HP used these in the late 90s I think it has pretty good sound blaster compatibility and the FM synth isn't too bad, at least to my unsophisticated ears.

I wonder if they're undervalued due to the modem integration

photo is awful. can't read a single letter on a chip.

Here's a photo of mine from HP Pavilion

So I decided to spend some time with this, this is from an HP Pavilion XL768 Slot A Athlon machine with Windows ME. I did a restore from the factory CDs and the default drivers do not have any synth support 🙁 I tried to install ones that I saw floating around but they wouldn't take, I wonder if the PCI IDs changed. I was able to get SB PCM working but it was not reliable (wasn't sure if it was the game or the drivers).

I tried running the DOS drivers, they found the device and said it setup the SB legacy mode, but no dice. Unlike windows, the game didn't even see the SB and once again no FM synth.

I have an older HP machine that also has this card, I am positive it has FM synth in DOS mode even, I will have to dig it out sometime and see if I can figure out the differences, but that's a project for another day.

I noticed that there is a firmware loader in the dos driver, the ARM marking on the chip makes me think it must be an ARM core on there, which is pretty cool. Maybe I will open it up the firmware file in ghidra sometime just to take a peek.

Against my better judgement I got the legacy drivers to work, I am not sure how, I messed around with the INF files and changed some PCI vendor ids to match the newer driver version, but now I have SB compatability and FM synth!

I will record some samples and upload here

I recorded a few demos, looks like Adlib sounds best when given the option (IE, in Doom). OPL3 emulation is perhaps not very good

https://youtu.be/PmiPysnCTWg

I have one of these cards in a P3 myself. I'd like to use it in MS-DOS 6, without Windows, but I can't figure out how to do this.

Are there drivers or something? Is it hardware compatible with SB?

Stormer47 wrote on 2024-07-13, 02:42:

I have one of these cards in a P3 myself. I'd like to use it in MS-DOS 6, without Windows, but I can't figure out how to do this.

Are there drivers or something? Is it hardware compatible with SB?

I have finally realized that the "riputil" tool is actually the driver/TSR that enables compatibility, but I can't get it to work. I'm running it like this, based on some .BAT files I found included with this HP Pavillion 8670C that I raided for parts:

@set Blaster=A220 I5 D1 T4
RipUtil /A220 /I5 /D1 /RI10 /unmute

I don't recall if I ever got this working in pure MS-DOS mode, but yes there is a dos TSR driver.

I need to pull the machine out and see if I can figure it out.

I also have an older Pavilion with the same or similar card that also had drivers with FM synt, I can also pull that out.

I will do that this week sometime in my spare time

Hi,

I'm also struggling with a Riptide sound card in DOS mode.
I can load properly the firmware with : riputil.exe riptide.hex
I can also change the base settings with : RipUtil /A220 /I5 /D1 /RI10 /unmute (/unmute is working since I can hear a small hisss in my headphones)
But I have no sound in Duke3D sound setup even if I specify the right IRQ, DMA and so on...

With Riptide RACC010, I got legacy Sound Blaster Pro support and software wavetable working in Windows 98SE, and Sound Blaster Pro support working in DOS.

There are a few variants of the PCI card:

Riptide
Model No.: 90079
This card has the optional RDSP20 Modem DSP chip. The datasheet indicates it's used only by the modem, and not the sound card, to reduce CPU usage by 50MHz.
I use Windows 98 driver rip417na.exe (VXD version 4.12.01.2156). Wavetable files aren't included, so I add them before install like this:
1. Extract the files in rip417na.exe
2. Copy Genmidi.wsl and gmram.ewa from riptide-chameleon-w982k.exe into folder AUDIO.W95
3. Run Install.exe

Chameleon
Model No.: 90079-2
This card doesn't have the optional RDSP20 Modem DSP chip.
I use Windows 98 driver riptide-chameleon-w982k.exe (VXD version 4.12.01.2156).

Riptide World
Model No.: 90083
This card has the optional RDSP20 Modem DSP chip.
I don't have this card.

AV RISER CARD
A small add-on card can be connected to add LINE-OUT, LINE-IN, and MIC jacks. It isn't necessary because the PCI card has its own audio output jack. I've seen three variants:
5064-8549 A/V RISER CARD Regular bracket for expansion slot. Adds VIDEO and S-VIDEO jacks that route to another card with a separate cable.
5064-8576 AUDIO RISER CARD Regular bracket for expansion slot.
5064-8577 AUDIO RISER CARD Different bracket for mounting somewhere else.

The riser card is connected using a cable with 8-pin JST connectors and straight-through wiring.
5183-9023 CABLE AUDIO 7-inch
5183-9100 CABLE AUDIO 12-inch

Rockwell Semiconductor spun off into a new company, Conexant. Older chips are marked with the Rockwell logo, newer chips have the Conexant logo.

A Riptide card with an earlier version of the RACC010 chip marked "D7400-11" caused trouble with an older motherboard that has the VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset. While the Riptide card is inserted, some IDE drives are not detected. It happens whether using the onboard IDE controller or a PCI IDE card.
A Riptide card with a later RACC010 chip marked "D7400-12" does not have the problem and works well. In the BIOS, reserve IRQ5 and IRQ9 for ISA so they are used only for Sound Blaster and MIDI support, and not shared with other devices.
The earlier "D7400-11" chip works fine in a newer Intel 865G motherboard.

