VOGONS

Compatibility list for 16-bit ISA cards in 8-bit ISA slots anywhere?

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First post, by 8dot3

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Hi everyone!

I have some 16bit ISA cards lying around and I want/"need" a) a VGA card and b) a soundcard and c) a NE2000 card for an XT.

So I heard that some 16 bit-VGA cards can run in 8bit slots, and some soundblaster (&compatible) cards can, CD-ROM interfaces aside, run in 8bit slots, same for network cards.

Is there a list anywhere where people put the results of their tests in? I would be happy to add my data there and be even more happy to find some info there.

So, does such a list exist, and if so, where?

Thank you!

Reply 1 of 9, by Grem Five

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Only list I know of is for VGA cards here.

Reply 2 of 9, by Tiido

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YMF71x sound cards work in 8bit slots as long as you do not choose DMA0, the card will stop working properly in such a case (it appears not to like floating DMA ack line).

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Reply 3 of 9, by theelf

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I can confirm i have a trident 8900c and a ess 1868 in a XT board, works fine

Reply 4 of 9, by Grzyb

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theelf wrote on 2024-06-07, 19:31:

ess 1868 in a XT board

How do you initialize it?
ESSCFG? UNISOUND? Something else?

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Reply 5 of 9, by TamaMan

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Not a sound card but for MPU-401 compatible MIDI access, the 16-bit version of the "Music Quest PC MIDI Card" works in a 8-bit slot (IRQ selection limitations apply).

Reply 7 of 9, by kingcake

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A dirty little secret is that quite a large number of "16-bit" ISA cards only do 8-bit transfers. The only reason they use the 16-bit card edge connector is for access to high IRQs. So if you use a low IRQ they will work.

Reply 8 of 9, by Shponglefan

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I'm not aware of any compatibility list for 16-bit ISA cards with 8-bit slots (at least not for sound cards).

That said, I have used an PAS16 sound card with an 8-bit ISA slot (in a Tandy 1000 TL) and it worked.

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Reply 9 of 9, by Grzyb

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kingcake wrote on 2024-06-07, 22:04:

A dirty little secret is that quite a large number of "16-bit" ISA cards only do 8-bit transfers. The only reason they use the 16-bit card edge connector is for access to high IRQs. So if you use a low IRQ they will work.

Oh yeah - see eg. Sound Blaster Pro.
Also, all those multi-I/O cards only use 16-bit for IDE - other functions (FDC, COM, LPT, GAME) are 8-bit.

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