The archive in the first message was updated. Only BEFORE_A.COM file within the archive was updated but the fix is functionally significant.

@digger, no DOS extender is designed to work only in PL0. How do you think they work in a Windows DOS box for example?

Falcosoft wrote on 2021-09-02, 08:49:

Later protected mode games do not since they do not support the MT-32 at all. Of course you can use an MT-32 soundbank with la […]
Show full quote

georgel wrote on 2021-09-02, 08:29:

One can use SoftMPU for such games along with AWEUTIL /EM:MT32 but none of the protected mode games sends SysEX messages as far as I've learned from this forum, doesn't it?

Later protected mode games do not since they do not support the MT-32 at all. Of course you can use an MT-32 soundbank with later protected mode games that support only GM/GS (that's a personal preference) but then they will use wrong instruments. You may actually 'like' the wrong instruments better (I think this can be contributed to the anemic default GM set used by the AWE line) but it does not change the fact that the default instrument map of GM/GS and MT-32 substantially differ.

Default GM/GS (capital tones):

0=Acoustic Grand Piano
1=Bright Acoustic Piano
2=Electric Grand Piano
3=Honky-tonk Piano
4=Electric Piano 1
5=Electric Piano 2
6=Harpsichord
7=Clavinet
8=Celesta
9=Glockenspiel
10=Music Box
11=Vibraphone
12=Marimba
13=Xylophone
14=Tubular Bells
15=Dulcimer
16=Drawbar Organ
17=Percussive Organ
18=Rock Organ
19=Church Organ
20=Reed Organ
21=Accordion
22=Harmonica
23=Tango Accordion
24=Acoustic Guitar (nylon)
25=Acoustic Guitar (steel)
26=Electric Guitar (jazz)
27=Electric Guitar (clean)
28=Electric Guitar (muted)
29=Overdriven Guitar
30=Distortion Guitar
31=Guitar Harmonics
32=Acoustic Bass
33=Electric Bass (finger)
34=Electric Bass (pick)
35=Fretless Bass
36=Slap Bass 1
37=Slap Bass 2
38=Synth Bass 1
39=Synth Bass 2
40=Violin
41=Viola
42=Cello
43=Contrabass
44=Tremolo Strings
45=Pizzicato Strings
46=Orchestral Harp
47=Timpani
48=String Ensembles 1
49=String Ensembles 2
50=SynthStrings 1
51=SynthStrings 2
52=Choir Aahs
53=Voice Oohs
54=Synth Voice
55=Orchestra Hit
56=Trumpet
57=Trombone
58=Tuba
59=Muted Trumpet
60=French Horn
61=Brass Section
62=Synth Brass 1
63=Synth Brass 2
64=Soprano Sax
65=Alto Sax
66=Tenor Sax
67=Baritone Sax
68=Oboe
69=English Horn
70=Bassoon
71=Clarinet
72=Piccolo
73=Flute
74=Recorder
75=Pan Flute
76=Blown Bottle
77=Shakuhachi
78=Whistle
79=Ocarina
80=Lead 1 (square)
81=Lead 2 (sawtooth)
82=Lead 3 (calliope)
83=Lead 4 (chiff)
84=Lead 5 (charang)
85=Lead 6 (voice)
86=Lead 7 (fifths)
87=Lead 8 (bass + lead)
88=Pad 1 (new age)
89=Pad 2 (warm)
90=Pad 3 (polysynth)
91=Pad 4 (choir)
92=Pad 5 (bowed)
93=Pad 6 (metallic)
94=Pad 7 (halo)
95=Pad 8 (sweep)
96=FX 1 (rain)
97=FX 2 (soundtrack)
98=FX 3 (crystal)
99=FX 4 (atmosphere)
100=FX 5 (brightness)
101=FX 6 (goblins)
102=FX 7 (echoes)
103=FX 8 (sci-fi)
104=Sitar
105=Banjo
106=Shamisen
107=Koto
108=Kalimba
109=Bag pipe
110=Fiddle
111=Shanai
112=Tinkle Bell
113=Agogo
114=Steel Drums
115=Woodblock
116=Taiko Drum
117=Melodic Tom
118=Synth Drum
119=Reverse Cymbal
120=Guitar Fret Noise
121=Breath Noise
122=Seashore
123=Bird Tweet
124=Telephone Ring
125=Helicopter
126=Applause
127=Gunshot

