It fried the sound card.
I could not get the Optical bracket to work.
Even thou the pins on card are there I don’t think they are enabled.
teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2022-06-09, 20:10:If you're able to fix it, I'd be most grateful. […]
If you're able to fix it, I'd be most grateful.
For posterity, I tested things with a game which has a separate DOS and Windows version, and both digital speech and CD audio. The DOS version used my Soundblaster 16 for digital speech, and the Windows version used the Aureal Vortex 2 for it. In both, the (analogue) CD audio was routed into the Vortex 2. As might be expected, but seemed helpful to test, not even the CD audio was routed to the S/PDIF; the only output I could get from the S/PDIF was the digital speech in the Windows version, generated by the Vortex 2.
So, perhaps no digitisation of analogue inputs is happening at all...?
It seems like a strange configuration, to offer a digital output on a PCI card from 1998, but not route any analogue inputs to it, making its use pretty limited. The Sound Blaster Live cards from the same year do this without any thought on the user's part. But, perhaps this was early for digital outputs on regular sound cards, and maybe Creative were ahead of the curve here.
But if it is just a routing issue that can be fixed with drivers, or something, then that'll be really useful. But, I understand if not. Best of luck though, and thanks for the effort either way.
I just did a bunch of testing using the same setup as in Joseph's post.
In Windows 98, if you installed the modified 2046 drivers from this post you can use the EQ tab in the Montego control panel to choose which analog device is output to S/PDIF. You can choose CD-ROM, MPU401, Line In, etc. depending on the game you are playing and what type of devices you have installed/configured. After selecting the device here, also make sure it is unmuted in the Windows volume control panel.
Under DOS, at first I could not get the SoundBlaster emulation to output over SPDIF even though it was working over the speaker output. To get the digital output working in DOS you need to run the "au30mix reset" command after installing au30mix. It should indicate "CODEC reset to default values, S/PDIF enabled". Then run "au30mix" again to check the gain values and adjust them as needed.
I tried to run it and a bunch of gain commands in a batch file but this never worked correctly. I had to run the au30mix reset command by itself, then run the gain commands for each channel to be used. Also note that you need to include the "$" symbol for the gain values to be set correctly, although the au30mix help info does not indicate this. SoundBlaster sounds should now be output over S/PDIF in DOS. However, I couldn't get this approach to work for CD audio or a wavetable board, even though they output fine to the speaker output. Use Windows 98 if you want those to be sent to the digital output.
Edit to add another DOS note: changing gain settings with au30mix does not appear to affect the level on sounds passed to S/PDIF.
Hi! I have the Montego II Quadzilla with it's included S/PDIF bracket, and after getting everything "Working" in Win98 with the 2046 drivers from this post (after trying about 20 different drivers from before, either resulting in no S/PDIF support at all or no SB16 support with the "secondary PCI bus" error), i'd say that the S/PDIF output now works about 20% of the time. The rest of the time, silence. Don't know what else to do than getting another card at this point. All i want is SB16 emulation on the PCI bus with S/PDIF audio, with MPU-401 midi output to external devices. Shouldn't be too big of an ask, but clearly it is.
DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 11:29:Shouldn't be too big of an ask, but clearly it is.
You need to tell computers what to do, not ask 😀. Can you be more specific about what channels are not working, maybe what game, and whether you are under DOS or Win98? And did you use the modified 2046 drivers? If you did, be sure to point to au30gm.arl (general midi soundfont) from another Aureal driver version during the install so it will finish setting up the devices correctly.
wiibur wrote on 2025-10-21, 14:08:DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 11:29:Shouldn't be too big of an ask, but clearly it is.
You need to tell computers what to do, not ask 😀. Can you be more specific about what channels are not working, maybe what game, and whether you are under DOS or Win98? And did you use the modified 2046 drivers? If you did, be sure to point to au30gm.arl (general midi soundfont) from another Aureal driver version during the install so it will finish setting up the devices correctly.
I have the S/PDIF output connected to a Sonifex Redbox SPDIF signal converter that is synced to a Terratec EWS88D, which both works flawlessly, and handles the output to the speakers through a convoluted studio setup. I'm telling this because whatever the signal the Montego outputs, the Redbox will be able to pick it up and resync it, so the problem is entirely with the Montego. I've tested this converter with lots of cards, and it always works great.
