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Reply 560 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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Hello, I am trying to get WSS working and I am not sure how I am supposed to set everything up. Would anyone mind taking a look at my setup?

I am trying to get it working in zork returns and the original descent. In Zork returns I get an error that they driver can't be loaded to resident memory, and in the sound setup for descent with "microsoft sound system" set to port 530 and DMA 1 I get no sound in the sound test. Sound blaster pro works fine.

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    ORPHEUS.INI
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  • Filename
    CONFIG.SYS.txt
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    59 downloads
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    AUTOEXEC.BAT.txt
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Reply 561 of 1060, by 640K!enough

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mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-04-27, 04:31:

I am trying to get it working in zork returns and the original descent. In Zork returns I get an error that they driver can't be loaded to resident memory, and in the sound setup for descent with "microsoft sound system" set to port 530 and DMA 1 I get no sound in the sound test. Sound blaster pro works fine.

Try setting WSSBase=534 in ORPHEUS.INI, while still selecting 530 in the sound setup tool (remember to run ORPHINIT before the sound setup once you save your changes).

Reply 562 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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640K!enough wrote on 2021-04-27, 04:40:
mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-04-27, 04:31:

I am trying to get it working in zork returns and the original descent. In Zork returns I get an error that they driver can't be loaded to resident memory, and in the sound setup for descent with "microsoft sound system" set to port 530 and DMA 1 I get no sound in the sound test. Sound blaster pro works fine.

Try setting WSSBase=534 in ORPHEUS.INI, while still selecting 530 in the sound setup tool (remember to run ORPHINIT before the sound setup once you save your changes).

Thanks! I would have thought they needed to match but I guess not. That fixed descent.

Return to Zork still throwing a fit though... I am not sure what the problem is there.

Reply 563 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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I tried everything I can with return to zork and it isn't taking WSS. I figured out that the DMA for sound blaster and WSS have to be the same or sound blaster settings won't work. I have tried different IRQs but that doesn't seem to help.

One thing I noticed is that Descent specified WSS by port number and DMA, while return to zork uses port number and IRQ. Return to zork also includes its own wss driver that it calls and loads high in a batch file. Maybe the driver is incompatible? It's sndsys.com.

I took at look at the RTZ.CFG file in a hex editor and I tried to force a DMA through there using my best guess as to where it would go. That didn't work either. Maybe it never worked in the first place. I have no idea. I don't know how much it matters, because I suspect that the voiced bits are actually streamed from redbook audio because they sound pretty clean and the disc has a lot of audio tracks and uses midi for all the music....but if they were digital PCM samples, then 16 bit audio would really help it out a lot.

Reply 564 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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WSS not working in my sierra games either. Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry 6, Police Quest IV, all throwing the same audio.cpp error with WSS selected. Doesn't matter if I run the game in DOS or windows. Is there something I am missing?

Reply 565 of 1060, by Joseph_Joestar

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mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-04-28, 05:19:

WSS not working in my sierra games either. Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry 6, Police Quest IV, all throwing the same audio.cpp error with WSS selected. Doesn't matter if I run the game in DOS or windows. Is there something I am missing?

I can't help with your problem, but I can confirm that both Gabriel Knight and Police Quest IV work fine in WSS mode on my OPTi 82C930 card. So it's not an issue with WSS support in those games.

I have also played other Sierra titles in WSS mode, such as Space Quest V and King's Quest VI, and they worked fine as well.

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Reply 566 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-04-28, 05:52:
mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-04-28, 05:19:

WSS not working in my sierra games either. Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry 6, Police Quest IV, all throwing the same audio.cpp error with WSS selected. Doesn't matter if I run the game in DOS or windows. Is there something I am missing?

I can't help with your problem, but I can confirm that both Gabriel Knight and Police Quest IV work fine in WSS mode on my OPTi 82C930 card. So it's not an issue with WSS support in those games.

I have also played other Sierra titles in WSS mode, such as Space Quest V and King's Quest VI, and they worked fine as well.

