asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 19:21:

Those are Windows drivers, not BIOS files. The HPT BIOS is a single binary file with a size of around 25 kb. It's a bit confusin […]
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Those are Windows drivers, not BIOS files. The HPT BIOS is a single binary file with a size of around 25 kb. It's a bit confusing because the drivers share the same version numbers with the BIOS.

You mentioned that your controller BIOS says 1.25 at boot, so even if your motherboard BIOS is up to date, the controller's isn't so far.

Regarding the sound card, I'd suggest trying it with the HPT controller disabled in BIOS and your drives connected to IDE1 and IDE2. If that doesn't help, test the card in your other motherboard if possible, to determine if it's damaged or if it's just a driver issue.

You don't even have to reinstall Windows 98. Just use the same hard drive on your other board, boot into Windows, delete device manager using registry, re-detect hardware. Later, transfer the hard drive back to the Abit board and repeat the process.

Ahh, okay. I take it I need to download a version of Awdflash? Or is that part of the BIOS/CBROM?

And I wouldn't worry about reinstalling 98, I've set up an entirely fresh test build, so I have 98 installed on a spare hard drive. 😀

You should be able to use any 8.x version of Awdflash. Here's 8.23, for example: https://archive.org/download/bnobtc_bntbtc/bn … %2FAWDFLASH.EXE

Other versions here: https://ia601408.us.archive.org/view_archive. … v3-20040508.zip

asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 20:09:

You should be able to use any 8.x version of Awdflash. Here's 8.23, for example: https://archive.org/download/bnobtc_bntbtc/bn … %2FAWDFLASH.EXE

Other versions here: https://ia601408.us.archive.org/view_archive. … v3-20040508.zip

Great. Thank you. 😀 I'll give all of these a try and report back.

asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 18:09:

Someone described the process here: https://www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/topic297972.html#1641861 […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on Yesterday, 17:41:

Still a bit unsure regarding the HPT BIOS at the moment, but I've put the Sound Blaster back in and it's detected it fine. What I need though are the right drivers. I'm 100% certain the ones I was trying before aren't right. I get the impression they're just for the standard Audigy...? I do have an Audigy 2 update, but not the actual driver, which I need to find.

Someone described the process here: https://www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/topic297972.html#1641861

You need:
- ABIT BIOS file for your board: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/abit-ab-be6-ii#bios
- HPT BIOS 1.28 https://soggi.org/storage/highpoint.htm
- CBROM. The poster in the thread used cbrom215.exe, available here: https://archive.org/download/bnobtc_bntbtc/bn … %2FCBROM215.EXE

Process:
CBROM215.EXE abit_bios.bin /D
CBROM215.EXE abit_bios.bin /pci hpt_bios.bin
CBROM215.EXE abit_bios.bin /D

The /D commands are just to verify the pre- and post-modification state.

The resulting abit_bios.bin must then be flashed to your board using Awdflash.

Needless to say, it's at on your own risk. Make sure you have the correct versions for your board.

Okay, I've updated the BIOS to the latest version without any issues. Makes a change. ^^ However, before I do anything with the HPT BIOS I want to make double sure of something before I mess with it. Do I need to put 'abit_bios.bin'? Or does that need to be replaced with the actual name of the file? In this case it's named 'HPT366_1.28b (Beta)'. Though it's not a .bin file.

Does no one else have the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 SB0240? Or have had it and got it working with Windows 98? There seems to be drivers for XP, Vista, and 7, but I'm not finding much for 95/98.

DustyShinigami wrote on Yesterday, 23:40:

Okay, I've updated the BIOS to the latest version without any issues. Makes a change. ^^ However, before I do anything with the HPT BIOS I want to make double sure of something before I mess with it. Do I need to put 'abit_bios.bin'? Or does that need to be replaced with the actual name of the file? In this case it's named 'HPT366_1.28b (Beta)'. Though it's not a .bin file.

The .bin names are just generic placeholders for the Abit and HPT BIOS files. Just name them abit.bin and hpt.bin or whatever to make it easier to type at the DOS prompt. Remember to include the "/pci release" step with CBROM that I didn't include in my first post.

