DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-14, 14:27:

Sorted the issue. I changed the CMOS battery. God only knows how long the original had been in there for.

There's something not right with that sound card though. Both Doom and Gabriel Knight are unable to play General MIDI music. Gabriel Knight's installer says it isn't supported? I was led to believe that model of sound card did?

just curious did the drivers i posted detect your card at all? i was just playing with my toshiba and the opl drivers work perfectly in windows 98 dosbox ive got FM adlib opl and general midi, but in pure dos ive only got FM adlib opl only, general midi isnt working at all in pure dos, i thought i might need dos drivers as theres nothing in my autoexec.bat, but as charliefoxtrot said it wont work i guess i just have to stick with general midi in a win98 dosbox

also ive recently picked up another C-media CMI8738, the opl on this is identical to a genuine yamaha and so is the general midi, though in duke3d the cmedia goes slightly out of sync with the genuine yamaha which plays a little faster, the general midi on both are perfectly synced, anyway im having the same problem with the cmedia as the yamaha, everything works perfectly in win98 dosbox, but under pure dos im only getting FM opl adlib and no general midi, since its an opl clone i guess it suffers from the same problem,

to make things worse im also getting no sound FX under pure dos with the cmedia which seems to be a common problem no one can fix, seems the only card which will do it all in windows and dos with no bullshit is my sound blaster live CT4620, its just the SB16/ablib sounds kind of slow and crappy compared to the cmedia, at least on doom/duke3d, monkey island2 sound pretty good with the live's adlib, im thinking of just going back to the live as it just has good all round compatibility as its given me none of the problems ive had with the YMF and cmedia, it might be worth picking up one yourself if you get tired of the bullshit, just make sure to get a model that starts with CT rather than an SB, otherwise you'll be dealing with a load more driver bullshit, go for a CT4620 or a CT4760.

also daemon tools 347 works great in win98, its what i use

DudeFace wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:57:

just curious did the drivers i posted detect your card at all? i was just playing with my toshiba and the opl drivers work perfe […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-14, 14:27:

Sorted the issue. I changed the CMOS battery. God only knows how long the original had been in there for.

There's something not right with that sound card though. Both Doom and Gabriel Knight are unable to play General MIDI music. Gabriel Knight's installer says it isn't supported? I was led to believe that model of sound card did?

just curious did the drivers i posted detect your card at all? i was just playing with my toshiba and the opl drivers work perfectly in windows 98 dosbox ive got FM adlib opl and general midi, but in pure dos ive only got FM adlib opl only, general midi isnt working at all in pure dos, i thought i might need dos drivers as theres nothing in my autoexec.bat, but as charliefoxtrot said it wont work i guess i just have to stick with general midi in a win98 dosbox

also ive recently picked up another C-media CMI8738, the opl on this is identical to a genuine yamaha and so is the general midi, though in duke3d the cmedia goes slightly out of sync with the genuine yamaha which plays a little faster, the general midi on both are perfectly synced, anyway im having the same problem with the cmedia as the yamaha, everything works perfectly in win98 dosbox, but under pure dos im only getting FM opl adlib and no general midi, since its an opl clone i guess it suffers from the same problem,

to make things worse im also getting no sound FX under pure dos with the cmedia which seems to be a common problem no one can fix, seems the only card which will do it all in windows and dos with no bullshit is my sound blaster live CT4620, its just the SB16/ablib sounds kind of slow and crappy compared to the cmedia, at least on doom/duke3d, monkey island2 sound pretty good with the live's adlib, im thinking of just going back to the live as it just has good all round compatibility as its given me none of the problems ive had with the YMF and cmedia, it might be worth picking up one yourself if you get tired of the bullshit, just make sure to get a model that starts with CT rather than an SB, otherwise you'll be dealing with a load more driver bullshit, go for a CT4620 or a CT4760.

also daemon tools 347 works great in win98, its what i use

No, unfortunately those drivers didn’t work. I don’t think it was able to detect anything. But thanks anyway.

