Hi there!

I made a DOS tool for my own use some time ago, but I decided to release it, because I think it may be useful for someone else, so here it is:

It is called "Unisound", or Universal ISA PnP Sound Card Driver for DOS.
Current version is: v0.82a (Download link at the end of this post).

UNISOUND is a Freeware DOS-only tool useful to configure and initialize ISA PnP sound cards from serveral brands and models, like ESS, Creative, ALS, CMI, ADI, Yamaha, Diamond tech, Aztech, OPTi, Crystal, community-made ones like Orpheus I, AWE64 Legacy, MK1869... (And also some non-PnP cards, like early SB16 software configurable models which required DIAGNOSE.EXE, are supported and a few others). Works on all x86 CPUs (8088/8086/286/386... and higher). Check the TXT included in the ZIP file for full details. To get command line help, use: UNISOUND /H. If you want to post in the thread, it is required to read the FAQ near the end of this post first!!

UNISOUND It is not only an ISA PnP sound card resources configuration tool. To initialize some cards properly, the PnP resource part is not enough, as a lot of them need further initialization sequences that in most cases are bad documented or no documented at all, or are obscure. This tool tries to be (almost) all-in-one solution, trying to do a full card initialization, and set some mixer values, in only ~50Kb. (Some cards as AWE cards, GUS PnP, or Maxi sound 64+SAM, CS4232... require special inits or firmware uploading. That is covered in the tool).

This tool has taken a lot of time, researching over technical documentation of the card's/chip's manufacturers, reverse engeneering, and having some headaches, too.

I wrote a complete TXT (it is included in the ZIP file I attached at the end of the post) to explain it (background, usage, supported cards in this version, special notes, tested systems, version history...). It is also strongly recommended to read the FAQ below.

This tool is FREEWARE! You can use an distribute it freely. If you paid for it you have been scammed!
This tool can be bundled with other programs, demos or games freely without asking for permission, in any media format like floppy, CD, ISO...

About bug reporting or posting in this thread: Please, first, is required to read the FAQ below, near the end of this post, then provide all info and details you can. Unisound version, text output in screen, brand and model of your card(s), chips you can see there, system specs, CPU, board, other cards you have, photos...

Here is a small extract of the important parts of the readme (read the TXT in the ZIP file for a more extense explanation), and the FAQ below:

Extract From 1- Background ========================== […]
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Extract From 1- Background
==========================

The main problem when you want to use your sound cards, is the
configuration and initialization, as it depends on a lot of stuff, like:
The type of CPU , if the machine has a PnP BIOS or not the PnP software to
use (CTCM/CTCU for Creative, Intel ICU, propietary software for others)
so finally you end up having a lot of files and a big mess of CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT lines.

Tired of all that stuff, I wanted to do something to minimize everything
involved to my card's initialization. Only one file, very small size,
(in fact it could be used to be fitted even in a floppy disk together with
a game if you want), and no need for anything else to get a card working,
with mixer settings (Master vol, Wave/DAC vol, FM/Synth/WT vol, Line-in vol,
Mic vol, CD vol and some more for Creative cards like Trebble, Bass...).
Some "useless" stuff disabled by default (Modem, IDE...) Well, IDE is
disabled by default but it is user-configurable with a custom parameter in
BLASTER environment variable Cxxx. Check the Usage section (2) of the TXT
for more info on this.

**IMPORTANT WARNING**:
This tool does *NOT* check for resource conflicts, so if you configure your
cards with already used ports, IRQs, DMAs... you may notice problems, like
hangs, corruptions, even damage to your data if you are not careful. You
have been warned!! I am not responsible for any damage.
In addition, this tool does not check if the settings you provide are right
or wrong (only very basic check like usual ranges of addresses and IRQs...,)
and will try to avoid some known issues with duplicated DMAs in some cards...
you are supposed to know what are you doing. *Use at your own risk!!*

This tool is FREEWARE! You can use an distribute it freely. If you paid for
it you have been scammed!

This tool can be bundled with other programs or games freely without asking
for permission, in any media format like floppy, CD, ISO...