Default MT-32:

0=Acou Piano 1
1=Acou Piano 2
2=Acou Piano 3
3=Elec Piano 1
4=Elec Piano 2
5=Elec Piano 3
6=Elec Piano 4
7=Honkytonk
8=Elec Org 1
9=Elec Org 2
10=Elec Org 3
11=Elec Org 4
12=Pipe Org 1
13=Pipe Org 2
14=Pipe Org 3
15=Accordion
16=Harpsi 1
17=Harpsi 2
18=Harpsi 3
19=Clavi 1
20=Clavi 2
21=Clavi 3
22=Celesta 1
23=Celesta 2
24=Syn Brass 1
25=Syn Brass 2
26=Syn Brass 3
27=Syn Brass 4
28=Syn Bass 1
29=Syn Bass 2
30=Syn Bass 3
31=Syn Bass 4
32=Fantasy
33=Harmo Pan
34=Chorale
35=Glasses
36=Soundtrack
37=Atmosphere
38=Warm Bell
39=Funny Vox
40=Echo Bell
41=Ice Rain
42=Oboe 2001
43=Echo Pan
44=Doctor Solo
45=School Daze
46=Bellsinger
47=Square Wave
48=Str Sect 1
49=Str Sect 2
50=Str Sect 3
51=Pizzicato
52=Violin 1
53=Violin 2
54=Cello 1
55=Cello 2
56=Contrabass
57=Harp 1
58=Harp 2
59=Guitar 1
60=Guitar 2
61=Elec Gtr 1
62=Elec Gtr 2
63=Sitar
64=Acou Bass 1
65=Acou Bass 2
66=Elec Bass 1
67=Elec Bass 2
68=Slap Bass 1
69=Slap Bass 2
70=Fretless 1
71=Fretless 2
72=Flute 1
73=Flute 2
74=Piccolo 1
75=Piccolo 2
76=Recorder
77=Pan Pipes
78=Sax 1
79=Sax 2
80=Sax 3
81=Sax 4
82=Clarinet 1
83=Clarinet 2
84=Oboe
85=Engl Horn
86=Bassoon
87=Harmonica
88=Trumpet 1
89=Trumpet 2
90=Trombone 1
91=Trombone 2
92=Fr Horn 1
93=Fr Horn 2
94=Tuba
95=Brs Sect 1
96=Brs Sect 2
97=Vibe 1
98=Vibe 2
99=Syn Mallet
100=Windbell
101=Glock
102=Tube Bell
103=Xylophone
104=Marimba
105=Koto
106=Sho
107=Shakuhachi
108=Whistle 1
109=Whistle 2
110=Bottleblow
111=Breathpipe
112=Timpani
113=Melodic Tom
114=Deep Snare
115=Elec Perc 1
116=Elec Perc 2
117=Taiko
118=Taiko Rim
119=Cymbal
120=Castanets
121=Triangle
122=Orche Hit
123=Telephone
124=Bird Tweet
125=One Note Jam
126=Water Bell
127=Jungle Tune

There is a sysex midi file provided by Roland that remaps the MT-32 to the GM map. Not sure how good it sounds as I have not tried it myself.

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-09-02, 21:20:

Falcosoft wrote on 2021-09-02, 08:49:

Later protected mode games do not since they do not support the MT-32 at all. Of course you can use an MT-32 soundbank with la […]
Show full quote

georgel wrote on 2021-09-02, 08:29:

One can use SoftMPU for such games along with AWEUTIL /EM:MT32 but none of the protected mode games sends SysEX messages as far as I've learned from this forum, doesn't it?

Later protected mode games do not since they do not support the MT-32 at all. Of course you can use an MT-32 soundbank with later protected mode games that support only GM/GS (that's a personal preference) but then they will use wrong instruments. You may actually 'like' the wrong instruments better (I think this can be contributed to the anemic default GM set used by the AWE line) but it does not change the fact that the default instrument map of GM/GS and MT-32 substantially differ.