DustyShinigami wrote on Today, 11:54:

Does no one else have the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 SB0240? Or have had it and got it working with Windows 98? There seems to be drivers for XP, Vista, and 7, but I'm not finding much for 95/98.

From this thread:

Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Audigy cards (version 3.1)

Have you tried this yet? Two people with an SB0240 reported that this guide worked for them. The important part seemed to be step 2: Cancel the autorun installer of the CD and proceed manually.

asdf53 wrote on Today, 12:33:

From this thread:

Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Audigy cards (version 3.1)

Have you tried this yet? Two people with an SB0240 reported that this guide worked for them. The important part seemed to be step 2: Cancel the autorun installer of the CD and proceed manually.

My guide might be a bit overwhelming to someone who just got the card, and simply wants to get it working. I'd suggest trying the official installation CD instead.

For reference, Vogonsdrivers has a ton of disc images for old sound cards. That's usually the best place to start if you're looking for period correct drivers.

asdf53 wrote on Today, 12:33:

The .bin names are just generic placeholders for the Abit and HPT BIOS files. Just name them abit.bin and hpt.bin or whatever to […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on Yesterday, 23:40:

Okay, I've updated the BIOS to the latest version without any issues. Makes a change. ^^ However, before I do anything with the HPT BIOS I want to make double sure of something before I mess with it. Do I need to put 'abit_bios.bin'? Or does that need to be replaced with the actual name of the file? In this case it's named 'HPT366_1.28b (Beta)'. Though it's not a .bin file.

The .bin names are just generic placeholders for the Abit and HPT BIOS files. Just name them abit.bin and hpt.bin or whatever to make it easier to type at the DOS prompt. Remember to include the "/pci release" step with CBROM that I didn't include in my first post.

DustyShinigami wrote on Today, 11:54:

Does no one else have the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 SB0240? Or have had it and got it working with Windows 98? There seems to be drivers for XP, Vista, and 7, but I'm not finding much for 95/98.

From this thread:

Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Audigy cards (version 3.1)

Have you tried this yet? Two people with an SB0240 reported that this guide worked for them. The important part seemed to be step 2: Cancel the autorun installer of the CD and proceed manually.

Okay, thanks. As I say though, the file I downloaded doesn't appear to be any particular file type. It's just simply recognised as 'file', so I hope it's right. Unless I need to modify the file type to BIN...?

And thanks for the links. I did wonder if I should try manually installing them via the Add New Hardware/Device Manager. From the drivers I have found, it looks like the ones for Win 95/98 could only be VXD. If that's the case, then the card is no use to me. That's the job of my ISA Yamaha card. I definitely need this PCI one to use WDM drivers.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 12:53:

asdf53 wrote on Today, 12:33:

From this thread:

Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Audigy cards (version 3.1)

Have you tried this yet? Two people with an SB0240 reported that this guide worked for them. The important part seemed to be step 2: Cancel the autorun installer of the CD and proceed manually.

My guide might be a bit overwhelming to someone who just got the card, and simply wants to get it working. I'd suggest trying the official installation CD instead.

For reference, Vogonsdrivers has a ton of disc images for old sound cards. That's usually the best place to start if you're looking for period correct drivers.

Yeah, I believe that's the second one I tried. From Vogon's driver library. 😀 Both install fine, but they don't detect the device and there's still no audio. I could only see two sets of drivers in Vogon's library that I thought would work. I think another one I downloaded is for 3.1 and DOS...?

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 12:53:

My guide might be a bit overwhelming to someone who just got the card, and simply wants to get it working. I'd suggest trying the official installation CD instead.

I believe he was already using the official CD but that didn't work. I figured that if it's a common problem, the guide might do something differently to avoid it. But if it's supposed to work fine with the official CD, it would again point to a possible hardware issue and testing the card on another board is probably a good idea.

DustyShinigami wrote on Today, 13:01:

Okay, thanks. As I say though, the file I downloaded doesn't appear to be any particular file type. It's just simply recognised as 'file', so I hope it's right. Unless I need to modify the file type to BIN...?

CBROM doesn't care how you name the files. Renaming it to ".bin" is just for yourself, to make it clear that you're inputting a file name and not a parameter at the DOS prompt. Compare "cbrom /pci hpt.bin" with "cbrom /pci hpt" - the latter is confusing.