Yeah, interesting. But I think the problem we are having here is just down to VDos32's Sound blaster emulation being a little primitive. I have an idea how to make it far more reliable.

I've rewritten the Sound Blaster emulation. Should be less prone to crackling.

New version attached.

Hi!

Sorry, I missed a few threads, I'm just catching up.

I downloaded and installed the new versions of Glidos and VDos32 available on the Internet (1.37 and 0.6 respectively) and I note the same thing as the others who've tried it under Vista 32bits: I get the full screen FMVs now and the BG sound stops when launching a new game or going to Lara's home, but the FMV sound and in-game sound FX issues remain (stuttering/delayed) -plus the video of the FMV is now also stuttering (not just the sound anymore; I don't know if that's any help, but I get a sort of V-shaped section on the left-hand side of the video that's not synchronised with the rest).

(BTW, I still use the Direct3D Glide driver, but whereas before I'd get a blank screen and the program would stop running when activating OpenGL, now I get a black full screen with the mouse cursor showing and when I do Windows-key+Tab (or other) to get back onto the desktop I get a message saying Glidos has stopped running and Glidos terminates but VDos32 is still running and the sound of the beginning of the game starts! I get everything from the EIDOS logo to the end of the FMVs -although it's still stuttering- but there's no video screen open, neither full screen nor windowed -only the sound is working. It finally stops when it gets to the end of the FMV just before going onto what would be the title screen if there was anything to be seen and a VDos32 "Write Error" message appears to terminate the program.)

I then downloaded version 0.6a of VDos32 available in this thread, but now when VDos32 starts (both in Direct3D and OpenGL) I get a window-mode black screen and the program gets stuck there (no image, no sound, window) until I close it and then I get a Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library "Runtime Error!" message indicating the VDos32 location (abnormal program termination).

The graphics problems are to do with psVoodoo. If you could get OpenGL working then you'd be better off, but that would probably require your getting hold of the latest graphics drivers from the web site of the graphics chip manufacturer. What graphics card do you have?

For the audio problems, here are another two experimental versions of VDos32.

Well, I finished the game a couple of days ago using JoyToKey for my controls issue, so I'm not as concerned as I was before. But I will say this. The 16-bit blaster will work just as well as the standard if I change the irq to 5 instead of 7, so I don't think it was a bit depth issue. I go the v-shaped problem with the fmvs as well, but didn't think much of it.

I didn't notice as much music as when I originally played it, but that didn't bother me either.

None of the alternate verison of v6 were an improvement, version c actually slowed everything down a bit.

Keep up the good work

Are you sure about the irq thing? Tr1 doesn't do anything important on the irq handler, so VDos32 doesn't actually run the handler. Very odd that that can make a difference. You sure it isn't that 16bit has improved generally (for some unknown reason).

Did you try v0.6a? Some people found that far worse than v0.6. Are you saying it was not much different to v0.6 for you?

That's definitely right what you say about v0.6c slowing things down. I was just hoping it might stop the sound actually breaking up.

Maybe the problems you are noticing are different to what other people are finding. The audio in TR1 is quite scratchy and hissy even when playing correctly.

The v-shaped thing is only with DirectX. You might be able to swap to OpenGL if you update your graphics drivers from the manufacturers web site.

Thanks for the testing.

Glidos wrote:

The graphics problems are to do with psVoodoo. If you could get OpenGL working then you'd be better off, but that would probably require your getting hold of the latest graphics drivers from the web site of the graphics chip manufacturer. What graphics card do you have?

Good evening.

I've attached snapshots of the hardware and software details for my graphics card (ATI X1900XT 512MB).
I just checked on the Web: I have the latest drivers available.

I'll download the new VDos32 version now and run it. I'll be back in a few minutes.

Glidos wrote:

For the audio problems, here are another two experimental versions of VDos32.

OK, I'm back. Test results:

Both versions present the same problem as v0_6a: a black window appears (no full screen, no image, no sound) and the program freezes ("not responding"). At least both Direct3D and OpenGL elicite the same response this time!

I've also noted that with both Glide drivers the window resizes once (slightly larger) before the program freezes (sometimes it's too quick too see, sometimes it happens up to a few seconds after the black windows has appeared).

So the last working version for me -albeit still with the stuttering sound and FMV issues- was v0_6 with Direct3D (although with that version OpenGL did show signs which had not been there with even earlier versions).

laracroft.net wrote:

I've attached snapshots of the hardware and software details for my graphics card (ATI X1900XT 512MB).
I just checked on the Web: I have the latest drivers available.

It's not just a case of needing the latest version. Whether you have accelerated OpenGL depends on whether you have drivers supplied via Microsoft or directly from ATI. If you have never updated the drivers yourself then you probably have those from Microsoft.

You can get them from ATI here.

I did update them manually from that same site about a month ago and they haven't offered a newer version yet (it's still v7.4).

I noticed a line on OpenGL in the Software description for my graphics card, but I don't know if that means anything...

Oh ok. Strange that Glidos wont run via OpenGL then. Must be yet another variation in behaviour due to Vista.

