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How to get back the motherboard beeps ?



 
 
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  #11  
Old December 9th 16, 11:27 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
J. P. Gilliver (John)
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 1,554
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

In message , R.Wieser
writes:
[]
But on the other hand, on my system its listed under
System-devicemanagement-systemdevices-systemloudspeaker as a "normally
functioning device" with a driver inside "configmgr.vxd". I could imagine
I could access that vxd in some way.

[]
Rusty gears in memory turning for the first time in decades, so this may
not be at all relevant:

IIRR, the speaker output, even though a normal loudspeaker (of the sort
used in a cheap transistor radio, granted, but capable of at least
_some_ fidelity) was used, is only a digital, or at best binary, output;
IIRR, the speaker connected between said output and the +5V rail
(possibly via a capacitor). As such it could only produce beeps of
various frequencies. Or so it seemed initially ...

When sound cards were first appearing (and weren't cheap, hard though
that may be to believe!), someone (or maybe several someones) devised a
driver for the speaker-drive circuit that, by use of pulse-width
modulation, could make the speaker drive circuitry behave like a sound
card. The quality of the output was pretty atrocious, but just about
acceptable for some purposes. The "driver" was I think released as
freeware.

I _think_ the (software) driver emulated one of the "standard" sound
cards available at that time - probably one of the SoundBlaster family.

As I said, this may or may not be relevant!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Imagine a world with no hypothetical situations...
  #12  
Old December 10th 16, 08:17 AM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
R.Wieser
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 111
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

John,

When sound cards were first appearing (and weren't cheap, hard
though that may be to believe!), someone (or maybe several
someones) devised a driver for the speaker-drive circuit that, by
use of pulse-width modulation, could make the speaker drive
circuitry behave like a sound card. The quality of the output was
pretty atrocious, but just about acceptable for some purposes.


:-) Jup, and a method thats still in use on microcontrollers and such.
Even on "loudspeakers" that do definitily not act as low-pass filters (like
the piezzo type)

In my DOS time I soldered a "disney sound system" output (poor mans D/A
conversion) together: just a series of resistors doubling in value connected
to the pins of the printer port. Sounded quite a bit better.

As I said, this may or may not be relevant!


It has made me step back in time. :-)

As for relevancy ? I'm just out for a build-in method to generate some
sound outof whatever is present on the motherboard as a "hey, I need some
attention" signal, as my soundcard is connected to headphones, which I do
not hear when I do not have them on (which is most of the time). Being
able to play some distinguishable "notes" is already an extra.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


-- Origional message:
J. P. Gilliver (John) schreef in berichtnieuws
...
In message , R.Wieser
writes:
[]
But on the other hand, on my system its listed under
System-devicemanagement-systemdevices-systemloudspeaker as a "normally
functioning device" with a driver inside "configmgr.vxd". I could

imagine
I could access that vxd in some way.

[]
Rusty gears in memory turning for the first time in decades, so this may
not be at all relevant:

IIRR, the speaker output, even though a normal loudspeaker (of the sort
used in a cheap transistor radio, granted, but capable of at least
_some_ fidelity) was used, is only a digital, or at best binary, output;
IIRR, the speaker connected between said output and the +5V rail
(possibly via a capacitor). As such it could only produce beeps of
various frequencies. Or so it seemed initially ...

When sound cards were first appearing (and weren't cheap, hard though
that may be to believe!), someone (or maybe several someones) devised a
driver for the speaker-drive circuit that, by use of pulse-width
modulation, could make the speaker drive circuitry behave like a sound
card. The quality of the output was pretty atrocious, but just about
acceptable for some purposes. The "driver" was I think released as
freeware.

I _think_ the (software) driver emulated one of the "standard" sound
cards available at that time - probably one of the SoundBlaster family.

As I said, this may or may not be relevant!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Imagine a world with no hypothetical situations...