As an aside - is it normal for the music in Duke 3D under DOS/Windows 98 to be so damn quiet compared to the SFX? I’ve tried various device options and adjusting the volume sliders, but nothing really helps improve its volume. I’ve had to turn the SFX down quite a bit in order to turn the rest of the volume up.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:24:

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:12:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-16, 16:44:

Unfortunately, Alcohol 120% Phil provided doesn’t work for me. 🙁 It installs, but the program just won’t load. It complains again about needing a newer version of Windows.

The attachment IMG_3763.jpeg is no longer available

I don't know what Phil's version is, but it is probably for XP and newer and last 98 compatible Alcohol 120 is 1.9.5.something, can't remember the exact version number, so you just need to install some of the older versions.

Okay, thanks. Didn’t realise that was for XP. The regular Daemon Tools from the same page installed and works fine. But I’ll take a look for an older version.

Here is the version number

Re: Alcohol 120 demands newer windows version (on 98SE)

DosFreak wrote on 2024-11-16, 18:26:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:24:

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:12:

I don't know what Phil's version is, but it is probably for XP and newer and last 98 compatible Alcohol 120 is 1.9.5.something, can't remember the exact version number, so you just need to install some of the older versions.

Okay, thanks. Didn’t realise that was for XP. The regular Daemon Tools from the same page installed and works fine. But I’ll take a look for an older version.

Here is the version number

Re: Alcohol 120 demands newer windows version (on 98SE)

Thanks for the link. 😀 Funnily enough, I just found a link on a Vogon thread (possibly that one) that points to a Retro Edition that was released. Just installed that.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-16, 18:16:

DudeFace wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:57:

just curious did the drivers i posted detect your card at all? i was just playing with my toshiba and the opl drivers work perfe […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-14, 14:27:

Sorted the issue. I changed the CMOS battery. God only knows how long the original had been in there for.

There's something not right with that sound card though. Both Doom and Gabriel Knight are unable to play General MIDI music. Gabriel Knight's installer says it isn't supported? I was led to believe that model of sound card did?

just curious did the drivers i posted detect your card at all? i was just playing with my toshiba and the opl drivers work perfectly in windows 98 dosbox ive got FM adlib opl and general midi, but in pure dos ive only got FM adlib opl only, general midi isnt working at all in pure dos, i thought i might need dos drivers as theres nothing in my autoexec.bat, but as charliefoxtrot said it wont work i guess i just have to stick with general midi in a win98 dosbox

also ive recently picked up another C-media CMI8738, the opl on this is identical to a genuine yamaha and so is the general midi, though in duke3d the cmedia goes slightly out of sync with the genuine yamaha which plays a little faster, the general midi on both are perfectly synced, anyway im having the same problem with the cmedia as the yamaha, everything works perfectly in win98 dosbox, but under pure dos im only getting FM opl adlib and no general midi, since its an opl clone i guess it suffers from the same problem,

to make things worse im also getting no sound FX under pure dos with the cmedia which seems to be a common problem no one can fix, seems the only card which will do it all in windows and dos with no bullshit is my sound blaster live CT4620, its just the SB16/ablib sounds kind of slow and crappy compared to the cmedia, at least on doom/duke3d, monkey island2 sound pretty good with the live's adlib, im thinking of just going back to the live as it just has good all round compatibility as its given me none of the problems ive had with the YMF and cmedia, it might be worth picking up one yourself if you get tired of the bullshit, just make sure to get a model that starts with CT rather than an SB, otherwise you'll be dealing with a load more driver bullshit, go for a CT4620 or a CT4760.

also daemon tools 347 works great in win98, its what i use

No, unfortunately those drivers didn’t work. I don’t think it was able to detect anything. But thanks anyway.

As an aside - is it normal for the music in Duke 3D under DOS/Windows 98 to be so damn quiet compared to the SFX? I’ve tried various device options and adjusting the volume sliders, but nothing really helps improve its volume. I’ve had to turn the SFX down quite a bit in order to turn the rest of the volume up.

no worries just wondered if it even detected, i guess its just for embedded chips, as for duke3d from what ive found its pretty normal, i turn the music to full and the sound effects to around a quarter volume either in setup or in game.

