That is convenient. au30dos.zip from this old topic should work in DOS, when it is a vortex 2. This particular Vortex 2 card was actually designed by Turtle Beach instead of Dell, and it is known as the "Montego II". For Windows: Just Google "Montego II drivers" or use the Aureal Vortex 2 reference drivers.

Alright, i'll try that when I get home. How should I go about installing the driver, I downloaded the file and it talks about installing directx 6 and windows 9x, I don't have any windows installed at all, should I just do "set inifiledir=c:\au30dos" then run Au30dos?

yeah, but in that case all the files from au30dos.zip should reside in the folder c:\au30dos.

Alright, i've opened it up, and the chip itself is only marked as vortex AU8830A2, not vortex 2. I thought it was the same as the ebay card as all the silk screening is the same, even down to the turtle beech logo on the back. Are there still any driver options?

AU8830 is Vortex 2, AU8820 is the original Vortex.

alexanrs wrote:

AU8830 is Vortex 2, AU8820 is the original Vortex.

Alright, I wasn't sure, most the pictures I've seen of AU8830's say Vortex 2, but this card just has "Vortex" printed next to the aureal logo

alright, I tried installing the drivers, and everything seemed to work fine but when I tried running the crystal dream demo I couldn't get any sound, I used soundblaster pro mode with 10, 20, and 30khz playback

Here's my experience trying to get a Vortex 2 to run in real DOS mode.

Re: A Voodoo 3, Vortex 2, Slot 1 based Glide machine

All that is required for the AU30DOS.com is this in the AutoExec.bat file:
SET WINBOOTDIR=C:\AU30DOS\
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H3 P330 T4

Then run AU30DOS.com and it should work.
If you need to update your AU30DOS.ini you can try with my settings:

1[AU30DOS.COM]
2MPU401External=0
3ModemBase=0x000
4ModemIRQ=0x0
5JoystickBase=0x201
6MPU401Base=0x330
7SBFMBase=0x220
8FMBase=0x388
9SBFMDMA=0x3
10SBFMDMA2=0x1
11SBFMIRQ=0x5
12PCIIRQ=0xA
13CPUSpeed=0x3E9
14Reserved2=0x00
15Reserved1=0x00
16mixer_master=0x00
17mixer_phone=0x00
18mixer_mic=0x00
19mixer_line=0x00
20mixer_cd=0x00
21mixer_aux=0x00
22Reserved4=0x00
23Reserved3=0x00
24Reserved2=0x00
25Reserved1=0x00
26string_prod=Vortex PCI Multifunction Platform
27string_ven1=Aureal Semiconductor
28string_ven2=(c)1997 Aureal Semiconductor, Inc. Fremont, CA
29string_err1=Error: Run Windows 95 to set configuration
30string_err2=Error: Could not find a PCI BIOS
31string_err3=Error: Could not locate Vortex device
32string_err4=Error: Could not enable Vortex system
33string_err5=Error: An unexpected error has occurred
34string_msg1=Sound Blaster support is enabled at port
35string_msg2=Sound Blaster support is disabled
36string_msg3=Joystick enabled at port
37string_msg4=Joystick support is disabled
38string_msg5=MPU401 MIDI system enabled at port
39string_msg6=MPU401 MIDI system is disabled
40string_msg7=Modem enabled at port
41string_msg8=Modem is disabled

Sure, though for the supplied au30dos.zip package from the post I linked to, it goes like this:
SET INIFILEDIR=C:\AU30DOS\
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 P330 T4

Oh I see, you edited the file to change the location name parameter :p

Not that I want to discourage setting up dos. All PC's should use dos! but you also have the option of playing dos games from within Win9x. if you want the easy way out. Most early PCI cards had good Win9x "legacy drivers" for dos gaming and a P3 should have plenty of power to play without dropping back to true dos

chinny22 wrote:

Not that I want to discourage setting up dos. All PC's should use dos! but you also have the option of playing dos games from within Win9x. if you want the easy way out. Most early PCI cards had good Win9x "legacy drivers" for dos gaming and a P3 should have plenty of power to play without dropping back to true dos

I'm trying to avoid spending too much on this project, but I suppose I could go with windows 9x, and it would probably be a hell of a lot easier. Thing is I don't have any windows 9x licenses so I'd probably have to go on ebay for that.

gerwin wrote:

Sure, though for the supplied au30dos.zip package from the post I linked to, it goes like this:
SET INIFILEDIR=C:\AU30DOS\
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 P330 T4

I've set it up like you said but I haven't been able to get it to work.

I just tried it myself with this Vortex 2 (Montego II) sound card.
AU30DOS.com says:

1VORTEX DOS AUDIO DRIVER (2.007) Copyright (c) 1997-1999 Aureal Semiconductor
2PCI AUDIO PRO enabled at Ports 220-22Fh, Interrupt 7, DMA 1, Joystick 201h.
3External MPU401 device detected at 330h.

