EDIT: Card has been IDed as an Aztech Sound Galaxy Basic Audio I38-MMSN813. I'm bumping this thread because I'm having trouble getting it working, I can't find anything on Jumper settings or using it in DOS anywhere on the net. See my latest post
Hey, I'm not too familiar with Aztech cards. I purchased a Creative Blaster CD Rom from good will in the box. It didn't have the basic isa controller card they originally came with, but to my surprise, out came this perfectly preserved card:
It reminds me of a Washington 16 card I have laying around with Packard Bell stickers on it but is a different layout. It has a YMF262-M on the bottom left and uses the CS4231 codec (top chip).
Apologies for the huge image, I have to zoom out my browser to see the full picture. I'm not sure if I can scale it with bbcode?
Not much on the back but a sticker 2033809 2/28/94
The bottom chip blocked by the flash says Aztech AZTSB0792-U07 Japan
So what is this? Is it any good? 😎
Last edited by BeginnerGuy on 2017-10-22, 00:55. Edited 2 times in total.
The FCC ID identifies this card as the Sound Galaxy Basic Audio 16 - I don't own one myself but, it uses the same chipset as the one found on the Sound Galaxy BXII (which was an earlier clone of the Sound Blaster 2.0 - CT1350).
However, it does have the OPL3 FM synthesis chip so, my guess is that you will probably have a "hybrid" card with stereo FM synthesis but, only with a mono DAC for digitized sounds and voices (similar to the other Aztech cards that utilizes the AZT-1605 chipset).
Only way to tell is to install the drivers and see how the installer sets up the card with the "SET BLASTER" environment variable. If it ends with T3, then you know it only supports the Sound Blaster 2.0 mono and if it ends with T4, then it should support Sound Blaster Pro II.
Thank you for the driver link jesolo! I will try it out in a few days when a power supply shows up in the mail and see what happens. Hopefully it's Pro II compatible 😀.
Either way, I was thrilled to see a sound card spill out with the cd-rom 😀
I've been looking all over for documentation on this card but find next to nothing next to what other users here have mentioned about it (namely Josolo). I'm having trouble getting it to work in DOS 6.22, there are quite a few jumpers but most of them I'm not sure of their function. I've managed to get it to play sound effects but not music. I also have read that these first gen Aztech cards can emulate a Disney Sound Source and Covox Speech Thing. Is that true with this particular 813 model?
Below are a few shots of the jumpers on this card. It's as I received it with no changes yet. If there is any software of note for DOS please point me to it because I can't find it in terms of drivers or test applications, so far I've just been playing with a SET BLASTER command. Also, even CD pass through audio is not working, while it was working with my Aztech Washington 16 before I swapped this in. That seems unusual to me.
Apologies for ugly shots, I can get more pics or info if needed.
COIRQ and SBIRQ. I'm assuming SBIRQ is my Sound Blaster IRQ, which is currently set to 5. No idea what COIRQ is for.
From left to right:
MTDACK, MTDRQ, SNDACK, SNDRQ, PDACK, PDRQ, MTIRQ
I'm not really sure of any of these, but I get the feeling SNDACK and SNDRQ are to select my Sound Blaster DMA? That's just off the top of my head, there are no jumpers on those so that would explain alot.
Other jumpers on the top of the card are:
PC SPK (connect PC speaker header to mainboard I presume, not using this)
J1 (two pins, no idea what its for - currently closed)
JX1 (three pins, no idea - pins 0 and 1 shorted)
SPK1 (four pins - guessing this is PC speaker output)
There are currently no other ISA cards in the system, just a PCI ATI RAGE 3D XL, onboard disk controllers / serial ports are all on bios defaults, I can check if necessary.
Many of the jumpers of the earlier models performed the same function.
Start off by running the relevant configuration & diagnostic utilities of the sound card (under the Utility folder where you installed the drivers) and set up the settings of the card.
Refer to the jumper settings and descriptions of these models. If you still get stuck, then I can dig into the manuals of my Basic 16 & NX Pro to see if there is any additional information. http://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/i/A-B/51040.htm http://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/i/A-B/51021.htm http://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/i/A-B/51028.htm
After some guesswork I've gotten it to work in DOS.