Default GM/GS (capital tones):

0=Acoustic Grand Piano
1=Bright Acoustic Piano
2=Electric Grand Piano
3=Honky-tonk Piano
4=Electric Piano 1
5=Electric Piano 2
6=Harpsichord
7=Clavinet
8=Celesta
9=Glockenspiel
10=Music Box
11=Vibraphone
12=Marimba
13=Xylophone
14=Tubular Bells
15=Dulcimer
16=Drawbar Organ
17=Percussive Organ
18=Rock Organ
19=Church Organ
20=Reed Organ
21=Accordion
22=Harmonica
23=Tango Accordion
24=Acoustic Guitar (nylon)
25=Acoustic Guitar (steel)
26=Electric Guitar (jazz)
27=Electric Guitar (clean)
28=Electric Guitar (muted)
29=Overdriven Guitar
30=Distortion Guitar
31=Guitar Harmonics
32=Acoustic Bass
33=Electric Bass (finger)
34=Electric Bass (pick)
35=Fretless Bass
36=Slap Bass 1
37=Slap Bass 2
38=Synth Bass 1
39=Synth Bass 2
40=Violin
41=Viola
42=Cello
43=Contrabass
44=Tremolo Strings
45=Pizzicato Strings
46=Orchestral Harp
47=Timpani
48=String Ensembles 1
49=String Ensembles 2
50=SynthStrings 1
51=SynthStrings 2
52=Choir Aahs
53=Voice Oohs
54=Synth Voice
55=Orchestra Hit
56=Trumpet
57=Trombone
58=Tuba
59=Muted Trumpet
60=French Horn
61=Brass Section
62=Synth Brass 1
63=Synth Brass 2
64=Soprano Sax
65=Alto Sax
66=Tenor Sax
67=Baritone Sax
68=Oboe
69=English Horn
70=Bassoon
71=Clarinet
72=Piccolo
73=Flute
74=Recorder
75=Pan Flute
76=Blown Bottle
77=Shakuhachi
78=Whistle
79=Ocarina
80=Lead 1 (square)
81=Lead 2 (sawtooth)
82=Lead 3 (calliope)
83=Lead 4 (chiff)
84=Lead 5 (charang)
85=Lead 6 (voice)
86=Lead 7 (fifths)
87=Lead 8 (bass + lead)
88=Pad 1 (new age)
89=Pad 2 (warm)
90=Pad 3 (polysynth)
91=Pad 4 (choir)
92=Pad 5 (bowed)
93=Pad 6 (metallic)
94=Pad 7 (halo)
95=Pad 8 (sweep)
96=FX 1 (rain)
97=FX 2 (soundtrack)
98=FX 3 (crystal)
99=FX 4 (atmosphere)
100=FX 5 (brightness)
101=FX 6 (goblins)
102=FX 7 (echoes)
103=FX 8 (sci-fi)
104=Sitar
105=Banjo
106=Shamisen
107=Koto
108=Kalimba
109=Bag pipe
110=Fiddle
111=Shanai
112=Tinkle Bell
113=Agogo
114=Steel Drums
115=Woodblock
116=Taiko Drum
117=Melodic Tom
118=Synth Drum
119=Reverse Cymbal
120=Guitar Fret Noise
121=Breath Noise
122=Seashore
123=Bird Tweet
124=Telephone Ring
125=Helicopter
126=Applause
127=Gunshot

Default MT-32:

