Heya,

Just documenting the steps I needed to do to get the CT2800 to work in Windows 98SE, and for DOS mode under Windows 98; just in case someone else runs into the issues I had.

The CT2800 is a plug-and-play 16-bit ISA card, and is sort of a bare-bones Soundblaster 16. It was sold as the "SoundBlaster 16 Value", and has a Creative Vibra 16S chip and a real Yamaha OPL-3 FM synth. Like other Soundblaster 16 models it can also act as a MPU-401 for external MIDI devices and it does have the Waveblaster header.

To make this card work under Windows 98, you will need the "Win95_Dos_Applications" download: http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … =65&menustate=0. I've installed these in C:\SB16

1. After installing the card, run "Add New Hardware" in Windows 98, and let it detect and setup the card.
2. For me, it wouldn't detect the MPU-401 support, so I manually installed the Microsoft MPU-401 driver using "Add New Hardware".
3. In DOS mode, run DIAGNOSE.EXE to add the BLASTER variable to your AUTOEXEC.BAT.
4. Add a call to DIAGNOSE /S in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. This should make sure the MPU-401 works in DOS & Windows.

That's it!

Good luck with the CT2800. I really like this card as it has a real line-out, relatively low noise floor, a real OPL-3 and it works great with DOS and Windows games. You may or may not run into the "hanging notes bug" with the MPU-401 MIDI support. I haven't tried the Waveblaster header yet, but I do have a brand new X2 to play around with, so I'll do that next when I have some time. 😀