Do you know if this card does covox and sound source? Would just be a fun curiosity to see how it sounds compared to my home made speech thing
I can't say for sure, since I don't own this particular model myself. However, it does have the same chipset that the Sound Galaxy BXII has, but I don't think that cards supported it either (it was a "cut down" version of the NXII).
Best way to confirm is to run the SG2.exe (or SG3.exe) diagnostics utility and check if there is a test to perform for Covox & Sound Source.
If so, then you know it does support it - you will require a parallel port at 278h. If you don't have one, then there is usually a jumper on the sound card to enable the virtual parallel port.
jesolo wrote:I can't say for sure, since I don't own this particular model myself. However, it does have the same chipset that the Sound Gal […] Show full quote
BeginnerGuy wrote:
After some guesswork I've gotten it to work in DOS.
Do you know if this card does covox and sound source? Would just be a fun curiosity to see how it sounds compared to my home made speech thing
I can't say for sure, since I don't own this particular model myself. However, it does have the same chipset that the Sound Galaxy BXII has, but I don't think that cards supported it either (it was a "cut down" version of the NXII).
Best way to confirm is to run the SG2.exe (or SG3.exe) diagnostics utility and check if there is a test to perform for Covox & Sound Source.
If so, then you know it does support it - you will require a parallel port at 278h. If you don't have one, then there is usually a jumper on the sound card to enable the virtual parallel port.
Well I'm getting sound playback just fine but SG3.exe reports no sound card found. I'll look for SG2.exe and see if anything changes with that. The card came right to life after the installer from the link you left above added a SET AZTECH (or similar) line in my autoexec.
Documentation for these cards is quite scarce isn't it? There are quite a few jumpers on this one that are labelled differently than the others I'm looking at. Either way I'm happy enough to have it working in games for me
I'm reading that the AZTSSPT0592-U01 chip supports Covox speech thing and you're right the BXII is the same as mine (AZTSB0792-U07), so that's probably out. That's interesting to know though, I may hunt for one with that chipset just for the fun of it.
BeginnerGuy wrote:Well I'm getting sound playback just fine but SG3.exe reports no sound card found. I'll look for SG2.exe and see if anything cha […] Show full quote
jesolo wrote:I can't say for sure, since I don't own this particular model myself. However, it does have the same chipset that the Sound Gal […] Show full quote
BeginnerGuy wrote:
After some guesswork I've gotten it to work in DOS.
Do you know if this card does covox and sound source? Would just be a fun curiosity to see how it sounds compared to my home made speech thing
I can't say for sure, since I don't own this particular model myself. However, it does have the same chipset that the Sound Galaxy BXII has, but I don't think that cards supported it either (it was a "cut down" version of the NXII).
Best way to confirm is to run the SG2.exe (or SG3.exe) diagnostics utility and check if there is a test to perform for Covox & Sound Source.
If so, then you know it does support it - you will require a parallel port at 278h. If you don't have one, then there is usually a jumper on the sound card to enable the virtual parallel port.
Well I'm getting sound playback just fine but SG3.exe reports no sound card found. I'll look for SG2.exe and see if anything changes with that. The card came right to life after the installer from the link you left above added a SET AZTECH (or similar) line in my autoexec.
Documentation for these cards is quite scarce isn't it? There are quite a few jumpers on this one that are labelled differently than the others I'm looking at. Either way I'm happy enough to have it working in games for me
I'm reading that the AZTSSPT0592-U01 chip supports Covox speech thing and you're right the BXII is the same as mine (AZTSB0792-U07), so that's probably out. That's interesting to know though, I may hunt for one with that chipset just for the fun of it.
You will either have SG2.exe or SG3.exe as your diagnostics utility.
The fact that SG3.exe reports no sound card found is a bit worrying. This is normally the case if the driver you installed is not the correct one for the particular sound card model.
