Aureal Vortex boards and DMA? \ VOGONS

Aureal Vortex boards and DMA?

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First post, by valnar

Posted on 2008-09-20, 13:43

valnar Offline

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Quick question - I couldn't find a google explanation.

Why does the default SB Pro compatibility for Aureal Vortex2 boards use two DMA channels? The default is both 1 and 3 in Windows 98. If I override the default settings and use Basic Configuration 0004 (in my case), I can get it to just use IRQ 7 and DMA 1, with no second DMA channel.

Everything works, so I don't know if I am losing anything by doing this, but I just wanted to know why the SQ2500 board defaults to using two DMA channels.

Reply 1 of 7, by Great Hierophant

Posted on 2008-09-20, 16:38

Great Hierophant Offline

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Very weird, it may be a bug in the software or the card itself. The SB Pro does not use 2 DMA channels, and the card does not emulate a SB16.

Reply 2 of 7, by valnar

Posted on 2008-09-22, 13:41

valnar Offline

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Does anyone else have two DMA's assigned with their Vortex card with SB Pro compatibility mode? Even if I never figure out why, I want to see if I'm alone. 😳

Reply 3 of 7, by batracio

Posted on 2008-09-22, 16:10

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valnar wrote:
Does anyone else have two DMA's assigned with their Vortex card with SB Pro compatibility mode? Even if I never figure out why, I want to see if I'm alone. 😳

Same thing here. I have a Diamond Monster MX300, and by default it uses DMA 1 and 3 in Windows 98. This setup created a DMA 3 conflict with ECP printer port, so like you, I also changed the SB Pro emulation settings to Basic configuration 0004, which only uses DMA 1, as you said.

Reply 4 of 7, by GL1zdA

Posted on 2008-09-22, 17:42

GL1zdA Offline

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valnar wrote:
Does anyone else have two DMA's assigned with their Vortex card with SB Pro compatibility mode? Even if I never figure out why, I want to see if I'm alone. 😳

As I answered you here: X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM and 'Can't find X-Wing CD' / problems with MX300 - you're not alone 😀.

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Reply 5 of 7, by valnar

Posted on 2008-09-22, 18:55

valnar Offline

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I guess it will remain one of those unknown mysteries unless an Aureal engineer steps forward.

Reply 6 of 7, by fillosaurus

Posted on 2008-10-12, 12:04

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There are some other soundcards that use 2 DMA's, even if they are not SB16 compatibles. ESS1868 use DMA's 1 and 3 (or 0) by default. Some chipsets that are both SB Pro and WSS compatibles use 2-3 DMA's. Best I can think of are Crystal 4232/4235/4236/4237.

Y2K box: AMD Athlon K75 (second generation slot A)@700, ASUS K7M motherboard, 256 MB SDRAM, ATI Radeon 7500+2xVoodoo2 in SLI, SB Live! 5.1, VIA USB 2.0 PCI card, 40 GB Seagate HDD.
WIP: external midi module based on NEC wavetable (Yamaha clone)

Reply 7 of 7, by valnar

Posted on 2008-10-12, 13:38

valnar Offline

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Yes, but do they use two DMA's for SB Pro mode? Without SB Pro mode, the Aureal does not need a DMA for itself.

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