Audio driver for Realtek HD Audio Hardware? [Testing thread]

[Dr.Atom]

Neither had an effect. With MaxFileCache=8096 I got the freezes back and I still get the BOSD with MinTimeSlice=80 and the USB CD drive plugged in.

Before we continue without the CD drive and just the volume: Using this method, would there be sound inside apps/games in any way? Also, there is no sound device in the device manager (even when sound is working).

[deomsh]

The max value I have ever used is MinTimeSlice=120

In Device Manager there should be a High Definition Audio Controller now.

Sound devices are found in "Sounds and Audio Devices" / "Multimedia" (as part of Control Panel).

Apps/ games should work with HDA2.DLL if they use Wave Out/ Direct Sound, but NOT if WDM-drivers are needed.

[Dr.Atom]

For whatever reason, I found it in the device manager under "System Devices". Maybe that's because I already had a device under "Sound, video and game controllers"? DirectSound plays fine.

I will care for the USB CD drive later. Can we set up the volume, please? :-)

[deomsh]

Allright:

1) copy WAVEOUT.EXE to your Windows directory (from your HDADRV9.L);

2) open HDACFG.INI with Notepad. According to the ALC888 datasheet the volume widget is probably 0C

So try

VolumeWidget=$0C

Watch: a zero, not O

Save and reboot;

3) open WAVEOUT.EXE. If the main screen is empty click the big button at the upper left;

4) try adjusting volume with the two sliders: one for left channel, one for right.

[Dr.Atom]

That worked without issues. Didn't even have to fiddle with Waveout.exe. The volume levels were at very reasonable values already. I got blown away by the sheer volume as my speakers were still at maximum... 

The sound is very clear. 

However, I still get the BSOD even with MinTimeSlice=120. Also, I got it when opening "Network Neighborhood", so it's not the USB drive, but something else. But it's 98% reproducible when using the CD drive. As soon as I plug it in, I get the BSOD "fatal exception 0E" at some address 0177:BFF8976B (might be the same all the time).

If you have any ideas, let me know.

[deomsh]

Difficult.

Are ALL energy-saving measures switched off, both in your BIOS and in Windows? Also: NO screensaver!

You can try adding following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, just before the HDATSR-line:

SMARTDRV.EXE /X /L /V /B:57344

Speeds up file-reading operations too, to compensate for the ultra low vcache setting. Watch: by design SMARTDRV.EXE can only be used on partitions below 128 GB (about 127+ GiB) .

Also, add to SYSTEM.INI section [386Enh] following entry:

MaxPhysPage=20000

(if I am right 20000=512MB, 40000=1GB, 80000=2GB and C0000=3GB, you can always go up).

From Device Manager: set Hard-Drive Read-Ahead to max (64KB), CD-settings all to max too and change Role of Computer: there are three choices, maybe Networkserver or something like that. Also try reducing Video Hardware Acceleration, step-by-step.

Measures one-by-one and reboot in between.

[Dr.Atom]

I'll try later. I'll be putting in a PCIe sound card in the next days that is supposed to work with Win98SE and go with that solution if it works.

I removed all software except for the audio drivers, but still a BSOD.

Then I removed the audio drivers, and no more BSOD. So it's the driver.

I'll keep you updated.

Edited July 17, 2024 by Dr.Atom

[plasma98]

Just wanted to say a million thanks in this thread and if anyone has an Alienware M5700 the correct HDA to get sound is hdaicout.hda.100 to get win98 sound

[pangoomis]

What are the cons of using the HD Audio Win3x driver in 9x once it is miraculously somehow working?
Are there any system hangs during playback? Any chance of recording sound via Sound Recorder? Is the sound quality worse than when using a USB Sound Card for example? Any way of volume control? What is the situation with DOS games?(SBEMUL/SWMIDI) How well does jack detection works?

[Dave-H]

FWIW, it's always worked fine for me.
I get a lot of pops and clicks, but that's expected.
Volume I can adjust using WaveOut.exe.
I have no sound in DOS games, but that's not a problem for me.
There is no recording functionality, but I would have been really amazed if there had been!
I've never had any system hangs which were knowingly due to the audio driver.



 

[deomsh]

My system is rather unstable with Watler's HDA2.DLL, really needs most stability measures mentioned in this thread.

About SBEMUL/SBMIDI: as far as I know these need a WDM-driver, which HDA2.DLL is not. But VDMSound can be used, according to @sifonium even for midi with the Yamaha-driver.

Jack-detection through software is not supported by HDA2.DLL, only if hardwired like on old-fashioned hifi.

Edited August 11, 2024 by deomsh
Testing if posting is not 'Forbidden' on mobile Firefox ('Forbidden' on mobile Chrome)

[Hans Tork]

I just dropped by to say thanks to the people behind this driver.

 

This works on my 5 bucks worth Dell latitude D620.

 

I used the first HDACOUT.hda file(000 one) and set the max and min cache to 8192 in the System INI file. 

I got both universal VBEM graphics drivers and the audio working on Dell D620. 

Once again, thanks.

[Hans Tork]

On 8/10/2024 at 6:00 PM, pangoomis said:

What are the cons of using the HD Audio Win3x driver in 9x once it is miraculously somehow working?
Are there any system hangs during playback? Any chance of recording sound via Sound Recorder? Is the sound quality worse than when using a USB Sound Card for example? Any way of volume control? What is the situation with DOS games?(SBEMUL/SWMIDI) How well does jack detection works?

On my Dell D620 Win 98 se system, I have not encountered any issues due to the driver. I also played a bunch of music files using the vlc 0.8.4 edition and did not encounter any crashes. I did not try a lot of games but I did hear the starting sounds from the Unreal Tournament before a crash. I generally do not intend to game on the laptop but I think the crashes might have to do with things other than the driver.(My installation is quite minimal and I run the system using a modern SSD. I only applied the RLoew PATCHMEM for the 4gb RAM that is there on the laptop)

Volume Control can be achieved in multiple ways. The volume UP key on my Dell D620 works as does the VLC volume cone slider. The WAVEOUT.EXE can also be used if I am not mistaken.

In my opinion the HDA driver along with the universal VBE graphics driver is the way to go for anyone attempting a Win 98 install on newer hardware configurations.

Edited January 24 by Hans Tork

[ctral]

@deomsh I followed the instructions on my laptop computer thinkpad r61, and tried almost every hdaicout.hda in this thread, but still can't hear a sound. 

HDAcfg.ini HDAICIN.TXT HDAICOUT.HDA HDALOG.TXT

Edited February 2 by ctral

[ctral]

I decide to abandon the build-in sound card and use a usb audio device instead. Because the file hdatsr.exe seems to make the computer superheating. So please ignore the last reply as I can't retract or delete it. Thank you. @deomsh