What a dummy.

The Function keys with volume control work in dos. 🤣

Would you mind giving me some instructions about how can I configure my 600x for sound?
So far, I'm completely out of luck...

No problem.

You need the CS4624 drivers, which work for Win3.1/95/98, but also include a DOS initialisation part.

However, if you don't install them via Windows, then a crucial initialisation data file is NOT generated and the DSP won't work.
Fortunately, some clever guy (https://flaterco.com/kb/audio/PCI/index.html#CS4624) worked out that the this data file contains only 6 bytes of data, and I recreated it with a hex editor.

The main drivers (of which you only use 3 small files for DOS) are in an archive named "PV2885.zip". You should be able to find it easily enough.

The missing data file I will add as an attachment. Then all you need to do, from the directory you unpack the archive and drop the data file from your autoexec.bat is:

1REM ############### CIRRUS AUDIO #############
2LH C:\DRIVERS\CIRRUS\CWCDOS /P
3SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4

In the example above, you need to have the data file CWCAUDIO.WCM that I'll include below.

Here's the hexeditor created data file. My guess is that it's either some basic bootstrap code for the DSP, or something like the 'SEGA' cartridge unlock code.

Incidentally, the CS4624 DSP has quite a reasonable sounding wavetable soft synth part in Windows included as part of the basic driver pack (PV2885.zip). It's not exactly up to the virtual Roland synth or anything like that, but if you've got nothing else, it isn't bad.

Alas, hit a bit of an issue.

I can either enable the PCMCIA services and the SCP-55, or I can initialise the CS4624 audio. As soon as the Cardsoft services are loaded the cwcaudio.exe utility refuses to load and just hangs.

Damn, there goes my idea for SC/GM and SB support 🙁

Okay, confirmed. Regardless of UMB status, devices loaded high or low, as soon as the cardsoft "CS.SYS" is loaded, the cs4624 tool no longer runs.

Every other cardsoft driver can be loaded, but that particular one (the main card services driver) stops it dead in its tracks. What a huge blow, and it means that this laptop is pretty much useless to me now.

megatron-uk wrote:

Here's the hexeditor created data file. My guess is that it's either some basic bootstrap code for the DSP, or something like the 'SEGA' cartridge unlock code.

Amazing! Thank you for the support. Now I can finally play DOOM and GODS with sound.
As for gods, not close to the Amiga, but, way better than the PC Speaker.

*PS* What do you mean by "enabling the pcmcia services"?

All the Best,

I have a Roland SCP-55; it's a Sound Canvas midi module on a PCMCIA card. There are DOS drivers for both the PCMCIA sockets on the 600X, as well as the SCP-55.

I can load the drivers for the PCMCIA and the Roland card works (with glorious sounding music), but at that point the CS4624 will no longer initialise; therefore no effects and Adblib/FM in games.

Since I bought the 600X as a mobile DOS gaming platform, that choice (FM+SB Pro _OR_ GM/Sound Canvas) leaves me with a system that doesn't do what I wanted it to do 🙁

I can't remember if the SCP-55 need sCard Services loaded or if it works with only the Socket Serices driver...
Could you post the contents of your config.sys and autoexec.bat files?

megatron-uk wrote on 2018-09-10, 10:34:

I have a Roland SCP-55; it's a Sound Canvas midi module on a PCMCIA card. There are DOS drivers for both the PCMCIA sockets on the 600X, as well as the SCP-55.

I can load the drivers for the PCMCIA and the Roland card works (with glorious sounding music), but at that point the CS4624 will no longer initialise; therefore no effects and Adblib/FM in games.

Since I bought the 600X as a mobile DOS gaming platform, that choice (FM+SB Pro _OR_ GM/Sound Canvas) leaves me with a system that doesn't do what I wanted it to do 🙁

Do you have solve this problem, same story for me but with a joystick PCMCIA card, I suspect the Crystal 4624 TSR in DOS reserve the PORT 201 for internal joystick but it's crazy because it's a laptop and it haven't any midi port inside on my A22p, and I haven't find any INFORMATION or command line for disable midi/gameport internal loaded by the TSR of Crystal. Aaaaahhh IBM......

Wow, blast from the past.