0=Acou Piano 1
1=Acou Piano 2
2=Acou Piano 3
3=Elec Piano 1
4=Elec Piano 2
5=Elec Piano 3
6=Elec Piano 4
7=Honkytonk
8=Elec Org 1
9=Elec Org 2
10=Elec Org 3
11=Elec Org 4
12=Pipe Org 1
13=Pipe Org 2
14=Pipe Org 3
15=Accordion
16=Harpsi 1
17=Harpsi 2
18=Harpsi 3
19=Clavi 1
20=Clavi 2
21=Clavi 3
22=Celesta 1
23=Celesta 2
24=Syn Brass 1
25=Syn Brass 2
26=Syn Brass 3
27=Syn Brass 4
28=Syn Bass 1
29=Syn Bass 2
30=Syn Bass 3
31=Syn Bass 4
32=Fantasy
33=Harmo Pan
34=Chorale
35=Glasses
36=Soundtrack
37=Atmosphere
38=Warm Bell
39=Funny Vox
40=Echo Bell
41=Ice Rain
42=Oboe 2001
43=Echo Pan
44=Doctor Solo
45=School Daze
46=Bellsinger
47=Square Wave
48=Str Sect 1
49=Str Sect 2
50=Str Sect 3
51=Pizzicato
52=Violin 1
53=Violin 2
54=Cello 1
55=Cello 2
56=Contrabass
57=Harp 1
58=Harp 2
59=Guitar 1
60=Guitar 2
61=Elec Gtr 1
62=Elec Gtr 2
63=Sitar
64=Acou Bass 1
65=Acou Bass 2
66=Elec Bass 1
67=Elec Bass 2
68=Slap Bass 1
69=Slap Bass 2
70=Fretless 1
71=Fretless 2
72=Flute 1
73=Flute 2
74=Piccolo 1
75=Piccolo 2
76=Recorder
77=Pan Pipes
78=Sax 1
79=Sax 2
80=Sax 3
81=Sax 4
82=Clarinet 1
83=Clarinet 2
84=Oboe
85=Engl Horn
86=Bassoon
87=Harmonica
88=Trumpet 1
89=Trumpet 2
90=Trombone 1
91=Trombone 2
92=Fr Horn 1
93=Fr Horn 2
94=Tuba
95=Brs Sect 1
96=Brs Sect 2
97=Vibe 1
98=Vibe 2
99=Syn Mallet
100=Windbell
101=Glock
102=Tube Bell
103=Xylophone
104=Marimba
105=Koto
106=Sho
107=Shakuhachi
108=Whistle 1
109=Whistle 2
110=Bottleblow
111=Breathpipe
112=Timpani
113=Melodic Tom
114=Deep Snare
115=Elec Perc 1
116=Elec Perc 2
117=Taiko
118=Taiko Rim
119=Cymbal
120=Castanets
121=Triangle
122=Orche Hit
123=Telephone
124=Bird Tweet
125=One Note Jam
126=Water Bell
127=Jungle Tune

There is a sysex midi file provided by Roland that remaps the MT-32 to the GM map. Not sure how good it sounds as I have not tried it myself.

Yes, it is used by my Munt VSTi plugin to achieve GM mode. And it works fairly well. But I was talking about a different problem. You cannot use MT-32 specific SysEx messages on the AWE to emulate GM while it is using an MT-32 soundbank 😀

georgel wrote on 2021-09-02, 20:36:

The archive in the first message was updated. Only BEFORE_A.COM file within the archive was updated but the fix is functionally significant.

@digger, no DOS extender is designed to work only in PL0. How do you think they work in a Windows DOS box for example?

You're absolutely right. Thanks for the correction. Indeed, DOS extenders run at ring 1 (or 2?), not 0. But basically, there are DOS extenders that run their payload at the same privilege level as the DOS extenders themselves, and there are DOS extenders that run the application or game at a lower privilege level than they run themselves. As I understood from what documentation I could find on-line, DOS/32A fits in the former category, whereas for instance CauseWay fits in the latter.

If the DOS extender wants to intercept hardware access by whatever software its hosting, shouldn't the DOS extender itself be running at a higher ring than the application? So wouldn't this make DOS/32A less suitable for hardware emulation?

Falcosoft wrote on 2021-09-02, 22:19:

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-09-02, 21:20:

Falcosoft wrote on 2021-09-02, 08:49:

Later protected mode games do not since they do not support the MT-32 at all. Of course you can use an MT-32 soundbank with la […]
Show full quote

Later protected mode games do not since they do not support the MT-32 at all. Of course you can use an MT-32 soundbank with later protected mode games that support only GM/GS (that's a personal preference) but then they will use wrong instruments. You may actually 'like' the wrong instruments better (I think this can be contributed to the anemic default GM set used by the AWE line) but it does not change the fact that the default instrument map of GM/GS and MT-32 substantially differ.