I'm not using any kind of surround, so we're only talking about 2 channel PCM audio here. And I haven't gotten to the "playing a game" part. Just opening audio files or playing midi in windows 98. And I'm not doing DOS at all for the moment. That's why i want the SB16 emulation to work, so i can do everything in Win98.
Concerning the driver, I did exactly what you proposed. Used the 2046 driver linked in this thread, but i didn't use the au30gm.arl from some other version of the driver - i used it from a specific Quadzilla driver version 2046 that i found on som random website. I mean, apart from the SPDIF issue, everything works. MPU-401 works great, SB16 works great. Gameport works great. Even the analog speaker output on the Quadzilla works great. It's only the SPDIF output that works one minute, and becomes silent the next. And mind you, i bought this card as new old stock in a sealed box just a couple of days ago. To get the SPDIF working, completely powering the PC off for a couple of minutes, and powering it on again seems to help. And the 2041 spdif fix that's available here on vogons does nothing.
I've also tried installing the "Turtle Beach Montego II Applications CD Version 3.00" on top of the driver, but apart from finishing up the addons like the tray icon, the vortex demos, the audio apps, and the customized sound mixer, this does nothing to the SPDIF issue.
I can also say that i have the original cd + serial that came with the card, and if there is interest to have that cd in the vogons library, I would be happy to provide it, but i can tell you this; those drivers sucks.
Edit: Furthermore, i have a whole library with branches of every change I've done to the OS in macrium reflect images. So I've been able to ad-hoc test this card both with a stock Win98SE CD installation, and the Win98 QuickInstall. Same results for the SPDIF.
Another peice of info is that i've dedicated IRQ7 for the Quadzilla, IRQ3 for the EWS88D and reserved IRQ5 for the SB16 emulation on my Abit AS8.
Also, there are 2 Voodoo2 in SLI above the sound cards, and an ATI X800 in the AGP slot. So every slot is filled, for better or worse.
Edit 2: I should also mention that, as suggested by someone on this forum; muting and unmuting the SPDIF output in the Windows sound mixer to get the SPDIF working, does nothing in this case.
Edit 3: I just did this: Powered on the PC, heard the win98 boot sound (which means the SPDIF was working), went away for about 20 minutes while the computer was just sitting doing nothing, and when i came back, i tested the sound, and the SPDIF output was silent again. In other words, there's no external trigger. I don't have to do anything for the SPDIF to just randomly stop working. It just does.
If i were to judge the content of everything i've written here, i would guess it's a hardware issue. But then again, the card is completely new, so it doesn't make sense. I don't have the card in front of me, so i can't check, but maybe, just maybe, there's a capacitor issue.
DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 15:01:I have the S/PDIF output connected to a Sonifex Redbox SPDIF signal converter that is synced to a Terratec EWS88D, which both wo […]
wiibur wrote on 2025-10-21, 14:08:DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 11:29:Shouldn't be too big of an ask, but clearly it is.
You need to tell computers what to do, not ask 😀. Can you be more specific about what channels are not working, maybe what game, and whether you are under DOS or Win98? And did you use the modified 2046 drivers? If you did, be sure to point to au30gm.arl (general midi soundfont) from another Aureal driver version during the install so it will finish setting up the devices correctly.
I have the S/PDIF output connected to a Sonifex Redbox SPDIF signal converter that is synced to a Terratec EWS88D, which both works flawlessly, and handles the output to the speakers through a convoluted studio setup. I'm telling this because whatever the signal the Montego outputs, the Redbox will be able to pick it up and resync it, so the problem is entirely with the Montego. I've tested this converter with lots of cards, and it always works great.
I'm not using any kind of surround, so we're only talking about 2 channel PCM audio here. And I haven't gotten to the "playing a game" part. Just opening audio files or playing midi in windows 98. And I'm not doing DOS at all for the moment. That's why i want the SB16 emulation to work, so i can do everything in Win98.
