Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-05-07, 07:57:I don't have any hands on experience with these cards, but a quick google search did turn this up with regard to the MPU-401 cap […]
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I don't have any hands on experience with these cards, but a quick google search did turn this up with regard to the MPU-401 capabilities of the ES688:
https://dosdays.co.uk/topics/Manufacturers/ess.php
"The MPU-401 (UART) interface is emulated in software, so a driver must be loaded to use a Wavetable daughterboard on these cards (ESSCFG.COM). There is also a TSR from ESS called ENMPU.EXE which is apparently required to enable the MPU-401 interface. Having said that, there are some later cards that came with the ES968 interface chip as well, which provide hardware MPU-401 capability (so no driver is needed) as well as PnP functionality for chips like the ES688 and ES1688 that were not PnP. "
You might already know all of this though.
I can't find anything specific regarding using unisound with ES688 + ES968 cards. If the card doesn't cooperate with unisound and you disable PNP, it is possible that this bypasses all of the functionality of the ES968 which would mean that you also need to use the TSR\emulation for MPU-401 compatibility. Alternatively, using some original ESS drivers (possibly from the dosdays link above) would presumably enable all of the ES968 features to provide PNP and hardware MPU-401 support.
Just an idea.
Yes, I also own an ES1688 sound card. Since the ES1688 chip does not support Plug-and-Play (PnP) and features a built-in MPU-401 circuit, I initialize it using the command `unisound /nopnp`; this allows it to function correctly, and the MPU-401 works properly as well.
According to the UNISOUND documentation, sound cards featuring the ESS688 + ES968 chip combination should be capable of being initialized normally as PnP devices, without the need for the `/nopnp` parameter. However, with this specific card, simply running UNISOUND fails to detect the sound card at all. While using the `/nopnp` parameter does allow for initialization, the card model is misidentified, and the MPU-401 remains unusable.
Regarding this ES688 + ES968 card, what I find puzzling is that—according to ESS's specifications—the ES968 chip is supposed to provide both PnP support and the MPU-401 circuitry. Yet, on this particular card, it appears the ES968 chip is not functioning as intended; the card does not support PnP, and the MPU-401 remains inaccessible.
Additionally, this card does not have any jumpers for enabling or disabling the PnP function.
SBC1: Cyrix 5x86-120, HS-5x86HVGA, 16MB EDO, GD54M30, SB Pro II, HardMPU-wt
SBC2: VIA C3-800, PCISA-C800, 128MB SDRAM, Savage4 Pro, SB AWE64 Gold
SBC3: Tualatin-S 1.4G, PCI-6872, 256MB SDRAM, FX5200 PCI, Voodoo2 SLI, SB Live
