Re: MUNT and Windows 98, questions about it all

Posted on 2024-12-30, 11:20

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by sfryers

in MT-32 General

in MT-32 General

Yes, the MT-32 is a MIDI-controlled external sound module. The controlling computer simply sends a series of simple digital instructions over the MIDI connection, which tell the MT-32 which sounds to use, and when to start and stop playing each note. The MT-32 interprets the MIDI instructions and …

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Re: How did I do?

Posted on 2024-12-14, 13:46

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by sfryers

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

It *could* be the cache on the PIII SL4MB and SL52P chips in the motherboard. (BTW, if I am to use only one PIII for testing purposes I understand I need to put a terminator in the unused 370 socket, is that right? I do not own one of these) I'd suggest either trying to find a S370 terminator for …

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Re: Moments in computing history when you felt that the future had arrived

Posted on 2024-12-04, 20:08

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by sfryers

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Several people have already said 3dfx, but that was absolutely my computing 'wow' moment too. Specifically- sometime in late 1998, installing the Voodoo2 card that I'd been saving up for, and running Need for Speed 3 in Glide mode for the first time. A jaw-dropping experience that was …

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Re: 3DFX Mini-ITX Build

Posted on 2024-11-30, 09:32

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by sfryers

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

The hp thin clients like the...?t5720? have itx motherboards, and a 1000mhz athlon will crush every Epia ever made. True, pretty much any socket A CPU has more than twice the clock-for-clock performance of a VIA C3, and the low power Geode variants will help avoid any thermal issues in a mini-PC. …

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Re: 3DFX Mini-ITX Build

Posted on 2024-11-29, 20:10

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by sfryers

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

post pics please :) I've actually got two of these. Not sure what the model numbers are, but they're more of a thin client-style form factor than the squarer Shuttle/HTPC-style design. One houses the 3dfx build using a case I originally bought to use as a mini-NAS in the mid-2000s. I found the …

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Re: 3DFX Mini-ITX Build

Posted on 2024-11-29, 18:10

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by sfryers

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Very nice build- looks like that Banshee only just fits! Does the Banshee get hot in there or is the perforated case sufficient to cool it? I've got a similar VIA C3-based 3dfx system in an old Morex mini-ITX case which I keep meaning to get around to documenting on here. My case has the PCI slot …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-19, 23:14

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-19, 20:04: My next endevour now is figuring out how to boot CDs from image files in DOS. For mounting ISO files in DOS, I've found the SHSUCD utility package to be very useful.

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-19, 19:29

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-19, 18:01: But thank you for the suggestion. I’ve disabled the Yamaha device AND the joystick game pad device, and the error icon has gone! Rebooting Windows again - the error didn’t pop up. 😁 Glad to see you're making progress!

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-19, 17:37

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

At this point, I'd try removing the ISA sound card and see if that helps at all. Do you have any PCI cards, such as hard drive/SCSI controllers installed? Other than that, I can't think what would be using the DMA channels. EDIT- you may want to try disabling the Yamaha sound card in Device Manager …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 21:39

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

wait a moment are you using dos version 4.X? sounds very adventurous indeed! I believe so. I typed in VERSION whilst in DOS. It did say Windows 98 first, but I figured that is indeed the version. That's actually the Windows version- the last 'optional' version of Windows was 3.11. Windows 95, 98, …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 21:34

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

Do you mean the SB PCI driver version or the DOS version? A different version of the sound drivers may produce a different outcome, but Creative drivers can be notoriously finicky about which hardware they work with. If you're using Windows 98, then you've essentially got the last version of DOS as …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 19:33

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

My head hurts. I'm not surprised, you're definitely getting an authentic late-DOS user experience! A time when device manufacturers were starting to treat DOS compatibility as an afterthought, and also coming up with 'helpful' Windows-based driver add-ons that tried to do all the difficult work of …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 19:19

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

My head hurts. I'm not surprised, you're definitely getting an authentic late-DOS user experience! A time when device manufacturers were starting to treat DOS compatibility as an afterthought, and also coming up with 'helpful' Windows-based driver add-ons that tried to do all the difficult work of …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 18:34

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

I think the SBPCI environment variable is supposed to indicate the folder where the SBPCI driver files are stored, so if you have them in C:\DOSDRV, then the line in autoexec.bat should probably say SET SBPCI=C:\DOSDRV instead. I can't see anything else that looks incorrect.

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 17:23

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

You could try putting the commands into a new batch file, maybe C:\SBPCI.BAT, and then running that after booting into DOS. I'm not exactly sure why it's complaining about the SBPCI environment variable not being set though, especially if it's in there twice!

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 15:51

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

I'm not sure exactly what's altering your autoexec.bat file (probably something to do with the Windows 98 drivers), but if you add the SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4 , SET SBPCI=C:\SBPCI and SBINIT.COM lines back into autoexec.bat, then save the file, you can make it read-only by typing the following …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-17, 09:43

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

If your Soundblaster PCI is working correctly in Windows, then it'll hopefully have created a folder C:\SBPCI, which contains all the DOS drivers you need. If not, you can find them in the Vogons drivers library. In there, you should find: SBLEGACY.EXE - run this, and it'll tell you whether the …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-16, 19:16

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

Whilst the Windows 98 boot floppy is pretty effective at configuring optical drives, its only real purpose is to do just that in order to allow the main CD-ROM based installer to run. The boot floppy doesn't attempt to load memory management or mouse drivers. You've proven that your CD drive does …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-16, 18:35

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

MSCDEX doesn't need you to tell it what drive letter your CD-ROM is going to use, it'll just take the next available letter that's not being used by your hard drives. Use MSCDEX /D:OPTICAL to specify the device name. The /E parameter has a different purpose- it tells MSCDEX to use expanded memory. …

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Re: Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Posted on 2024-11-16, 17:36

by

by sfryers

in DOS

in DOS

MSCDEX doesn't need you to tell it what drive letter your CD-ROM is going to use, it'll just take the next available letter that's not being used by your hard drives. Use MSCDEX /D:OPTICAL to specify the device name. The /E parameter has a different purpose- it tells MSCDEX to use expanded memory.

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