Concerning the driver, I did exactly what you proposed. Used the 2046 driver linked in this thread, but i didn't use the au30gm.arl from some other version of the driver - i used it from a specific Quadzilla driver version 2046 that i found on som random website. I mean, apart from the SPDIF issue, everything works. MPU-401 works great, SB16 works great. Gameport works great. Even the analog speaker output on the Quadzilla works great. It's only the SPDIF output that works one minute, and becomes silent the next. And mind you, i bought this card as new old stock in a sealed box just a couple of days ago. To get the SPDIF working, completely powering the PC off for a couple of minutes, and powering it on again seems to help. And the 2041 spdif fix that's available here on vogons does nothing.
I've also tried installing the "Turtle Beach Montego II Applications CD Version 3.00" on top of the driver, but apart from finishing up the addons like the tray icon, the vortex demos, the audio apps, and the customized sound mixer, this does nothing to the SPDIF issue.
I can also say that i have the original cd + serial that came with the card, and if there is interest to have that cd in the vogons library, I would be happy to provide it, but i can tell you this; those drivers sucks.Edit: Furthermore, i have a whole library with branches of every change I've done to the OS in macrium reflect images. So I've been able to ad-hoc test this card both with a stock Win98SE CD installation, and the Win98 QuickInstall. Same results for the SPDIF.
Another peice of info is that i've dedicated IRQ7 for the Quadzilla, IRQ3 for the EWS88D and reserved IRQ5 for the SB16 emulation on my Abit AS8.
Also, there are 2 Voodoo2 in SLI above the sound cards, and an ATI X800 in the AGP slot. So every slot is filled, for better or worse.Edit 2: I should also mention that, as suggested by someone on this forum; muting and unmuting the SPDIF output in the Windows sound mixer to get the SPDIF working, does nothing in this case.
Edit 3: I just did this: Powered on the PC, heard the win98 boot sound (which means the SPDIF was working), went away for about 20 minutes while the computer was just sitting doing nothing, and when i came back, i tested the sound, and the SPDIF output was silent again. In other words, there's no external trigger. I don't have to do anything for the SPDIF to just randomly stop working. It just does.
If i were to judge the content of everything i've written here, i would guess it's a hardware issue. But then again, the card is completely new, so it doesn't make sense. I don't have the card in front of me, so i can't check, but maybe, just maybe, there's a capacitor issue.
I usually set the Aureal card to IRQ 3 so that SB emulation gets default assigned to IRQ 5, but that really only affected DOS games that look for SB on IRQ 5 and did not affect games running in Win98 dosbox. I have never experienced it working and then not working without changing anything on the EQ tab or volume mixer, but the only expansion cards I use are a single GPU and the Aureal card. Maybe the Aureal spdif routing tables are getting overwritten by or conflicting with the Terratec drivers. Perhaps test without that card installed, if possible. Also, is the ABit AS8's sound & spdif disabled in the bios or are you still installing those on-board devices? Ensure you've disabled all the on-board stuff you aren't using to reduce conflicts.
wiibur wrote on 2025-10-21, 16:43:DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 15:01:I have the S/PDIF output connected to a Sonifex Redbox SPDIF signal converter that is synced to a Terratec EWS88D, which both wo […]
wiibur wrote on 2025-10-21, 14:08:You need to tell computers what to do, not ask 😀. Can you be more specific about what channels are not working, maybe what game, and whether you are under DOS or Win98? And did you use the modified 2046 drivers? If you did, be sure to point to au30gm.arl (general midi soundfont) from another Aureal driver version during the install so it will finish setting up the devices correctly.
I have the S/PDIF output connected to a Sonifex Redbox SPDIF signal converter that is synced to a Terratec EWS88D, which both works flawlessly, and handles the output to the speakers through a convoluted studio setup. I'm telling this because whatever the signal the Montego outputs, the Redbox will be able to pick it up and resync it, so the problem is entirely with the Montego. I've tested this converter with lots of cards, and it always works great.
I'm not using any kind of surround, so we're only talking about 2 channel PCM audio here. And I haven't gotten to the "playing a game" part. Just opening audio files or playing midi in windows 98. And I'm not doing DOS at all for the moment. That's why i want the SB16 emulation to work, so i can do everything in Win98.