  #13  
Old December 10th 16, 11:34 AM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
JJ[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 36
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

On Fri, 9 Dec 2016 09:43:24 +0100, R.Wieser wrote:

Thank you, I did not even remember that win.ini file anymore ... But alas,
no "beep" in there either.


But have you tried adding that setting there?

I also found the Beep() description from Windows 95 SDK help file.

http://i.imgur.com/PN1DtKs.png

Quote:
Parameters

dwFreq

Windows NT:

Specifies the frequency, in hertz, of the sound. This parameter must be in
the range 37 through 32,767 (0x25 through 0x7FFF).

Windows 95:

The parameter is ignored.

dwDuration

Windows NT:

Specifies the duration, in milliseconds, of the sound.
One value has a special meaning: If dwDuration is - 1, the function
operates asynchronously and produces sound until called again.

Windows 95:

The parameter is ignored.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value is TRUE.
If the function fails, the return value is FALSE. To get extended error
information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

Windows NT:

The Beep function is synchronous in all but one case; the function does not
generally return control to its caller until the sound finishes. The
exception to this occurs when dwDuration has the value - 1. In that case,
Beep is asynchronous, returning control immediately to its caller while the
sound continues playing. The sound continues until the next call to Beep.

Windows 95:

The Beep function ignores the dwFreq and dwDuration parameters. On computers
with a sound card, the function plays the default sound event. On computers
without a sound card, the function plays the standard system beep.
So just for the sake of testing, try disabling your audio device.

Also try the BELL character echo test:
Open a command prompt window, then type "echo ^G" where "^G" is the BELL
character generated by pressing CTRL+G. It should beep the PC speaker.
  #14  
Old December 11th 16, 02:06 AM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
J. P. Gilliver (John)
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 1,554
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

In message , R.Wieser
writes:
[]
As I said, this may or may not be relevant!


It has made me step back in time. :-)


(-:

As for relevancy ? I'm just out for a build-in method to generate some
sound outof whatever is present on the motherboard as a "hey, I need some
attention" signal, as my soundcard is connected to headphones, which I do
not hear when I do not have them on (which is most of the time). Being
able to play some distinguishable "notes" is already an extra.

[]
Does your motherboard (well, case) _have_ a speaker (or piezo sounder)
connected to that 4-pin header? If so, does it make _any_ sound - e. g.
during initial boot, before Windows starts? If it is there but doesn't
make any sound, is there anything in the BIOS? (For example, can you set
the temperature alarm threshold low enough to trigger the "overheat"
signal, if the BIOS has that function.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the God who endowed me with sense,
reason, and intellect intends me to forego their use". - Gallileo Gallilei
  #15  
Old December 11th 16, 08:49 AM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
R.Wieser
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 111
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

JJ,

But have you tried adding that setting there?


Just tried it (and rebooted just in case). Alas, no change.

So just for the sake of testing, try disabling your audio device.


Also done. No dice.

Also try the BELL character echo test:


:-) Done before my initial post here. Nothing came outof the speakers.

Thanks,
Rudy Wieser


-- Origional message:
JJ schreef in berichtnieuws
...
On Fri, 9 Dec 2016 09:43:24 +0100, R.Wieser wrote:

Thank you, I did not even remember that win.ini file anymore ... But

alas,
no "beep" in there either.


But have you tried adding that setting there?

I also found the Beep() description from Windows 95 SDK help file.

http://i.imgur.com/PN1DtKs.png

Quote:
Parameters

dwFreq

Windows NT:

Specifies the frequency, in hertz, of the sound. This parameter must be in
the range 37 through 32,767 (0x25 through 0x7FFF).

Windows 95:

The parameter is ignored.

dwDuration

Windows NT:

Specifies the duration, in milliseconds, of the sound.
One value has a special meaning: If dwDuration is - 1, the function
operates asynchronously and produces sound until called again.