Default GM/GS (capital tones):

0=Acoustic Grand Piano
1=Bright Acoustic Piano
2=Electric Grand Piano
3=Honky-tonk Piano
4=Electric Piano 1
5=Electric Piano 2
6=Harpsichord
7=Clavinet
8=Celesta
9=Glockenspiel
10=Music Box
11=Vibraphone
12=Marimba
13=Xylophone
14=Tubular Bells
15=Dulcimer
16=Drawbar Organ
17=Percussive Organ
18=Rock Organ
19=Church Organ
20=Reed Organ
21=Accordion
22=Harmonica
23=Tango Accordion
24=Acoustic Guitar (nylon)
25=Acoustic Guitar (steel)
26=Electric Guitar (jazz)
27=Electric Guitar (clean)
28=Electric Guitar (muted)
29=Overdriven Guitar
30=Distortion Guitar
31=Guitar Harmonics
32=Acoustic Bass
33=Electric Bass (finger)
34=Electric Bass (pick)
35=Fretless Bass
36=Slap Bass 1
37=Slap Bass 2
38=Synth Bass 1
39=Synth Bass 2
40=Violin
41=Viola
42=Cello
43=Contrabass
44=Tremolo Strings
45=Pizzicato Strings
46=Orchestral Harp
47=Timpani
48=String Ensembles 1
49=String Ensembles 2
50=SynthStrings 1
51=SynthStrings 2
52=Choir Aahs
53=Voice Oohs
54=Synth Voice
55=Orchestra Hit
56=Trumpet
57=Trombone
58=Tuba
59=Muted Trumpet
60=French Horn
61=Brass Section
62=Synth Brass 1
63=Synth Brass 2
64=Soprano Sax
65=Alto Sax
66=Tenor Sax
67=Baritone Sax
68=Oboe
69=English Horn
70=Bassoon
71=Clarinet
72=Piccolo
73=Flute
74=Recorder
75=Pan Flute
76=Blown Bottle
77=Shakuhachi
78=Whistle
79=Ocarina
80=Lead 1 (square)
81=Lead 2 (sawtooth)
82=Lead 3 (calliope)
83=Lead 4 (chiff)
84=Lead 5 (charang)
85=Lead 6 (voice)
86=Lead 7 (fifths)
87=Lead 8 (bass + lead)
88=Pad 1 (new age)
89=Pad 2 (warm)
90=Pad 3 (polysynth)
91=Pad 4 (choir)
92=Pad 5 (bowed)
93=Pad 6 (metallic)
94=Pad 7 (halo)
95=Pad 8 (sweep)
96=FX 1 (rain)
97=FX 2 (soundtrack)
98=FX 3 (crystal)
99=FX 4 (atmosphere)
100=FX 5 (brightness)
101=FX 6 (goblins)
102=FX 7 (echoes)
103=FX 8 (sci-fi)
104=Sitar
105=Banjo
106=Shamisen
107=Koto
108=Kalimba
109=Bag pipe
110=Fiddle
111=Shanai
112=Tinkle Bell
113=Agogo
114=Steel Drums
115=Woodblock
116=Taiko Drum
117=Melodic Tom
118=Synth Drum
119=Reverse Cymbal
120=Guitar Fret Noise
121=Breath Noise
122=Seashore
123=Bird Tweet
124=Telephone Ring
125=Helicopter
126=Applause
127=Gunshot

Default MT-32:

0=Acou Piano 1
1=Acou Piano 2
2=Acou Piano 3
3=Elec Piano 1
4=Elec Piano 2
5=Elec Piano 3
6=Elec Piano 4
7=Honkytonk
8=Elec Org 1
9=Elec Org 2
10=Elec Org 3
11=Elec Org 4
12=Pipe Org 1
13=Pipe Org 2
14=Pipe Org 3
15=Accordion
16=Harpsi 1
17=Harpsi 2
18=Harpsi 3
19=Clavi 1
20=Clavi 2
21=Clavi 3
22=Celesta 1
23=Celesta 2
24=Syn Brass 1
25=Syn Brass 2
26=Syn Brass 3
27=Syn Brass 4
28=Syn Bass 1
29=Syn Bass 2
30=Syn Bass 3
31=Syn Bass 4
32=Fantasy
33=Harmo Pan
34=Chorale
35=Glasses
36=Soundtrack
37=Atmosphere
38=Warm Bell
39=Funny Vox
40=Echo Bell
41=Ice Rain
42=Oboe 2001
43=Echo Pan
44=Doctor Solo
45=School Daze
46=Bellsinger
47=Square Wave
48=Str Sect 1
49=Str Sect 2
50=Str Sect 3
51=Pizzicato
52=Violin 1
53=Violin 2
54=Cello 1
55=Cello 2
56=Contrabass
57=Harp 1
58=Harp 2
59=Guitar 1
60=Guitar 2
61=Elec Gtr 1
62=Elec Gtr 2
63=Sitar
64=Acou Bass 1
65=Acou Bass 2
66=Elec Bass 1
67=Elec Bass 2
68=Slap Bass 1
69=Slap Bass 2
70=Fretless 1
71=Fretless 2
72=Flute 1
73=Flute 2
74=Piccolo 1
75=Piccolo 2
76=Recorder
77=Pan Pipes
78=Sax 1
79=Sax 2
80=Sax 3
81=Sax 4
82=Clarinet 1
83=Clarinet 2
84=Oboe
85=Engl Horn
86=Bassoon
87=Harmonica
88=Trumpet 1
89=Trumpet 2
90=Trombone 1
91=Trombone 2
92=Fr Horn 1
93=Fr Horn 2
94=Tuba
95=Brs Sect 1
96=Brs Sect 2
97=Vibe 1
98=Vibe 2
99=Syn Mallet
100=Windbell
101=Glock
102=Tube Bell
103=Xylophone
104=Marimba
105=Koto
106=Sho
107=Shakuhachi
108=Whistle 1
109=Whistle 2
110=Bottleblow
111=Breathpipe
112=Timpani
113=Melodic Tom
114=Deep Snare
115=Elec Perc 1
116=Elec Perc 2
117=Taiko
118=Taiko Rim
119=Cymbal
120=Castanets
121=Triangle
122=Orche Hit
123=Telephone
124=Bird Tweet
125=One Note Jam
126=Water Bell
127=Jungle Tune

There is a sysex midi file provided by Roland that remaps the MT-32 to the GM map. Not sure how good it sounds as I have not tried it myself.

Yes, it is used by my Munt VSTi plugin to achieve GM mode. And it works fairly well. But I was talking about a different problem. You cannot use MT-32 specific SysEx messages on the AWE to emulate GM while it is using an MT-32 soundbank 😀

Ah, gotcha. That makes a lot more sense.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2021-09-02, 18:31:

georgel wrote on 2021-09-02, 18:30:

Gmlb256, is the BIOS of your Socket 7 motherboard AMI?

Award BIOS.

Now, with the latest BEFORE_A.COM your problem should have been resolved. All motherboards work now for hours.

georgel wrote on 2021-09-03, 01:09:

Now, with the latest BEFORE_A.COM your problem should have been resolved. All my motherboards work now for hours.

Thanks!

I did try out v1.1.1 with mixed results on my Pentium MMX rig with an ExpertColor TX531 motherboard and a Sound Blaster 32 CT3670 with 8MB.

Software:
MS DOS v7.1
JEMMEX v5.79d
UNISOUND v0.76f
AWEUTIL v1.36
FANTA_General MIDI bank 2 (FANTAGM2.SBK)

Game results:
Doom v1.9: Seem to run OK without SFX.
Duke Nukem 3D v1.5: Outputs music for a few seconds before crashing.
Descent v1.4: Can run up to several minutes before crashing.

Kamerat wrote on 2021-09-07, 23:29:

FANTA_General MIDI bank 2 (FANTAGM2.SBK)

How do you load this bank with AWEUTIL? Are you sure you are not working under Windows?

georgel wrote on 2021-09-08, 04:57:

How do you load this bank with AWEUTIL? Are you sure you are not working under Windows?

Renamed the bank to SYNTHGM.SBK and loaded it with the option /EM:GM. Not running Windows, modified MSDOS.SYS to boot directly into DOS.

Kamerat wrote on 2021-09-08, 05:53:

georgel wrote on 2021-09-08, 04:57:

How do you load this bank with AWEUTIL? Are you sure you are not working under Windows?

Renamed the bank to SYNTHGM.SBK and loaded it with the option /EM:GM. Not running Windows, modified MSDOS.SYS to boot directly into DOS.

Does it sound differently that Creative's soundbanks?

The DOOM 1 and 2 should work with SFX alnog with MIDI. The problem with Duke is confirmed. Starting research again.

georgel wrote on 2021-09-08, 17:51:

Does it sound differently that Creative's soundbanks?

The DOOM 1 and 2 should work with SFX alnog with MIDI. The problem with Duke is confirmed. Starting research again.