Thanks for confirming that! WSS is working in Warcraft II. Reading up on it, it seems that WSS had a 1.0 and a 2.0 version... I am having a more success so far with newer DOS games. I wonder if that has something to do with it.

Reply 567 of 1060, by keropi

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I am looking at the Gabriel Knight page here: http://sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/Patches … iesUpdates.html
and the update1 states this:

This update also includes other corrections which should
eliminate problems with the sound cards under certain system
configurations. It also solves the occasional problems
encountered when saving and restoring games in certain
situations.

have you got these patches applied?

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Reply 568 of 1060, by appiah4

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keropi wrote on 2021-04-28, 06:46:
I am looking at the Gabriel Knight page here: http://sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/Patches … iesUpdates.html and the update1 st […]
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I am looking at the Gabriel Knight page here: http://sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/Patches … iesUpdates.html
and the update1 states this:

This update also includes other corrections which should
eliminate problems with the sound cards under certain system
configurations. It also solves the occasional problems
encountered when saving and restoring games in certain
situations.

have you got these patches applied?

I remember not being able to get any MIDI sound out of Gabriel Knight prior to this patch unless I used SoftMPU, which should have been completely irrelevant. Try this patch for sure.

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Reply 569 of 1060, by keropi

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OK seeing all these games use the same engine and I had Gabriel Knight in my system I gave the patch a try and tested it.
The setup program does not even detect a WSS presence, you can select it but indeed it fails with some error on load.
I would say that the game is incompatible with the WSS implementation in the CS4237 and SoundBlaster needs to be chosen for it.
I cannot see anything that can be done, I even tested in my 386DX40 system just to make sure it's not some ram/speed issue. It seems the Crystal gods decided we can't have this one...

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Reply 570 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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keropi wrote on 2021-04-28, 14:39:
OK seeing all these games use the same engine and I had Gabriel Knight in my system I gave the patch a try and tested it. The se […]
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OK seeing all these games use the same engine and I had Gabriel Knight in my system I gave the patch a try and tested it.
The setup program does not even detect a WSS presence, you can select it but indeed it fails with some error on load.
I would say that the game is incompatible with the WSS implementation in the CS4237 and SoundBlaster needs to be chosen for it.
I cannot see anything that can be done, I even tested in my 386DX40 system just to make sure it's not some ram/speed issue. It seems the Crystal gods decided we can't have this one...

Thanks for confirming it! I don't really have the tools or the knowledge to dive into this properly, but I suspect that older WSS compatible games are using a similar driver that is incompatible with crystal chips. All of my WSS games I have that are failing have a particular sound driver that they are loading. Maybe it's possible to replace the driver with a newer version? I'll try some later sierra games and see if they work, then move some files around.

It is also worth giving the official crystal drivers a shot, just in case.

Reply 571 of 1060, by keropi

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I have already tried the crystal drivers, unisound and even the TB Malibu (though this one not needed but just for OCD reasons) and WSS is still not an option in the sound setup options.
Replacing the game's wss driver might work though assuming both drivers can be used by this engine

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Reply 572 of 1060, by keropi

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THESE DRIVERS DO NOT FULLY WORK, only kept here for archival reasons

It seems the gods showed mercy on us 🤣
Thanks to Cloudschatze - he informed me that Sierra did create updated WSS drivers for Audiotrix PRO compatibility that uses the CS-4231 chip.
There are 16bit and 32bit drivers depending on the game engine.
I have tried the 32bit ones in Gabriel Knight and now WSS gets detected and utilized just fine.
Just extract the contents of the relevant update in the game directory and overwrite older files when asked.

from the 32bit driver update readme:

This new set of drivers will detect the Microsoft Windows Sound System
compatibility of the Audiotrix Pro. We would like to thank the staff at
Sierra for their prompt work in updating these drivers for us.

This package is for use with Sierra On-Line's 32-bit games (games that
require at least a 386 to run). These games include Police Quest IV, Quest
for Glory IV, Gabriel Knight and all the latest Sierra On-Line games.

