Problems with ISA MAD16 Pro and volume for some games

[TheElf01]

Hi! thanks for the driver

I have a problem with mixer, the volume is super low, specially DAC

If i load for example

929init.exe /SB /INFO /N3

i get good sound, very low, but FM, wavetable and DAC are ok

But if i set volume with mixer, for example

mixer dac 100 100 (or whatever 50,60,90...)

the dac volume is 0, i get no sound or very very low

There is any way to 929init to set volume to 100 for everything? i think the problem is mixer is not working for me, and sadly 929init set the volume too low

thanks

[JKnipperts]

Hi, thanks for using my driver.
What kind of sound card do you use and what codec is installed there? Some newer codecs have extended mixer functions and are not fully compatible with the old AD1848, which could be the reason for the problem.

929init initializes the mixer with the volume values that are set in the mixer. So I am surprised that you get different results with the mixer and after starting 929init.

What happens if you set the dac volume to 0?
And if you start mixer without command line parameters and set the DAC volume in the program? Does it make any difference?

regards
Jan

[TheElf01]

Hi! thank to you for writing the driver, and sorry my english

here you have pictures of my board

Beside the 929 there is the analog AD1846JP, and is not inthe picture, but i have a wavetable board, and a Mitsumi cdrom connected (IRQ 10)

Sorry, but i only tested doom before, now i tested more games, and is full of problems

About your questions,

• If i set the DAC to 0 i get no sound

• If I open the mixer whitout command line parameters, and i set DAC to 100% or whatever other value, i get NO sound, at least in doom, but in wolfenstein 3d i get weird noises with sound FX (open doors, etc)

I realize about other problem, in wolfenstein (and maybe otrher games) whetever volume is low or normal, all sound, like soldiers screams, shottings, etc are 2x fast. If i open mixer, no more 2x, just the weird noises

Some games like Jill of the jungle, sound is weird, whatever i open mixer or not

i tested in advanced 44khz, 16bits, the AD or Cristal option, etc etc, nothing

Is not a hardware problem, IRQ or DMA conflict, the original driver work great

Of course i tested without nothingin my config/autoexec to avoid conflict with other drivers

Any ideas are welcome, im testing all options without luck yet

here some screenshots

[TheElf01]

Ok, sorry double post, but i discover something weird

• Turn on PC

• Boot DOS

• Open Wolf3D

• --- BAD SOUND IN WOLF3D --

• Turn on PC

• Boot DOS

• Open DOOM (low volume but ok)

• Open Wolf3D
  -- GOOD SOUND IN WOLF3D -- (low volume but ok)

• Turn on PC

• Boot DOS

• Open Jill of Jungle

• --- BAD SOUND IN JILL --

• Turn on PC

• Boot DOS

• Open DOOM (low volume but ok)

• Open Jill of Jungle
  -- GOOD SOUND IN JILL -- (low volume but ok)

if i open mixer, set 100% or whatever to DAC, i just get 0 volume on DAC after this

BUT if i open mixer, set 100% or whatever to DAC, open DOOM SETUP, and run Doom FROM SETUP i get good volume

..?¿ maybe something about real and protected modes?¿

Then if i do

• Turn on PC
• Boot DOS
• Open MIXER and set 100%
• Open DOOM SETUP
• Run DOOM
• GOOD VOLUME!!!!
• EXIT DOOM and Open Wolf3d or JILL
• GOOD VOLUME!!!!

[JKnipperts]

What a nice card you have there! I've never seen one with a socketed codec. Actually it should work fine with my driver and I'm sorry you're having so many problems with it.
It's interesting that the sound works better when you start Doom from the setup first.
Does this also work for other games setup?
I think running the setup initializes the card again and resets the volume. These OPTi soundcards sometimes react very slowly and so it works better after such a double-init. If it was, I would add another initialization run of the Sound Blaster part in my driver and try longer waiting times for chip access.

Unfortunately I have no card with an AD1846 codec to test my driver with it myself.
I developed and tested my programs with the soundcards MIRO FM10 , MIRO PCM10 (both with AD1848 codec) and two Shuttle HOT Spacewalker soundcards (one with AD1845 and one with Crystal 4248 codec) on a 486 DX4 system with 100 MHz. I have made the experience that the Shuttle cards with AD1845 and Crystal CS4248 cause much less problems in games.
Whereas with the Miro cards with AD1848 I had to fiddle a lot with the settings in the dirver to get games to work.
In the end I was able to get more games to run without errors with these cards with my driver than with the original driver. But partly with batch files and specific settings for eachgame. Some games like it better if the card is initialized in stereo, others need mono. Sometimes it works better to use only the 16 MHz crystall for the Sound Blaster frequencies. Jill of the Jungle and Wolfenstein 3D for example have clear sound when I set t 22 kHz 8 bit stereo and let the card use only the 16 MHz crystal. I had bigger problems with Hocus Pocus, Dig it!, Tyrian and Duke Nukem II, where I had heavily distorted sound effects or the cards were not recognized as Sound Blaster Pro. Descent and Rise of the Triad have problems with stereo sound on all my cards: The first sample is played correctly in stereo, all following ones only in mono. I was able to fix this with a small TSR program that forces stereo output (SBFIX.COM).

You should try to use only the 16 MHz crystal and try different frequencies, even below 22 kHz. You can also increase the number of initializations ("/N" option). I would disable "SB mixer voice volume emulation" and "automatic volume control" as you have problems with the volume.

English is not my mother tongue either, so excuse me if something is incomprehensible. :)