https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bx6yU … nGwuWfR23xqpqyg

That is the link to my Google Drive share will all the modified SETUPDS programs.

There is support for all the known chipsets that have SB-Link / PCPCI support.

The thread may also be of use:
Yamaha YMF7x4 Guide

Thanks cyclone3d. If I got it correctly, the MEW-VM has two chipsets: the first chipset is ICH1 (FW82801AA).. the other chipset is the Intel 810 (FW82810).
I can only see ICH2 and later in your folder. Anyways I took all the versions and tried them one by one. Two didn't make any difference, the rest caused most options to become grayed out. In all cases, SETUPDS was still unable to access DMA.

Ok, the default one should be fine for ich1 I think. I have one or more of those boards. I'll see what I can get going on my end. There might be a BIOS option you need to change, but not sure if that is even available on those boards.

Thanks! The MEW-VM has a very basic Phoenix BIOS that exposes very limited options. I hope I can find some other BIOS that would work with this board other than Phoenix.

I opened the BIOS with a BIOS editor to see if there was anything locked out. Looks like there isn't so yeah, it is a pretty basic BIOS.

The board I pulled out to test with had a broken CPU latch clip so was waiting for it to dry after I made a little piece of plastic to replace the missing clip.

Thanks for checking it out. Do you think it is possible to use a BIOS from a different board with similar chipsets? I can look in TRW to find some potentials, but I'm not sure what to match (aside from the chipsets) to increase the chances of success.

I don't know about swapping the BIOS. Maybe from a similar ASUS board.

I didn't try to test with both of the MEW-VM boards I had easy access to. One was a v1.06 and the other was a v2.03.
Seems like both are dead as the power supply fan turns on as soon as power is plugged in, even if absolutely nothing is installed in them.

Tried 2 different known good power supplies.

I might have another of these boards somewhere but not sure.

I just uploaded 3.17 to my Google Drive. The release notes found in the 7x4 guide thread maybe sound like there was a fix for IRQ issues.

Also, version 3.16, which definitely supports ICH1 is on my google drive.. named dsxgdos-DSDMA.exe.

I gave those two a try just now.. Nothing special I'm afraid.. They both enable selection of S-IRQ, but all DMA options are still grayed out and 8-bit playback is off because it fails to detect DMA on any of the 3 addresses (0,1,3).

I guess this board is really as dumb as it looks 😆

So I went through a bunch of BIOSes for boards that use the same chipset and offer on-board VGA and SB-Link. I find that TRW's list of SB-Link-enabled boards is not quite comprehensive. It houses several boards that actually has the header but aren't marked as such... least of which is the MEW-VM itself.

Anyways, my search landed me to a couple BIOSes that worked with the board. One Award BIOS that is even more restricted than the HP OEM Phoenix BIOS, the second one is your standard Award BIOS with many options for chipset control and integrated devices control...etc. It's a good one that I much prefer over the HP OEM one. It's attached here.

Unfortunately none of these BIOSes improved the situation for SB-Link DMA.. Tried several SetupDS versions, all DMA channels, no dice.. I guess the wires are just not there. Well... at least here's a good non-OEM replacement BIOS for anyone interested in this board.

Re: How to enable SB Link mode on Terratec ESS Solo 1?
AW744L II - YMF744 - AOpen Cobra Sound Card - Install SB-Link Header

There may be purely disign-related nuances when pull-up resistors were not installed (hoping that the sound card manufacturer would install them, and vice versa).

Re: Yamaha YMF7x4 Guide
For example, my Yamaha-based card does not have these resistors at all, and I have no idea how the SB link will work with it.
Most likely, it won't.

See here on how to add the header to a card:
AW744L II - YMF744 - AOpen Cobra Sound Card - Install SB-Link Header