Shponglefan wrote on 2024-02-06, 21:19:
Any specific board/chipset suggestions? I've already tried on a Asrock 775Dual and am finding that ESS Solo-1 compatibility is... not great.
I still haven't created that build yet, but I'm going to try this one some day
https://www.ecs.com.tw/en/Product/Motherboard … 2/specification
You need to make sure that the PCI slot gets the correct IRQ. It's not always easy. Enable/disable settings on BIOS, or move cards around until they get IRQ 5 or 7.
Shponglefan wrote on 2024-02-06, 21:19:
At the moment my main two experiments are a P4 Socket 478 and an P4 LGA775 build. The latter has dual ISA slots so I'm finding compatibility is highest with that setup.
That's great news! What I mean is that in my experience, using slow down utilities (such as throttle, slowmo, cpuspd, etc) is not the best way to run old DOS software. It's much better to modify the multipliers and the BUS speed and disable L1/L2 caches individually and get a real slow speed vs. an "emulated" one. But this is not something all motherboards and cpus support. Some games can become jerky or act strangely with such utilities. Sometimes they work well but not exactly the same as they would on the correct hardware. But if this is not your priority or you do not experience what I just mentioned, then S775 is the best option.
Shponglefan wrote on 2024-02-06, 21:19:
Any reason you favor the Yamaha card over the Solo-1 for SiS chipsets? I'm using an ESS Solo-1 with an SiS 645DX / 962L board, and it's been highly compatible with DOS titles.
It's a matter of preference, a very subtle difference. Yamaha cards are the only PCI cards that have an original OPL chip, while the ESS cards have a clone, ESFM. There are probably other subtle differences. And there are probably some problematic games for each card too.