SB 2.0 in Win 3.1: MIDI but no WAV output \ VOGONS

SB 2.0 in Win 3.1: MIDI but no WAV output

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First post, by chickenpee

Posted on 2018-06-15, 06:51

chickenpee Offline

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Posts: 17
Joined: 2017-03-18, 13:28

I am trying to get the Sound Blaster 2.0 drivers to work in Windows 3.1 under Dosbox, and am running into a problem. All sound works fine in general DOS applications. But once I start Windows 3.1, I can get MIDI but no WAV output. It insists that I have no sound driver installed.

I have the drivers installed in C:\SB, and the install program added the necessary files to my WINDOWS directory. Here are the relevant sections of my .conf file, WIN.BAT and SYSTEM.INI, respectively:

1sbtype=sb2
2sbbase=220
3irq=7
4dma=1
5hdma=5
6sbmixer=true
7oplmode=auto
8oplemu=default
9oplrate=44100
10
11@c:\windows\smartdrv.exe
12@lh devlod C:\SB\DRV\CTSB2.SYS /UNIT=0 /BLASTER=A:220 I:7 D:1
13@lh devlod C:\SB\DRV\CTMMSYS.SYS
14@SET SOUND=C:\SB
15@SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1
16@SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E
17@c:\windows\win
18
19Midi=sbfm.drv
20Midi1=sb20snd.drv
21Wave=sb20snd.drv

I have verified that the Wave/MIDI driver in Control Panel is set to the correct address, IRQ and DMA. One clue is that when I run DIAGNOSE, the low DMA channel is failing. Is that the problem, or is it something else? What can I do?

Reply 1 of 3, by keropi

Posted on 2018-06-15, 08:49

keropi Offline

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I seem to remember that I could not get SB2.0 to work with 3.1 with a 286 pc - only when I installed a 386sx upgrade the driver worked for me.
The driver definitely has some issues/bugs IMHO.

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Reply 2 of 3, by chickenpee

Posted on 2018-06-15, 14:24

chickenpee Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 17
Joined: 2017-03-18, 13:28

That might be it, but I am also having trouble after installing the SB Pro 1330 drivers from Vogons (setting sound to SBPRO and the type to sbpro1 in .conf) Is this expected too? It may seem strange that I'm asking, but I greatly prefer the sound from the cards earlier than SB16, so that's why I'm trying to get one of them to work.

Reply 3 of 3, by ripsaw8080

Posted on 2018-06-15, 15:47

ripsaw8080 Offline

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Device drivers (.SYS) don't really work in DOSBox unless you're booting real DOS. Interrupt handlers installed by a driver will probably work, but stuff related to the device chain (character device names) and associated I/O functions won't work. So, if the Windows drivers rely on the DOS drivers then that may be what causes the problem.

That said, in DOSBox the difference in sound quality is probably not what you imagine. There is no emulation of noise or filtering characteristics of the various SB models. Sample rate and sample size tend to be the only significant difference, and the SB16 has advantages in that regard.

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