smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) (03/23/91)
If somebody out there has a Soundblaster that works correctly
in their 386-33, please hit 'r' now and let me know that this
is a possibility!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Problem:
--With memory cache (64k) turned on, all I get is either
screeching distortions or severely deteriorated/funky
music (clipped notes, missing notes, tinny sound).
--With memory cache turned off, or if my system speed is
lowered to 8 or 6 MHz, the problem goes away.
I've tried:
--calling Creative Labs. Not much help, but they did tell
me about disabling the cache. But why should I want to
run a 386-33 at a functional 386-20 level?
--putting the card in a different slot. No difference.
--using a different interrupt (IRQ5 instead of IRQ7).
No difference.
--setting the bus speed from 8 MHz to 10 MHz (Creative Labs
actually suggested this!). This made things worse!
Conclusions:
--The Soundblaster doesn't work with any machine faster than
a 386-25 (or a 386-33 with no cache?)
--The Soundblaster is incompatible with Micronics motherboards
(I've got the Micronics).
--My Soundblaster is broken. (I am trading it for a replace-
ment at the moment, but I have a feeling the new one won't
work either.)
I've noticed that if I have QEMM loaded it makes it a little
better. I have no idea why QEMM would affect it unless it
has something to do with my BIOS and QEMM is doing something
with my shadowed BIOS (which it shouldn't).
PLEASE NOTE: The problem is different with different games:
Ultima VI: Screeching, missed notes, tinny sound.
Krynn: Screeching, missed notes, funky sound.
Secret of Silver Blades: Missed notes, tinny sound.
But:
Wing Commander: Nearly flawless music! (Only a few periodic
flaws like crackling sounds or notes being
sustained too long. But it plays fine at
slower speeds.)
Eye of Beholder: Same as Wing Commander.
Soundblaster voice files: No problem here!
Any suggestions? Anybody have a 386-33 or 486 with a WORKING
Soundblaster?
Stephen M. Smith \ + /
<smsmith@hpuxa. \+++++/ " #*&<-[89s]*(k#$@-_=//a2$]'+=.(2_&*%>,,@
ircc.ohio-state. \ + / {7%*@,..":27g)-=,#*:.#,/6&1*.4-,l@#9:-) "
edu> \ + /
BTW, WYSInaWYG \ + / --witty.saying.ARC wcn@max.u.washington.edu (03/23/91)
In article <1991Mar23.050244.19739@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes: > If somebody out there has a Soundblaster that works correctly > in their 386-33, please hit 'r' now and let me know that this > is a possibility! > > Problem: [it doesn't work unless you slow the clock or turn off the cache] > > I've tried: [every conceivable possibility] > > Conclusions: > > --The Soundblaster doesn't work with any machine faster than > a 386-25 (or a 386-33 with no cache?) > > --The Soundblaster is incompatible with Micronics motherboards > (I've got the Micronics). > > --My Soundblaster is broken. (I am trading it for a replace- > ment at the moment, but I have a feeling the new one won't > work either.) > > I've noticed that if I have QEMM loaded it makes it a little > better. I have no idea why QEMM would affect it unless it > has something to do with my BIOS and QEMM is doing something > with my shadowed BIOS (which it shouldn't). > > PLEASE NOTE: The problem is different with different games: > [various symptoms deleted] > > Any suggestions? Anybody have a 386-33 or 486 with a WORKING > Soundblaster? I had virtually the exact same experience, step for step, except that I have an AMI motherboard. Most games I've played since buying the SB (November) have worked OK, although there are some missed notes and intermittent tinny sound, as you mentioned. Ultima VI was the most noticable. The thing that really drove me nuts was playing Wing Commander and having the board lock up on a particular sound in the middle of a heated battle (when there is a >lot< of CPU and cache activity), as has been chronicled at some length by others in earlier discussion threads in rec.games.misc. I finally called Creative Labs and after patiently listening to them read off the idiot's checklist ("check your config.sys", "remove your TSRs", "try all the different I/O addresses", etc), I made them tell me the truth. It's not the board, it's the driver in the application. The code they released to developers when the rev. 1.5 board was shipped has bugs that cause strange things to happen on a 386/33 or a 486/25. Believe it or not, similar problems can occur at very >slow< speeds, i.e. an old XT at 4.77, if a lot of clock cycles are being stolen off the bus. Creative Labs has known about these problems for nearly a year and has conveniently neglected to mention this to the users. Only the FM chip is clock-sensitive, not the voice chip. If your board came with TEST-SBC.EXE version 1.50A, the FM test probably won't work at 33 Mhz. On my system it will usually wait a few seconds and then play a