Compared to the the ROM of the Sound Blasted 32 it sounds completely different.

Doom runs a few minutes with SFX before crashing.

Kamerat wrote on 2021-09-09, 13:42:

Doom runs a few minutes with SFX before crashing.

That's exactly the problem that I had when using DOS32AWE.

For DOOM I discovered that if your AWE card is set to any other IRQ other than IRQ 5, this leads to instability. Still investigating. I guess any DMX sound engine game should be stable like this.

georgel wrote on 2021-09-09, 21:26:

For DOOM I discovered that if your AWE card is set to any other IRQ other than IRQ 5, this leads to instability. Still investigating. I guess any DMX sound engine game should be stable like this.

Doesn't make any sense, DOOM (or any game that uses the DMX sound engine) should run stable regardless of the IRQ channel set. I've run DOOM on different sound cards using both IRQ 5 and 7 at least and the SB portion of the AWE cards are exactly like the SB16 (I'm using one of these SB16 cards on another old computer with IRQ 7 set there).

Gmlb256 wrote on 2021-09-10, 01:37:

georgel wrote on 2021-09-09, 21:26:

For DOOM I discovered that if your AWE card is set to any other IRQ other than IRQ 5, this leads to instability. Still investigating. I guess any DMX sound engine game should be stable like this.

Doesn't make any sense, DOOM (or any game that uses the DMX sound engine) should run stable regardless of the IRQ channel set. I've run DOOM on different sound cards using both IRQ 5 and 7 at least and the SB portion of the AWE cards are exactly like the SB16 (I'm using one of these SB16 cards on another old computer with IRQ 7 set there).

But is a fact. And all my tests are always with FX playing on the same sound blaster AWE card.

georgel wrote on 2021-09-09, 21:26:

For DOOM I discovered that if your AWE card is set to any other IRQ other than IRQ 5, this leads to instability. Still investigating. I guess any DMX sound engine game should be stable like this.

Are you sure it is "any other IRQ than IRQ5"? This indeed wouldn't make a lot of sense. On the other hand, specifically IRQ7 can be troublesome. ISA IRQs are handled by an Intel 8259 IRQ controller chip (integrated in the south bridge these days). When the 8259 receives an interrupt signal, it tells the processor that there is some interrupt to be handled. Some time later, the processor asks the interrupt controller what kind of interrupt the processor should execute. At that time, the 8259 searches for the highest-priority interrupt input that is still high (ignoring edge-triggered interrupt inputs they stayed high since the last time they were reported). If all inputs are low, the 8259 always request IRQ7. So if there is noise on any IRQ input creating short spurious pulses on that input, the result will be IRQ7.

If a game can not deal with spurious sound card IRQs (and I expect a lot of games can't), IRQ7 is a dangerous choice on systems where some spurious IRQs occur - with or without DOS32AWE, though.

I always disable the LPT ports (IRQ 7 for the first one and IRQ 5 for the second one) since I don't use them for anything. IRQ 5 isn't even an option for PC/XT computers since it's reserved for hard disks and some early DOS games with SB support only allows IRQ 3 or 7 to be set.

Work in progress (when time permits). This is just an interesting fact. When using IRQ 5 the DMX sound engine (which is used by DOOMs) is very stable (under clean DOS - no time for memory managers tests right now). The whole concept is meant to be changed. By the way the most available way to change the SB AWE IRQs (and other parameters) to me is to edit the CFG file in the CTCM directory and reboot.

I am not sure about any other IRQs but I tried 7 and it lead to hangs (doom supports IRQs on the primary PIC only). Marcher have you read the 8259 datasheet before such conclusions? Once an interrupt is triggered (regardless of being edge or level) it stays triggered until the EOI is issued to the PIC(s).

georgel wrote on 2021-09-10, 16:27:

Marcher have you read the 8259 datasheet before such conclusions? Once an interrupt is triggered (regardless of being edge or level) it stays triggered until the EOI is issued to the PIC(s).

Indeed, I did. The datasheet contains the following paragraph in the section "Interrupt sequence":

Intel 8259 datasheet wrote:

If no interrupt request is present at step 4 of either sequence (i.e., the request was too short in duration) the 8259A will issue an interrupt level 7. Both the vectoring bytes and the CAS lines will look like an interrupt level 7 was requested