Extract From 2- Usage ========================== […]
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Extract From 2- Usage
==========================

UNISOUND (without options): initializes 1st PnP card found in the system
with internal default resource settings and the following Mixer volume
defaults: ~85% Master vol, 80% Wave vol, 80% FM/Synth vol, 0% Line in vol,
0% Mic vol, 0% CD vol. And for compatible cards, Treble and Bass levels
are 50% by default, PC SPeaker-in 0%, 3D: off.

The tool default values, if no environment variable is found, are (optional
args for some cards with special resources are between brackets):

For SB or SB compatible cards:
ADDR: 220, IRQ: 5, DMA1: 1, DMA2: 1, MPU: 330, (AWE: 620), (WSS: 530),
(JOY: 200), (CD-IDE: 0), (OPL: 388), (MPUIRQ: 9),
(CMI WSS IRQ:0), (CMI WSS DMA:0)

For GUS PnP:
ADDR: 240, CODEC: 34x, DMA1: 3, DMA2: 3, IRQ: 11

For the GUS PnP, the usual format of ULTRASND env var is:
ULTRASND=240,3,3,11,11

If BLASTER (or ULTRASND for GUS PnP) environment var is found, UNISOUND will
use its values to configure the card. If not, Unisound default values will
be used.

The most common usage is in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, setting a BLASTER var first.
Example for one card:

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4 J200 P330
UNISOUND.COM /V70

GUS PnP example:

SET ULTRASND=240,3,3,11,11
UNISOUND.COM /V70

Usage: UNISOUND [options]

Options:
/Cn Select PnP card number 'n' to initialize/read (n = 1 to 9)
/CS Initialize non-PnP Creative card (SB16 & AWE32)
/CL List all PnP cards present in the system
/R Read PnP card current settings only (can be used with /Cn)
/D Disable PnP sound card (can be used with /Cn)
/Vnn Set Master Volume level to 'nn' % (00-99)
/VWnn Set Wave Volume level to 'nn' % (00-99)
/VFnn Set FM/Synth/WT Volume level to 'nn' % (00-99)
/VLnn Set Line-in Volume level to 'nn' % (00-99)
/VCnn Set CD Volume level to 'nn' % (00-99)
/VMnn Set Mic Volume level to 'nn' % (00-99)
/VPnn Set PC Speaker-in Volume level to 'nn' % (00-99) (Creative)
/VTnn Set Treble level to 'nn' % (00-99) (Compatible cards)
/VBnn Set Bass level to 'nn' % (00-99) (Compatible cards)
In ES189x cards, set AuxB (External WT) level (00-99)
/VRnn Set FM Reverb amount (00-99) (SB AWE only)
/VUnn Set FM Chorus amount (00-99) (SB AWE only)
/Xxxx eXtened cards settings (see section 5 for details)
/NOPNP Detect & init some Non-PnP cards (See end of section 3)
/H /? Help screen

The /D Command line option is useful to disable a PnP sound card.
This option will free all card's resources (I/Os, IRQs, DMAs) and will
disable all logical devices. The card will return to uninitialized state.

With /CL a numbered list of the cards is presented like this:

------------------------------------------
Card #1 [GRV0001] Ultrasound Plug & Play
Card #2 [ESS1868] ESS ES1868 Plug and Play Audiodrive

Some BLASTER env special parameters (optional) can be used for extra config. P.e.:
A220 I5 D1 H1 P330 E620 W530 J200 C168 Rxxx M310 F388 U9 Q0 K0 (explained in UNISOUND.TXT)

If you only want to check the current settings of a PnP card, use:
UNISOUND /R (or UNISOUND /R /C2 in the ESS example we saw before).

There are new eXtended command line options for special features or cards.
The format will be /Xxxx , xxx depends on the card and/or special setting. Check
section 5 in the TXT for more details (Special configs like Orpheus card...)

For other non-PnP cards (only a few selected models), use UNISOUND /NOPNP
(Check details in TXT at the end of section 3 ).