I just noticed now that, under the folder where you downloaded the drivers from, there is an "index.txt" file. In there it states there were actually two models of the Basic Audio 16 - one that utilised the Analog Devices AD1848 Codec chip and the another one that utilised the Crystal Semiconductor CS4231 Codec chip. For some weird reason, Aztech never provided DOS drivers for the latter.
And, unfortunately, you have the latter card with the CS4231 Codec chip.
You could try and install the drivers for the BXII as well, or even try some of the other models that uses the AZTSSPT0592-U01 chip (like the Basic 16).
However, I've never seen another Aztech model with so many jumper settings. Chances are that you don't necessarily require any DOS based drivers, since everything is set up via jumpers on the card.
jesolo wrote:You will either have SG2.exe or SG3.exe as your diagnostics utility.
The fact that SG3.exe reports no sound card found is a bit […] Show full quote
You will either have SG2.exe or SG3.exe as your diagnostics utility.
The fact that SG3.exe reports no sound card found is a bit worrying. This is normally the case if the driver you installed is not the correct one for the particular sound card model.
I just noticed now that, under the folder where you downloaded the drivers from, there is an "index.txt" file. In there it states there were actually two models of the Basic Audio 16 - one that utilised the Analog Devices AD1848 Codec chip and the another one that utilised the Crystal Semiconductor CS4231 Codec chip. For some weird reason, Aztech never provided DOS drivers for the latter.
And, unfortunately, you have the latter card with the CS4231 Codec chip.
Your only option would be to try and install the drivers for the BXII as well, or even try some of the other models that uses the AZTSSPT0592-U01 chip (like the Basic 16).
Hmm thanks for that update. I find that strange considering the date sticker on the back of this card is 1994 so it would have had to have DOS/3.1 or NT drivers? Too bad there was no disk included with it.
I'll try out the other drivers with the matching chipset and see what happens, i'll report the results.
COIRQ and SBIRQ. I'm assuming SBIRQ is my Sound Blaster IRQ, which is currently set to 5. No idea what COIRQ is for.
SBIRQ is definitely the IRQ for the Sound Blaster - keep that at IRQ5.
I'm not sure what COIRQ is for but, jumper that (for now) at IRQ10.
BeginnerGuy wrote:
From left to right:
MTDACK, MTDRQ, SNDACK, SNDRQ, PDACK, PDRQ, MTIRQ
I'm not really sure of any of these, but I get the feeling SNDACK and SNDRQ are to select my Sound Blaster DMA? That's just off the top of my head, there are no jumpers on those so that would explain alot.
MTDACK & MTDRQ goes together - these are for the DMA channel for your Mitsumi based CD-ROM drives. On some pictures I've seen, these are usually not jumpered (left open), since most people didn't have such a CD-ROM drive
SNDACK & SNDRQ should be for your Sound Blaster DMA channel but, strangely enough, on most pictures I've seen, none of these are jumpered. However, if you want to jumper them, select DMA channel 1. Normally, SNDACK1 & SNDRQ1 should represent DMA channel 1 and so forth (i.e., make sure the two numbers that are the same are jumpered together).
I have no idea what PDAC & PDRQ (i.e., which component's DMA channel) this represent but, in most pictures I've seen, this is always jumpered the same as in your original picture.
MTIRQ is your IRQ selection for your Mitsumi CD-ROM drive. The default is usually IRQ12 (IRQ15 might conflict with your IDE controller).
I can't quite make out what the jumper selection is (the printout on the PCB) - let me know what the "numbers" at the bottom of each jumper is.
Set up a SET BLASTER statement and a SET GALAXY statement in your Autoexec.bat file (if not already).
Make sure the settings matches your jumper selections.
The SET GALAXY normally has extra parameters but, let me know what the original setup program selected for you as the default parameters.
BeginnerGuy wrote:
SB ADDRESS, GAME PORT (LEFT)
CODEC ADDR, CDROM ADDR (RIGHT)
SB ADDRESS is to either choose 220h or 240h. The left selection is for 220h.
Game port is to either enable (left) or disable.
Don't try and connect your IDE CD-ROM drive to this sound card - it's doesn't have an IDE interface.
CODEC ADDR & CDROM ADDR (normally something like 300h) I would keep as is (most pictures I've seen has it jumpered like yours).