Found a listing for a Roland SC-155 for around £130.50. Marginally cheaper than the DreamBlaster. Should I get? 😁

I found a thread where Joseph_Joestar got one back in 2021.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-17, 15:23:

Found a listing for a Roland SC-155 for around £130.50. Marginally cheaper than the DreamBlaster. Should I get? 😁

Is there any reason you're comparing to the Dreamblaster X16GS specifically?

If you're looking for a General MIDI wavetable with Roland samples, there cheaper options like the X2GS SE(about £80 inc. VAT) or the regular X2GS (about £71 inc. VAT).

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-17, 15:56:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-17, 15:23:

Found a listing for a Roland SC-155 for around £130.50. Marginally cheaper than the DreamBlaster. Should I get? 😁

Is there any reason you're comparing to the Dreamblaster X16GS specifically?

If you're looking for a General MIDI wavetable with Roland samples, there cheaper options like the X2GS SE(about £80 inc. VAT) or the regular X2GS (about £71 inc. VAT).

More the price, I guess. And because it's retro/vintage hardware compared to the wavetable.

I take it those cheaper options would still be on par, or better, than the Roland SC-55/155 then?

Also, I've found someone in a nearby city selling a vintage 17" montor for a good price. 😀

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-17, 16:31:

More the price, I guess. And because it's retro/vintage hardware compared to the wavetable.

What I meant is that the DreamBlaster X16GS is a higher priced wavetable. Whereas if all you're looking for is Roland General MIDI sample set, then the X2GS or X2GS SE are cheaper options, but will still give you proper Roland sounds.

I take it those cheaper options would still be on par, or better, than the Roland SC-55/155 then?

In terms of sounds, on par.

Also, I've found someone in a nearby city selling a vintage 17" montor for a good price. 😀

Nice! If it's in good shape, I'd jump on that.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-17, 16:58:

What I meant is that the DreamBlaster X16GS is a higher priced wavetable. Whereas if all you're looking for is Roland General MI […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-17, 16:31:

More the price, I guess. And because it's retro/vintage hardware compared to the wavetable.

What I meant is that the DreamBlaster X16GS is a higher priced wavetable. Whereas if all you're looking for is Roland General MIDI sample set, then the X2GS or X2GS SE are cheaper options, but will still give you proper Roland sounds.

I take it those cheaper options would still be on par, or better, than the Roland SC-55/155 then?

In terms of sounds, on par.

Okay, fair enough. I’ll go for the cheaper version then. Thanks. 😀

One other thing regarding wavetables and/or MIDI devices like the SC-55 - are any additional steps required to get them recognised/working within DOS? Any commands/drivers I'd need to set up beforehand? Or is it really a simple matter of plugging them in and picking the appropriate audio device during the game's installation? Thanks.

You will need drivers set up and the appropriate port # configured. Usually this is set to 330 by default.

If you're doing this under Windows, you also need to make sure the correct MIDI device is chosen for playback (under Multimedia settings).

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-18, 15:58:

You will need drivers set up and the appropriate port # configured. Usually this is set to 330 by default.

If you're doing this under Windows, you also need to make sure the correct MIDI device is chosen for playback (under Multimedia settings).

Okay, great. Thank. That shouldn't be a problem under Windows, but I'm just a bit apprehensive setting up drivers under DOS. Currently been having issues with the onboard sound setup under DOS, which is being covered in another thread.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-18, 16:37:

Okay, great. Thank. That shouldn't be a problem under Windows, but I'm just a bit apprehensive setting up drivers under DOS. Currently been having issues with the onboard sound setup under DOS, which is being covered in another thread.

I'd recommend first disabling the onboard sound in the BIOS, and then trying to the Yamaha card using UNISOUND. That should give you a pretty quick indication if things are working.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-18, 17:46:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-18, 16:37:

Okay, great. Thank. That shouldn't be a problem under Windows, but I'm just a bit apprehensive setting up drivers under DOS. Currently been having issues with the onboard sound setup under DOS, which is being covered in another thread.

