VOGONS


First post, by Ydee

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So, what is problem?
I wanted something better for my W98SE rig than the onboard AC'97 codec ALC201. I have Tualeron 1 GHz, Asus TUEP2-M with 512 MB SDRAM and GeForce2 PRO 64 MB SGRAM. Motherboard is uATX, so it has 3 PCI slots and I have some PCI sound cards, so what could be the problem? After all, just disable the onboard codec in the bios, insert the card into the slot, let Windows find the card and ask for a driver, install it and voilá - enjoy better sound after the restart, right? Do you think the same? Big mistake.

I did the above described - disabled onboard codec, gameport and midi in BIOS, inserted a card Avance Logic ALS300 PCI (or SB Live! 5.1 - same result), boot into Windows, install drivers and reboot. Then the yellow exclamation mark on the card in the Device manager and message: "This device is either not present, not working properly (yes, I know - but why, to hell?) or does not all the drivers installed. (Code 10). Try upgrading the device drivers for this device."
Grrr, ok - everythink seems fine, resources without conflicts, device is installed and ready, but ok, I trying to reinstall driver. But no no, Windows say: "The best driver for this device is already installed". Really?
So why can't I hear anything and dxdiag tells me "there's no sound hardware installed on the computer"?

Both cards are functional in another PC, drivers are for W98 and the OS sees them in the device manager, but none of them can working. Am I doomed to stick to codec forever?

(The screenshots also show Avance AC'97 and Avance SB Emulation - taken while the onboard codec was on. After the disable, these disappear.)

Reply 1 of 8, by jmetal88

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Hmm, the last time I tried something similar I didn't disable my onboard audio, I just had both installed at the same time and told Windows to use the PCI card. Seemed to work fine on my system.

Reply 2 of 8, by Ydee

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Yes, there are people, who have two or maybe more sound cards on their computer at the same time, unfortunately it doesn't work for me, which ruins my plans. I wanted to use Creative Audigy with a 5.25" front panel later, because board does not have a standard audio header, but a header for Asus iPanel audio, which I do not have and it's hard to find. But it looks like nothing else will run except the codec on this board, which is sad. I'll try reinstalling windows 98SE or another version of OS, but I don't give myself much of a chance.

Reply 3 of 8, by Ydee

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I don't understand what's happening, but there seems to be no solution - clean installation W98SE, next sound card (SB128 PCI now) and same result: no way... It looks, like the system sees an IRQ conflict and asks for automatic settings in the device manager, but this is both checked and set there and does not report any conflict. Yet the sound card with the yellow exclamation mark is inoperative. In BIOS, PnP/OS is enabled. Really weird issue...

Reply 4 of 8, by Ydee

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In the end I was forced to give up the battle, there is probably no way to achieve the functioning of a discrete PCI sound card (with or w/o FM) on the board ASUS TUEP2-M. I tried all three PCI slots, substituting Avance for ESS (it was installed and looked ok, but when playing the sound either the system froze or the sound was warped), SB Live and Audigy ended with the same error - Code 10. The board does not have the ability to disable the ACPI in BIOS, and the installation of W98SE with the /p i switch did not work either - the driver never installs correctly and the card is inactive after restart.Turning off USB didn't help, COM and LPT, assignment of IRQ hard in BIOS - nothing! I also have 2 more uATX from Asus (VIA694X and i810E), with similar BIOS, so there was no point even testing them, the result would be the same.
W95 OSR same result.

So I capitulated and was forced to replace Tualeron with Barton on the KM400AM-L office board MSI. Do I have limited CPU frequency variability options here ( only 1150-1530-1910-maybe 2300? I doubt) over jumpers on the board, but the first three choices are enough for me and most importantly, Avance is working fine at last! I have such a functional FM in games like Doom, Quake or Duke3D in DOSbox W98SE (or real DOS) and that's what I wanted.

It's a shame, the Tualeron was much more variable in frequency, going down to 660 MHz and not as hot as Barton. But because of the limited space I need uATX and a functioning FM card for games from circa 1994 - 2002. I have an XP rig for a newer one, but I don't bring it up that often.
So I'm finally happy for a workable compromise and for other potential TUEP2-M buyers a warning: in terms of sound, you'll have to settle for the ALC201 onboard and crappy SB emulation.

Reply 5 of 8, by Noonik

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Hello. The problem is that you did not disable onboard audio via jumpers. Read the manual, part 3 - Hardware setup -> Onboard Audio CODEC Settings. In particular, you have to disable a jumper called AUD_EN1. The manual explicitly says that you have to disable it if you use an external PCI sound card.

You are welcome! 😀

Reply 6 of 8, by Ydee

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Hi, thank you for the advice, I didn't write it in detail in the post and it's hard to see in the photo, but the jumper was connected to pin 2-3, so onboard audio off (as you can see on screen from th Device Manager with SB PCI128).
Anyway, with KT400A everything is working fine. Welcome on Vogons!

Reply 7 of 8, by sangokushi

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Have you tried to install Windows XP on the same setup to rule out if it's hardware conflicting or OS/Drivers issue?

Reply 8 of 8, by Ydee

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Hi, I haven't tried it - firstly, I have a different setup for WXP (based on s.754) and secondly for WXP, there are no drivers for ALS300, as far as I know.