Concerning the driver, I did exactly what you proposed. Used the 2046 driver linked in this thread, but i didn't use the au30gm.arl from some other version of the driver - i used it from a specific Quadzilla driver version 2046 that i found on som random website. I mean, apart from the SPDIF issue, everything works. MPU-401 works great, SB16 works great. Gameport works great. Even the analog speaker output on the Quadzilla works great. It's only the SPDIF output that works one minute, and becomes silent the next. And mind you, i bought this card as new old stock in a sealed box just a couple of days ago. To get the SPDIF working, completely powering the PC off for a couple of minutes, and powering it on again seems to help. And the 2041 spdif fix that's available here on vogons does nothing.
I've also tried installing the "Turtle Beach Montego II Applications CD Version 3.00" on top of the driver, but apart from finishing up the addons like the tray icon, the vortex demos, the audio apps, and the customized sound mixer, this does nothing to the SPDIF issue.
I can also say that i have the original cd + serial that came with the card, and if there is interest to have that cd in the vogons library, I would be happy to provide it, but i can tell you this; those drivers sucks.Edit: Furthermore, i have a whole library with branches of every change I've done to the OS in macrium reflect images. So I've been able to ad-hoc test this card both with a stock Win98SE CD installation, and the Win98 QuickInstall. Same results for the SPDIF.
Another peice of info is that i've dedicated IRQ7 for the Quadzilla, IRQ3 for the EWS88D and reserved IRQ5 for the SB16 emulation on my Abit AS8.
Also, there are 2 Voodoo2 in SLI above the sound cards, and an ATI X800 in the AGP slot. So every slot is filled, for better or worse.Edit 2: I should also mention that, as suggested by someone on this forum; muting and unmuting the SPDIF output in the Windows sound mixer to get the SPDIF working, does nothing in this case.
Edit 3: I just did this: Powered on the PC, heard the win98 boot sound (which means the SPDIF was working), went away for about 20 minutes while the computer was just sitting doing nothing, and when i came back, i tested the sound, and the SPDIF output was silent again. In other words, there's no external trigger. I don't have to do anything for the SPDIF to just randomly stop working. It just does.
If i were to judge the content of everything i've written here, i would guess it's a hardware issue. But then again, the card is completely new, so it doesn't make sense. I don't have the card in front of me, so i can't check, but maybe, just maybe, there's a capacitor issue.
I usually set the Aureal card to IRQ 3 so that SB emulation gets default assigned to IRQ 5, but that really only affected DOS games that look for SB on IRQ 5 and did not affect games running in Win98 dosbox. I have never experienced it working and then not working without changing anything on the EQ tab or volume mixer, but the only expansion cards I use are a single GPU and the Aureal card. Maybe the Aureal spdif routing tables are getting overwritten by or conflicting with the Terratec drivers. Perhaps test without that card installed, if possible. Also, is the ABit AS8's sound & spdif disabled in the bios or are you still installing those on-board devices? Ensure you've disabled all the on-board stuff you aren't using to reduce conflicts.
The onboard realtek soundcard is of course disabled. So is serial and parallel. I might try and change the IRQ's as you suggested. I'll also test it without the Terratec.
I took the card out, so here are some pics of the card and daugter board, if anyone can spot a problem. I can't.
Edit: But also, if the problem lies with IRQ conflicts, wouldn't the analog output on the Quadzilla be affeted as well? As it's only the SPDIF output that is problematic, this seems unlikely.
Edit2: Even though all these old parts draw relatively low wattage, i am concerned with the 5V rail, because the modern 850W Corsair PSU is producing relatively hot air, so maybe i should measure the 5V rail to ensure it's really 5V. Because if the 5V rail isn't 5V, that could easily be the problem.
DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 16:56:The onboard realtek soundcard is of course disabled. So is serial and parallel. I might try and change the IRQ's as you suggeste […]
wiibur wrote on 2025-10-21, 16:43:DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 15:01:I have the S/PDIF output connected to a Sonifex Redbox SPDIF signal converter that is synced to a Terratec EWS88D, which both wo […]
I have the S/PDIF output connected to a Sonifex Redbox SPDIF signal converter that is synced to a Terratec EWS88D, which both works flawlessly, and handles the output to the speakers through a convoluted studio setup. I'm telling this because whatever the signal the Montego outputs, the Redbox will be able to pick it up and resync it, so the problem is entirely with the Montego. I've tested this converter with lots of cards, and it always works great.