I'd recommend first disabling the onboard sound in the BIOS, and then trying to the Yamaha card using UNISOUND. That should give you a pretty quick indication if things are working.

What’s UNISOUND? Not heard of that before. But I *think* (so far at least) I’ve managed to sort it now. 😀

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-18, 18:03:

What’s UNISOUND? Not heard of that before. But I *think* (so far at least) I’ve managed to sort it now. 😀

It's a universal sound driver for DOS. Supports a lot of different sound cards.

UNISOUND - Universal ISA PnP Sound Card Driver for DOS v0.82a

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-18, 18:30:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-18, 18:03:

What’s UNISOUND? Not heard of that before. But I *think* (so far at least) I’ve managed to sort it now. 😀

It's a universal sound driver for DOS. Supports a lot of different sound cards.

UNISOUND - Universal ISA PnP Sound Card Driver for DOS v0.82a

Oh cool! This site needs a post react feature. 😁 But thanks for the link. I'll download that and give it a try. Save it to my collection of retro drivers/software. 😀

If, hypothetically, I ever did decide to upgrade the CPU and GPU, what would be the latest/fastest I'd be able to upgrade to? Or would I need to upgrade the mobo to something else? It certainly wouldn't be something to happen any time soon, but I did test out Quake, and that did struggle a bit at 1024x768. Well, gameplay was actually fine, but the menu does act... weird. A bit slow at responding and sounds stutter. As well as at 800x600. 640x480 is the sweet spot. So that's a game from 1996, so a bit of a later game, from 1999-2000, might struggle more.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-19, 21:03:

If, hypothetically, I ever did decide to upgrade the CPU and GPU, what would be the latest/fastest I'd be able to upgrade to? Or would I need to upgrade the mobo to something else? It certainly wouldn't be something to happen any time soon, but I did test out Quake, and that did struggle a bit at 1024x768. Well, gameplay was actually fine, but the menu does act... weird. A bit slow at responding and sounds stutter. As well as at 800x600. 640x480 is the sweet spot. So that's a game from 1996, so a bit of a later game, from 1999-2000, might struggle more.

It's normal for Quake's menu to stutter at higher resolutions. It even does that on a P4 @ 3.4 GHz. Are you running it in DOS in software mode? Or are you running GLQuake under Windows?

As for upgrading, that would depend on your motherboard. What motherboard do you have?

From what I recall, I think the system you have has a Pentium III-450 and a Riva TNT graphics card? That's a pretty solid 1998-1999 era setup. You could certainly upgrade the processor and GPU, though again it will depend on its motherboard. If the board only supports up to Katmai processors, I believe 600 MHz would probably be the fastest CPU. If it supports Coppermine CPUs (which use lower voltages), then you could go faster.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-19, 21:11:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-19, 21:03:

If, hypothetically, I ever did decide to upgrade the CPU and GPU, what would be the latest/fastest I'd be able to upgrade to? Or would I need to upgrade the mobo to something else? It certainly wouldn't be something to happen any time soon, but I did test out Quake, and that did struggle a bit at 1024x768. Well, gameplay was actually fine, but the menu does act... weird. A bit slow at responding and sounds stutter. As well as at 800x600. 640x480 is the sweet spot. So that's a game from 1996, so a bit of a later game, from 1999-2000, might struggle more.

It's normal for Quake's menu to stutter at higher resolutions. It even does that on a P4 @ 3.4 GHz. Are you running it in DOS in software mode? Or are you running GLQuake under Windows?

As for upgrading, that would depend on your motherboard. What motherboard do you have?

Ahh, okay. Fair enough. I'm not sure if/where the option is; I'd have to take another look. I think I have the original DOS version, so I don't think it has a Windows one. So I'm guessing it's in software mode...?

I have the Intel 440BX - https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/msi-ms-6156-bx11