DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 11:20:

RE - avoiding bridging the pins. Do I need to put the ground (black) down first, then the red, and then remove the red?

But I'll look and see if I can successfully test the voltages for it. It might prove a bit easier from the card rather than the ATX connector. Especially as that would involve putting my hand in further whilst it's powered on.

Avoid bridging means to not accidentally touch two neighboring pins with the same probe, creating a short circuit. Practice with the power off if you can comfortably put both probes on the test points, supporting your hand with your fingers on the board to keep it steady.

This is what you want to do: https://youtu.be/fgLUr7GE7Ns?t=470

Only horizontally mirrored, since the regulator on your card is upside down. So in your case, keep the black probe on the right pin and touch the left and middle pin with the red probe.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 00:27:

Okay, all hardware devices have had their drivers re-installed, including the GPU. For some reason it did list the Riva TNT, but also the a Standard VGA Adapter. After a bit of tweaking I managed to get it only use/have the TNT. Drivers re-installed and everything working as it should. 😁 So yeah, definitely not the motherboard, graphics card, or voltage. Thank God.

However, putting the Creative card back in, all I get is a black screen when booting. After a few moments it switches itself off. Tried it with all PCI slots. Same issue. Even taking the card out, I now only get a blank screen.

Honestly, if the card has gone from not being detected to now keeping the PC from powering up - I would probably recommend abandoning it, unless you have a "burner" motherboard you aren't too worried about to do further testing in, unless of course you're not worried about this motherboard potentially getting damaged

asdf53 wrote on 2025-10-13, 15:43:

Avoid bridging means to not accidentally touch two neighboring pins with the same probe, creating a short circuit. Practice with […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 11:20:

RE - avoiding bridging the pins. Do I need to put the ground (black) down first, then the red, and then remove the red?

But I'll look and see if I can successfully test the voltages for it. It might prove a bit easier from the card rather than the ATX connector. Especially as that would involve putting my hand in further whilst it's powered on.

Avoid bridging means to not accidentally touch two neighboring pins with the same probe, creating a short circuit. Practice with the power off if you can comfortably put both probes on the test points, supporting your hand with your fingers on the board to keep it steady.

This is what you want to do: https://youtu.be/fgLUr7GE7Ns?t=470

Only horizontally mirrored, since the regulator on your card is upside down. So in your case, keep the black probe on the right pin and touch the left and middle pin with the red probe.

Ahh, gotcha. Okay, thanks. Hopefully I can give it a test in a minute. Just trying to figure out how to re-assemble my floppy drive after giving it a clean. ^^

bertrammatrix wrote on 2025-10-13, 16:36:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 00:27:

Okay, all hardware devices have had their drivers re-installed, including the GPU. For some reason it did list the Riva TNT, but also the a Standard VGA Adapter. After a bit of tweaking I managed to get it only use/have the TNT. Drivers re-installed and everything working as it should. 😁 So yeah, definitely not the motherboard, graphics card, or voltage. Thank God.

However, putting the Creative card back in, all I get is a black screen when booting. After a few moments it switches itself off. Tried it with all PCI slots. Same issue. Even taking the card out, I now only get a blank screen.

Honestly, if the card has gone from not being detected to now keeping the PC from powering up - I would probably recommend abandoning it, unless you have a "burner" motherboard you aren't too worried about to do further testing in, unless of course you're not worried about this motherboard potentially getting damaged

Oh, I am worried. I like this motherboard. My other one is mini ATX BX440, but this large one has way more customisable options in the BIOS and allows me to set loads of different CPU speeds etc. But after a test with the multimeter, I think I will have to get in touch with the seller about getting a refund.

asdf53 wrote on 2025-10-13, 01:39:

With the card being out, does resetting the BIOS by using the motherboard's jumper fix the black screen? […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 00:27:

However, putting the Creative card back in, all I get is a black screen when booting. After a few moments it switches itself off. Tried it with all PCI slots. Same issue. Even taking the card out, I now only get a blank screen.

With the card being out, does resetting the BIOS by using the motherboard's jumper fix the black screen?

Since it was mentioned in the thread linked by shevalier, you could also test the output voltages at the card's regulators (the IC's labeled AMS1117 and LD33 at the bottom right of the card). Place the red probe on the center tab (output) and the black probe on the right pin (ground) as shown in the photo while the card is installed and running. The output should be 1.8V and 3.3V, respectively. Only do this when you feel comfortable that you can cleanly touch the pins without accidentally bridging them with the probe - that would create a potentially damaging short-circuit. Touch the right pin coming from the right side to avoid touching any others.

This would also be a convenient spot to test the 5V and 3.3V voltages that come from the PSU. The left pin of the AMS1117 should be at 3.3V, and the left pin of the LD33 should be at 5V.

Okay, I've gone over it with a magnifying glass and light and I've found LD33, but I'm not seeing AMS1117 anywhere. Where it should be in that image is one with LD18 on it.

