I have a system that can only expand with ISA slots to be able to mount a sound card. I read that on windowsXP there are drivers for the Sound Blaster 16, are they also present for the Sound Blaster Pro? And on Windows 7 are there still drivers for these two isa cards?
no we still don't understand each other. the system is primarily used for DOS games, and they work well. But I wanted to know if in games designed for windows (98 or XP) my ISA sound cards would work or I need to get a computer with pci slot to use pci sound cards. For example, games like Red Alert would work soundly from a sb16 tops would work with a live! ? And if so, what differences there would be apart from the use of more speakers with live music! and perhaps a lower cpu load for sound.
sound blaster 16 drivers windows xp
There are quite a few cases when WDM drivers for PCI sound cards were successfully ported under Windows Vista, usually by modifying *.inf files of the driver and adding some libraries missing in the distribution. And it works. Both in Vista and Windows 7.
Sound was sometimes difficult to set up in the DOS era. Unlike Windows, DOS did not keep a list of the system's sound devices, nor did it expose generic drivers for them. Software had to include separate support for each sound device it wanted to give the users the option of using. If a game did not support a user's audio hardware, no sound was possible. And the game had to be configured with the memory addresses of the hardware by hand. Also, different devices supported different features, resulting in games that could sound very different (maybe high-quality music on one card, but voice-acting on another) depending on the hardware available. Thankfully, DOSBox can emulate all the most popular sound systems of the DOS era, so one can usually find something that sounds good.
However, the Ultrasound eschewed any attempt at backwards-compatibility with AdLib or Soundblaster cards. Programs had to be written to specifically take advantage of its capabilities. Many DOS users kept a Sound Blaster in their PC in addition to an Ultrasound, in case they needed to run a program that did not support the more advanced card. (And in DOSBox, this can be imitated by turning on both devices in your configuration file, which is recommended.)
One quirk of the Ultrasound is that, unlike most synthesizers, it did not come with any voices pre-installed on the card. All voices had to be installed from disk either at driver load time or by the application. Because of this, a set of drivers and "patch files" is needed in order to use the Ultrasound in DOSBox. Due to incompatibilities between the license of the patch files and DOSBox's GPL license, these files cannot be distributed with DOSBox, so you will need to download them from another website:
The Sound Canvas is a external device that responds to MIDI messages sent through a MIDI interface. The operating system doesn't even know what a Sound Canvas is, only applications do. That said, you won't need any Sound Canvas driver because it just doesn't exist. What you really need is a driver for the interface you will be using to connect the Sound Canvas. Your mileage may vary depending on both the interface and the operating system you choose. If you use a sound card with a gameport, the drivers should provide Roland MPU-401 emulation under DOS and Windows 9x. My very personal recommendations for sound cards with gameport are:
You are really opening a can of worms here ?With the SB16's many models had the 'hanging note' bug, basically when using a MIDI device connected to the SB16, and using the same SB16 for digital sound, you sometimes get a stuck/hanging note on the synth. Certain models seem to be affected more than others, My CT2800 had it quite badly. The original SB16 (CT1740 I think) didn't have this issue but has a poor SNR with audible cracks/hiss so its a poor choice for digital sound anyway. I think the AWE64 is not affected either but it doesn't have a real OPL chip on it AFAIK so you don't get true adlib audio. Its drivers can be a pain to use under DOS too. Any model in between is a bit of a gamble.
If you've got more than just a single soundcard (ie a soundcard and waveblaster, or midicard and external devices) then you're better with an external mixer, IMO, as you don't have to bother about using muting/unmuting devices using software settings - just 'twiddle the knobs' instead!
Oh. Sorry. I guess I should've been more specific. It's detected, the drivers are automatically installed, I can choose the device with the available tools/registry... But there is no sign of input nor output activity (indicated by the adapter's LEDs) and sound doesn't comes out. At all.
There are no Windows XP drivers for the Audiotrix 3D-3G soundcard but you can still access the Yamaha XG sounds on its DB60XG daughterboard via any soundcard that has a Waveblaster daughterboard socket.
However, before you decide to throw it away or donate it to a local museum, there may still be some light at the end of the tunnel. Because of the clever way the Audiotrix 3D-3G incorporated one of Yamaha's DB60XG daughterboards (very similar to the DB50XG, but with an added analogue input) into its design as a piggy-back circuit board, you may yet be able to unplug this and use it separately with another host soundcard that provides a Waveblaster daughterboard socket. After all, for most musicians, this Yamaha XG synth was the strongest part of the Audiotrix 3D-3G specification, with its 676 voices, 21 drum kits, 11 reverb and chorus types plus 43 other effects, 32-note polyphony, and 16-part multi-timbrality, using an identical chip to Yamaha's MU50 hardware synth.
