User5518 wrote on 2025-05-04, 19:38:

A few weeks ago, I found the ECS L4S8A2 on eBay for a fairly low price (40 euros) and decided to buy it. I had previously managed to get a "Maxi Sound Fortissimo" (YMF-744) for just 15 euros.
Today I finally got around to testing it, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get it to work.

Download the modified DSDMA for SiS chipsets from here:

https://www.philscomputerlab.com/yamaha-ymf74 … sound-card.html

mockingbird wrote on 2025-05-04, 21:47:

Download the modified DSDMA for SiS chipsets from here:

https://www.philscomputerlab.com/yamaha-ymf74 … sound-card.html

Thank you, I used the archive "ymf724_dos-sis63x-73x-745-or-later.zip" and proceeded as follows:

First, I disabled all devices that I didn’t really need for testing, such as onboard sound, all USB ports, LPT port and all serial ports.

Then, I copied the contents of the drivers folder from "ymf724_dos-sis63x-73x-745-or-later.zip" to C:\DS-XG\.

My current AUTOEXEC.BAT looks like this:

I also tried swapping the order of setupds and ymfirq just to test things out:

But in all cases, I had no luck. Running "monkey2.exe a" (for adlib) resulted in no sound.

Whenever I experimented with setupds.exe, I kept getting the "Cannot detect DMA at channel X" error. Even in D-DMA mode, I had no sound under MS-DOS.

Here’s how the SB-Link is wired:

1SB-Link Pin 1 → Mainboard Pin 1
2SB-Link Pin 2 → Mainboard Pin 2
3…
4SB-Link Pin 6 → Mainboard Pin 6

User5518 wrote on 2025-05-05, 09:46:

Thank you, I used the archive "ymf724_dos-sis63x-73x-745-or-later.zip" and proceeded as follows: […]
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mockingbird wrote on 2025-05-04, 21:47:

Download the modified DSDMA for SiS chipsets from here:

https://www.philscomputerlab.com/yamaha-ymf74 … sound-card.html

Thank you, I used the archive "ymf724_dos-sis63x-73x-745-or-later.zip" and proceeded as follows:

First, I disabled all devices that I didn’t really need for testing, such as onboard sound, all USB ports, LPT port and all serial ports.

The attachment IRQ-list.jpeg is no longer available

Then, I copied the contents of the drivers folder from "ymf724_dos-sis63x-73x-745-or-later.zip" to C:\DS-XG\.

The attachment ds-xg-dir.jpeg is no longer available

My current AUTOEXEC.BAT looks like this:

The attachment autoexec_bat.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment setupds_ymfirq.jpeg is no longer available

I also tried swapping the order of setupds and ymfirq just to test things out:

The attachment ymfirq_setupds.jpeg is no longer available

But in all cases, I had no luck. Running "monkey2.exe a" (for adlib) resulted in no sound.

Whenever I experimented with setupds.exe, I kept getting the "Cannot detect DMA at channel X" error. Even in D-DMA mode, I had no sound under MS-DOS.

Here’s how the SB-Link is wired:

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1SB-Link Pin 1 → Mainboard Pin 1
2SB-Link Pin 2 → Mainboard Pin 2
3…
4SB-Link Pin 6 → Mainboard Pin 6

Can you post a screenshot of SETUPDS settings screen again but without any errors on display.

zuldan wrote on 2025-05-05, 10:31:

Can you post a screenshot of SETUPDS settings screen again but without any errors on display.

Sure:

(and my current autoexec.bat:

)

User5518 wrote on 2025-05-05, 11:04:

Sure: […]
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zuldan wrote on 2025-05-05, 10:31:

Can you post a screenshot of SETUPDS settings screen again but without any errors on display.

Sure:

The attachment setupds.jpeg is no longer available

(and my current autoexec.bat:

The attachment current_autoexec_bat.jpeg is no longer available

)

Can you show what other IRQ modes are available in the list?

User5518 wrote on 2025-05-04, 19:38:

A few weeks ago, I found the ECS L4S8A2 on eBay for a fairly low price (40 euros) and decided to buy it. I had previously manag […]
Show full quote

DudeFace wrote on 2024-10-26, 03:51:

i've got an, ECS L4S8A2 Socket 478, it looks like theres an SB-Link header down by the speaker/cmos battery, cant be certain as the manual makes no mention of it as it doesnt even show that header in the pictures of the board, what do you guys think, i dont have a card with SB-Link at the moment so cant test.

The attachment ECS L4S8A2 Socket 478.jpg is no longer available

A few weeks ago, I found the ECS L4S8A2 on eBay for a fairly low price (40 euros) and decided to buy it. I had previously managed to get a "Maxi Sound Fortissimo" (YMF-744) for just 15 euros.
Today I finally got around to testing it, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get it to work.

