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SB16 diagnose, 8 bit testing fails

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First post, by retro games 100

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If I run the Soundblaster diagnose.exe utility, all the resources seem to be set OK, but when I test the 8 bit digitized sound, I just hear strange clicks and crackles. The diagnose.exe 16 bit testing and "music" 😉 works. I've tried 2 working Soundblaster 16s (both CT2230) in 2 ISA slots. My mobo is a UMC chipset-based SYL8884PCI-EIO board. I've got an Intel 486SX-25 CPU in it, plus 8 MBs of RAM. My graphics card is a PCI Matrox G200.

Any ideas please people? 😀

Reply 1 of 4, by gerwin

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Configure a different Low 8-bit DMA channel for the soundcard?
Low can be either 0, 1, or 3.
High can be either 5, 6, or 7.

Reply 2 of 4, by retro games 100

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Excellent, thanks! A low(er) DMA value of 0 worked just great. I'm so used to the typical "220, 330, 5, 1, 5" working all the time, that I didn't try altering the low DMA value.

Reply 3 of 4, by Amigaz

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I wonder what steals DMA 1 on your rig....or maybe the BIOS is crappy and not making DMA availablle but it's no real loss unless you plan to play some ancient game that needs the SB hardcoded to DMA 1 😉

Reply 4 of 4, by retro games 100

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The BIOS is AMI, (c) 1994 - quite new for a 486 mobo! I might try an 8-bit SB (eg CT1600) instead of the 16-bit SB, just to see if that makes a difference..

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