You run win 98 with 1024 MB?

Why not try 512 MB?

Batholomeus wrote on 2024-09-21, 18:02:

- Terratec XLerate (TTP1 VER1.4 AU8820B2)

This ran immediately under MS-DOS 6.22. All games recognized it or played FM and FX sound after manual input. But what can I say, although the driver installation was problem-free under Windows 98, the devices are recognized and the loudspeaker is next to the clock, I get no sound. The media player plays MIDI and WAV, but nothing can be heard. I have reinstalled Windows several times, tried different driver versions, but nothing...

Now I'm stuck and don't know what to do.

Have you confirmed that the correct playback devices have been selected in the sound properties? Have you confirmed that the sound devices are unmuted and have correct volume levels set?

Have you confirmed there are no hardware conflicts and/or have tried different hardware resource assignments under device manager?

I am totally thrilled. The hint with the 512MB RAM was the breakthrough. I've just removed a module and without adjusting anything, Windows 98 has greeted me with sound!

Thank you very much!

I knew all along that 512MB was a critical limit, but since it seemed to run so smoothly, I didn't think about it anymore! I could have been smarter.

Many thanks for your quick answers!

I was satisfied too quickly. The sound lasted until the next reboot. Now the system behaves as usual after installing the sound drivers:

- The startup is suspiciously long
- No sound in Windows 98
- Drivers & settings look good to me
- Shutdown is normal. Reboot and exit to MS-DOS mode crashes.

Sorry for the screenshot, but this was the easiest way to get the information from the system.

When I made the mistake of installing windows with too much ram, I eventually reinstalled Win98 with a legal amount of ram. For me, it worked fine after the reinstall. Not sure if it will for you.
BTW, not all programs will be able to handle 512 MB on win98. So it might be good to have a 256MB stick too.

In the meantime, I also had the idea to reinstall Windows and have already done so. The screenshot is from the “clean system”

Steps

Drivers I have tried:
Terratec: XLerate_Drv_VXD_full_4.06.1187
Aureal: w9x1189_full

I had trouble finding/getting 512MB, will keep an eye out for 256MB.

There is Commander Keen 4-6 atifix out there, try it with your ATi Radeon X600
Re: Jerky scrolling in Commander Keen 6
https://pckf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6192

Batholomeus wrote on 2024-09-21, 20:04:

In the meantime, I also had the idea to reinstall Windows and have already done so. The screenshot is from the “clean system”

Have you checked all the hardware resource assignments to make sure nothing is conflicting? I'd also suggest trying different hw resource settings.

I've had cases with Windows 98 installs where sometimes HW conflicts can manifest in unusual ways, even if there is nothing obviously conflicting in the device manager.

Good morning (at least in this time zone) 😉

@ux-3: I ordered 256MB RAM for the system today for further testing.

@marxveix: Thank you very much for the tip. Had heard about it, but what I had read were probably old posts that sounded a lot like development activity. It's working fine for me now. So far all games run under MS-DOS 6.22 as I wanted them to. The biggest goal of the project has been achieved.

@Shponglefan: Many thanks for your suggestion. I have now done the following:
- PS/2 keyboard and mouse connected
- USB deactivated in the BIOS
-> I have sound! However, the device manager is full of warnings. (PS/2 port for mouse, PS/2 port for keyboard, sound card (SB emulation))

- I moved the sound card to another PCI slot, sound still works, but still many warnings.

Will reinstall Windows traditionally later today. I wonder if that will change anything. I will keep you up to date. But it looks like I have to make a decision: Sound or USB. What a pity, I didn't really want to work with burned CDs any more.

Batholomeus wrote on 2024-09-22, 07:23:

But it looks like I have to make a decision: Sound or USB. What a pity, I didn't really want to work with burned CDs any more.

There may be a way around that, if your BIOS has the relevant options.

First, try limiting the total number of active USB ports to 4, if such an option exists. This may vary a bit by chipset, but for my experience, the more active ports you have, the more resources (IRQs) they will take up. Second, try disabling USB 2.0 specifically, while leaving USB 1.1 active, if the BIOS allows that. You will get greatly reduced transfer speeds, but this will take up fewer resources, and you'll still have functional USB support. And thirdly, you can try reserving certain resources (IRQ and DMA values) in the BIOS for legacy devices, if that option is available. Usually, reserving IRQ 5 and DMA 1 is enough to get a simple SBPro compatible sound card to work in DOS, but this varies based on a number of factors. Just some suggestions to get you started.

P.S.

To determine if your system has enough free resources, under Windows 98SE click Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information > Hardware Resources and check the IRQ, DMA and I/O sections. If an IRQ is shared between your sound card and other devices, that may be why you're experiencing issues.

Batholomeus wrote on 2024-09-22, 07:23:

-> I have sound! However, the device manager is full of warnings. (sound card (SB emulation))

Check the windows hardware settings. And take a look which install option the manager chose for the sb emulation and the card. He may well have picked a non default (even reduced) setting in which some address are changed or disabled. This happens when the manager encounters conflicts.

@all:
It now seems to be running the way I wanted it to (incl. USB support). Even after a Windows 98 reinstallation everything works. The dxdiag tests all ran without any problems and the DOS games also run under Windows 98, but this is not necessary. Now comes the long-term test to see if it is such a stable system.

@Joseph_Joestar:
I was planning to reduce the USB ports for some time, but was disappointed by the BIOS here that there is no option. I have 4 USB controllers and need a maximum of 2. I also wanted to specify the IRQs, but was surprised that the BIOS didn't allow this either. However, I found an option in the manual today that is not displayed in the BIOS. With <CTRL>+<F1> you can display advanced settings. Now I could also directly access IRQs. I have reserved IRQ5 and it works. Many thanks for the suggestion to look here again. The IRQs are terribly full (see attachment). DMA, on the other hand, looks good.

Summary, so that others don't have to read all the posts:

I will report here if the system continues to behave well or what my next problems are and how they were solved. I would like to thank everyone here. Great forum, valuable content (also for non-registered users), very nice and helpful people.

The next steps for me with the computer:
- Finding out if I can close the gap between the 19fps and 108fps to match the performance of a DX4-100 for example
- Continuous optimization
- How do I integrate it into my current setup (monitor, keyboard, mouse, ... )
-- DVI or VGA to Display Port or HDMI
- Find a sound solution for up to 4 computers that fits into my existing setup