Damiano.78 wrote on 2026-07-02, 12:52:

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-07-02, 10:52:

Damiano.78 wrote on 2026-07-02, 10:06:

I totally agree here... it seems like a great move in one fell swoop to be able to acquire the possibility of having both an external line in on a 3,5'' jack and at the same time an internal RGGL header to use a real analog CD input from a real CD-ROM like a real sound card!

Out of curiousity why do you need to keep removing the card to change the IRQ and DMA?

It is useful for example when you have to switch from GUS mode (a good IRQ for compatibility in GUS mode is 5) to MPU mode with IRQ 2 for the old dos games which need an IRQ mandatory = 2 to works properly:
https://github.com/bjt42/softmpu/wiki/Compati … gent-Mode-Games

You could use this type of switch for that.

919guy wrote on 2026-07-03, 20:09:

Damiano.78 wrote on 2026-07-02, 12:52:

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-07-02, 10:52:

Out of curiousity why do you need to keep removing the card to change the IRQ and DMA?

It is useful for example when you have to switch from GUS mode (a good IRQ for compatibility in GUS mode is 5) to MPU mode with IRQ 2 for the old dos games which need an IRQ mandatory = 2 to works properly:
https://github.com/bjt42/softmpu/wiki/Compati … gent-Mode-Games

You could use this type of switch for that.

I know that...but I don't like, from an electrical point of view, extending the IRQ line over a cable of any (even moderate) length.
Can anyone with experience with native GUS audio games tell me if they would run 100% reliably and compatible with the PicoGUS (GUS mode of course) set to IRQ 2 (instead of IRQ 5) while still maintaining DMA 3 on the PicoGUS?

Hello everybody, yesterday I observed a bizzare behaviour. My "slowest" rig is:

1. ECS P5HX-A i430HX
2. P166MMX etc...
3. PicoGUS 2.0 with jumper on irq3 dma3
4. AWE64 value

I use a modified Phils Bootmenü to select in autoexec bat between the 2 soundcards, one of which I will use in MSDOS6.22

Yesterday I configured Doom1 setup as follow
SB irq2 (no irq3 in setup) dma 3, A220

Btw: in GUS Mode the PicoGUS functions flawlessly in Doom1 with A240,i3,dma3 as SET ULTRASND

I thought "ok, I select irq2 and later change it in some .cfg file"

But nontheless after save+start game I heard music and soundfx.

How is this possible?

Another question:
When I choose in the Menü AWE64 with A240, irq7,dma1,H7, T6 and then in Doom1 the same values for SB I dont hear nomusic nofx?

Is there sth special about Doom1 v1.7 or i430HX Boards?

On my other rig Asus P5A 1.04, K6-3, PicoGUS 2.0, AWE64 value, onboard SOLO1 everything functions,setup exe accepts every one of the 3 as a SB device even with different values:

1. PicoGUS 2.0 = A220,i3,dma3
2. AWE64 = A220, i7,dma1
3. SOLO1 = A240,i5,dma0

Last but not least:

When I booted into the AWE64 and started PrinceOfPersia1setup, I configured all the value for the AWE64 but the, after starting the game I heared music only from the PicoGUS...? Pop1 ignores the AWE and chooses nontheless the PicoGUS?

eliot_new wrote on 2026-07-04, 10:44:

Yesterday I configured Doom1 setup as follow SB irq2 (no irq3 in setup) dma 3, A220 […]
Show full quote

Yesterday I configured Doom1 setup as follow
SB irq2 (no irq3 in setup) dma 3, A220

Btw: in GUS Mode the PicoGUS functions flawlessly in Doom1 with A240,i3,dma3 as SET ULTRASND

I thought "ok, I select irq2 and later change it in some .cfg file"

But nontheless after save+start game I heard music and soundfx.

How is this possible?

Just now I am testing Doom1 in dosbox-x with sound configurations and noticed the same behaviour. SFX will work as long as base address and DMA are correct, IRQ can be set to anything. I don't know if this is universal or only happens in some sound cards. Maybe the game pulls in the IRQ from the BLASTER variable on launch automatically.

eliot_new wrote on 2026-07-04, 10:44:

Another question: When I choose in the Menü AWE64 with A240, irq7,dma1,H7, T6 and then in Doom1 the same values for SB I dont he […]
Show full quote

Another question:
When I choose in the Menü AWE64 with A240, irq7,dma1,H7, T6 and then in Doom1 the same values for SB I dont hear nomusic nofx?

