Have you changed anything about the system it's in? Also, double checked the card's jumper settings?

I tried with both standard and alternative jumper settings. And I had made no hardware changes to the system from the last time I used it, except that I had unplugged all the cables from the back of the card.

The other computer I tested the card in didn't have any other soundcard in it, so I don't believe it's a conflict.

Some BIOS allows you to "reserve" some IRQs and DMAs for ISA cards. Try putting IRQ5 in ISA mode and then select IRQ5 as Elite's IRQ.

Look at this image. In each IRQ or DMA, it allows you to select if it's controlled by BIOS or reserved.

Have you tried setting up the card in a completely different rig? (no idea if you happen to have more then 1).

The IRQ 5 I used for the Soundscape's digital audio is reserved for the ISA-slots by a jumper on the motherboard.
This is my motherboard: http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/M/MI … NC-486-M4P.html

And I tried the card in another 486, but with the same hard drive, since I only have one working hard drive with a size below the 528 MB limit.

I'm pretty sure the problem lies with the card itself. Does anyone have an idea of which component is broken and if it can be replaced? Could it be the (solid) capacitors, the IC:s, a crack in the PCB or the solder joints, some other part?

I know some graphics cards can be fixed by baking them in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius to reseal cracked solder joints. Could that work here?

I never tried baking myself (only have a microwave anyway) but iirc you can't bake the solid state caps.
Can't you try the soundcard in a completely different rig to rule out software issues?

I managed to get some life in an old 200 MB hard drive that I've never managed to work before and installed it in my other computer. In transfered the driver files of the soundscape, but nothing else, from the old hard drive to this new one. The card still doesn't work and I get the same error message as before. Now I've tried the card in two computers with completely different hardware, except for the Soundscape card itself. The card is definitely broken.

I had an Elite die on me too for no apparent reason although I assumed that it got static damaged or damaged in storage.

All I can think of is to make sure the ESP DB is correctly attached and all of the jumpers set. Maybe give it a good air dusting too in case something conductive found its way somewhere.

I suppose there could be solder joints going bad but baking tends to destroy more than fix. Parts can fall off and caps might pop. Also that card is not going to be ROHS meaning it has lead and other bad things that might contaminate an oven.

swaaye wrote:

I had an Elite die on me too for no apparent reason although I assumed that it got static damaged or damaged in storage.

All I can think of is to make sure the ESP DB is correctly attached and all of the jumpers set. Maybe give it a good air dusting too in case something conductive found its way somewhere.

I suppose there could be solder joints going bad but baking tends to destroy more than fix. Parts can fall off and caps might pop. Also that card is not going to be ROHS meaning it has lead and other bad things that might contaminate an oven.

I think baking has always been considered a last resort method of repair, but more to the point, it only "works" on modern equipment. I say that because the entire idea is that due to the incredible amount of heat modern equipment has to deal with, the solder joints fail much more readily than on older equipment (plus the lead free solder contributes to this). I guess the solder joints still failed on older equipment, but with lower temperatures and much more durable lead solder, I don't see it happening all that often.

As for capacitors, one could check each one with a decent volt meter if they are mounted through the board, and then replace any bad ones. That's what I do with dead equipment, although I've not yet been lucky enough to find that the caps are the problem 🙁.

The board is a bit grimy actually, so I could try cleaning it, although it was already like that when I bought it at a flea market for $1,50 last year. The guy I bought the card from had no idea about the value of what he was selling (and neither had I at the time, I was just "Hey, a really big ISA-sound card! I want it!") so he had just kept it in a dusty pile of old computer junk. The ESP DB was missing when I bought the card, but I learned from you here at Vogons how to attach jumpers to make it work anyway.
I'll wait a while with the baking then and test the caps, as soon as I can borrow my dad's volt meter. This card was a once in a lifetime find, so I'm really anxious to make it work again!

I have access to a voltmeter now. How can I use it to check each of the caps for faulty ones?

You cannot properly check caps with a volt meter, you need a special ESR meter to check them. All those silver caps are surface mount electrolytics capacitors, not solids. Over the years I found 10uf 16volt types are notorious for failure on almost everything i've worked on. (from Super nintendo to stereos....tv's...etc)

I'd start by replacing all those silver surface mount electrolytics. I recently replaced all the ones on a Diamond Monster 3D 1.

Does the card have a fishy odor by chance. if so its definitely those caps.

Can you get a better picture of the board. Its hard to see but just wanna see if there is any electrolyte damage to the board from those caps. The electrolyte can damage copper traces.

If all else fails, the card looks pretty dusty.

As a last resort, you could try cleaning it with a paintbrush (no guarantees about ESD, but if it's dead already, no reason to not try?). For all we know a little piece of electrically conductive hair or something is shorting a couple pins somewhere?

Only as a last resort!

I'd wash it down with electrical contact cleaner first before I'd try any physical cleaning on it!

TheMAN wrote:

I'd wash it down with electrical contact cleaner first before I'd try any physical cleaning on it!

Electrical contact cleaner...never heard of that one!

Are you sure the caps are not solid? They don't have that groove on top.
The picture of the card was taken a few months ago, before it broke. I've cleaned it a little since then, but some of the dirt seems to have fossilized, so it's hard to remove all of it.
First I'll try to exchange all of the caps. They all have the same markings so I should be able to find replacements easily.

Tetrium wrote:

TheMAN wrote:

I'd wash it down with electrical contact cleaner first before I'd try any physical cleaning on it!

Electrical contact cleaner...never heard of that one!

yup.. just an aerosol can of alcohol based cleaner... plastic friendly 😀

you'd be amazed how many things you can find here in the land that invented modern electronics 😁

Paint brush will clean any loose paticles. Compressed Air can as well. Wouldn't do contact cleaner as it can leave residue on the board.

Yep, Electrolytic cap http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/electroni … ectrolytic.aspx