 6 of 24, by JayCeeBee64

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I do know that early Pentium 4 boards (Socket 423 & 478) usually work; anything beyond Socket 478, very little chance (if any).

Ooohh, the pain......

Reply 7 of 24, by Totempole

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I'm running Windows 98SE and a 478 Pentium 4 2.0A GHz (MSI 645 Ultra).

Everything appears to be working correctly and there are no resource conflicts or anything like that. The only thing I did notice is that SB16 Emulation and the Game Port seem to fall into a different device manager category to the actual sound card. Not sure if this makes a difference though, particularly since it still doesn't work in DOS Mode either.

I used the original CD that came with the card to install it.

My Retro Gaming PC:
Pentium III 450MHz Katmai Slot 1
Transcend 256MB PC133
Gigabyte GA-6BXC
MSI Geforce 2 MX400 AGP
Ensoniq ES1371 PCI
Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA

Reply 8 of 24, by chinny22

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I would try adding the set blaster like mentioned as that's how games auto detect the soundcard.
I would also not trust the setup program to assign the correct resources. I had to mess around with my resources manually in device manager to find a working combination. Once you do this it should be happy in pure dos as well, but I had to modify a ini or cfg file with the updated settings. This was back in the late 90's so cant remember what I did exactly.
I know it doesn't get much love and rightly so but this is what I used for dos gaming for around 5 years for the most part trouble free

Reply 9 of 24, by Totempole

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Thanks for the responses so far. Hopefully this will help clear things up:

This is a clean Windows 98SE install. The only things I've loaded are Graphics drivers, Sound Blaster Live! drivers and USB Flash drivers.

My autoexec.bat file looks as follows:

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
SET CTSYN=C:\WINDOWS
C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM

My device manager looks like this:

207CUKy.jpg

Here are the resources used by the SB16 emulation driver:

ycjDBSd.jpg

This is what I get when I restart in MS-DOS mode
(Sorry about the blurry image):

M8rT4Ib.jpg

And this is what sbecfg.exe shows
(Once again, sorry about the blurry image):

BWJqB8u.jpg

I can confirm that the PCI hardware Port D400 and IRQ11 is also correct.

So as far as I can see, everything looks perfect, which is why I really can't understand why I can't get audio in DOS games.

Your thoughts in this regard would be much appreciated.

Thanks again 😀

My Retro Gaming PC:
Pentium III 450MHz Katmai Slot 1
Transcend 256MB PC133
Gigabyte GA-6BXC
MSI Geforce 2 MX400 AGP
Ensoniq ES1371 PCI
Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA

Reply 11 of 24, by Totempole

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I don't seem to have an option like that in the BIOS. Starting to lose hope of it ever working, but haven't given up just yet. Does anyone have any ideas as to why this isn't working? I mean, everything seems to be perfect, but any games I try say "Failed to detect the presence of a Sound Blaster card" or something like that.

My Retro Gaming PC:
Pentium III 450MHz Katmai Slot 1
Transcend 256MB PC133
Gigabyte GA-6BXC
MSI Geforce 2 MX400 AGP
Ensoniq ES1371 PCI
Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA

Reply 12 of 24, by JayCeeBee64

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The MSI 645 Ultra has the SIS 645/961 chipsets; I've had little luck making Sound Blaster Live! SB16 emulation work with these motherboards.

See if you can try this: I've attached the shareware version of Duke Nukem 2 in a zip file. Just unzip it in a folder of your choice, boot in DOS mode, and run the executable (nukem2.exe). If you hear music and sound then at least you know emulation works and your other games are just being picky. If you hear the PC speaker instead, then it's game over - SB16 emulation just won't work with your MSI board.

Attachments

  • Filename
    DN2SHR.ZIP
    File size
    993.96 KiB
    Downloads
    181 downloads
    File comment
    Duke Nukem 2 shareware version 1.0
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Ooohh, the pain......

Reply 14 of 24, by Totempole

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filipetolhuizen wrote:

Updating the BIOS, if you haven't, might fix it.

BIOS is up to date. I even tried an SB PCI128, Creative's SB16 Emulation just doesn't work with this board. I had more luck with the onboard card. At least I can get some sound in DOS games.

My Retro Gaming PC:
Pentium III 450MHz Katmai Slot 1
Transcend 256MB PC133
Gigabyte GA-6BXC
MSI Geforce 2 MX400 AGP
Ensoniq ES1371 PCI
Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA

Reply 15 of 24, by GODSPEED7

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Totempole wrote:
So I'm well aware that the Sound Blaster Live!'s SB16 Emulation is quite bad, but I can't seem to get it working at all. I have […]
Show full quote

So I'm well aware that the Sound Blaster Live!'s SB16 Emulation is quite bad, but I can't seem to get it working at all. I have a CT4670 and the driver CD that came with it. Everything installs fine including the SB16 Emulation driver and also the DOS driver. The problem is none of the games I try acknowledge its existence.

In device manager, SB16 Emulation is configured as follows: A220 I5 D1 H5 P330.

I've only tried a few games, but none of them detect the card at all. The games I tried are Duke3D, Raptor and Death Rally. There is no sound or Midi at all. Running the game in pure DOS doesn't help either even though the SB live DOS driver appears to initialize.

