I dont know if it is related, but it is not necessary to have DIAGNOSE /S when you are using CTCM

The variable order in your AUTOEXEC.BAT looks odd to me. Try using this and see if that helps:

1SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 E620 T6
2SET SOUND=C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16
3SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
4SET CTCM=C:\DEVICES\SOUND\CTCM
5C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16\DIAGNOSE /S
6C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16\AWEUTIL /S
7C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16\MIXERSET /P /Q
8C:\DEVICES\SOUND\CTCM\CTCU /S

That's the order that I get when installing the drivers for my AWE64 using the official CD.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-10-30, 15:40:

The variable order in your AUTOEXEC.BAT looks odd to me. Try using this and see if that helps: […]
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The variable order in your AUTOEXEC.BAT looks odd to me. Try using this and see if that helps:

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1SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 E620 T6
2SET SOUND=C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16
3SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
4SET CTCM=C:\DEVICES\SOUND\CTCM
5C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16\DIAGNOSE /S
6C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16\AWEUTIL /S
7C:\DEVICES\SOUND\SB16\MIXERSET /P /Q
8C:\DEVICES\SOUND\CTCM\CTCU /S

That's the order that I get when installing the drivers for my AWE64 using the official CD.

The order I have it in is the order which is inserted into my AUTOEXEC.BAT after first installing the CTCM package, then installing the SB16 driver package. Creative provide CTCM as a pre-requisite before installing any Sound Blaster driver, hence it's environment variable being set first. But, I could be wrong.

Nevertheless, I tried your ordering but it didn't work.
However, removing DIAGNOSE /S from the AUTOEXEC.BAT did stop the errors being reported.
The question is, how has DIAGNOSE /S in my AUTOEXEC.BAT worked up until now, and never caused these errors to be reported before?

My initial thought was that, by omitting DIAGNOSE /S from the AUTOEXEC.BAT means the hardware configuration is not set by the BLASTER environment ('SET BLASTER='). But it's irrelevant, as the parameters specified for the BLASTER environment are the correct ones for the hardware anyway (and exactly the same ones set by CTCM's response). It's not as if DIAGNOSE /S is initiating any incorrect BLASTER parameters. So, I am still confused why omitting this would prevent the errors.

So, I tried a few test scenarios:

A1: Start the system without DIAGNOSE /S in AUTOEXEC.BAT.
A2: No errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL.
A3: Run DIAGNOSE /S.
A4: Run MIXERSET /P /Q and AWEUTIL /S.
A5: Receive errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL.

B1: Start the system with DIAGNOSE /S in AUTOEXEC.BAT.
B2: Receive errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL.
B3: Run CTCM.
B4: Run MIXERSET /P /Q and AWEUTIL /S.
B5: No errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL.

At this point, I was suspicious what DIAGNOSE was actually doing, so I continued ...

B6: Run CTCM.
B7: Run MIXERSET /P /Q and AWEUTIL /S.
B8: No errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL.
B9: Run DIAGNOSE /S.
B10: Run MIXERSET /P /Q and AWEUTIL /S.
B11: Receive errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL.
B12: Run DIAGNOSE /S.
B13: Run MIXERSET /P /Q and AWEUTIL /S.
B14: No errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL.

Manually executing CTCM after the system has booted, resolves the errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL, no matter how many times CTCM is subsequently executed.
However, each execution of DIAGNOSE /S, acts as a flip, between whether the errors in MIXERSET and AWEUTIL are displayed or not. Which means, DIAGNOSE /S can both set and unset the BLASTER environment (CTCM does not do this).

Another pertinent question here is, how is the omission of 'MODE:0' resolving this problem?

I don't understand why you want such a deep analysis of the situation. DIAGNOSE /S is NOT meant to be used with PnP cards that use CTCM instead. Period. Just remove it and move on.

