the reason I'm asking is I have an old laptop (a Dell Inspiron 8000), but something is VERY wrong with the sound. The volume is insanely loud, both for the in built speakers and the headphone jack. It's loud to the point that the very minimum sound volume on Windows 98 is still slightly too loud with headphones, and I've tried multiple drivers with no luck.

So I'm thinking maybe I could put a sound card where the mini-PCI network card is now, since I'm not using any networking.

I don't think there is a path for analog audio to get from a mini PCI sound card, if there were one, to the speakers, without manually wiring it in somehow yourself.

keenmaster486 wrote on 2025-05-19, 04:07:

I don't think there is a path for analog audio to get from a mini PCI sound card, if there were one, to the speakers, without manually wiring it in somehow yourself.

If one is willing to frankenstein it a bit and gave wires and a PCB hanging out, one could buy or build a mini PCI to PCI adapter. The reverse was once quite common for wireless mini PC cards to be used in desktop PCs. AFAIK, such an adapter can be passive and one should likely avoid adapters with PCI bridges in order to avoid potential issues with legacy audio emulation (the ICH2 chipset has enough issues in that front as it is) for DOS applications.

Another option might be a Cardbus (or older PCMCIA one) sound card. Going from memory, the later cards at least do not have much in the way of DOS support. Some of the older PCMCIA cards have better support but are expensive, hard to find and might not be fully compatible in a Cardbus slot, especially under DOS (that last concern is mostly speculative on my part, so could be largely or completely unfounded).

If one does not mind having no sound in DOS, a USB audio class compliant adapter could be used. There are some challenges with required updates under Windows 98, but it can be made to work.

keenmaster486 wrote on 2025-05-19, 04:07:

I don't think there is a path for analog audio to get from a mini PCI sound card, if there were one, to the speakers, without manually wiring it in somehow yourself.

I realised I’d probably need to do this, I forgot to write it in the message though.

darry wrote on 2025-05-19, 04:42:

If one does not mind having no sound in DOS, a USB audio class compliant adapter could be used. There are some challenges with required updates under Windows 98, but it can be made to work.

I think I have one of these lying around somewhere…

boblo wrote on 2025-05-19, 05:11:

I realised I’d probably need to do this, I forgot to write it in the message though. […]
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keenmaster486 wrote on 2025-05-19, 04:07:

I don't think there is a path for analog audio to get from a mini PCI sound card, if there were one, to the speakers, without manually wiring it in somehow yourself.

I realised I’d probably need to do this, I forgot to write it in the message though.

darry wrote on 2025-05-19, 04:42:

If one does not mind having no sound in DOS, a USB audio class compliant adapter could be used. There are some challenges with required updates under Windows 98, but it can be made to work.

I think I have one of these lying around somewhere…

If you try the USB audio device route, this might be helpful Re: need temporary sound

I found a USB audio adapter lying around and somehow the audio is still extremely loud coming through the audio jack on the adapter. Maybe the problem isn't with the laptops built in audio then, but i don't know what else it could be.

Either way this isn't really related to the topic title at all anymore, so maybe I'll make another one idk...