Problem with ESS AudioDrive ES1868F \ VOGONS

Problem with ESS AudioDrive ES1868F

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First post, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-12, 07:16

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Hello friends

I'm the middle of building a retro pc and i stumbled upon some sound issues.

My system as of right now is a p3 866mhz on a esc p6-vaa motherboard with AGP PCI and ISA slots.

After some tinkering i got the ISA ES1868F to work under dos and windows 98, but there's a weird issue with the sound, everything sounds as if it's played at half speed and one octave lower, this is especially noticeable in wav files and game sound effects (not sure if it's happening with midi too cause i don't have something to compare it to right now).

It's the same deal under dos 6.22, and on win98. I've tried different IRQ and DMA settings under dos, different drivers under windows98, different isa slot, different bios version and i'm now out of ideas... Either the sound card it's self has a problem or I'm missing something quite obvious.

What should i do? my budget is VERY limited so i can't just go and buy a awe64 isa and be done with it.
Should i go the PCI route?
i'm open to suggestions.

Reply 1 of 16, by kolderman

Posted on 2019-09-12, 07:29

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Does everything else perform normally at right speed? Just sound has issues? Trying with any other soundcard, pci or isa, would be a good check.

Reply 2 of 16, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-12, 07:33

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yea the rest of the system is running very well, i don't have another sound card atm unfortunately (nor another system to test the same sound card on) , I'm wondering if i can save the situation as is right now.

Reply 3 of 16, by kolderman

Posted on 2019-09-12, 07:42

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Can you try opl sound...like an early dos game select adlib. If it's ok then maybe a dma conflict is preventing normal playback of digital sound.

Reply 4 of 16, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-12, 07:45

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kolderman wrote:
Can you try opl sound...like an early dos game select adlib. If it's ok then maybe a dma conflict is preventing normal playback of digital sound.

i'm not sure what opl was to do with playing wave files? and if it was a dma thing i would guess i wouldn't get sound at all... dunno

Reply 5 of 16, by kolderman

Posted on 2019-09-12, 07:54

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It's about trying to narrow down the problem. And DMA conflicts can slow down transfer of digital samples.

Reply 6 of 16, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-12, 10:37

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Well here's what i see, there's a "NA" DMA on the isa device listing. No matter what i try in the bios i can't get it to register a DMA there, not sure if that's how it's supposed to be or that's a problem.

Reply 7 of 16, by kolderman

Posted on 2019-09-12, 11:26

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There's two listings, probably for the mpu401 and the codec. I'd still like to know how the adlib sound sounds. The mpu does not need DMA.

Reply 8 of 16, by Tiido

Posted on 2019-09-12, 17:47

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It is probably a bad crystal that causes the problem of everything being lower pitched.

T-04YBSC, a new YMF71x based sound card & Official VOGONS thread about it
Newly made 4MB 60ns 30pin SIMMs ~
mida sa loed ? nagunii aru ei saa 😜

Reply 9 of 16, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-12, 18:40

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That was my suspicion as well but i don't see such a crystal on the board, I'm no expert though. But if there is one is it replaceable?

Reply 10 of 16, by Tiido

Posted on 2019-09-12, 19:27

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If there's none it most likely uses 14.31818MHz clock from the ISA slot and chances are it isn't at correct freq, the card is fine but motherboard is at fault instead.

T-04YBSC, a new YMF71x based sound card & Official VOGONS thread about it
Newly made 4MB 60ns 30pin SIMMs ~
mida sa loed ? nagunii aru ei saa 😜

Reply 11 of 16, by keropi

Posted on 2019-09-12, 19:35

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are you in GR infernalgr? most likely I have a 1868F card I can just send you - I am not using them anyways

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 12 of 16, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-12, 20:23

infernalgr Offline

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keropi wrote:
are you in GR infernalgr? most likely I have a 1868F card I can just send you - I am not using them anyways

yes i am, that's very generous man thank you! where from?

Reply 13 of 16, by keropi

Posted on 2019-09-12, 20:24

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let me check tomorrow what I have at hand
I am located in Ioannina

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 14 of 16, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-12, 20:26

infernalgr Offline

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keropi wrote:
let me check tomorrow what I have at hand
I am located in Ioannina

Cool! i'm in Xanthi, let me know!

Reply 15 of 16, by keropi

Posted on 2019-09-13, 10:31

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turns out the cards are Avance Logic ALS100+ ones... no idea about them tbh if you want one I can still send it over

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 16 of 16, by infernalgr

Posted on 2019-09-13, 19:30

infernalgr Offline

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That's very generous of you mate but i think i'm gonna wait until another 1868 appears, or maybe save up for a awe64 gold.

thank you again

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