I tried the drivers from https://archive.org/details/maxi-sound-fortissimo as well as the ones for the YMF-724 from this Vogons post: Re: Yamaha PCI YMF-724 DOS Compatibility Thread — but no success with either.
Every time (even after running "loadtsr.bat"), I get the message: "Can not detect DMA at channel 1". Changing the DMA channel didn’t help either.

The attachment IMG_6535.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_6537.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_6538.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_6543.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment IMG_6545.jpeg is no longer available

I'll take a look at YMF744, DOS, no DMA? (PC/PCI, SB-link tests) (edit YES DMA, read further down) now. Maybe there's still a solution to be found.

cool find 😀 hopefully it is an SB-Link header and you can get it working, it maybe that its for something different, the manual doesnt mention the header so the only option is to try it out or look through manuals of other ECS boards from that era, and see if theres any mention of the header, anyway let us know if you manage to get it working 😀

zuldan wrote on 2025-05-05, 11:09:

Can you show what other IRQ modes are available in the list?

Also no problem:

Here are the other options:

DudeFace wrote on 2025-05-05, 11:10:

cool find 😀 hopefully it is an SB-Link header and you can get it working, it maybe that its for something different, the manual doesnt mention the header so the only option is to try it out or look through manuals of other ECS boards from that era, and see if theres any mention of the header, anyway let us know if you manage to get it working 😀

Yes, I had also noticed that it’s not really documented. But hope dies last. 😉

User5518 wrote on 2025-05-05, 11:39:

Also no problem:

The attachment IRQ_MODE.jpeg is no longer available

Ok I think I’m using S-IRQ but it’s greyed for you. I’ll don’t have access to the PC at the moment but will check tomorrow to check against my settings.

I noticed your motherboard doesn’t have an ISA slot. I think SB-Link system fools the game into thinking it’s talking to ISA. In my motherboard I can reserve IRQs and DMAs to the ISA bus. Since your board does not have ISA it won’t have any options like that in the BIOS.

In the meantime, you can run HWiNFO for DOS. It can tell you what is running on each IRQ and DMA to see if there are any conflicts.

User5518 wrote on 2025-05-05, 09:46:

<snip>
But in all cases, I had no luck. Running "monkey2.exe a" (for adlib) resulted in no sound.

Please make certain that the device ID for the modified setupds is in fact the same as your southbridge's deviceid. If not, then modify it manually.

zuldan wrote on 2025-05-05, 11:51:

Ok I think I’m using S-IRQ but it’s greyed for you. I’ll don’t have access to the PC at the moment but will check tomorrow to check against my settings.

I noticed your motherboard doesn’t have an ISA slot. I think SB-Link system fools the game into thinking it’s talking to ISA. In my motherboard I can reserve IRQs and DMAs to the ISA bus. Since your board does not have ISA it won’t have any options like that in the BIOS.

In the meantime, you can run HWiNFO for DOS. It can tell you what is running on each IRQ and DMA to see if there are any conflicts.

Thank you.
I can apparently reserve IRQs in my BIOS, however, it doesn't quite work:

Although I have reserved IRQ5, according to HWINFO, IRQ5 is being used by the HDD?!

DMA looks good - (I would claim)

I had also already set "Reset Configuration Data" to "Enabled" and restarted. However, that did not help.

mockingbird wrote on 2025-05-05, 12:45:

Please make certain that the device ID for the modified setupds is in fact the same as your southbridge's deviceid. If not, then modify it manually.

Is there by chance a how-to or tutorial about this?

User5518 wrote on 2025-05-05, 18:04:

Is there by chance a how-to or tutorial about this?

Off the top of my head, here's how I would go about doing it if I had to:

1) Get two different versions of setupds, compare them so that you can find the location of the hex values that are the deviceid
2) Find the deviceid of your southbridge
3) Replace the deviceid in the executable with your deviceid

IIRC, I think it's little endian first, so keep that in mind when editing the exe.

mockingbird wrote on 2025-05-05, 18:57:

Off the top of my head, here's how I would go about doing it if I had to: […]
Show full quote

Off the top of my head, here's how I would go about doing it if I had to:

1) Get two different versions of setupds, compare them so that you can find the location of the hex values that are the deviceid
2) Find the deviceid of your southbridge
3) Replace the deviceid in the executable with your deviceid

IIRC, I think it's little endian first, so keep that in mind when editing the exe.

Thank you very much! That should help me figure it out. However, as it currently stands, I'll only be able to work on it tomorrow or the day after. I'll report back with the results.