Am I doing something wrong here? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I realize this is a very old thread, but I have myself been going through this conundrum; but I've fixed the issue. My games detect a Sound Blaster 16 without any problems. The fix is also SUPER easy, nothing complicated, no having to udate bios or worry about motherboard revision. No downloading fishy-smelling files of of some fishy-looking website..

Simply install you sound card from you driver disc. Once the creative apps you want are installed and your pc rebooted, replace the WDM drivers (those that the installation installs) with the VXD drivers. They are on the same disc.

Go to your Device Manager in the Control Panel, double click on the Sound Blaster Live! device under the Multimedia/Sound section.. go to the drivers tab and click to update drivers.
With you Sound Blaster Live! Driver CD in the drive, you have to browse to the VXD Drivers folder. It is under Audio > [Language] > Win9xDRV .. and from there, select the file called EMU10K1.inf and click next or ok or wtv button it is to acknoledge thats the file you want.

Windows will tell you that the driver you currently have is newer, but you want to click the option to use the driver YOU want to assign and voila... You still have access to the Creative panel and other creative software, but you are using the VXD drivers which are compatible with DOS.

Reboot. Load a dos game, and watch it detect a Sound Blaster 16 without any problems.

Reply 16 of 24, by Totempole

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GODSPEED7 wrote:
I realize this is a very old thread, but I have myself been going through this conundrum; but I've fixed the issue. My games det […]
Show full quote

I realize this is a very old thread, but I have myself been going through this conundrum; but I've fixed the issue. My games detect a Sound Blaster 16 without any problems. The fix is also SUPER easy, nothing complicated, no having to udate bios or worry about motherboard revision. No downloading fishy-smelling files of of some fishy-looking website..

Simply install you sound card from you driver disc. Once the creative apps you want are installed and your pc rebooted, replace the WDM drivers (those that the installation installs) with the VXD drivers. They are on the same disc.

Go to your Device Manager in the Control Panel, double click on the Sound Blaster Live! device under the Multimedia/Sound section.. go to the drivers tab and click to update drivers.
With you Sound Blaster Live! Driver CD in the drive, you have to browse to the VXD Drivers folder. It is under Audio > [Language] > Win9xDRV .. and from there, select the file called EMU10K1.inf and click next or ok or wtv button it is to acknoledge thats the file you want.

Windows will tell you that the driver you currently have is newer, but you want to click the option to use the driver YOU want to assign and voila... You still have access to the Creative panel and other creative software, but you are using the VXD drivers which are compatible with DOS.

Reboot. Load a dos game, and watch it detect a Sound Blaster 16 without any problems.

Thanks for the post. I'll definitely give it a try when I get the chance. It has been a long time, but I never did come right with this, so I appreciate the input. 😀

My Retro Gaming PC:
Pentium III 450MHz Katmai Slot 1
Transcend 256MB PC133
Gigabyte GA-6BXC
MSI Geforce 2 MX400 AGP
Ensoniq ES1371 PCI
Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA

Reply 17 of 24, by ruthan

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if it's for Pentium 4 or higher then it will be very difficult to have SB16 emulation working (lack of NMI being the most common reason).

What is NMI, how to check if MB has this thing? I get i working with Core 2 Duo, but im experimenting with much newer MB, except sound, they are useful for Dos Gaming..

Im old goal oriented goatman, i care about facts and freedom, not about egos+prejudices. Hoarding=sickness. If you want respect, gain it by your behavior. I hate stupid SW limits, SW=virtual world, everything should be possible if you have enough raw HW.

Reply 18 of 24, by deksar

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Totempole wrote:
GODSPEED7 wrote:
I realize this is a very old thread, but I have myself been going through this conundrum; but I've fixed the issue. My games det […]
Show full quote

I realize this is a very old thread, but I have myself been going through this conundrum; but I've fixed the issue. My games detect a Sound Blaster 16 without any problems. The fix is also SUPER easy, nothing complicated, no having to udate bios or worry about motherboard revision. No downloading fishy-smelling files of of some fishy-looking website..

Simply install you sound card from you driver disc. Once the creative apps you want are installed and your pc rebooted, replace the WDM drivers (those that the installation installs) with the VXD drivers. They are on the same disc.

Go to your Device Manager in the Control Panel, double click on the Sound Blaster Live! device under the Multimedia/Sound section.. go to the drivers tab and click to update drivers.
With you Sound Blaster Live! Driver CD in the drive, you have to browse to the VXD Drivers folder. It is under Audio > [Language] > Win9xDRV .. and from there, select the file called EMU10K1.inf and click next or ok or wtv button it is to acknoledge thats the file you want.

Windows will tell you that the driver you currently have is newer, but you want to click the option to use the driver YOU want to assign and voila... You still have access to the Creative panel and other creative software, but you are using the VXD drivers which are compatible with DOS.

Reboot. Load a dos game, and watch it detect a Sound Blaster 16 without any problems.

Thanks for the post. I'll definitely give it a try when I get the chance. It has been a long time, but I never did come right with this, so I appreciate the input. 😀

Have you solved the issue? I was wondering..

Reply 19 of 24, by collector

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Note that posts about old hardware belong in Marvin. Marvin, the Paranoid Android

The Sierra Help Pages -- New Sierra Game Installers -- Sierra Game Patches -- New Non-Sierra Game Installers