Is there sth special about Doom1 v1.7 or i430HX Boards?

On my other rig Asus P5A 1.04, K6-3, PicoGUS 2.0, AWE64 value, onboard SOLO1 everything functions,setup exe accepts every one of the 3 as a SB device even with different values:

1. PicoGUS 2.0 = A220,i3,dma3
2. AWE64 = A220, i7,dma1
3. SOLO1 = A240,i5,dma0

I don't think there is anything special about doom1 on i430HX, maybe there is an onboard device using one of the IRQs. I always set the IRQ and DMA used for DOS sound to "Legacy ISA" in resource assignment to avoid potential clashes.

eliot_new wrote on 2026-07-04, 10:44:

Last but not least:

When I booted into the AWE64 and started PrinceOfPersia1setup, I configured all the value for the AWE64 but the, after starting the game I heared music only from the PicoGUS...? Pop1 ignores the AWE and chooses nontheless the PicoGUS?

Only one card should be able to respond on port 220 so this probably makes sense, the PicoGUS took over. If two SB cards are active they need different base addresses. So the PicoGUS, AWE64 and SOLO would need to be on 220, 240, 260 for example.

For me, since PicoGUS is the best at playing old single cycle DMA games, I have it set to IRQ7, DMA1, 220 so it works with all the old games that may be hard coded to use IRQ7 or DMA1 (er example Day of the Tentacle). I have my SB16 on IRQ5, DMA3, 260 and use it for later games that use Auto-Init DMA.

[/quote]
For me, since PicoGUS is the best at playing old single cycle DMA games, I have it set to IRQ7, DMA1, 220 so it works with all the old games that may be hard coded to use IRQ7 or DMA1 (er example Day of the Tentacle). I have my SB16 on IRQ5, DMA3, 260 and use it for later games that use Auto-Init DMA.
[/quote]

It is very interesting. Also for me it seems good to have PicoGUS on A220 IRQ7 DMA1 because I think that PicoGUS is great for the older game with a "locked" audio configurations...and as far as I know this configuration is the classic default configuration for the Sound Blaster when it was introduced in the market.
But If the PicoGUS is used in PicoGUS mode...what is the best setting in your opinion/experiences?
For example in the PicoGUS GitHub configuration page:
https://github.com/polpo/picogus/wiki/Configu … ng-your-PicoGUS
I read: " In the following image, the jumpers are set for IRQ 5 and DMA 1, which are typical for GUS emulation."

What are your experiences regarding the best configuration to set on the PicoGUS for optimal compatibility across all its audio modes?

Damiano.78 wrote on 2026-07-13, 11:08:

It is very interesting. Also for me it seems good to have PicoGUS on A220 IRQ7 DMA1 because I think that PicoGUS is great for th […]
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It is very interesting. Also for me it seems good to have PicoGUS on A220 IRQ7 DMA1 because I think that PicoGUS is great for the older game with a "locked" audio configurations...and as far as I know this configuration is the classic default configuration for the Sound Blaster when it was introduced in the market.
But If the PicoGUS is used in PicoGUS mode...what is the best setting in your opinion/experiences?
For example in the PicoGUS GitHub configuration page:
https://github.com/polpo/picogus/wiki/Configu … ng-your-PicoGUS
I read: " In the following image, the jumpers are set for IRQ 5 and DMA 1, which are typical for GUS emulation."

What are your experiences regarding the best configuration to set on the PicoGUS for optimal compatibility across all its audio modes?

I just ran with 220/7/1 on the GUS and it seems to work fine. I can break the GUS emulation on my system (EG hard lock in ROTT using GUS SFX, hard lock if using GUS music and SFX simultaenously in System Shock, hard lock if OMF2097 game speed set higher than 50% with GUS SFX) but those issues seem to happen regardless of the resorces used. I haven't experienced any issues that are specific to resource allocation yet, or maybe I didn't recognise it.