Many soundcards besides the Audiotrix 3D-3G have provided Waveblaster support over the years, including Creative Labs' Soundblaster 16 and AWE32 series, and the Turtle Beach Tahiti (a popular choice for its excellent audio quality), plus the MIDI Edge card, which was a handy MIDI interface with Waveblaster socket. Today, the most popular modern soundcard for musicians with Waveblaster socket and Windows XP driver support seems to be Terratec's DMX 6Fire (reviewed in SOS April 2002, and now about 130). Another budget consumer card with a good sound, XP drivers, and Waveblaster socket is the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. It doesn't have ASIO drivers, but at only 60 is probably the cheapest way to get an XG daughterboard operational.
You won't need separate drivers for the XG daughterboard since it simply uses one of the host soundcard's existing MIDI outputs. However, to get the best out of the DB50XG board you can use a software editor utility such as Gary Gregson's XGedit95 (www.yamaha.co.uk/xg/download/tools/xgedit95.zip), Michael Bray's XGPad (www.xgpad.com), or Achim Stulgie's XGgold (www.yamaha.co.uk/xg/download/tools/xggold30.exe), which also lets you get at the 'hidden' QS300 sound banks.
From: "Marty Ferguson" To: authors-AT-lwn.netSubject: FW: [TriLUG] Information Week Article on Linux and SoundDate: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 16:11:11 -0500Fred Langa,CC: Triangle Linux Users GroupI read and enjoyed your efforts to get sound working on Linux withmainstream Intel hardware. Particularly, where you could go all the wayback to Win95. Your intrepid efforts are valiant, and demonstrate greatskill in diagnosis and problem solving.A possiblity exists that Intel never tested new revisions of thismainboard/sound processor combination with Linux, yet still intend toprovide (limited) compatiblity. But, based on the results of your thoroughtesting, I doubt that this is the case.LOADLIN has been used for several years to conquer the specific sound cardproblem you've encountered. Loadlin is a windows based utility that allowsusers to boot (or springboard) Linux once WINxx is up and running. Thisproblem boils down to the single issue of closed interface architecturesversus open interface architectures.The Intel integrated sound system on your computer is a programmabledevice, perhaps (and very likely) it is "Sound Blaster Compatible"; yetstill it is a closed-technology Intel-proprietary device. It may wellnever be "Linux supported" directly from _within_ the Linux community,because it would be a violation of license agreements to do so. At aminimum, it would be a violation of Intel's copyright protection over thiersound card chip(s/set) for a Linux kernel contributor to reverse-engineerthe binary object code that is downloaded into this device without formalapproval from Intel.Only Intel can provide a solution. They must contribute an open sourcemodule which downloads the binary code to the chip. Clearly, Intel hasdecided not to follow this path, prefering to protect their sound systemthrough mantaining trade secrecy in their technology. Any other choice onIntel's part could be a potential compromise of their proprietarytechnology. So it is quite justifiable and well within Intel's rights toprotect their intellectual property.Here is your key question: "And if the hardware was to blame, how could XPhandle it out of the box, with no special drivers or setup?" And the keyanswer is, of course, that hardware vendors write their proprietary driversand provide the code directly to Microsoft. These drivers provide theinterface between the OS and the layers of abstraction (HardwareAbstraction Layer) see for a description of thenascent efforts in this arena) Based on a quick skim of your recent articleon Microsoft's Virtual PC product, it comes to me as no surprise that itwould not solve your sound card interface problem. The abstraction layerwould be no different, would it?So here is how Loadlin solves the problem:1 - Boot into Windows.2 - Windows downloads the proprietary code into the sound device(s) a - e.g., perhaps Digital Signal Processor (DSP) microcode, b - e.g., and some SoundBlaster emulation mode interface routinesC - Run Loadlin. Loadlin starts up LinuxD - Linux probes hardware, and sees what looks like a sound-blaster/compatible interface.E - Sound works under Linux as expected.As an aside, in the SCSI disk adapter world, similar issues used to arisein Mylex versus Adaptec. Mylex opened their interfaces many years ago,making it much easier to design, test, probe and integrate their products.At that time, it provided Mylex with a distinct competitive advantage overAdaptec in the Linux server world.In summary:(1) Caveat Emptor.(2) Apparently Intel Inside doesn't necessarily indicate open architecture compatibility.(3) Look for the Linux friendly Tux the Penguin on your retail packaging.Respectfully,Marty Ferguson, RHCE, RHCX, LPI-1 Certified--TriLUG mailing list : Organizational FAQ : Member Services FAQ : _faq/TriLUG PGP Keyring : chrish/trilug.asc (Log in to post comments) Information Week Article on Linux and Sound Posted Apr 29, 2004 8:01 UTC (Thu) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] 2ff7e9595c
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