sangokushi wrote on 2023-04-15, 19:49:

It is easy to tell a laptop has PCI sound based on the sound chip. Just wondering how can I know if the sound card is wired up w […]
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It is easy to tell a laptop has PCI sound based on the sound chip.
Just wondering how can I know if the sound card is wired up with sb-link ?

Something like no sound in DOS if sb-link is not wired up?

Thanks.

Possibly the manual or old reviews. I don't think there's an easy check you can do yourself, maybe the Device Manager? DOS no sound (sbpro) is a good indicator!

Anyone know an example of a laptop with sb-link? Sounds interesting.

The DOS tool NSSI can detect various soundcards.. And the associated resources.
I'm not sure how reliable the tool is, but it's worth a try.

If the DOS initialization program works wit ISA DMA instead of DDMA, DSDMA, TDMA, etc.

What model laptop is the one in question?

bartonxp wrote on 2023-04-15, 21:23:

Possibly the manual or old reviews. I don't think there's an easy check you can do yourself, maybe the Device Manager? DOS no sound (sbpro) is a good indicator!

Anyone know an example of a laptop with sb-link? Sounds interesting.

Some of the old Sony Vaio Pentium III laptops have a Yamaha YMF744 is wired up with sb-link:
Sony Vaio PCG-Z505HE

All of the Sony with YMF744 and 754 have SB-Link/PC-PCI wired up as far as I know... I have a bunch of different models.

However, they are not always easy to get working for DOS. The SetYMF utility is helpful.

cyclone3d wrote on 2023-04-15, 21:40:

If the DOS initialization program works wit ISA DMA instead of DDMA, DSDMA, TDMA, etc.

What model laptop is the one in question?

I have a Gateway Solo 2150 which has a Creative Labs Ectiva EV1938 sound chip

sangokushi wrote on 2023-04-15, 21:43:

bartonxp wrote on 2023-04-15, 21:23:

Possibly the manual or old reviews. I don't think there's an easy check you can do yourself, maybe the Device Manager? DOS no sound (sbpro) is a good indicator!

Anyone know an example of a laptop with sb-link? Sounds interesting.

Some of the old Sony Vaio Pentium III laptops have a Yamaha YMF744 is wired up with sb-link:
Sony Vaio PCG-Z505HE

That's a nice sound card too, typical Sony. 😀

sangokushi wrote on 2023-04-15, 21:50:

cyclone3d wrote on 2023-04-15, 21:40:

If the DOS initialization program works wit ISA DMA instead of DDMA, DSDMA, TDMA, etc.

What model laptop is the one in question?

I have a Gateway Solo 2150 which has a Creative Labs Ectiva EV1938 sound chip

Looks like it is a single chip solution that is the same as the PCI64/128 cards that Creative sold. As far as I know, those chips do not support SB-Link/PC-PCI.
They also relied on the wavetable to emulate FM which was pretty terrible.

See here for a post about those:
Creative / ECTIVA EV1938 - OPTi or Ensoniq?

cyclone3d wrote on 2023-04-16, 02:04:

Looks like it is a single chip solution that is the same as the PCI64/128 cards that Creative sold. As far as I know, those chip […]
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Looks like it is a single chip solution that is the same as the PCI64/128 cards that Creative sold. As far as I know, those chips do not support SB-Link/PC-PCI.
They also relied on the wavetable to emulate FM which was pretty terrible.

See here for a post about those:
Creative / ECTIVA EV1938 - OPTi or Ensoniq?

Thanks! I will buy a Sony with YMF744/754 if I see a good deal.

There are other Gateway solo laptops that have ESS sound chips in them and there was also a dock that has ISA and PCI slots.

The Sony laptops don't have good graphics chips if you want to play anything 3d accelerated.

If you do want a Sony, look up the marketing specifications. Most of them that list having hardware midi synthesis have the Yamaha chips.
However, the later ones that list it may not have it and have a Yamaha AC-XG chip which doesn't support DOS.