MJay99 wrote on 2021-03-16, 12:03:

I'd also have something for him to look into, if or when he returns (a combination of an ESS 1868 with Ultrasound), where unisound seems to reset the PNP config of the ESS on any startup:

This may be related to the problem I described in this post, though the tool I posted also has its own problems with some PnP BIOS implementations.

MJay99 wrote on 2021-03-16, 12:03:

But the config of the ESS is lost (every time) - see IRQ / DMA settings:

Is it really "lost", or is it related to the re-location of the RDP? If you use "UNISOUND /Cx /R", where x is the number of the card in question, does UNISOUND still report the correct resources? I haven't tried the newer versions of UNISOUND released since that time, so I never really checked whether his improvements made a difference.

So I have been using Unisound as of recent to get my AWE64 Value and YMF-719 working together, and it's working well for me for the most part. The only issue I am currently having is that Wolfenstein 3D plays the music through the FM on the Yamaha card, but doesn't play the sound effects through the AWE. I get a small sound when it tries to play the first sound effect, then it fails from there on.

Also, is there a way to get Windows 3.11 to work with Unisound? if there isn't, I'm not too concerned.

@BetaC, unisound is just for DOS. Windows needs its own drivers. (Unisound isn't really a driver even. It's more like an initializer.)

640K!enough wrote on 2021-03-18, 18:35:

Is is really "lost", or is it related to the re-location of the RDP? If you use "UNISOUND /Cx /R", where x is the number of the card in question, does UNISOUND still report the correct resources?

Thanks for this hint! I'll check for this the next time I'm in front of this configuration (belongs to a friend of mine). I'll also transplant it to my older testing mainboard, to see how much the BIOS is affecting it.

GigAHerZ wrote on 2021-03-19, 07:49:

@BetaC, unisound is just for DOS. Windows needs its own drivers. (Unisound isn't really a driver even. It's more like an initializer.)

Gotcha. Then I just need to figure out the problem with W3d.

Any chance you could add a feature to only use limited RAM on an InterWave card? I've found a few programs (well ... 1 game that is "Absolute Pinball") that will crash the machine if the GUS/IW has more than 512k available ... while this can be achieved in hardware (jumpers, removing chips, etc.) it would be really great to have a software solution to this issue. Game works fine with 512k setups.

Also props for not bothering with the GUS SoundBlaster emulation ... it's bad and adds very little to the card (except for a major hassle and disappointment if it outputs anything).

Hi!

I've tried this tool with my TerraTec Base1 (AD1816-based), but it just told me that it couldn't find a PnP card in the system, so it doesn't seem to be compatible with that particular model yet, even though AD1816-based cards are generally supported according to the readme.

Is there anything I can do to help make the tool compatible with that sound card?

Thanks!

Probably the only person who can help you is the developer, let's hope he gets back.

@bravetoaster what if you put the variables in autoexec.bat first and then start unisound?

GuillermoXT wrote on 2021-03-25, 11:40:

@bravetoaster what if you put the variables in autoexec.bat first and then start unisound?

I tried that as well, but it didn't work either unfortunately.

BraveToaster wrote on 2021-03-25, 10:08:

I've tried this tool with my TerraTec Base1 (AD1816-based), but it just told me that it couldn't find a PnP card in the system, so it doesn't seem to be compatible with that particular model yet, even though AD1816-based cards are generally supported according to the readme.

UNISOUND is primarily a tool for PnP cards. If it doesn't list your card when you use "UNISOUND /CL", and the documentation doesn't list direct support for it as a non-PnP card (as it does for some Creative cards), then there is no chance of it working with the current version. Support for additional cards will have to wait until JazeFox has time to work on additional features/support, if he is so inclined. He has declined to do this for a few other non-PnP cards, though, so I wouldn't expect too much.

I am always impressed at the scope of a tool whose ambition is to cover the gamut of even-a-modest-niche-area like ISA PnP soundcards.

Can't help but think, that in 10 years time there will still be the occasional person coming out of the woodwork saying "BTW, I found this obscure ISA PnP soundcard nobody has ever heard of....". 🤣

In terms of heritage preservation value (and sheer practical usefulness of course) UNISOUND is so cool.

640K!enough wrote on 2021-03-26, 18:51:

UNISOUND is primarily a tool for PnP cards. If it doesn't list your card when you use "UNISOUND /CL", and the documentation doesn't list direct support for it as a non-PnP card (as it does for some Creative cards), then there is no chance of it working with the current version.

But it is a PnP card, such that it is fairly "new", doesn't have jumpers for the resources and a PnP config and init utility.
The card is also not that unusual really. It's still readily available on eBay, TerraTec still has the drivers on their website, and it's mentioned in many places, including Phil's.

I'm merely offering my support to the original author, since it seems like he wants to support as many sound cards as possible. If he doesn't feel like putting work into supporting this card, that's fine of course. UNISOUND is pretty awesome already as it is.

Huh, turns out that the Base1 does work with this tool, so it may really not be an issue with the card itself, but with my system. The reason I'm saying this is that in the PhilsComputerLab video about UNISOUND, he shows that the Base1 does in fact work with it, right here: https://youtu.be/4srDaHtFdro?t=333
When I get around to it, I'll try it with the SB16 that I still have as well to make sure.

