So, what is problem?
I wanted something better for my W98SE rig than the onboard AC'97 codec ALC201. I have Tualeron 1 GHz, Asus TUEP2-M with 512 MB SDRAM and GeForce2 PRO 64 MB SGRAM. Motherboard is uATX, so it has 3 PCI slots and I have some PCI sound cards, so what could be the problem? After all, just disable the onboard codec in the bios, insert the card into the slot, let Windows find the card and ask for a driver, install it and voilá - enjoy better sound after the restart, right? Do you think the same? Big mistake.

I did the above described - disabled onboard codec, gameport and midi in BIOS, inserted a card Avance Logic ALS300 PCI (or SB Live! 5.1 - same result), boot into Windows, install drivers and reboot. Then the yellow exclamation mark on the card in the Device manager and message: "This device is either not present, not working properly (yes, I know - but why, to hell?) or does not all the drivers installed. (Code 10). Try upgrading the device drivers for this device."
Grrr, ok - everythink seems fine, resources without conflicts, device is installed and ready, but ok, I trying to reinstall driver. But no no, Windows say: "The best driver for this device is already installed". Really?
So why can't I hear anything and dxdiag tells me "there's no sound hardware installed on the computer"?

Both cards are functional in another PC, drivers are for W98 and the OS sees them in the device manager, but none of them can working. Am I doomed to stick to codec forever?

(The screenshots also show Avance AC'97 and Avance SB Emulation - taken while the onboard codec was on. After the disable, these disappear.)