Setting up sound drivers in DOS mode

I recently aquired a used Windows 98SE computer that somebody I knew
wanted to get rid of. I also managed to bum off some old games that I
couldn't afford to buy back when I was in high school. These games
require DOS mode to play. Unfortunetly, I can't figure out how to set up
DOS for the sound drivers.

The drivers can be downloaded from he
http://support.dell.com/support/down...fileid=11 984

Could somebody please tell me what exactly I'm suppost to put in
config.sys or autoexec.bat or dosstart.bat or whatever to make the sound
drivers available when I "reboot in MS-DOS mode" so that I can try the
games with sound?

I'm afraid that in the MS-DOS era, I was using an Apple II, and in the
win98 era I was using a Macintosh. I never really had to deal with the
joys of DOS drivers. Please forgive my ignorance. I had enough trouble
figuring how to get the CD-ROM to work in MS-DOS mode without screwing
up Windows (I didn't know about dosstart.bat and used autoexec).

The description indicates it's a Windows driver, not a DOS driver. When you
run the EXE that you downloaded, what happens?
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"SlickRCBD" wrote in message
...
I recently aquired a used Windows 98SE computer that somebody I knew wanted
to get rid of. I also managed to bum off some old games that I couldn't
afford to buy back when I was in high school. These games require DOS mode
to play. Unfortunetly, I can't figure out how to set up DOS for the sound
drivers.

The drivers can be downloaded from he
http://support.dell.com/support/down...fileid=11 984

Could somebody please tell me what exactly I'm suppost to put in
config.sys or autoexec.bat or dosstart.bat or whatever to make the sound
drivers available when I "reboot in MS-DOS mode" so that I can try the
games with sound?

I'm afraid that in the MS-DOS era, I was using an Apple II, and in the
win98 era I was using a Macintosh. I never really had to deal with the
joys of DOS drivers. Please forgive my ignorance. I had enough trouble
figuring how to get the CD-ROM to work in MS-DOS mode without screwing up
Windows (I didn't know about dosstart.bat and used autoexec).

Jeff Richards wrote:
The description indicates it's a Windows driver, not a DOS driver. When you
run the EXE that you downloaded, what happens?
An installer pops up that doesn't give me much in the way of options.
Merly asks for a folder to unpack to. It unpacks the archive to a
default of c:\DELL\Drivers\1405U
that then launches an HTM file with a button marked install, which then
installs using a standard installer that just gives me a shrink-wrap
license and installs without any questions. I think it's called a wise
installer or an install-shield thingie, but I forgot.

What I need to know if it's a Windows driver is how and where do I get
the DOS drivers? I assume that's what I need to "Restart in MS-DOS mode"
and have sound. I'm sorry, I'm kinda a newbie at these kind of
problems, so I don't know what I need to look up. I just want to get the
sound "card" working in MS-DOS mode with some old games.

If your sound is working properly in Windows then I would ignore what you
have found on the Dell site. Have a look at the instructions and links here
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=192232
Sound Problems with MS-DOS-Based Games in Windows 98
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"SlickRCBD" wrote in message
...
Jeff Richards wrote:
The description indicates it's a Windows driver, not a DOS driver. When
you run the EXE that you downloaded, what happens?
An installer pops up that doesn't give me much in the way of options.
Merly asks for a folder to unpack to. It unpacks the archive to a default
of c:\DELL\Drivers\1405U
that then launches an HTM file with a button marked install, which then
installs using a standard installer that just gives me a shrink-wrap
license and installs without any questions. I think it's called a wise
installer or an install-shield thingie, but I forgot.

What I need to know if it's a Windows driver is how and where do I get the
DOS drivers? I assume that's what I need to "Restart in MS-DOS mode" and
have sound. I'm sorry, I'm kinda a newbie at these kind of problems, so I
don't know what I need to look up. I just want to get the sound "card"
working in MS-DOS mode with some old games.

That was most unhelpful. The article mentions a blaster= line in
config.sys, but the provided link makes no mention of such a thing and
searching didn't help. I just got info on using a sound blaster card. I
have no clue how that should help me.

