ndstudio wrote on 2025-11-27, 21:38:

Hey all, […]
Show full quote

Hey all,

I've got a Terratec Promedia TTSOLO1-N Ver1.1 PCI (es1938s) sound card that I'm having trouble getting wavetable header audio working. I have a few wavetable header cards both from serdashop, the WP32 McCake and the X2GS TE.

Originally I had issues getting the card to even work which required reinstalling Windows 98 SE and using the Windows ME version drivers 5.12.01.3047 found here ESS 1938 under DOS This cleared up most of my issues however the wavetable header still has no sound.

I can see that when using the MPU-401 and playing a midi track the WP32 McCake lights up and the front panel screen shows that its playing audio. But, in Windows 98 I don't hear anything... I've tried researching potential solutions but I can't seem to crack this one. Does anyone have advice on getting the audio out of the wavetable header working in Windows 98 with a solo-1 card?

Thanks!

Try this: go to Control Panel > Add New Hardware > press Next, Next, Next... Once the detection is finished, check Details. You should see MPU-401 Compatible, then just press Finish. Check the Device Manager that you can see it there, activate it through Control Panel > Multimedia > Midi

I have 1938s and for me works older and newer drivers, but i dont have any wavetable module.

1149 maybe does not work for you, but dr.zeissler had luck with it his wavetable module.
the driver phil recommends kills my wavetable-module, so I am alwas using 1149 driver on win9x.
Re: ESS 1938 under DOS

Hey khyypio, when I try to add new hardware the add new hardware wizard does not show anything. It only says, "Windows has finished detecting hardware, but did not find any new device on your system. To manually install a specific device, click next." Clicking next shows a list of hardware to add but I am not able to find anything regarding the MPU-401

marxveix, I tried installing all of the drivers but only the 1126 had very limited success but still no audio from the wavetable header.

I have reverted back to the previous 5.12.01.3047 Heres a screenshot of various properties to help give a better idea of what I have going on. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=231861

ndstudio wrote on 2025-11-27, 21:38:

I can see that when using the MPU-401 and playing a midi track the WP32 McCake lights up and the front panel screen shows that its playing audio. But, in Windows 98 I don't hear anything...
Thanks!

You are saying it appears to be working but there is no sound output? You probably need to add the additional mixer sliders using the options menu. On my ES1869 a slider called "AuxB" controls the wavetable header volume and it's hidden by default.

Hey NeoG_,

I wish it were that simple, I keep checking the volume control properties to see if the AuxB appears when I install different drivers. But, every time I check it shows the same slider options.

Heres a photo of my volume control properties.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=231890

ndstudio wrote on 2025-11-28, 16:34:

Hey NeoG_, […]
Show full quote

Hey NeoG_,

I wish it were that simple, I keep checking the volume control properties to see if the AuxB appears when I install different drivers. But, every time I check it shows the same slider options.

Heres a photo of my volume control properties.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=231890

Looks like you already have it there. Sometimes the volume control for MIDI might work under a different name, enable all of them in the volume control panel, then play passport.mid, canyon.mid or whatever MIDI track and test all those volume sliders. Also, you have a bunch of unidentified PCI stuff in the device manager, it could also contribute to this issue so install drivers for all of them.

khyypio wrote on Yesterday, 08:42:

Looks like you already have it there. Sometimes the volume control for MIDI might work under a different name, enable all of them in the volume control panel, then play passport.mid, canyon.mid or whatever MIDI track and test all those volume sliders. Also, you have a bunch of unidentified PCI stuff in the device manager, it could also contribute to this issue so install drivers for all of them.

All volume controls are active. When I play a midi file the MPU-401 does not playback any sound. The other two (ESFM Synthesizer, Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth) have sound and play great. The Midi slider controls those two but when I switch to the MPE-401 I don't hear anything. Again the issue is that the wavetable header does not seem to produce sound like the other two. I am not sure if this is a hardware issue with this specific card or if this is a software / drivers issue.

One thing to note, my installation of Windows 98 SE is from the Quickinstall. I have noticed that many applications and preferences are missing probably due to this being the Quickinstall. I have tried many times to install Windows 98 SE via the standard boot disk but every time I try booting after the installation I get the safe mode screen. Could the Quickinstall be the issue? Does it omit important sound drivers and preferences needed for AuxB / Wavetable playback?

Last note, when I use the Chill&Phil Wavetable Header adapter and use the audio out and route that into the ESS Solo-1 audio input then I get sound from the Wavetable card. So the MPU-401 is sending midi messages just fine. I am kind of tempted to solder wires from the header pins to one of the CD-Audio sockets on the ESS Solo-1. I know that would work because I know midi is being transmitted. Albeit I'd rather get this working the way it was intended.

Getting the AuxB slider to appear is the key to getting the wavetable header working, since that is the hardware volume control for the wavetable header line. But unfortunately I'm not sure how to make that happen besides trying different drivers which you have already done.

There was another thread on here for someone that was having the same issue, and they said that initializing the card in DOS and playing with the DOS mixer settings made it work but they also said the AuxB slider always appeared in their win98 volume control panel from the start. It's almost like the driver is reading some kind of register from the card and intentionally removing the additional volume slider.

Patching the audio from the header pins to a CD input socket would do the job if you had to because CD/AuxA is available in the mixer. You can use a couple of small wires on the back of the card (ground is usually common) from the WT header to the CD socket solder points. I've done similar re-routing on the back of an SB-Live card to redirect the mic jack on the back of the card to the internal AUX socket to create a second stereo input on the rear panel.