I get sound in Arena so you're doing it wrong.

Keep fiddling with the install program and make sure everything is not set as read only.

Thanks for the tip, but what is there to fiddle with regarding the install program?

Which options do you pick for your sound setup?

I pick Sounblaster (Or soundblaster compatible).

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If you are using the Freeware distributable (which i am using) do you still use the Install to actually install the game after extracting the distributable?

What dosbox version?

Im using the latest now, 0.72. 😀

Never had any problems with that game sound-wise. Does it keep the settings?
If not check if some files are read-only.

Da_maniaC wrote:

If you are using the Freeware distributable (which i am using) do you still use the Install to actually install the game after extracting the distributable?

oh i used my real copy from floppies not the bethesda freeware one oops

wd wrote:

Never had any problems with that game sound-wise. Does it keep the settings?
If not check if some files are read-only.

Yep, i just checked that. None of the files are read only.
I wonder if i have to use the install to actually install the game after i unpack the freeware distributable?
Because when i do i already have a folder containing all the game files as well as executables etc.

Is there a way to check if the game is running with the right settings?

Aren't there some lengthy installation instructions on their site or so?

wd wrote:

Aren't there some lengthy installation instructions on their site or so?

Yep, they are included in the distributable as well.
I followed those instructions step by step.

The only difference was, that i am on Vista Ultimate 64-bit and the install.exe wouldn't run on my command prompt, so i used dosbox instead.

When i run install.exe in dosbox and select the sound/music card the Sound.cfg file in the TES1 folder is overwritten so the settings should save accordingly. (I can see through file properties that the file is actually modified at the exact time i run the install/setup).

The guide also explains that the SET Blaster line in DosBOX should have the exact same settings (Adress, IRQ, DMA) as configured in the install.exe.
I checked and this is the case.

The only oddity i can notice regarding that, is that the Gravis Ultrasound is loaded in DosBOX after the SET Blaster line and has different settings.
But i am guessing this doesn't make any difference, since its a different device?

Well try turning off gus in dosbox.conf maybe, and check the contents of the .cfg file.

wd wrote:

Well try turning off gus in dosbox.conf maybe, and check the contents of the .cfg file.

Ok, so...Gravis Ultrasouns is turned off:

And the soundcard settings are matched in the setup:

By checking the contents of the .cfg file i take it you mean the sound.cfg file in the Elder Scrolls Arena folder?

If so, here is the file: Click

Since i am seeing both the right soundcard enviroment settings as well as the phrase 'no sound' in there i am not sure if the file is right or wrong.

Anyone still has a suggestion maybe? 😀

Your problem is that the IRQ is 7. The real SB16 ran on IRQ5. In fact, the correct settings for an SB16 are port 200, IRQ5, DMA1, and high DMA5. Your copy of DOSBox may be emlating an SB Pro, which came set to IRQ7.

If you want an easier setup, grab my front-end. It has a configuration premade for Arena and Daggerfall, and the folks on th Bethesda forums that have tried it have all left positive feedback. PM me if you want a copy, or grab it from the links in my signature. PM me if you have any questions i you decide to try it. Oh, and if you do try it, copy or move your Arena folder into the "System" folder in the program folder. This gets mounted as "C:\" in DOSBox.

Also, you need to be running a dynamic core at 22500 cycles, not 3000 cycles. That's probably the biggest problem.

sb16 can run on almost any irq, so the dosbox default of 7 is valid.
It's just that most sb16s came preconfigured with irq5, but dosbox
has the default according to older soundblasters to not require any
weird runtime switching when changing the sb type.

I know, and you can change jumpers on the real SB16 card to use IRQ7, but that caused problems in some of the DOS games I played back in the day that expected the SB16 to be on IRQ5. I also had a problem with this when the SB16PnP model came out. It defaulted to IRQ7 like an SB Pro, and the school had tons of problems with software that wanted the SB16 on IRQ5. I actually got to skip classes for a few days and go around reconfiguring the SB16PnP software to place the card on IRQ5 so everything would work properly. :p

but that caused problems in some of the DOS games I played back in the day

Which? Usually they're hacekd versions where the setup was removed.

Exactly, many of which auto-detected the soundcard and expected it at a specific IRQ. Wolfenstein 3D did this, although I believe it was fixed in the second/final version of the game. I have the second version installed now, but I have the original on my Tandy 486SX. If I ever get around to setting it up again, I'll record a video for you of sound not working on the SB16 on IRQ7 or 3. It may work in DOSBox, as some games that gave me fits in real DOS seem to like DOSBox better!

Just checked, Arena works just out of the box (the free version) with dosbox
defaults including sound and music.
It's rather bad to have postings around that tell people to use irq5 where it's
already hard enough to get them to use setup at all.

It's not bad, it's a fact they should know. I have been toying with it myself and guess what? Red Baron has a setup to select "SoundBlaster", but it doesn't work unless it's on 5. This happens even when doing a clean install from my original floppy disks. Knowing the hardware IS helpful and was a requirement back in real DOS. DOS was not plug-and-play like Windows, and most games cannot simply be installed and run. You yourself should know that. Many of these users don't have the knowledge we have though, and educating them is not a bad thing.