Tried setup.exe from the game Tyrian 2000 (freeware, download here: http://www.camanis.net/ )
-FM music works.
-Sound Blaster effects work.
-MPU-401 Midi does not give any ouptut since there is currently no synthesizer attached to the card.
All good to go.

Troubleshooting tips: in the computer's BIOS disable the LPT printerport to free IRQ7. Check in the BIOS if IRQ7 or DMA1 are occupied by other hardware.

gerwin wrote:

I just tried it myself with this Vortex 2 (Montego II) sound card. AU30DOS.com says: […]
Show full quote

I just tried it myself with this Vortex 2 (Montego II) sound card.
AU30DOS.com says:

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1VORTEX DOS AUDIO DRIVER (2.007) Copyright (c) 1997-1999 Aureal Semiconductor
2PCI AUDIO PRO enabled at Ports 220-22Fh, Interrupt 7, DMA 1, Joystick 201h.
3External MPU401 device detected at 330h.

Tried setup.exe from the game Tyrian 2000 (freeware, download here: http://www.camanis.net/ )
-FM music works.
-Sound Blaster effects work.
-MPU-401 Midi does not give any ouptut since there is currently no synthesizer attached to the card.
All good to go.

Troubleshooting tips: in the computer's BIOS disable the LPT printerport to free IRQ7. Check in the BIOS if IRQ7 or DMA1 are occupied by other hardware.

I disabled the LPT port but the dell bios won't let me look at the full IRQ list, just select whether IRQ5 is available or reserved. Also I need a sound test that I can copy over via floppy, as I haven't gotten the CD drives going yet and I would need to order some blank CD's in the first place.

DECtape wrote:

Also I need a sound test that I can copy over via floppy

Option 1:

-Download tyrian2k.zip,
-extract tyrian2k.exe from that zip, and copy it to a floppy. it is 1MB.
-Make a folder on the harddisk of your old PC and copy tyrian2k.exe to there.
-start tyrian2k.exe to extract its contents.
-start setup.exe for the sound test.

Option 2:
Download Doom MBF 2.04 from my signature and use just the files SETUP.EXE+CWSDPMI.EXE [220kB] from that package as the sound test.

Need to get my input on this.... Know it has been "solved" for the most parts regarding SB emulation....

SB-Live Cards:
Good compatibility in dos, IF emm386-only games is desired.
The best choice on this is General Midi for sound and SB16 for effects.
This is again. If games is only desired, being compatible with these two standards.
Decent MT32 emulation, not great. Just a slightly better one than AWE32/64 cards.
Still a matter of taste though. As it sound's really clear and nice.
This is only for basic MT32 emulation, not for "custom" sound's. Hence monkey-only.

Ensonic cards (including those Creative variants):
Allmost as good as the Live cards. When looking at sound quality. A little below.
It is a pure stereo card though, and thus out-performing live on this.
If pure stereo is wanted. The Live can have some issues on channels vs. stereo
and stuff like that. If you don't mind this. Then the Live is a better choice.

YMF-724:
Though having SB-Link (in most cases, not all), this is the best sollution.
Especially when doing Dos through Win9X, this card just shines and are the best.
The midi-part is just awesomme.... It can have some issues on some mobo's
when using SB-Link. Just not on all. Early SS7 and Late PCI-Only boards tend to have
issues with SB-Link and this card. In Win98 without the cable it runs EMM386 games the best.

In short. Yes. PCI cards have more or less issues. They are not issue-free.
Just a small handfull pci-soundcards can to an extend be used for Dos.
If the goal is a Win98se gaming machine, for Win-games, only playing Doom as the only
dos-game. Yes. Then go for a SB-Live or a YMF-724 card.

Alright, I tried the tyrian 2k setup you linked, and it looks like it works, methinks the issue was just a compatibility problem with the audio in the Crystal demo. Now I need to go about getting the CD drives working.
the test has FM sound working, though not AWE or any midi options of course. I'm not sure how I can test sound blaster sound effects though.

In DOS? Just use VIDE-CDD.SYS and MSCDEX. Works with every IDE drive I've ever tried. Then connect the analog audio cable to the Vortex2 and unmute it in the mixer (should be unmuted by default)

alexanrs wrote:

In DOS? Just use VIDE-CDD.SYS and MSCDEX. Works with every IDE drive I've ever tried. Then connect the analog audio cable to the Vortex2 and unmute it in the mixer (should be unmuted by default)

Does dos come with that or will I need to find it somewhere?

Also, the tyrian setup drops to just the cursor in the corner of the screen and hangs there whenever I exit it, is that normal?