I'm not using any kind of surround, so we're only talking about 2 channel PCM audio here. And I haven't gotten to the "playing a game" part. Just opening audio files or playing midi in windows 98. And I'm not doing DOS at all for the moment. That's why i want the SB16 emulation to work, so i can do everything in Win98.
Concerning the driver, I did exactly what you proposed. Used the 2046 driver linked in this thread, but i didn't use the au30gm.arl from some other version of the driver - i used it from a specific Quadzilla driver version 2046 that i found on som random website. I mean, apart from the SPDIF issue, everything works. MPU-401 works great, SB16 works great. Gameport works great. Even the analog speaker output on the Quadzilla works great. It's only the SPDIF output that works one minute, and becomes silent the next. And mind you, i bought this card as new old stock in a sealed box just a couple of days ago. To get the SPDIF working, completely powering the PC off for a couple of minutes, and powering it on again seems to help. And the 2041 spdif fix that's available here on vogons does nothing.
I've also tried installing the "Turtle Beach Montego II Applications CD Version 3.00" on top of the driver, but apart from finishing up the addons like the tray icon, the vortex demos, the audio apps, and the customized sound mixer, this does nothing to the SPDIF issue.
I can also say that i have the original cd + serial that came with the card, and if there is interest to have that cd in the vogons library, I would be happy to provide it, but i can tell you this; those drivers sucks.Edit: Furthermore, i have a whole library with branches of every change I've done to the OS in macrium reflect images. So I've been able to ad-hoc test this card both with a stock Win98SE CD installation, and the Win98 QuickInstall. Same results for the SPDIF.
Another peice of info is that i've dedicated IRQ7 for the Quadzilla, IRQ3 for the EWS88D and reserved IRQ5 for the SB16 emulation on my Abit AS8.
Also, there are 2 Voodoo2 in SLI above the sound cards, and an ATI X800 in the AGP slot. So every slot is filled, for better or worse.Edit 2: I should also mention that, as suggested by someone on this forum; muting and unmuting the SPDIF output in the Windows sound mixer to get the SPDIF working, does nothing in this case.
Edit 3: I just did this: Powered on the PC, heard the win98 boot sound (which means the SPDIF was working), went away for about 20 minutes while the computer was just sitting doing nothing, and when i came back, i tested the sound, and the SPDIF output was silent again. In other words, there's no external trigger. I don't have to do anything for the SPDIF to just randomly stop working. It just does.
If i were to judge the content of everything i've written here, i would guess it's a hardware issue. But then again, the card is completely new, so it doesn't make sense. I don't have the card in front of me, so i can't check, but maybe, just maybe, there's a capacitor issue.
I usually set the Aureal card to IRQ 3 so that SB emulation gets default assigned to IRQ 5, but that really only affected DOS games that look for SB on IRQ 5 and did not affect games running in Win98 dosbox. I have never experienced it working and then not working without changing anything on the EQ tab or volume mixer, but the only expansion cards I use are a single GPU and the Aureal card. Maybe the Aureal spdif routing tables are getting overwritten by or conflicting with the Terratec drivers. Perhaps test without that card installed, if possible. Also, is the ABit AS8's sound & spdif disabled in the bios or are you still installing those on-board devices? Ensure you've disabled all the on-board stuff you aren't using to reduce conflicts.
The onboard realtek soundcard is of course disabled. So is serial and parallel. I might try and change the IRQ's as you suggested. I'll also test it without the Terratec.
I took the card out, so here are some pics of the card and daugter board, if anyone can spot a problem. I can't.
Edit: But also, if the problem lies with IRQ conflicts, wouldn't the analog output on the Quadzilla be affeted as well? As it's only the SPDIF output that is problematic, this seems unlikely.
Edit2: Even though all these old parts draw relatively low wattage, i am concerned with the 5V rail, because the modern 850W Corsair PSU is producing relatively hot air, so maybe i should measure the 5V rail to ensure it's really 5V. Because if the 5V rail isn't 5V, that could easily be the problem.