Perhaps I should rephrase my request. Could somebody explain with
step-by-step instructions what to do to get the sound to work in MS-DOS
mode? I'm ignorant of WINDOWS, but not with computers. I'm pretty good
with Macs and passible with linux/unix.

Jeff Richards wrote:
If your sound is working properly in Windows then I would ignore what you
have found on the Dell site. Have a look at the instructions and links here
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=192232
Sound Problems with MS-DOS-Based Games in Windows 98
Jeff Richards wrote:

The description indicates it's a Windows driver, not a DOS driver.
When
you run the EXE that you downloaded, what happens?

An installer pops up that doesn't give me much in the way of options.
Merly asks for a folder to unpack to. It unpacks the archive to a
default
of c:\DELL\Drivers\1405U
that then launches an HTM file with a button marked install, which then
installs using a standard installer that just gives me a shrink-wrap
license and installs without any questions. I think it's called a wise
installer or an install-shield thingie, but I forgot.

What I need to know if it's a Windows driver is how and where do I
get the
DOS drivers? I assume that's what I need to "Restart in MS-DOS mode"
and
have sound. I'm sorry, I'm kinda a newbie at these kind of
problems, so I
don't know what I need to look up. I just want to get the sound "card"
working in MS-DOS mode with some old games.

"SlickRCBD" wrote in message
...

I recently aquired a used Windows 98SE computer that somebody I knew
wanted to get rid of. I also managed to bum off some old games that I
couldn't afford to buy back when I was in high school. These games
require DOS mode to play. Unfortunetly, I can't figure out how to set up
DOS for the sound drivers.

The drivers can be downloaded from he

http://support.dell.com/support/down...fileid=11 984

Could somebody please tell me what exactly I'm suppost to put in
config.sys or autoexec.bat or dosstart.bat or whatever to make the sound
drivers available when I "reboot in MS-DOS mode" so that I can try the
games with sound?

Standard implementations of Win98 do not need AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS. Rename these and boot without them unless
you want to do something non-standard.

Tweaks to run DOS programs under Win98 are discussed in
PROGRAMS.TXT and possibly other MS documentation. E.g.
you can manipulate memory or load special drivers via / Properties
for each DOS EXE (without rebooting.) In general, common functions
like audio are better handled via Win98 rather than DOS drivers.

[ NGs alt.win98,alt.comp.os.windows-98se removed from your multipost.]
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

If the computer has a sound card, please repost with the manufacturer and
model number.

Ben

"SlickRCBD" wrote in message ...
I recently aquired a used Windows 98SE computer that somebody I knew
wanted to get rid of. I also managed to bum off some old games that I
couldn't afford to buy back when I was in high school. These games
require DOS mode to play. Unfortunetly, I can't figure out how to set up
DOS for the sound drivers.

The drivers can be downloaded from he
http://support.dell.com/support/down...fileid=11 984

Could somebody please tell me what exactly I'm suppost to put in
config.sys or autoexec.bat or dosstart.bat or whatever to make the sound
drivers available when I "reboot in MS-DOS mode" so that I can try the
games with sound?

I'm afraid that in the MS-DOS era, I was using an Apple II, and in the
win98 era I was using a Macintosh. I never really had to deal with the
joys of DOS drivers. Please forgive my ignorance. I had enough trouble
figuring how to get the CD-ROM to work in MS-DOS mode without screwing
up Windows (I didn't know about dosstart.bat and used autoexec).

Ben Myers wrote:
If the computer has a sound card, please repost with the manufacturer and
model number.

Ben

http://support.dell.com/support/down...fileid=11 984

The computer I aquired used from a friend of my mother's who upgraded
was going to get rid of it because they hadn't used it in several years.
This person is not very computer literate and had tossed all the
manuals. All the information I have is what Windows configuration tells
me and that is pretty much mirrored on the link I provided. Not all the
cards in the thing are well labeled either.


Don Phillipson wrote:
Standard implementations of Win98 do not need AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS. Rename these and boot without them unless
you want to do something non-standard.

