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First post, by RetroWolf92

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I have a Dell Dimension L566cx desktop, and I'm interested in getting an ISA Sound Blaster card with it specifically because I've heard that the PCI SB cards seem to be more trouble than they're worth when it comes to DOS games. The only problem is that the PC in question only has PCI slots on it.

To clarify, I currently use the latest SBEMU on the Dell PC, but it seems to have compatibility issues with my PC, or maybe it's FreeDOS itself. I'm not sure.
In any case, I've mentioned it before on here... I think... that SBEMU for whatever reason completely breaks joystick compatibility on my PC. Games like Mega Man X for example, the menu endlessly scrolls downward, Wolf3D (even with Joystick support disabled) will rapid skip through the title cards and jump to the menu.

I'm wondering, though, if anyone here knows if using a PCI to ISA adapter board like this would be a viable workaround?

Reply 1 of 3, by jakethompson1

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The problem with those is ISA direct memory access (DMA) is unlikely to work through it. This is the same issue that makes it tricky for PCI sound cards to work reliably in DOS.

Your efforts might be better suited toward building a second system. I am not the seller but saw this https://www.ebay.com/itm/257434505694 and was a bit intrigued as it being a sort of DOS starter kit; the onboard sound is a Vibra 16C. It should fit in a modern case though it has that oddball built in i/o shield so I'm not sure.

edit: it does have AT power instead of ATX

Reply 2 of 3, by RetroWolf92

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jakethompson1 wrote on 2026-06-02, 20:53:

The problem with those is ISA direct memory access (DMA) is unlikely to work through it. This is the same issue that makes it tricky for PCI sound cards to work reliably in DOS.

Your efforts might be better suited toward building a second system. I am not the seller but saw this https://www.ebay.com/itm/257434505694 and was a bit intrigued as it being a sort of DOS starter kit; the onboard sound is a Vibra 16C. It should fit in a modern case though it has that oddball built in i/o shield so I'm not sure.

edit: it does have AT power instead of ATX

That does look like a nice mobo and for a pretty reasonable price. I wonder if I would need a new case altogether or if I could swap it into the Dell I already have.

Reply 3 of 3, by jakethompson1

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RetroWolf92 wrote on Yesterday, 00:13:
jakethompson1 wrote on 2026-06-02, 20:53:

The problem with those is ISA direct memory access (DMA) is unlikely to work through it. This is the same issue that makes it tricky for PCI sound cards to work reliably in DOS.

Your efforts might be better suited toward building a second system. I am not the seller but saw this https://www.ebay.com/itm/257434505694 and was a bit intrigued as it being a sort of DOS starter kit; the onboard sound is a Vibra 16C. It should fit in a modern case though it has that oddball built in i/o shield so I'm not sure.

edit: it does have AT power instead of ATX

That does look like a nice mobo and for a pretty reasonable price. I wonder if I would need a new case altogether or if I could swap it into the Dell I already have.

Since it's AT power, if you want the front power switch to work you'll need a latching one along with your ATX-AT adapter. So I'd get a cheap ATX case instead of hacking up your Dell one.

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