Extract From 3- Supported cards (check readme for the complete explanation) ============================== Supported PnP Cards * […]
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Extract From 3- Supported cards (check readme for the complete explanation)
==============================
Supported PnP Cards
*****************************************************************************

Creative:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- All Sound Blaster 16 cards, including all ViBRA16/S/C/XV/CL, Phone Blaster
- SB AWE32, AWE64, SB32PnP. EMU8K initialization included
(to enable FM and built-in wavetable sound, so no AWEUTIL /S needed. No
soundfonts loading though).
- Creative AWE Upgrade card (CT1920) init.

On all Creative cards, DSP version is displayed at init time.
On AWE cards, total memory detected is displayed at init time.
Check section 6.1 for a complete list of successfully tested Creative models

Control of FM Reverb (/VRnn) and Chorus (/VUnn) effects amount is supported,
only for SB AWE32/64 cards (Values 00 to 99). Note: This works on AWE cards
with integrated CQM and with discrete Yamaha OPL/CQM chips, if they're routed
through the EMU8K chip. Only a few exceptions are not routed, like CT3930.

ESS AudioDrive:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ES1868F single chip cards
- ES1869F single chip cards
- ES968 + ES688 dual chip cards in PnP mode
- ES968 + ES1688 dual chip cards in PnP mode
- Guillemot Maxi Sound 64 (ES1868 + SAM9407 versions only) SAM9407 firmware
uploading and initialization included (to unmute output sound). Firmware
itself not included

Yamaha:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- YMF715, YMF718, YMF719 cards. Models OPL-SAX, OPL-SA3, AudioTrix XG-3D...
Only ISA PnP models. Usually laptop integrated Yamaha chips are BIOS-PnP
based, and those are not supported for now.

Avance Logic:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ALS007 chip
- ALS1xx chips (ALS100, ALS100+, ALS120)
- ALS200

Diamond Technologies:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- DT-0197H / DT-0196H chip cards (clone or re-branded ALS chips).

Aztech:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- AZT2320 chip based cards.

Rockwell:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- RWA01x (WaveArtist) chip cards, including special Zoltrix cards with RWA011

OPTi:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- OPTi 82C924 in PnP mode
- OPTi 82C925 in PnP mode
- OPTi 82C931 and 82C933 chip based cards.

Crystal (Cirrus Logic)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- CS4232 / CS4235 / CS4236/B / CS4237/B chip based cards
- CX4236/B / CX4237/B chip based cards
- Special support for Orpheus and Turtle Beach Malibu cards (CS4237B)

C-Media / AD-CHIPS:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- CMI8330 chip based cards. (like Audio Excel branded cards)
- CMI8329A based cards (like Zoltrix branded cards )

AD SoundPort (Analog Devices):
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- AD1816/A, AD1815, AD18max10 (like Terratec and Aztech branded cards)
- AD1812

*Note1: Some Terratec cards (Like Base-1) based on AD1816 with ATMEL EEPROMS
with some chipset combos, in very rare cases will need to use /FS
option to be detected correcly.

*Note2: AD ISA cards' WSS mode is NOT compatible with DOS software.

Advanced Gravis / AMD Interwave / Compaq/STB Ultrasound :
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Gravis Ultrasound PnP (AMD Interwave chip). Centered in Classic GUS
compatibility only (No SB emu, no MPU, optional IDE and Joy port).
The amount of RAM installed is displayed at init time.
ROM name and size is displayed at init time (Informative only)
- Compaq Interwave / STB Ultrasound pro 32. With support for TEA6330T chip.

Roland:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Roland Super MPU II MIDI PnP card. Not strictly a sound card, it's
a MPU card only, but it's supported for initialization.

Ensoniq:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Limited support for Ensoniq Soundscape VIVO card. Only WSS digital
sound, line-in control, CD-in control and joyport are working. Any other
function will require the original TSR and drivers.

Turtle Beach:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Limited support for Turtle Beach Multisound Pinnacle card (PnP mode)
Only joyport and MPU (onboard Kurzweil wavetable) are available. There are
several board revisions of this card, with slightly different behaviours.
If your card is not recognized, please add the option /FS and try again.
Also note that it's possible that your card revision doesn't work at all.