I have an ATI X1650 with the lastest ATI drivers installed and when I run Glidos OpenGL mode I have the same problem that laracroft.net describe.

So I too run the game in Direct3D mode.

Strange. Good job I added Direct3D support then. 😁

If I can get VDos32 to work under 64bit Vista, I'll be able to try these things myself... maybe get OpenGL working.

Still, it sounds like the graphics are acceptable with Direct3D, and that the audio issues are more pressing.

Annoying that v0.6a is worse. The internal architecture of the audio support in v0.6a is vastly superior to v0.6, and under XP it does perform more reliably. At the moment, I have little idea what is different under Vista. I have a test program I can ask people to run that might turn up more info. When I've tidied it up, I'll post it.

The in-game graphics are more than just acceptable with Direct 3D! It's only the FMV videos which are worse under v0_6 since in full screen mode the image stutters disagreeably (not just the sound anymore) whereas they used to run smoothly in windowed-mode.

Annoying that v0.6a is worse.

That's the opposite understatement: it simply doesn't work anymore! ;-)

Here's a program that might shed some light on the audio problems. You have to click "Test" and then wait a bit to get a list of readings. They may tell us something.

My results :

0x00000012, 161
0x00000012, 190
0x00000012, 209
0x00000012, 222
0x00000012, 235
0x00000012, 248
0x00000012, 260
0x00000012, 273
0x00000012, 286
0x00000012, 300
0x00000012, 313
0x00000012, 326
0x00000012, 340
0x00000012, 354
0x00000012, 367
0x00000012, 388
0x00000012, 398
0x00000012, 407
0x00000012, 416
0x00000012, 424
0x00000012, 433
0x00000012, 442
0x00000012, 454
0x00000012, 465
0x00000012, 475
0x00000012, 484
0x00000012, 494
0x00000012, 503
0x00000012, 514
0x00000012, 523
0x00000012, 534
0x00000012, 544
0x00000012, 554
0x00000012, 565
0x00000012, 575
0x00000012, 596
0x00000012, 609
0x00000012, 620
0x00000012, 631
0x00000012, 642
0x00000012, 653
0x00000012, 663
0x00000012, 675
0x00000012, 686
0x00000012, 697
0x00000012, 709
0x00000012, 720
0x00000012, 732
0x00000012, 743
0x00000012, 755
0x00000012, 767
0x00000012, 779
0x00000012, 791
0x00000012, 803
0x00000012, 833
0x00000012, 848
0x00000012, 861
0x00000012, 874
0x00000012, 887
0x00000012, 899
0x00000012, 913
0x00000012, 926
0x00000012, 944
0x00000012, 959
0x00000012, 972
0x00000012, 985
0x00000012, 999
0x00000012, 1012
0x00000012, 1026
0x00000012, 1040
0x00000012, 1054
0x00000012, 1069
0x00000012, 1083
0x00000012, 1097
0x00000012, 1113
0x00000012, 1127
0x00000012, 1142
0x00000012, 1156
0x00000012, 1171
0x00000012, 1188
0x00000012, 1211
0x00000012, 1231
0x00000012, 1252
0x00000012, 1274
0x00000012, 1292
0x00000012, 1315
0x00000012, 1331
0x00000012, 1346
0x00000012, 1362
0x00000012, 1378
0x00000012, 1395
0x00000012, 1410
0x00000012, 1427
0x00000012, 1443
0x00000012, 1459
0x00000012, 1476
0x00000012, 1493
0x00000012, 1510
0x00000012, 1527
0x00000012, 1543
0x00000012, 1563
0x00000012, 1581
0x00000012, 1598
0x00000012, 1616
0x00000012, 1636
0x00000012, 1654
0x00000012, 1673
0x00000012, 1691
0x00000012, 1713
0x00000012, 1732
0x00000012, 1750
0x00000012, 1769
0x00000012, 1788
0x00000012, 1806
0x00000012, 1825
0x00000012, 1849
0x00000012, 1875
0x00000012, 1900
0x00000012, 1919
0x00000012, 2205

Tonight I tried out Rimsky82's solution, namely I run the TR1 Setup through VDos32 and manually chose the regular SB, and it works for me too, but only with VDos32 v0_6.
The sound isn't perfect, in that there remains a regular clicking sound with a slight echoing twist to it (it's hard to describe, but basically the clicking changes according to the sound being played, like when you click your tongue and vary the shape of your mouth -to me it sounds like the vague remnant of a sound loop), but it's continuous (not stuttering anymore), and furthermore both sound and video in the FMVs now play at normal speed, although the video still tends to be a bit jerky (but not stuttering anymore either).
There is still the V-chunk issue with the FMV image, but it's not so bad now the video runs at normal speed, so I understand why Rimsky82 didn't think much of it. Basically, it's not synchronised, so it seems to slide into place after the rest of the picture; it's particularly visible with quick sweeping movements or when the view changes abruptly, because the change in the V-shaped area is slower than in the rest of the picture. It seems to me that in particularly charged pictures other V-chunks appear (notably one upside down towards the middle of the screen), but maybe it's just the picture jerking a bit more.
All in all, TR1 is now quite playable under v0_6 -although it's still through Direct3D, not OpenGL (I get the same results there whatever the sound settings, ie white then black screen, no sound, and then sound when I try closing VDos32 down, but no window/picture), and if you can definitively rid us of the clicking sound, well , that would be even better. (I won't unlock Glidos yet though, because for one I'm interested in carrying on testing in order to help you improve both Glidos and VDos32, which will probably include reinstalling Glidos along the way, and TR8 is coming out in a few days anyway, so I want to leave some room for rediscovery of the original game through the latest one.)