Now I appear to have another issue. I've reinstalled my Yamaha ISA sound card for the moment and installed the drivers, but every time it boots it either tries to search for the drivers again via New Hardware and I have a yellow exclamation mark in the Device Manager. It has a Resource Conflict Code 15. An Interrupt Request 05 used by none other than the Riva TNT. As a result, I get no audio. Also, I have a duplicate of the Direct Memory Access Controller, with the duplicate also having a yellow exclamation. That says VDMAD.VXD device loader could not load device driver. Direct Memory Access 04 and Input/Output Range 0000-000F, 0080-0090, and 00C0-00DF.

I had a similar issue which was resolved by changing the PCI slot. Generally audigy cards like being in first PCI slot(from my experience). Also if you have changed hardware Win 98 acts weird and often I have to reinstall the OS.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-12, 16:55:

shevalier wrote on 2025-10-12, 15:56:

And most likely, it will all end like in this topic.
Audigy 2 ZS Crackle Fix

If I'm lucky to get that far. ^^;

Complete motherboard failure in Creative sound cards with EMU 10kx chipsets most often occurs due to the complete failure of these capacitors.
If they are "tired," a clicking sound is heard; if they are "dead," matherboard won't detect Audigy anyway.
If these capacitors fail completely , sometime the 1117 voltage regulators also burn out.
If possible, it is easier to change them.

Hans Tork wrote on Yesterday, 04:51:

I had a similar issue which was resolved by changing the PCI slot. Generally audigy cards like being in first PCI slot(from my experience). Also if you have changed hardware Win 98 acts weird and often I have to reinstall the OS.

Oh this issue at the moment is with my Yamaha ISA card, but I can always try a different PCI slot. I wouldn't be surprised if I do have to reformat again, but I would much prefer to avoid it, if possible.

EDIT: No I can't. It's an ISA card. 🤣 I only have the one slot.

Hans Tork wrote on Yesterday, 04:51:

Also if you have changed hardware Win 98 acts weird and often I have to reinstall the OS.

Same thoughts here, changing hardware turns Win98 into mess.

I always use WinXP/Win2k for general hardware testing (if drivers are available) and then try to reinstall Win98.

Thing is I don't want to run the risk of reinstalling Windows only to discover it's going to do the same thing. I mean, the fact that installing this sound card makes Windows give me a blank screen and then shuts itself down every time, and then is back to normal once the card is out, tells me there's something not right with the card.

I'm going to look at setting up another test build. I still have the micro case from before, so I'll put my old motherboard in, the PSU, a spare HDD, RAM and CPU etc.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 23:27:

Okay, I've gone over it with a magnifying glass and light and I've found LD33, but I'm not seeing AMS1117 anywhere. Where it should be in that image is one with LD18 on it.

It's probably a different named, but functionally equivalent one, or the font has faded. LD18 at that position should be the right one (LM1117LD-1.8 ).

DustyShinigami wrote on Yesterday, 00:35:

Now I appear to have another issue. I've reinstalled my Yamaha ISA sound card for the moment and installed the drivers, but every time it boots it either tries to search for the drivers again via New Hardware and I have a yellow exclamation mark in the Device Manager. It has a Resource Conflict Code 15. An Interrupt Request 05 used by none other than the Riva TNT. As a result, I get no audio. Also, I have a duplicate of the Direct Memory Access Controller, with the duplicate also having a yellow exclamation. That says VDMAD.VXD device loader could not load device driver. Direct Memory Access 04 and Input/Output Range 0000-000F, 0080-0090, and 00C0-00DF.

For the duplicate DMA controller, this is a Windows bug. Delete the one without the exclamation mark and reboot. Same with the keyboard and mouse if there are two.

For the sound card, go to BIOS, PnP/PCI configuration, Reset configuration data: Enabled, reboot. If that doesn't fix it: Go to the BIOS PnP/PCI configuration, set "Resources controlled by": Manual, go to IRQ resources, and set IRQ5 assigned to Legacy ISA. This will reserve IRQ5 for the ISA card.

asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 10:47:

It's probably a different named, but functionally equivalent one, or the font has faded. LD18 at that position should be the rig […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 23:27:

Okay, I've gone over it with a magnifying glass and light and I've found LD33, but I'm not seeing AMS1117 anywhere. Where it should be in that image is one with LD18 on it.

It's probably a different named, but functionally equivalent one, or the font has faded. LD18 at that position should be the right one (LM1117LD-1.8 ).

DustyShinigami wrote on Yesterday, 00:35:

Now I appear to have another issue. I've reinstalled my Yamaha ISA sound card for the moment and installed the drivers, but every time it boots it either tries to search for the drivers again via New Hardware and I have a yellow exclamation mark in the Device Manager. It has a Resource Conflict Code 15. An Interrupt Request 05 used by none other than the Riva TNT. As a result, I get no audio. Also, I have a duplicate of the Direct Memory Access Controller, with the duplicate also having a yellow exclamation. That says VDMAD.VXD device loader could not load device driver. Direct Memory Access 04 and Input/Output Range 0000-000F, 0080-0090, and 00C0-00DF.