Supported non-PnP Cards
*****************************************************************************
- All SB16 and AWE32 non-PnP (software-configurable) cards
(No need for DIAGNOSE.EXE /S to init!). In AWE32 EMU8K initialization is
included to enable FM and built-in wavetable sound, so no AWEUTIL /S needed.
No soundfonts loading though.

- ESS ES1688. Configurable resources: IRQ, DMA, MPU addr, MPU IRQ, joyport.

- ESS ES688. Configurable resources: IRQ, DMA.

- OAK OTI601 "Mozart" chip based cards. All revisions. (based on OPTi 82C928)
Configurable: SB/WSS address, IRQ, DMA, joyport, SB/WSS mode.
NOTE: Very bad compatibility with games and programs. Must re-initialize
the card after running some games/programs. SB mode digital audio is mono
only. FM/OPL3 and WSS mode can be used in stereo.

- OPTi 82C928 / MAD16 (non pro) cards. The same as the "Mozart" cards.
Almost the same chip.

- OPTi 82C924/925 in non-PnP mode. Initialization options are the same as
the PnP versions.

- OPTi 92C930 chip based cards.
Configurable resources: Base Address, IRQ, DMA, MPU port, MPU IRQ, Joyport.

Resource assignments are read from BLASTER env var if present, as usual.

Mixer volume settings compatible with each card are supported as usual with
/Vxxx options.

NOTE: This feature is EXPERIMENTAL. Please, plug only one card in the
system to avoid problems. Support for more Non-PnP cards is not planned in
any way in the near future.

Extract From 4- Special notes about some cards (check TXT file for full explanation): ============================ […]
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Extract From 4- Special notes about some cards (check TXT file for full explanation):
============================

*Notes about Gravis Ultrasound PnP and compatible cards
*Notes about cards with WSS (Windows Sound System) support
*Notes about using some of these cards on 8 bit ISA slots (or XT machines)
*Notes about Guillemot Maxi Sound 64 series (ES1868 + SAM9407 only!)
*Notes about ESS ES1869 cards in very slow systems (XT/8088/8086/286)
*Notes about Crystal CS4232 based cards
*Notes about MK1869 / ES186x cards and AuxB (Wavetable header volume)

Extract From 5- EXtended settings. General or per-card (check TXT file for full explanation) ============================== 5.1- […]
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Extract From 5- EXtended settings. General or per-card (check TXT file for full explanation)
==============================
5.1- General eXtended settings (/XXF and /XNET)
5.1.1- General eXtended setting for 3D sound for compatible cards (/X3Dn)
5.1.2- General eXtended setting to control Output Gain / Loudness (/XXGn)
5.1.3- General eXtended setting to change SB / WSS mode on compatible cards (/XWSS)
5.2- EXtended settings for Orpheus card
5.3- EXtended settings for Turtle Beach Malibu
5.5- EXtended settings for GUS PnP and Interwave compatible cards
5.6- EXtended settings for ES1868/ES1869 cards
5.7- EXtended settings for generic Crystal CS4237
5.8- EXtended settings for Rockwell RWA010/RWA011 cards

Latest changes (version history of last 3 versions): […]
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Latest changes (version history of last 3 versions):