The only resource limitation I have come across the the same one you did with SB being best on IRQ5,7 and MPU-401 true Intelligent Mode being best on IRQ2/9. Luckily the MPU-401 software on the card does auto-ACK so the majority of games that are marked as intelligent mode which only require a valid ACK reponse work even without a functioning IRQ (Police Quest 2 for example). So there are very few games that actually need the IRQ in that case (Gateway for example).

Ok, it seems to me a good compromise.
Other experiences/suggestions?

If I understand you correctly:

Let the PicoGUS 2.0 be the sb 2.0 card for old games? But it cannot work as SB Pro 2.0?

Should I rethink:

1. Formosa ESS1868: A220, i7, d1, t4
2. PicoGUS 2.0: A240, i5, d3, t4
3. AWE64 value: A260, i3, d0,h7,T6?

eliot_new wrote on 2026-07-14, 14:37:

If I understand you correctly: […]
Show full quote

If I understand you correctly:

Let the PicoGUS 2.0 be the sb 2.0 card for old games? But it cannot work as SB Pro 2.0?

Should I rethink:

1. Formosa ESS1868: A220, i7, d1, t4
2. PicoGUS 2.0: A240, i5, d3, t4
3. AWE64 value: A260, i3, d0,h7,T6?

The PicoGUS can work as SB Pro 2 if you want it to (or even SB16), but the ES1868 is also fine with SB and SB Pro audio so that's really up to you. Actually since you have an AWE64, creative also fixed the SB audio issues with that card as well, so for you the order doesn't really matter that much. The key things are that every card has independent hardware resources (which you have now listed) and the card you want to use with the oldest DOS SB games is on A220 i7 d1.

I bought couple picogus cards and received them today.

When running pgusinit.exe it says not pico detected.

I thought maybe it doesnt have a firmware so plugged the card into pc with usb holding the button and nothing happens.

Are these cards faulty?

I have many more picogus cards and all are working ok but these ones seem dead?

Any suggestions what i can try?

Omarkoman wrote on 2026-08-06, 11:13:

I bought couple picogus cards and received them today. […]
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I bought couple picogus cards and received them today.

When running pgusinit.exe it says not pico detected.

I thought maybe it doesnt have a firmware so plugged the card into pc with usb holding the button and nothing happens.

Are these cards faulty?

I have many more picogus cards and all are working ok but these ones seem dead?

Any suggestions what i can try?

Is there any LED light that comes on when plugged into USB or in a computer when powered on?

Hello PicoGUS fans! I'm an original GUS owner. OG model in 1993, MAX in 1995. The GUS MAX, with "full" 1GB of RAM, is still mostly working (!!!) 31 Years of service!

And in mid 2024, bought a PicoGUS. It's nearby, waiting to be brought into service, on the dark day when the GUS MAX finally reaches "Series Termination".

I really don't want to remove the GUS MAX from my one, also original era, DOS / Windows 95 tower. But I do want the benefit of that USB port, and it's support for XBOX 360 controllers.

The real GUS MAX Gameport is Disabled /dj at ultrinit.exe. But I'm fearing that somehow it's not fully disabled, and is somehow interfering with the PicoGUS gameport emulation.

I'm pretty good with managing IRQs and DMA. Got both cards on seperate IRQ / DMA.

Has anybody used their PicoGUS and real GUS MAX, in the same PC at the same time? AND have the XInput controller work? How did you do it?

Geriatric Danmaku wrote on 2026-08-13, 21:17:

Hello PicoGUS fans! I'm an original GUS owner. OG model in 1993, MAX in 1995. The GUS MAX, with "full" 1GB of RAM, is still mostly working (!!!) 31 Years of service!

That must be the ultra rare GUS SuperMAX 1GB

Geriatric Danmaku wrote on 2026-08-13, 21:17:

The real GUS MAX Gameport is Disabled /dj at ultrinit.exe. But I'm fearing that somehow it's not fully disabled, and is somehow interfering with the PicoGUS gameport emulation.

Did you check if temporarily removing the GUS card allows the joystick port on the PicoGUS to work?