single screeching tone. Sometimes the tone will shut off when the test timer ends; otherwise the board is locked up and you have to cold boot to reset it. Sometimes the board will remain dead silent. The reason for this is that the test application was itself built with the buggy driver code! And Creative Labs is still shipping this test program today!! There is a self-extracting archive file named PROG.EXE on the Creative Labs BBS ((408) 986-1488) which contains an updated TEST-SBC that works properly on a 386/33. It also contains updated driver files for FMORGAN and the other demo applications. Perhaps most important to gamers, it has an updated SB-SOUND.COM which improves the board's performance in AdLib mode for those applications which depend on that file. Most people will not need any of these files, however. (Please do not ask me to mail or post the archive file. I would be happy to make it available via anonymous FTP, except that Creative Labs specifically forbade me to do so. If you really want it you'll have to get it from them.) The real problem is that most games which support Soundblaster include their own built-in driver for the board. If the game software was built using the [buggy] 1.50 driver code supplied by Creative Labs, then it may have problems at 33 Mhz, and there's nothing you can do unless the vendor releases an update. It will be interesting to see how many game companies will acknowledge these problems, much less actually ship updates to us affected users. I will post any info I get in the mail to rec.games.misc (altho I'm not holding my breath) and I hope others will do the same. Of course, I also have a PC MIDI card and a Roland MT-32 sound module. I'm having some difficulty figuring out how to use the MTBLAST.DRV in SQ IV. All I have is a standard 2-channel amp and two speakers, and I don't see how they expect you to merge the two sound outputs. I'm not interested in spending another several hundred on a professional mixer. Any thoughts, anyone?? Bill Newell Systems Analyst, Applications Consulting Group University of Washington WCN@u.washington.edu "SequelPoliceRWatchin"
timur@seas.gwu.edu (The Time Traveler) (03/25/91)
In article <1991Mar23.050244.19739@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes: >If somebody out there has a Soundblaster that works correctly >in their 386-33, please hit 'r' now and let me know that this >is a possibility! > >Conclusions: > >--The Soundblaster doesn't work with any machine faster than > a 386-25 (or a 386-33 with no cache?) > >--The Soundblaster is incompatible with Micronics motherboards > (I've got the Micronics). > >--My Soundblaster is broken. (I am trading it for a replace- > ment at the moment, but I have a feeling the new one won't > work either.) My roommate has Gateway 2000 386-33 with a Micronics motherboard. It works flawlessly, with or without QEMM. He has a cache, and he's running it all full speed. No problems anywhere. It's either you, your SB board, or something else in your system causing a conflict. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Time Traveler Truth is after all a moving target a.k.a. Timur Tabi Hairs to split, and pieces that don't fit Internet: timur@seas.gwu.edu How can anybody be enlightened Bitnet: HE891C@GWUVM Truth is after all so poorly lit -- Rush
mlord@bwdls58.bnr.ca (Mark Lord) (03/27/91)
In article <1991Mar23.050244.19739@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes:
<If somebody out there has a Soundblaster that works correctly
<in their 386-33, please hit 'r' now and let me know that this
<is a possibility!
<
< Ultima VI: Screeching, missed notes, tinny sound.
< Krynn: Screeching, missed notes, funky sound.
< Secret of Silver Blades: Missed notes, tinny sound.
I have SSB and my SB does not work correctly with it either. Somebody else
posted about this and said that the game maker has a fixed driver available
to correct this problem. Don't know about the others games above. My system
is only 20Mhz (SX). Try disabling your disk cache, apparently some games mess
up when disk DMA takes place while SB is playing. Could also be a DMA conflict
so you can try switching/disabling your hard drive DMA line just to isolate the
problem.
< Wing Commander: Nearly flawless music! (Only a few periodic
< flaws like crackling sounds or notes being
< sustained too long. But it plays fine at
< slower speeds.)
I have the same problems. Works great 99% of the time, locks up on a note
.5% of the time. Note the animated sequence as you "run" to the hanger from
the mission briefing.. first time after game starts I can here the alarm
sounding, subsequent times the notes are not right for the alarm (gotta listen
close for that one).
Let me know what the outcome of your search is.
--
MLORD@BNR.CA Ottawa, Ontario *** Personal views only ***
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