Tweaks to run DOS programs under Win98 are discussed in
PROGRAMS.TXT and possibly other MS documentation. E.g.
you can manipulate memory or load special drivers via / Properties
for each DOS EXE (without rebooting.) In general, common functions
like audio are better handled via Win98 rather than DOS drivers.

[ NGs alt.win98,alt.comp.os.windows-98se removed from your multipost.]

One of the games in question explicidly says that you MUST run it in
MS-DOS mode, and Microsoft's website also confirms that. I've tried it
and it crashes the computer under windows, though there is sound. When I
run it after I "Restart in MS-DOS mode" it runs fine except there is no
sound and the game reports that it can't find the card/drivers.

What I need to know is how to take the information/files availble at
that link and use it to get sound working in DOS mode.

See if the card has an FCC ID number.

http://www.driverzone.com/fcc_id_search.htm

Ben

"SlickRCBD" wrote in message ...
Ben Myers wrote:
If the computer has a sound card, please repost with the manufacturer and
model number.

Ben

http://support.dell.com/support/down...fileid=11 984

The computer I aquired used from a friend of my mother's who upgraded
was going to get rid of it because they hadn't used it in several years.
This person is not very computer literate and had tossed all the
manuals. All the information I have is what Windows configuration tells
me and that is pretty much mirrored on the link I provided. Not all the
cards in the thing are well labeled either.


Don Phillipson wrote:
Standard implementations of Win98 do not need AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS. Rename these and boot without them unless
you want to do something non-standard.

Tweaks to run DOS programs under Win98 are discussed in
PROGRAMS.TXT and possibly other MS documentation. E.g.
you can manipulate memory or load special drivers via / Properties
for each DOS EXE (without rebooting.) In general, common functions
like audio are better handled via Win98 rather than DOS drivers.

[ NGs alt.win98,alt.comp.os.windows-98se removed from your multipost.]

One of the games in question explicidly says that you MUST run it in
MS-DOS mode, and Microsoft's website also confirms that. I've tried it
and it crashes the computer under windows, though there is sound. When I
run it after I "Restart in MS-DOS mode" it runs fine except there is no
sound and the game reports that it can't find the card/drivers.

What I need to know is how to take the information/files availble at
that link and use it to get sound working in DOS mode.

On Sun, 23 Oct 2005 06:39:38 -0500, SlickRCBD
put finger to keyboard and composed:

Perhaps I should rephrase my request. Could somebody explain with
step-by-step instructions what to do to get the sound to work in MS-DOS
mode?

The SoundMAX FAQ doesn't mention anything about getting sound to work
in a Windows DOS box, or restarting in DOS mode, but it does say that
there are no DOS drivers.

================================================== ================
http://forms.analog.com/Form_Pages/s...tml#question37

37 Where can I find DOS drivers for SoundMAX?

SoundMAX does not support DOS operation. Audio may or may not work
with different DOS applications.
================================================== ================

AFAIK, the problem with getting games to run in MS-DOS mode is that
the sound card's resources need to be visible in MS-DOS mode. MS-DOS
games usually understand Creative Sound Blaster compatible cards, ie
those that occupy the same IO ports and use the same registers as the
original standard sound card. I suspect that some games can sniff out
the card's resources on their own, while others must consult the
BLASTER environment variable for the card's IRQ, DMA, and IO port
settings. Newer cards that are unable to emulate the Sound Blaster or
other old cards (eg Adlib?) may not be recognised by DOS games.

By way of example, my Win95 box runs an old sound card with an Opti
89C928 chipset. The Opti card came with DOS and Win3.1x drivers, but
not Win9x. To get the card to work with Win95 I've had to configure
its registers for Sound Blaster mode. I do this using an Opti-supplied
configurator utility that runs from autoexec.bat just before the GUI
loads. The only feature that I can't get to work is the mixer (and
therefore the microphone), but I suspect this is because Opti's mixer
may not follow the Creative standard.

What devices do you see in Control Panel in the "Sound, video, and
game controllers section"? What resources are assigned to them? Do you
see an "SB16 Audio device"? "DOS mode MPU-401 emulator"?

-- Franc Zabkar

Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.