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  • Filename
    SOL32BIT.ZIP
    File size
    113.08 KiB
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    File comment
    Sierra WSS 32bit driver update
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Last edited by keropi on 2021-04-29, 13:59. Edited 2 times in total.

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Reply 573 of 1060, by keropi

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THESE DRIVERS DO NOT FULLY WORK, only kept here for archival reasons

from the 16bit driver update readme:

This package is for use with Sierra On-Line's 16-bit games (games that
require at least a 286 to run).

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  • Filename
    SOL16BIT.ZIP
    File size
    114.2 KiB
    Downloads
    61 downloads
    File comment
    Sierra WSS 16bit driver update
    File license
    Public domain
Last edited by keropi on 2021-04-29, 13:59. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 574 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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keropi wrote on 2021-04-28, 18:15:
It seems the gods showed mercy on us LOL Thanks to Cloudschatze - he informed me that Sierra did create updated WSS drivers for […]
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It seems the gods showed mercy on us 🤣
Thanks to Cloudschatze - he informed me that Sierra did create updated WSS drivers for Audiotrix PRO compatibility that uses the CS-4231 chip.
There are 16bit and 32bit drivers depending on the game engine.
I have tried the 32bit ones in Gabriel Knight and now WSS gets detected and utilized just fine.
Just extract the contents of the relevant update in the game directory and overwrite older files when asked.

from the 32bit driver update readme:

This new set of drivers will detect the Microsoft Windows Sound System
compatibility of the Audiotrix Pro. We would like to thank the staff at
Sierra for their prompt work in updating these drivers for us.

This package is for use with Sierra On-Line's 32-bit games (games that
require at least a 386 to run). These games include Police Quest IV, Quest
for Glory IV, Gabriel Knight and all the latest Sierra On-Line games.

That's awesome! I'll be trying this today with my later seirra games.

What is the 16 bit driver for? Are there perhaps older sierra games that can be updated to work with WSS 😳

Reply 575 of 1060, by keropi

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mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-04-28, 19:40:

What is the 16 bit driver for? Are there perhaps older sierra games that can be updated to work with WSS 😳

the readme does not state any titles, just that it is for the games that need a 286 ... maybe older EGA and VGA games? no idea
if someone tries and finds stuff working please update us!

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Reply 576 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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keropi wrote on 2021-04-28, 19:55:
mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-04-28, 19:40:

What is the 16 bit driver for? Are there perhaps older sierra games that can be updated to work with WSS 😳

the readme does not state any titles, just that it is for the games that need a 286 ... maybe older EGA and VGA games? no idea
if someone tries and finds stuff working please update us!

Oh you know I'll be trying it at least 😁. I now that the AGI games from the 80's had a lot of interchangeable files. I am very curious to see what happens if I add a WSS driver to a game that doesn't otherwise support it, force it in the cfg file, and maybe drag and drop some files from a game that does support it to update the engine a bit. Probably will just crash or play no sound, but only one way to find out!

Reply 577 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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Unfortunately these drivers don't seem to work. WSS is detected, but I only get audio out of a single channel and then sound effects are looping forever. The 16 bit driver and the 32 bit driver are working (or not working) the same.

Replacing AUDMSSYS.DRV seems like it would work, but these drivers aren't quite right either.

EDIT: Single channel audio only seems to happen on SPDIF out, the AC97 audio out is still in stereo but still broken.

Last edited by mothergoose729 on 2021-04-28, 23:36. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 578 of 1060, by mothergoose729

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None of the sierra games appear to be working with WSS. GK2(1995) and LSLS7(1996) can detect WSS with their default drivers but don't play them correctly. LSLS7 crashes with the replacement 32bit driver with a segmentation fault.

Reply 579 of 1060, by keropi

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It could be a case these drivers are not suitable for later games from 1995/1996 , the updates are 1994 ones
I tried GK1 and it sounded ok to me but can you upload a save mothergoose729 at a place where a looping sfx plays?
I will check QFG4 later as well... if these updates are truly useless for us I will remove them

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