BeginnerGuy wrote:Other jumpers on the top of the card are:
PC SPK (connect PC speaker header to mainboard I presume, not using this)
J1 (two pins […] Show full quote
Other jumpers on the top of the card are:
PC SPK (connect PC speaker header to mainboard I presume, not using this)
J1 (two pins, no idea what its for - currently closed)
JX1 (three pins, no idea - pins 0 and 1 shorted)
SPK1 (four pins - guessing this is PC speaker output)
PC SPK is to connect to the mainboard (bypassing the onboard case speaker).
J1 is your speaker amplification jumper (open for low amplification and close for high amplification).
JX1 is your normally your microphone selector - pins 1-2 is for condenser mic & pins 2-3 is carbon mic. Keep as is.
In the top left corner there is also a jumper selection - looks like it has something to do with the Mitsumi drive?
Back in the day I bought an Aztech multimedia kit, Aztech card, little later than this one, with some PnP features, IDE interface and 4x CDROM... The box of that promised all sorts of things, "Sound Galaxy" "DSS" "Covox" etc, but included instructions and drivers only seemed to do Microsoft Sound System and SB Pro 2 emulation, which is about all I ever used on it, plus whatever midi or FM detected.
I tried the PC SPK hookup, and nearly got blown off my chair by the first system beep... unhooked it again.
Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.
Only the 1st generation of Aztech sound cards, that utilised the AZTSSPT0592-U01 chipset, supported the Covox Speech Thing/Disney Sound Source.
If your card was Plug 'n Play, then it would have utilised the AZT-2320 chipset (which was the 4th generation).
None of these ever supported the Covox Speech Thing/Disney Sound Source.
Oh I see, yeah I had the suspicion that the box was used for different models. I am not sure if I still have it or not, when it turns up will have to check chipset and look into it more. I should have kept it because it was part of my "current" machine when I moved to Canada way back, but who knows. I also remember a different one, nearly full height, but short. Not sure if that was here or not.
Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.
I have an Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro that has the Covox Speech Thing and Disney Sound Source with a genuine Yamaha YMF-262M (OPL3) chipset and Sound Blaster Pro compatible with the GamePort/MIDI port (MIDI only works in Windows, but SG2.exe does play nicely with it).
I have an Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro that has the Covox Speech Thing and Disney Sound Source with a genuine Yamaha YMF-262M (OPL3) chipset and Sound Blaster Pro compatible with the GamePort/MIDI port (MIDI only works in Windows, but SG2.exe does play nicely with it).
The NX Pro has the same MIDI interface as the original Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro (i.e., it is not MPU-401 UART compatible). Practically all DOS games (and other applications under DOS) will "look" for an MPU-401 MIDI interface. Under Windows, this doesn't matter, since the Windows driver takes care of this.
You could try SoftMPU with the /OUTPUT:SBMIDI switch.
I have an Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro that has the Covox Speech Thing and Disney Sound Source with a genuine Yamaha YMF-262M (OPL3) chipset and Sound Blaster Pro compatible with the GamePort/MIDI port (MIDI only works in Windows, but SG2.exe does play nicely with it).
The NX Pro has the same MIDI interface as the original Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro (i.e., it is not MPU-401 UART compatible). Practically all DOS games (and other applications under DOS) will "look" for an MPU-401 MIDI interface. Under Windows, this doesn't matter, since the Windows driver takes care of this.
You could try SoftMPU with the /OUTPUT:SBMIDI switch.
I did try that at one point in time, but it only outputs to the Music Quest MPU-401 card, which sounds like either a conflict, or requires just only the sound card instead of pairing it with the Music Quest MPU-401 card. I did test GSPlay (MIDI player that shows the instruments and notes) with the SC-55, and it did work out of the blue easily.
If you already have a Music Quest MPU-401, then you don't have to worry about having to output MIDI via the sound card. The Music Quest MPU-401 is an intelligent MPU-401 MIDI interface anyway, which is much better than the UART mode MPU-401 MIDI interfaces that you normally find on most sound cards.