Windows 95:

The parameter is ignored.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value is TRUE.
If the function fails, the return value is FALSE. To get extended error
information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

Windows NT:

The Beep function is synchronous in all but one case; the function does
Quote:
not
generally return control to its caller until the sound finishes. The
exception to this occurs when dwDuration has the value - 1. In that case,
Beep is asynchronous, returning control immediately to its caller while

the
sound continues playing. The sound continues until the next call to Beep.

Windows 95:

The Beep function ignores the dwFreq and dwDuration parameters. On

computers
with a sound card, the function plays the default sound event. On

computers
without a sound card, the function plays the standard system beep.


So just for the sake of testing, try disabling your audio device.

Also try the BELL character echo test:
Open a command prompt window, then type "echo ^G" where "^G" is the BELL
character generated by pressing CTRL+G. It should beep the PC speaker.




  #16  
Old December 11th 16, 08:58 AM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
R.Wieser
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 111
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

John,

Does your motherboard (well, case) _have_ a speaker (or piezo sounder)


Yup, it does. Some direct I/O fiddeling (setting a divider, connect its
output to the speaker) made the beeper sound (for reference, see the links
to sourcecode JJ posted.)

If so, does it make _any_ sound - e. g. during initial boot, before
Windows starts?


Jup, a single beep when I power-on the 'puter.

If it is there but doesn't make any sound, is there anything in the
BIOS?


:-) Just went thru the same things with JJ. Can't find anything in there
naming the buzzer/system speaker there.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


-- Origional message:
J. P. Gilliver (John) schreef in berichtnieuws
...
In message , R.Wieser
writes:
[]
As I said, this may or may not be relevant!


It has made me step back in time. :-)


(-:

As for relevancy ? I'm just out for a build-in method to generate some
sound outof whatever is present on the motherboard as a "hey, I need some
attention" signal, as my soundcard is connected to headphones, which I do
not hear when I do not have them on (which is most of the time). Being
able to play some distinguishable "notes" is already an extra.

[]
Does your motherboard (well, case) _have_ a speaker (or piezo sounder)
connected to that 4-pin header? If so, does it make _any_ sound - e. g.
during initial boot, before Windows starts? If it is there but doesn't
make any sound, is there anything in the BIOS? (For example, can you set
the temperature alarm threshold low enough to trigger the "overheat"
signal, if the BIOS has that function.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the God who endowed me with sense,
reason, and intellect intends me to forego their use". - Gallileo Gallilei




  #17  
Old December 11th 16, 12:21 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
JJ[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 36
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

On Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:49:47 +0100, R.Wieser wrote:

Also try the BELL character echo test:


:-) Done before my initial post here. Nothing came outof the speakers.


Oh... Does it beep under pure DOS?
  #18  
Old December 11th 16, 12:22 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
JJ[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 36
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

On Sun, 11 Dec 2016 18:21:00 +0700, JJ wrote:
On Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:49:47 +0100, R.Wieser wrote:

Also try the BELL character echo test:


:-) Done before my initial post here. Nothing came outof the speakers.


Oh... Does it beep under pure DOS?


In case there's a DOS device driver interfering with the speaker.
  #19  
Old December 11th 16, 08:12 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
R.Wieser
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 111
Default How to get back the motherboard beeps ?

JJ,

Oh... Does it beep under pure DOS?


Didn't think of that myself, good one.

Yes, when I do an INT 10h, AX=0E07h the beeper sounds

In case there's a DOS device driver interfering with the speaker.


.... Which doesn't sound in a Windows console window.

It really looks to me its a Windows software problem (of sorts), not BIOS.
But than again, the fact that some direct I/O fiddling under Windows also
sounded the beeper pretty-much already told me that.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


-- Origional message:
JJ schreef in berichtnieuws
...
On Sun, 11 Dec 2016 18:21:00 +0700, JJ wrote:
On Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:49:47 +0100, R.Wieser wrote:

Also try the BELL character echo test:

:-) Done before my initial post here. Nothing came outof the speakers.


Oh... Does it beep under pure DOS?


In case there's a DOS device driver interfering with the speaker.




 




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