Device Manager in Windows 98SE has options to use the WaveStream wavetable synthesizer at 22 kHz sampling rate, or the Endless Wave synthesizer at 22 kHz or 44 kHz. Endless Wave sounds better. The software wavetable works in Windows and in DOS games launched from Windows.
MIDI through the joystick port works in Windows, but not in real DOS, and not in DOS games launched from Windows.

The card's Yamaha OPL3 FM compatibility sounds pretty good.

Enabling the amplifier can improve sound quality:
In Windows, Open Volume Controls
Options > Advanced Controls
Click the Advanced button under Master Volume
Check the box for Stereo Enhance

Muting Speakerphone can reduce noise.

Installing the Windows 98 driver creates a batch file to enable Sound Blaster Pro support in real DOS.
Run `C:\Windows\SYSTEM\ripleg.bat /unmute /v`
It loads RIPUTIL.EXE which consumes 1KB of memory.
The driver doesn't include a mixer to adjust the volumes in DOS.

I think the card is fun to try in Windows 98. The legacy Sound Blaster Pro and software wavetable worked well in DOS games launched from Windows.
I didn't like the card in real DOS where the volume was too loud and the wavetable isn't available.

guppis wrote on 2025-02-28, 05:27:

With Riptide RACC010, I got legacy Sound Blaster Pro support and software wavetable working in Windows 98SE, and Sound Blaster P […]
Show full quote

With Riptide RACC010, I got legacy Sound Blaster Pro support and software wavetable working in Windows 98SE, and Sound Blaster Pro support working in DOS.

There are a few variants of the PCI card:

Riptide
Model No.: 90079
This card has the optional RDSP20 Modem DSP chip. The datasheet indicates it's used only by the modem, and not the sound card, to reduce CPU usage by 50MHz.
I use Windows 98 driver rip417na.exe (VXD version 4.12.01.2156). Wavetable files aren't included, so I add them before install like this:
1. Extract the files in rip417na.exe
2. Copy Genmidi.wsl and gmram.ewa from riptide-chameleon-w982k.exe into folder AUDIO.W95
3. Run Install.exe

Chameleon
Model No.: 90079-2
This card doesn't have the optional RDSP20 Modem DSP chip.
I use Windows 98 driver riptide-chameleon-w982k.exe (VXD version 4.12.01.2156).

Riptide World
Model No.: 90083
This card has the optional RDSP20 Modem DSP chip.
I don't have this card.

AV RISER CARD
A small add-on card can be connected to add LINE-OUT, LINE-IN, and MIC jacks. It isn't necessary because the PCI card has its own audio output jack. I've seen three variants:
5064-8549 A/V RISER CARD Regular bracket for expansion slot. Adds VIDEO and S-VIDEO jacks that route to another card with a separate cable.
5064-8576 AUDIO RISER CARD Regular bracket for expansion slot.
5064-8577 AUDIO RISER CARD Different bracket for mounting somewhere else.

The riser card is connected using a cable with 8-pin JST connectors and straight-through wiring.
5183-9023 CABLE AUDIO 7-inch
5183-9100 CABLE AUDIO 12-inch

Rockwell Semiconductor spun off into a new company, Conexant. Older chips are marked with the Rockwell logo, newer chips have the Conexant logo.

A Riptide card with an earlier version of the RACC010 chip marked "D7400-11" caused trouble with an older motherboard that has the VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset. While the Riptide card is inserted, some IDE drives are not detected. It happens whether using the onboard IDE controller or a PCI IDE card.
A Riptide card with a later RACC010 chip marked "D7400-12" does not have the problem and works well. In the BIOS, reserve IRQ5 and IRQ9 for ISA so they are used only for Sound Blaster and MIDI support, and not shared with other devices.
The earlier "D7400-11" chip works fine in a newer Intel 865G motherboard.

Device Manager in Windows 98SE has options to use the WaveStream wavetable synthesizer at 22 kHz sampling rate, or the Endless Wave synthesizer at 22 kHz or 44 kHz. Endless Wave sounds better. The software wavetable works in Windows and in DOS games launched from Windows.
MIDI through the joystick port works in Windows, but not in real DOS, and not in DOS games launched from Windows.

The card's Yamaha OPL3 FM compatibility sounds pretty good.

Enabling the amplifier can improve sound quality:
In Windows, Open Volume Controls
Options > Advanced Controls
Click the Advanced button under Master Volume
Check the box for Stereo Enhance

Muting Speakerphone can reduce noise.

Installing the Windows 98 driver creates a batch file to enable Sound Blaster Pro support in real DOS.
Run `C:\Windows\SYSTEM\ripleg.bat /unmute /v`
It loads RIPUTIL.EXE which consumes 1KB of memory.
The driver doesn't include a mixer to adjust the volumes in DOS.

I think the card is fun to try in Windows 98. The legacy Sound Blaster Pro and software wavetable worked well in DOS games launched from Windows.
I didn't like the card in real DOS where the volume was too loud and the wavetable isn't available.

Hey bud, any idea where to get rip417na.exe?

nclakelandmusic wrote on 2025-03-11, 18:06:

Hey bud, any idea where to get rip417na.exe?

I think this is where I found rip417na.exe