---

==============================

v0.80a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Fixed support for Compaq Interwave / STB Ultrasound 32 Pro (GUS PnP
compatible card): Added proper initialization of TEA6330T sound control
chip. Now sound output is working properly and control for treble and bass
is added (/VTxx /VBxx) if your card has this chip. Default value: 50%
- Fixed GUS PnP input levels not muting completely when using /Vx00
- Fixed ALS100 mixer init bug introduced v0.78b. All levels are working now.
- Added support for OPTi 82C924 PnP chip based cards.
- Added support for Analog Devices AD1812 PnP chip based cards.
- Added 3D control support for OPTi 82c933 cards. 3D ON = /X3D1
- Fixed Wavetable volume not changing with /VF when SPDIF mode was enabled on
Orpheus / TB Malibu cards. (Note: some games/apps messing with SB mixer
registers 00h, 06h, 26h, might reset levels again)
- Fixed an old bug that assigned a 2nd DMA on cards that don't support it.
- Minor changes to char printing in detection phase to fix issues with 4DOS
and other minor code and text optimizations.
- Fixed /D used together with other options caused unexpected results.
- Added WSS mode support for Aztech 2320 cards. Use /XWSS to change to WSS
mode. Default is SB mode. Note: WSS and SB modes are mutually exclusive.
- Change: Unified command line option for cards with capability to switch
between WSS and SB modes: /XWSS (Previously was /XPW1 for OPTi cards) to
swith to WSS mode. Default is SB mode if /XWSS switch is not used. Check
supported cards in TXT section 5.1.3
- New: *EXPERIMENTAL* Non-PnP card detection mode for very very few cards:
* OAK OTI-601 "Mozart" / OPTi 82c928/A chips (almost the same chip)
* OPTi 82C924 and 82C925 in "no PnP" mode
* ESS ES1688. Configurable: IRQ, DMA, MPU port, MPU IRQ, joyport.
* ESS ES688. Configurable: IRQ, DMA.
* Creative Sound Blaster 16 / AWE32 Non-PnP jumperless cards (already
supported but listed here for completeness). /CS will continue working
as usual for backward compatibility for these cards.
Option to try this new non-PnP card initialization: /NOPNP
NOTE: As it's experimental, please plug only one Non-PnP sound card in the
system to avoid problems and false positives. Support for more Non-PnP
cards is not planned in any way in the near future

v0.81b
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Fixed wavetable sound not working on Opti 931 cards with onboard wavetable.
- Fixed detection of Terratec Base-1 and other AD1816 based cards with ATMEL
EEPROM chips. Now these cards will be detected correctly. Anyway there are
about 1% of these cards in combination with some mobo chipsets that would
need to add the option /FS to be detected properly.
- Improved AWE RAM detection for late EMU8K chips, like AWE64 cards. Now the
correct amount should be shown.
- Added option to use a custom IRQ for the IDE port, with new BLASTER optional
parameter "Y". Use of "C" is still required. If "Y" is not used, default
stadard IRQ will be used, like in previous versions. Example: C168 Y11
- Changed behaviour of /NOPNP detection for ESS and Mozart chips, should
improve compatibility with some systems with Non-PnP ESS onboard sound.
- Added Control of FM Reverb (/VRnn) and Chorus (/VUnn) effects amount, only
for SB AWE32/64 cards (Values 00 to 99). Note: This works on AWE cards with
integrated CQM and with discrete Yamaha OPL / CQM chips, if they're routed
through the EMU8K chip. Only a few exceptions are not routed, like CT3930.

v0.82a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Added support for AuxB volume control on ESS 186x cards using /VBxx (00-99)
Useful for cards like MK1869 which have onboard Wavetable and also a
Wavetable header. If /VBxx is not specified, behaviour is like in previous
versions. If /VBxx is specified, /VFxx will control FM volume and onboard
Wavetable and /VBxx will control AuxB separately. Example uses with MK1869:
/VF00 /VB90 will mute onboard WT and will put external WT board to 90% vol.
And /VF80 /VB00 will mute external WT and will put onboard WT to 80% vol.
- Added support for Rockwell RWA011 cards that remained muted in previous
versions (like Zoltrix Radio Max). If detected, they will get unmuted
correctly. If your RWA card remains muted, please try with option /XRU
- Added support for new card variants: ESS Samsung Audio Magic X SAB-3000A,
Crystal CS4235 based ID CSC8025 and generic CMI 83xx variants (not tested).
- Let user change Adlib/OPL/FM port to any port in range 0x300-0x3FF. This
will allow, for example, to assign value F380 in BLASTER var to fix the
problem with OPTi 931/933 chips not playing adlib sounds when running
Win9x after Unisound.
- Fixed reading OPTi DMA2 different to disabled/4.
- Fixed CS4232 MIC input control.
- Added *EXPERIMENTAL* support for Non-PnP OPTi 82C930 based sound cards,
configurable resources: Base Address, IRQ, DMA, MPU port, MPU IRQ, Joyport.
Use at your own risk.
- Implemented ERRORLEVEL on exit. 1 = Card not found/Unknown. 0 = OK/Other.