For the duplicate DMA controller, this is a Windows bug. Delete the one without the exclamation mark and reboot. Same with the keyboard and mouse if there are two.

For the sound card, go to BIOS, PnP/PCI configuration, Reset configuration data: Enabled, reboot. If that doesn't fix it: Go to the BIOS PnP/PCI configuration, set "Resources controlled by": Manual, go to IRQ resources, and set IRQ5 assigned to Legacy ISA. This will reserve IRQ5 for the ISA card.

Excellent. Thanks. I'll give that a try and report back. 😁

asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 10:47:

It's probably a different named, but functionally equivalent one, or the font has faded. LD18 at that position should be the rig […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-10-13, 23:27:

Okay, I've gone over it with a magnifying glass and light and I've found LD33, but I'm not seeing AMS1117 anywhere. Where it should be in that image is one with LD18 on it.

It's probably a different named, but functionally equivalent one, or the font has faded. LD18 at that position should be the right one (LM1117LD-1.8 ).

DustyShinigami wrote on Yesterday, 00:35:

Now I appear to have another issue. I've reinstalled my Yamaha ISA sound card for the moment and installed the drivers, but every time it boots it either tries to search for the drivers again via New Hardware and I have a yellow exclamation mark in the Device Manager. It has a Resource Conflict Code 15. An Interrupt Request 05 used by none other than the Riva TNT. As a result, I get no audio. Also, I have a duplicate of the Direct Memory Access Controller, with the duplicate also having a yellow exclamation. That says VDMAD.VXD device loader could not load device driver. Direct Memory Access 04 and Input/Output Range 0000-000F, 0080-0090, and 00C0-00DF.

For the duplicate DMA controller, this is a Windows bug. Delete the one without the exclamation mark and reboot. Same with the keyboard and mouse if there are two.

For the sound card, go to BIOS, PnP/PCI configuration, Reset configuration data: Enabled, reboot. If that doesn't fix it: Go to the BIOS PnP/PCI configuration, set "Resources controlled by": Manual, go to IRQ resources, and set IRQ5 assigned to Legacy ISA. This will reserve IRQ5 for the ISA card.

Yeah, unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to leave the multimeter testing of the card. It's too awkward and too much of a faff. The way those chips are positioned, once the card is in, makes it too difficult to put the prongs, especially whilst the power is on. The far right one can't be reached at all as there's a capacitor in the way. The only way around it would be to take the motherboard and everything out onto a table, PSU included as there won't be enough slack for the ATX cable. And I can't be bothered, frankly. ^^; It'd be much easier to just send the card back and get a refund at this point.

I'll try seeing if I can sort those other issues out though.

asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 10:47:

For the duplicate DMA controller, this is a Windows bug. Delete the one without the exclamation mark and reboot. Same with the keyboard and mouse if there are two.

For the sound card, go to BIOS, PnP/PCI configuration, Reset configuration data: Enabled, reboot. If that doesn't fix it: Go to the BIOS PnP/PCI configuration, set "Resources controlled by": Manual, go to IRQ resources, and set IRQ5 assigned to Legacy ISA. This will reserve IRQ5 for the ISA card.

Yep. This worked perfectly! Thank you. 😁

Okay, seeing as I've set up another test system (just prepping it for installing 98), that one I can remove the motherboard and set it on an anti-static sheet to more easily test the voltage of that sound card.

DustyShinigami wrote on Yesterday, 12:56:

to more easily test the voltage of that sound card.

There are electrolytic capacitors at the input and output of the LDxx with leads leading to the other side of the printed circuit board.
The voltage can be easily measured from above, without removing anything.
A practical question arises: can you replace such a regulator or capacitor?
If not, then diagnostics are useless; it's easier to file a refund request.

No, I have no experience with replacing regulators or capacitors.

However...

After a bit of a faff getting things together - I took my old motherboard out, along with the PSU, onto the table. Once everything was set up, I switched the PC on and it booted up! No blank screen or anything. And it detected new hardware. 😮 😁 My other motherboard is this one - https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/msi-ms-6156-bx11 I'm not sure why that one does and the other doesn't/hasn't. They're pretty similar. I can't seem to find the release date for either, so unless someone can shed light on that...?

Also, I ran a test with the multimeter. The one of the left, in the bottom right of the board, is reading 1.8 and the other is reading 3.28. 😀

Great, the voltages are correct! By "it detected hardware" you mean it's seeing the Audigy card?

asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 14:57:

Great, the voltages are correct! By "it detected hardware" you mean it's seeing the Audigy card?

It is, yeah. 😀

So it could be that I may have to reformat my main system after all. But then... it still wasn't long ago since I last did it. So I'm not sure if it would help.