I doubt your Aureal card is faulty since you said it was new and it looks pristine, and it doesn't sound like you are having an IRQ conflict, which would be obvious in the device manager in Win98. I looked at the Terratec EWS88D manual and there are a multitude of different drivers with different routing/mixing options, so maybe you have that card configured incorrectly. But I don't have any direct experience with that card and setting it up.
wiibur wrote on 2025-10-21, 17:21:DJonekill wrote on 2025-10-21, 16:56:The onboard realtek soundcard is of course disabled. So is serial and parallel. I might try and change the IRQ's as you suggeste […]
wiibur wrote on 2025-10-21, 16:43:I usually set the Aureal card to IRQ 3 so that SB emulation gets default assigned to IRQ 5, but that really only affected DOS games that look for SB on IRQ 5 and did not affect games running in Win98 dosbox. I have never experienced it working and then not working without changing anything on the EQ tab or volume mixer, but the only expansion cards I use are a single GPU and the Aureal card. Maybe the Aureal spdif routing tables are getting overwritten by or conflicting with the Terratec drivers. Perhaps test without that card installed, if possible. Also, is the ABit AS8's sound & spdif disabled in the bios or are you still installing those on-board devices? Ensure you've disabled all the on-board stuff you aren't using to reduce conflicts.
The onboard realtek soundcard is of course disabled. So is serial and parallel. I might try and change the IRQ's as you suggested. I'll also test it without the Terratec.
I took the card out, so here are some pics of the card and daugter board, if anyone can spot a problem. I can't.
Edit: But also, if the problem lies with IRQ conflicts, wouldn't the analog output on the Quadzilla be affeted as well? As it's only the SPDIF output that is problematic, this seems unlikely.
Edit2: Even though all these old parts draw relatively low wattage, i am concerned with the 5V rail, because the modern 850W Corsair PSU is producing relatively hot air, so maybe i should measure the 5V rail to ensure it's really 5V. Because if the 5V rail isn't 5V, that could easily be the problem.I doubt your Aureal card is faulty since you said it was new and it looks pristine, and it doesn't sound like you are having an IRQ conflict, which would be obvious in the device manager in Win98. I looked at the Terratec EWS88D manual and there are a multitude of different drivers with different routing/mixing options, so maybe you have that card configured incorrectly. But I don't have any direct experience with that card and setting it up.
If there are any problems with the terratec at all, they should be gone when testing the Quadzilla without the terratec installed, so no point in dwelling over the terratec's different types of drivers, unless the Quadzilla starts working perfectly when the terratec is out.
Edit: Doing some more testing, I took out everything except the X800 and the Quadzilla, and the SPDIF output seems to have been working longer than it did before. I'm testing it with my trusty Creative DDTS-100 decoder that literally has no other use these days than situations just like this one. Anyway, going to leave the PC on for a couple of hours, and if SPDIF still works by then, we're onto something here. Then I'll hook up the Redbox PCB to the PSU which is drawing 4 amps on the 5V rail, then the Voodoos, and lastly the Terratec. I'm hopeful.
Edit2: Scratch that last order. I let the PC be on overnight, and the spdif out was still working when i woke up, so clearly the montego is working well! Very happy to say this! So the next step i figured was putting in the Terratec, to look for software conflicts. So far so good using the old IRQ settings. I have the Redbox converter outside the PC case now, hooked up with a power cord to it's onboard PSU, and so far so good. No dropouts. Will let this cook for a couple of hours now. As i mentioned before, this could be a 5V rail problem. If so, I'd have to buy a step down converter from 12V for the Redbox, or draw mains from the Corsair PSU through the PC case..
Edit3: Now when the Redbox is outside the case, i had the chance to measure it's power draw with one of those outlet plugs with a meter display. It only draws between 2.5W-3.4W, which is basically nothing compared to the 20-25W stated on the spec sheet. And that's including the efficiency loss from it's onboard PSU. My suspicion is turning to the Voodoos, and their power draw. I'll measure all the PSU rails with and without the voodoos next, to see what's going on. Also, I'm a bit conflicted, because this seems to have turned away from being a Montego problem to a "My build" problem, where making a new tread just because I'm a bit off topic, kinda seems redundant, but would probably be the right thing to do. But since it seems like I'm closing in on the finish line on this problem, I'll just keep going here until someone complains.
Edit4: Well, no voltage drops whatsoever before and after the voodoos. Now I'm back to the original config, and everything seems to work great. In other words, I can't pinpoint the problem, and now it seems to be gone. Insanity. Guess I'll just call it a day until the problem somehow magically reappears. Cheers!