UNISOUND Tool FAQ: Some general frequent asked questions about it (Required to read before posting!):
=========================================================================

- This is not working, I found a bug or my card does not work. What can I do? - First, check in UNISOUND.TXT if you're using th […]
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- This is not working, I found a bug or my card does not work. What can I do?
- First, check in UNISOUND.TXT if you're using the correct options with your card/system and your card is supported. If it's still not working, please, try adding this options to UNISOUND: /FS /XXF , also try the card in diferent systems if you have them, and if it's still not working or having problems, you can post here your problem, but please, do it with as much detail as possible: card brand/model/chips, system specs (cpu/motherboard/memory/other cards installed/OS ad OS version, UNISOUND version and options used to initialize, if other cards work in the same system, if card works on different system, and a detailed explanation (with steps if possible, since the system boot) and tests done, also the contents of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT could help. Write also the exact output of UNISOUND and some photos could help too. Without details, it's more difficult to help, or the help could be delayed a lot.

- is my card compatible? is my system compatible? what XX option do?
- For this and other usage and compatibility questions, they are probably already answered in UNISOUND.TXT. Please, read UNISOUND.TXT, the rest of this FAQ, and, if your question is still not answered or you have doubts, it could have been answered before in the forum. You can use search function in this thread. If, finally, you can't find a successfull answer, you can ask here, of course. I'll try to help. Also veteran users with the tool will certainly help. But, please, before posting, read this FAQ completely.

- Questions about donations/opensourcing/changing tool dev direction/Philosophy of the project
- As I said some time ago, I made this tool mainly for myself, for my own use with my systems, also as a personal challenge, and, more importantly, as a therapy. Any change would render its philosophy meaningless I released the tool to the public because even though it's useful for me in many ways, it could be useful for others, to help to initialize the cards more easily. But anyway I'd rather keep things as they are now. There are paid and free tools, there are open and not open source tools out there (you have some open pnp related tools like isapnptools, etc, if you want), well, this is a non open freeware tool, like a lot others out there, and I want to keep things as they are now. I'll continue with the tool only if I feel happy and comfortable with it, and I am, in the current status. I also don't accept any form of donation, tip, payment or beer invitation (but I feel very grateful for the intention, I promise!). Thank you for understanding. I will not answer any comment regarding any of this topics in the forum, sorry, I hope you'll understand, and respect. This is all a personal decision, and as it is, I hope it will be respected. Of course, I'll be here to continue helping with bugs, enhancements, usage assistance, ..., as usual.
I am not looking for money, fame or even recognition. I only ask for one thing: respect.

- UNISOUND is freeware, however, can it be bundled with other software (free or commercial games, demos, apps... as a generic driver)?
Yes! It can be distributed and bundled freely with any program or game. No limitations, no need to ask for permission!

- Would you add XX feature, like XX non-PnP card, or PnP-BIOS node features, ...?
- Time will tell, but it's unlikely. The main function of this tool is to detect, configure and initialize ISA-PnP cards, although some minor exceptions were made with some very few non-PnP cards, This tool is very well focused on the main function, as I said before.
Remeber that Non-PnP support is EXPERIMENTAL, too.

- Is UNISOUND compressed? Can it be compressed with tools like UPX or PKLITE?
No, it's not compressed by default. When running it compressed in very old CPUs like 8088, 8086 decompressing and then running is slow, so boot times are higher. Anyway, you are free to use tools like UPX or PKLITE to compress it. It's tested and it works well, without issues. You save about 40%.
UPX: https://upx.github.io/
PKLITE: http://www.win3x.org/win3board/viewtopic.php?t=6991&view=min

- Will this tool support other type of cards like PCI or PCI-e? Or ther cards (not just sound cards)?
- Absolutely no.

- Will this tool be a TSR at any time?
- Absolutely no.

----------

If it has been useful for someone else than me, I will be pleased 😀

Sorry for the (multiple) bugs the tool could have.

The download (v0.82a): (Updated May 2025)

https://mega.nz/file/rdAglQBB#2mWhiv-m_H1x2NK … s6-WiYk4iRBFY2s