PS when you have a PnP card the SET BLASTER statement is irrelevant. The BLASTER environment variable is set by the CTCM command and that's that

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-10-30, 17:30:

I don't understand why you want such a deep analysis of the situation. DIAGNOSE /S is NOT meant to be used with PnP cards that use CTCM instead.

Is this documented somewhere? I've heard it mentioned before, but no one ever explains how they came to that conclusion.

It's not that I disbelieve you, I'm just wondering why installing the drivers from the AWE64 official CD adds that line.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-10-30, 17:58:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-10-30, 17:30:

I don't understand why you want such a deep analysis of the situation. DIAGNOSE /S is NOT meant to be used with PnP cards that use CTCM instead.

Is this documented somewhere? I've heard it mentioned before, but no one ever explains how they came to that conclusion.

It's not that I disbelieve you, I'm just wondering why installing the drivers from the AWE64 official CD adds that line.

honestly idk 🤣

I just followed the various guides I've seen online over the years

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-10-30, 17:30:

I don't understand why you want such a deep analysis of the situation. DIAGNOSE /S is NOT meant to be used with PnP cards that use CTCM instead. Period. Just remove it and move on.

I think you're missing the point. I'm trying to figure out how something works. I'm not interested in merely setting something the way someone suggested just because it appears to work. What happens when there are other potential issues with the configuration later on? Because I haven't gained an understanding of how the program functions, I can't rely on myself to come up with the solution.

Yes, you're right that PnP cards only need to be configured with CTCM, and I appreciate the solution you've provided, but I choose not to be ignorant of why something works in a particular way.

janskjaer wrote on 2021-10-30, 18:51:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-10-30, 17:30:

I don't understand why you want such a deep analysis of the situation. DIAGNOSE /S is NOT meant to be used with PnP cards that use CTCM instead. Period. Just remove it and move on.

I think you're missing the point. I'm trying to figure out how something works. I'm not interested in merely setting something the way someone suggested just because it appears to work. What happens when there are other potential issues with the configuration later on? Because I haven't gained an understanding of how the program functions, I can't rely on myself to come up with the solution.

Yes, you're right that PnP cards only need to be configured with CTCM, and I appreciate the solution you've provided, but I choose not to be ignorant of why something works in a particular way.

I respect your desire to understand things, this just IMO seems like a rather uninteresting deep dive into something that has long been settled. There are no other issues with the configuration. I've been using a myriad of both PnP and non-PnP soundblasters for decades using the configurations as stated. But hey if this is that interesting to you by all means continue

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-10-30, 19:13:

janskjaer wrote on 2021-10-30, 18:51:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-10-30, 17:30:

I don't understand why you want such a deep analysis of the situation. DIAGNOSE /S is NOT meant to be used with PnP cards that use CTCM instead. Period. Just remove it and move on.

I think you're missing the point. I'm trying to figure out how something works. I'm not interested in merely setting something the way someone suggested just because it appears to work. What happens when there are other potential issues with the configuration later on? Because I haven't gained an understanding of how the program functions, I can't rely on myself to come up with the solution.

Yes, you're right that PnP cards only need to be configured with CTCM, and I appreciate the solution you've provided, but I choose not to be ignorant of why something works in a particular way.

I respect your desire to understand things, this just IMO seems like a rather uninteresting deep dive into something that has long been settled. There are no other issues with the configuration. I've been using a myriad of both PnP and non-PnP soundblasters for decades using the configurations as stated. But hey if this is that interesting to you by all means continue

I also appreciate that learning this set of utilities in a little more detail than the regular usage is also not to everyone's tastes. However, with all due respect, I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone's efforts in how detailed they want to get with this or any other topic - it all becomes a knowledge base. If it isn't to appealing to you, you don't have to read or respond to it - take it or leave it. If there is someone who shares the same attention to detail, and knows these tools in more depth, this is my way of reaching out to them for more info. But, I do appreciate your assistance, whether that be concise or detailed, so once again, thanks for the resolution.