Contrary to what Rimsky82 announced in a later post though, changing the IRQ from 7 to 5 with the SB16 selected doesn't change a thing for me: only the regular SB works, whatever the IRQ setting.
When I select Test in Setup under v0_6, with SB16 the sound is slowed down and discontinuous (stuttering, but I too think the pitch is right, or else only subtly lower), whatever the IRQ setting (except 10: error), and with the regular SB it's as described above -not perfect, but acceptable.
With v0_6a through c though the sound gets in successive loops whose lengths are very short but whose speeds vary according to the SB (and maybe IRQ, too) settings (I get a "r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ri-ri-ri-ri-ri-ri-ri-igh-igh-igh-igh-ight-ight-ight-ight" kind of pattern only with much longer repeats and in any case it has never gone further than that first word and stays stuck on the last loop until I close VDos32).

Sorry, that's a bit long, but I thought it might be important to give you the details.

And here are the WaveTest results for my computer:

0x00000012, 138
0x00000012, 153
0x00000012, 163
0x00000012, 174
0x00000012, 185
0x00000012, 195
0x00000012, 206
0x00000012, 216
0x00000012, 228
0x00000012, 242
0x00000012, 254
0x00000012, 265
0x00000012, 277
0x00000012, 288
0x00000012, 299
0x00000012, 312
0x00000012, 320
0x00000012, 327
0x00000012, 334
0x00000012, 341
0x00000012, 348
0x00000012, 355
0x00000012, 362
0x00000012, 370
0x00000012, 377
0x00000012, 386
0x00000012, 394
0x00000012, 401
0x00000012, 409
0x00000012, 417
0x00000012, 425
0x00000012, 433
0x00000012, 442
0x00000012, 450
0x00000012, 459
0x00000012, 467
0x00000012, 476
0x00000012, 484
0x00000012, 493
0x00000012, 502
0x00000012, 511
0x00000012, 520
0x00000012, 529
0x00000012, 538
0x00000012, 547
0x00000012, 557
0x00000012, 566
0x00000012, 576
0x00000012, 586
0x00000012, 596
0x00000012, 605
0x00000012, 615
0x00000012, 625
0x00000012, 636
0x00000012, 646
0x00000012, 656
0x00000012, 666
0x00000012, 676
0x00000012, 686
0x00000012, 697
0x00000012, 707
0x00000012, 717
0x00000012, 728
0x00000012, 739
0x00000012, 750
0x00000012, 762
0x00000012, 773
0x00000012, 784
0x00000012, 795
0x00000012, 806
0x00000012, 818
0x00000012, 829
0x00000012, 840
0x00000012, 851
0x00000012, 863
0x00000012, 874
0x00000012, 886
0x00000012, 898
0x00000012, 910
0x00000012, 922
0x00000012, 934
0x00000012, 946
0x00000012, 958
0x00000012, 970
0x00000012, 982
0x00000012, 994
0x00000012, 1007
0x00000012, 1021
0x00000012, 1034
0x00000012, 1047
0x00000012, 1059
0x00000012, 1072
0x00000012, 1085
0x00000012, 1098
0x00000012, 1112
0x00000012, 1125
0x00000012, 1138
0x00000012, 1151
0x00000012, 1165
0x00000012, 1178
0x00000012, 1192
0x00000012, 1205
0x00000012, 1219
0x00000012, 1233
0x00000012, 1247
0x00000012, 1260
0x00000012, 1275
0x00000012, 1289
0x00000012, 1303
0x00000012, 1317
0x00000012, 1332
0x00000012, 1346
0x00000012, 1361
0x00000012, 1375
0x00000012, 1390
0x00000012, 1404
0x00000012, 1419
0x00000012, 1434
0x00000012, 1449
0x00000012, 1464
0x00000012, 1480
0x00000012, 1495
0x00000012, 1510
0x00000012, 1525
0x00000012, 1542
0x00000012, 1558
0x00000012, 1573
0x00000012, 1589
0x00000012, 1605
0x00000012, 1621
0x00000012, 1637
0x00000012, 1653
0x00000012, 1669
0x00000003, 2205

Cheers.

Great. Thanks for all that info. I think the cause of the problem may be that hiccup right at the end of the data - the jump from c1600 to 2200. I see that here to on 64bit Vista. I may be able to work around that.

Also thanks for that descriptions of the problem. That is very clearly put and fits well with my understanding of the problem.

BTW, the V shape thing is not Vista specific: you do see that on XP also when using psVoodoo (the DirectX driver).