Could you please give us more information about the computer you're using it in?
Info that will help as: What motherboard (a model number is greatly appreciated! 😁), what other components like if you happen to be using another soundcard, what OS are you running? (I presume it's DOS??).

And welcome to Vogons!! Please try to remain calm in case of an emergency and enjoy your flight ;D

Edit:One hint I can give you though, I've managed to "repair" "dead" hardware by cleaning the (golden) contacts with a paper towel with a little rubbing alcohol on it. I've also heard that a pencil eraser is similarly effective 😉
I've rezzed memory modules, Slot 1 CPU's and even graphics cards that way 😉

KubaCZ912 wrote:

Thanks for any help and sorry for my lame english. 😀

Where are you located?

As Tetrium says, cleaning the contacts is a good idea. I had 2 GUS cards that could not be detected, and cleaning the contacts made them work again. A pencil eraser does work very well.

The GUS has a good software set up "init" program, where you can test IRQs and DMAs. Are you using this set up program to determine that your GUS settings are compatible with your current PC configuration?

Thanks for response!

Sorry for not writting details, here they are: Compaq DESKPRO 4/100.. 486/DX4 at 100mhz, ALS100+ (SB16pnp clone), S3 VirgeDX, DOS 6.22.

I think it's not caused by motherboard or other cards, because I've tried it on second computer and result is totally same 😒 (Celeron 500, board: BXCEL PC100)

Will try cleaning it, hope it will help.

And I live in Czech Republic, and I'm just 15 years old.. yes, it's weird that i'm interested in old computers 😉

KubaCZ912 wrote:

Thanks for response! […]
Show full quote

Thanks for response!

Sorry for not writting details, here they are: Compaq DESKPRO 4/100.. 486/DX4 at 100mhz, ALS100+ (SB16pnp clone), S3 VirgeDX, DOS 6.22.

I think it's not caused by motherboard or other cards, because I've tried it on second computer and result is totally same 😒 (Celeron 500, board: BXCEL PC100)

Will try cleaning it, hope it will help.

And I live in Czech Republic, and I'm just 15 years old.. yes, it's weird that i'm interested in old computers 😉

Well, you certainly don't sound like a 15 year old! 😉

Btw, I think your Celeron 500 motherboard may have been build by PC Chips. If it has such a chipset (probably with orange heatsink with BXCel on it) and no model number. chances are good it's PC Chips. So if you have problems with your Celeron 500 rig, it's probably the motherboard 😜 😜 😜

Btw, at the bottom of my post theres a link to a thread with LOTS of good reading for people new to retro computing...though you sound like you're not so new to retro computing 😜

Cleaning didn't help 🙁

Still blinking cursor when detecting card through install disks.

Yes, that Celeron 500 'rig' ( 😁 ) is very very crappy, I've built it just for testing the GUS.

Another thing you might want to check is whether the other jumpers are still correctly configured. I think they should be like | : | : , where the | means that you should put a jumper there. Furthermore, although it doesn't look like other cards are causing trouble, it might help to remove them for a while or try putting the GUS in another slot. I remember having such problems with my GUS MAX as well and sometimes it helped.

KubaCZ912 wrote:

And I live in Czech Republic, and I'm just 15 years old.. yes, it's weird that i'm interested in old computers 😉

Not weird at all, I was your age as well when I started my retro computer collection some 5 years ago. 😀 Hmmmm, then again, I'm not sure whether that disproves anything... Let's just say there are more people like you. 😜

Try to remove other hardware and reset CMOS, then make clean setup of UltraSound. After that, return back all other cards.

Removed all hardware and reseted CMOS, but still blinking cursor... 🙁

All jumpers (except base adress) are | : | : so that's okay...

I've also tryied to remove memory banks, but result is same 😒

Did you try to reinstall GUS software after «cleaning up» your PC from other cards?

Yes, after removing all cards (except graphics card) and disabling ports in bios.

What about other addresses? I mean, did you try to set another base address on clean system and after that redetect GUS with setup program?

Also try to play with BIOS options, like «Assign DMA/IRQ to ISA...», «Delayed transaction» etc.

If all of this don't help you, then I recommend you to check GF1 chip on any working UltraSound (including GF1-clones).

Yes, I've tried all possible adresses with clean setup.

I think this BIOS doesn't support assigning DMA/IRQ etc, becauce it's pretty old, but I'll look again.

I wish to have other GUS or clone, they're hard to get here 🙁

One of my classic GUS cards had the same symptoms (drivers wouldn't initialize the card). I revived it by removing the GF1 chip from the socket and cleaning the contacts. If you want to try that, be very careful though. The chip sits firmly in the socket, which is likely to have become brittle with age. You will need to find tools to lever the chip out of the socket.

Also, look out for more contact problems on the card. Despite boasting being made in Canada, the build quality looks more like Soviet Russia on some models (and it's not because of the red PCB 😉).

5u3 wrote:

Despite boasting being made in Canada, the build quality looks more like Soviet Russia on some models (and it's not because of the red PCB 😉).

🤣 I had similar thoughts, one of mine looks especially cheap, think it's the gus max.

I noticed the GF1 chip looked removable on mine as well! Were those upgradeable or being planned on as an upgrade at one point? I don't think I've ever seen a sound card with a removable socket like that until I got mine.

PCB looks clean and there are no scratches on it. I've took out the GF1 and cleaned it, inserted back but result is still same... 🙁

Can you upload photo (or scan) of your GUS in high resolution? If card was successfully detected earlier and our hints don't help, then most likely you have damaged it.

Also check all capacitors, try to shake them very slightly in direction «from leg to leg». Probably they have dried up or were broken when you install/remove GUS.

I had similar problem about ten years ago, but unfortunately I don't remember how I solved it. Anyway, now this card works fine, so there is chance to resurrect yours GUS. )

KubaCZ912 wrote:

PCB looks clean and there are no scratches on it. I've took out the GF1 and cleaned it, inserted back but result is still same... 🙁

Maybe you had ESDed you card?? Always take care with your parts if you put them in you computer.. first discharge your self before working on computers..

Well here are the pictures:

http://032.img98.net/out.php/i400137_back.jpg - back

http://032.img98.net/out.php/i400135_front1.jpg - front 1

http://032.img98.net/out.php/i400136_front2.jpg - front 2