Want to get that retro computer going? Everything seems to be in order! Great, now play that old dos-game. No? What's happening? Let me explain just a bit about soundcards. More questions, then go to Vogons for more information. I promise that it is a good place to source some good information.
Back in the olden and golden days of dos gaming. Computers did not have plug and play. Let me rephrase. IBM compatible PC's did not have plug and play. Amiga's had something called Autoconfigure wich is something a bit like PCI configuration. And let me rephrase myself yet again... It's much better than the first PCI configuration, wich were unstable and missed a feature or two. I clearly remember someone batteling something in his newly bought PCI V1 controller in 1995. And he was like "What a fucking technology, this is not working".
Now... Let me go back to a time before plug and play. and a time before 32bit windows. The year is somewhere around 1992, and you have bought a new and shiny Soundblaster sound card for you'r allmost new and shiny 486 computer. All you have to do, is to install it.
When installing a soundcard back then, the first thing that needed to be done, was to configure the card's resources. As of today, this is all done by the computer. For most people back then, it was frustrating. All this is automated today (99,9% of the time) and make computers boring as fuck at the same time.
Looking forward, to this day. We have computers wich are highly integrated. Even drivers are downloaded by Windows10 and installed. You don't have to do anything at all. (mostly)
In other words. Computers have come a looooong way. And are equally borring, and to be honest. They are NO fun at all. They are just another platform in the line of smartphones and consoles.
Jumping back about 10 years again, there were room for tinkering and you could still do stuff. Computers from that generation, were extremely mass produced. Wich in other words, translates into a fuckload of recycleable IT-equipment, being avaliable for the average recycler. And this means that there are lot's of parts for you to buy at a cheap price. And they are really fast compared to older computers. It's just an old computer. Right?
This is were you fit into this story, as you want to rediscover those old memories of gaming or you are a retro gamer that want to see what the 90's pc games were all about. Because you allready played that NES box to death and want some new kick. Or you are that guy that just love old hardware, old computers and yeah... Stuff like that.
Then you buy that old P4 machine, a nice Soundblaster live card, and begin to install some average WindowsXp or Windows98. And every nice game from Unreal Tournament 99 to Halflife2 are runnig fine and dandy. Sweet.... Now comes the time, when you think that you want to try those old Dos games, and now the trouble starts pouring down like rain. No sound, distorted image quality or even worse. A black screen. And you wonder why.
This is all related to the gear. It is just too new. Even 10 to 15 year old computers are for most parts incompatible when it comes to old Dos games. And it is now, that you need to make a choice. Eighter use the program called DosBOX or get an even older computer that supports soundcards that are ISA Bus based. Yes... That old type of 8/16-Bit 1980's technology. Most PCI bus based soundcards can not be used in Dos.
Shure some cards can be used in Dos. All you need is to load a small program, that makes the PCI soundcard emulate an old Soundblaster 16. The problem is, that it need's a memory manager in order to make it work.
Though later dos games required memory managers, the first dos games can not run with a memory manager. Wich means that PCI soundcards can not be used for dos as such. (It's cool enough if you want to play Doom)
In between the times of WinXP gaming and Dos/Win9X gaming. You could actually find a type of PCI soundcards, that took this problem by the balls. A technology called SB-Link, was created by Creative Labs. Other companies called this technology for PC/PCI-Link. Roughly speaking. This is a technology, that allows soundcards for the PCI slot, to be able to use IRQ's and DMA's the same way as ISA cards does.
I have found a couple of motherboards that supports this technology, and a couple of soundcards that has it too. And tested it. The result is really grimm and not really good. The two boards that I have tested with, are the Intel VC820 motherboard, and the Epox MVP3 motherboard. Those two motherboards are from the early and the late era of SB-Link. And the soundcards that I have tested with, are an Yamaha YMF724 based, and a Crystal 4614-CM based card. Both with a SB-Link header on them. None of the 4 combinations would work at all, in pure MS-Dos. That is MS-Dos-6.22 and not some Windows-based Dos (MS-Dos-7) Both with and without the SB-Link-Cable.
People reporting that this is working with a card like the Yamaha YMF724, have all reported that it will work on a 440BX chipset based board. A board like the Asus P2B. In other words. The Intel VC820 might be too new a board and the Epox MVP3-C might just be too early a board. Just don't get those two boards for SB-Link. On those two it is completely shit.
The Intel VC820 is great in Win98SE, with a Matrox G400. A Powercolor Voodoo2 12mb and a SB-Live. You just need the correct drivers and forget everything about Dos games.
The Epox MVP3-C on the other hand, is really great in MS-Dos-6.22, running a Pentium-133mhz, Cirrus Logic CL5446 PCI, SB16-ISA and Gravis Ultrasound.
If you have read this far. Then great. I have stolen some of you'r time. Or given you something to think about and possible prevented you from spending cash that you can use for two good steaks and a bottle of red wine. I eighter apologize or I feel good about my self.
To wrap this up, in a few words......
Unless you want to spend cash in order to investigate and test the same shit as I have done. Stick to ISA soundcards and 20 to 25 year old hardware for Dos games. For Win98 gaming, stick to something like P3 and PCI sound cards. And finally build two systems. One Dos and one Windows.
Last but not least. The day that 386/486/P1 class hardware is all dead and gone. Just grab a copy of DosBox. As a matter of fact. If you hate tinkering with old outdated hardware that are singing it's last song these present years. Grab a copy of DosBox. It's not perfect, yet ok for people that don't care for emulated sound and graphic standards.
This was fun writing, these past two hour's. Hope you like it just as much.
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