No. I was never able to get pcmcia and the crystal audio device to work at the same time. Meaning I was left with either SB Pro audio OR GM/GS midi, but not both at the same time.

I still have the 600x and the scp-55, but they haven't been tested for some time.

Guigui59210 wrote on 2024-04-05, 19:50:

megatron-uk wrote on 2018-09-10, 10:34:

I have a Roland SCP-55; it's a Sound Canvas midi module on a PCMCIA card. There are DOS drivers for both the PCMCIA sockets on the 600X, as well as the SCP-55.

I can load the drivers for the PCMCIA and the Roland card works (with glorious sounding music), but at that point the CS4624 will no longer initialise; therefore no effects and Adblib/FM in games.

Since I bought the 600X as a mobile DOS gaming platform, that choice (FM+SB Pro _OR_ GM/Sound Canvas) leaves me with a system that doesn't do what I wanted it to do 🙁

Do you have solve this problem, same story for me but with a joystick PCMCIA card, I suspect the Crystal 4624 TSR in DOS reserve the PORT 201 for internal joystick but it's crazy because it's a laptop and it haven't any midi port inside on my A22p, and I haven't find any INFORMATION or command line for disable midi/gameport internal loaded by the TSR of Crystal. Aaaaahhh IBM......

There is a way to exclude certain ports so that they are not reserved by pcmcia drivers.
Maybe this helps Roland SCP-55 SCPENA.EXE clobbers joystick port

The problem is that I want to activate the Gameport PCMCIA card with port 201 but my TSR Crystal reserves this port as soon as it is activated for my CS4624 on my IBM A22p, and I have not found any command line to deactivate the joystick of this TSR, the consequence is that when the TSR CS4624 is activated and my Cardsoft PCMCIA drivers are activated as well as my PCMCIA JY-PCM card loaded I CANNOT activate the joystick of my PCMCIA Gameport card, this creates a complete blockage of the system. If the TSR CS4624 is not loaded, no problem but no sound from the laptop....

I have finally been able to follow up on this and can confirm that I am now able to get the CS4624 and the Roland SCP-55 midi card working at the same time.

The trick was indeed the linked post several messages back - using DICRMU01.SYS to exclude joystick port ranges from the PCMCIA services.

It looks like both the CS4624 and the Roland card both want to fight over that range (odd, since there is no joystick port present... perhaps it's a legacy setup from the device driver being used from something which did expose it).

Anyway, if you junk the fat Cardsoft services PCMCIA drivers and instead use pctpiwds.exe (https://thinkpads.com/support/Thinkpad-Driver … pccbbs/mobiles/), it expands to:

IBMDOSCS.SYS
IBMDSS14.SYS
DICRMU01.SYS

A sample config.sys is included:

DEVICEHIGH=A:\PCCARD\IBMDSS14.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=A:\PCCARD\IBMDOSCS.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=A:\PCCARD\DICRMU01.SYS /MA=D000-D7FF /SH=1 /IX=5,10,11,15

If you edit the DICRMU01.SYS line to exclude the 0x200-0x201 range, then both devices work:

DEVICEHIGH=A:\PCCARD\DICRMU01.SYS /MA=D000-D7FF /SH=1 /IX=5,10,11,15 /PX=200-201

SCPENA.EXE works correctly, and the SCP-55 initialises correctly, and CWCDOS.EXE no longer hangs. This potentially makes the 600(e, x) into a quite formidable DOS gaming device (FM synth performance notwithstanding).

My last task is tracking down some sort of mixer for the CS4624 to tweak digital/fm/line in/mic-in volume.

I'm currently trying to enable line-in on the CS4624 on the Thinkpad 600X in order to mix the SCP-55 midi with the onboard SB Pro-compatible output.

I've tried all sorts of DOS mixer tools, and I just can't get the SCP-55 audio to be enabled via linein. The Roland *is* playing (I have the simple SCP-55 to 3.5mm breakout cable, and with headphones plugged in it's perfect).

Is there a chance that the mic and line-in jacks are *only* wired to the AC97 audio codec, rather than the CS4624? This is one of the early Thinkpads which has both AC97 and discrete PCI audio chips....

If I can't mix the audio via line-in, then I'm going to have to have an external passive mixer and something like clip-on speakers to achieve what I want.