Meanwhile, any idea why this could be? I've tried a clean MS-DOS boot without anything loaded (as in: empty CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT or rather hold Ctrl at boot) as well, and got the same result: The tool tells me that no PnP cards were found in the system.

The sound card itself works just fine with the drivers / init utility from TerraTec, so it's not faulty hardware.

It can also be the interplay with other pnp cards / drivers. I had a Realtek NIC that when initialized made my AWE64 disappear. I changed it for a 3com non-pnp card and that fixed my issue.

Did anyone tried unisound with a ALS100+? I tried it on 2 different machines and in one works just the sound, not the music, while on the second machine I just hear noise.

Thanks

Edit: ok installing the dos drivers the card works fine, apparently it's not fully supported

binarymaster wrote on 2020-05-19, 22:38:

JazeFox wrote on 2020-03-13, 00:32:

UNISOUND is a DOS-only tool that configures and initializes PnP ISA sound cards from serveral brands and models, like ESS, Creative, ALS, CMI, ADI, Yamaha, and more... (And some non-PnP cards, like early SB16 software configurable models which required DIAGNOSE.EXE). Works on all x86 CPUs (8088/8086/286/386... and higher).

Recently we got ISAPNP bus driver enabled, which is designed to make Plug-and-Play system aware of ISA PnP cards, it would be nice to have some testers for it. Note that ReactOS requires a Pentium or newer CPU.

There is an update on the post I wrote here earlier, one of people in ReactOS community has finally implemented ISA PnP card enumeration and I/O resource management, now we need some testers to confirm it's working properly and without problems.

See this Pull Request: https://github.com/reactos/reactos/pull/3467

I've been having issues getting this program to find my card. I have an ES1869 card that's been integrated into the motherboard (old compaq deskpro) I add the parameter /CL and it returns two dots, I type in /R and it says it hasn't detected a pnp card. The card works fine in windows 98SE, however music WON'T play when playing any game through DOS 6.0 (I don't have 6.22 floppies and I haven't gotten around getting upgrade floppies made) and DOS 7 doesn't work either. Games I've tried: KQ6, SQ5, Hexen, SQ4 (sq4 actually does work if I select adlib audio when setting it up, but this only works with kq4, the others don't work with the adlib option, hexen works with cd audio) All sounds play fine in windows 98 (with some exceptions in KQ6 and SQ5 due to problems related to windows 98) the ESSCFG has not worked, or I haven't found the correct version, (downloaded the one here on vogons for es1869) in fact, using it disabled the speaker in the computer. Any ideas?

Edit: Forgot to mention the cpu is a pentium III 542 mhz, idk if that would make a difference, kinda new to dos.

DoomSlinger wrote on 2021-04-15, 03:25:

I've been having issues getting this program to find my card. I have an ES1869 card that's been integrated into the motherboard (old compaq deskpro) I add the parameter /CL and it returns two dots, I type in /R and it says it hasn't detected a pnp card. The card works fine in windows 98SE, however music WON'T play when playing any game through DOS 6.0 (I don't have 6.22 floppies and I haven't gotten around getting upgrade floppies made) and DOS 7 doesn't work either. Games I've tried: KQ6, SQ5, Hexen, SQ4 (sq4 actually does work if I select adlib audio when setting it up, but this only works with kq4, the others don't work with the adlib option, hexen works with cd audio) All sounds play fine in windows 98 (with some exceptions in KQ6 and SQ5 due to problems related to windows 98) the ESSCFG has not worked, or I haven't found the correct version, (downloaded the one here on vogons for es1869) in fact, using it disabled the speaker in the computer. Any ideas?

Edit: Forgot to mention the cpu is a pentium III 542 mhz, idk if that would make a difference, kinda new to dos.

aaaand if you checked this thread you'd see your card is not supported, its not a true pnp card on the isa bus.

Re: UNISOUND - Universal ISA PnP Sound Card Enabler for DOS v0.72c

BloodyCactus wrote on 2021-04-15, 04:13:

DoomSlinger wrote on 2021-04-15, 03:25:

I've been having issues getting this program to find my card. I have an ES1869 card that's been integrated into the motherboard (old compaq deskpro) I add the parameter /CL and it returns two dots, I type in /R and it says it hasn't detected a pnp card. The card works fine in windows 98SE, however music WON'T play when playing any game through DOS 6.0 (I don't have 6.22 floppies and I haven't gotten around getting upgrade floppies made) and DOS 7 doesn't work either. Games I've tried: KQ6, SQ5, Hexen, SQ4 (sq4 actually does work if I select adlib audio when setting it up, but this only works with kq4, the others don't work with the adlib option, hexen works with cd audio) All sounds play fine in windows 98 (with some exceptions in KQ6 and SQ5 due to problems related to windows 98) the ESSCFG has not worked, or I haven't found the correct version, (downloaded the one here on vogons for es1869) in fact, using it disabled the speaker in the computer. Any ideas?

Edit: Forgot to mention the cpu is a pentium III 542 mhz, idk if that would make a difference, kinda new to dos.

aaaand if you checked this thread you'd see your card is not supported, its not a true pnp card on the isa bus.

Re: UNISOUND - Universal ISA PnP Sound Card Enabler for DOS v0.72c

Sorry, I skimmed through the thread and must have missed it. My bad. I do have an external card in another computer, so I could yank it out and put it in and see if it fixes any of my issues.