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98SE2ME = Killer Replacements: ME -> 98 SE


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Yes, the Audigy 2 ZS can be made to work with the SBLive/Audigy 1 DOSDRV folder drivers in MS-DOS Mode.

Imagine my surprise when I set it up and it actually worked! I had been frustrated the last couple of years with my 400FSB Socket A boards from both Via and SiS chipsets that didn't allow non-maskable interrupts so the SBEINIT.COM, even though initializing, would not be able to process audio through the hardware.

My Epox EP-8KRAIPRO, I've discovered, does work with it.

The Audigy 2 ZS needs an extra AUDIGY12.EXE (I think it stands for Audigy 1 to 2) line added after SBEINIT.COM. The 2 files I downloaded some time ago from a site that had it will adjust the driver to use the Audigy 2 hardware layout. It's different than the SBLive.

Just add

C:\DOSDRV\AUDIGY12.EXE following the C:\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM line.

Of course, you need the files in the DOSDRV folder. And I changed the Autoexec MAME provides to add D1 H5 P330 T6, and just used the RAM switch after EMM386 in Config.sys, taking out the NOEMS and NOVCPI they had there. I also had to change CTSYN.INI to the HI and LOW DMA settings I put in the Blaster line, as well as changing the zero's to where the Audigy card really was so it was all consistant with my system. I think SBEINIT looks for the card anyway but I figured I'd fill in the correct port.

Notice they also include Smartdrv! Well, I do to if my game uses the cd drive and it has enough conventional memory to include Smartdrv, for others I leave it out. But of course I'll need to direct it to the Windows\Command folder instead.

But the same drivers are used. When I tested it I used the SBLive dos drivers offered on the MAME website. I just added the additional Audigy 2 files to the DOSDRV folder, set up the custom configuration in the MS-DOS shortcut autoexec box, and tried it.

It was a pleasure to see and hear SBEGO's test find the card and play the test music. All the games that worked with the SBLive card also now work with my Audigy 2 ZS.

I'll add the attachment of the Audigy 2 fix. The dos driver is on the MAME website. It's the one from the Audigy 1 retail cd I think, which is just version 5 of the Creative Dos SBLive driver.

AUDIGY12.ZIP

Changing DoubleBuffer to from 1 to 0 didn't help. I still got the IOS error if I put Smartdrv back in the Windows folder. So I changed it back. I still think this shouldn't be happening. I'm just glad I can keep Windows alive by not having Smartdrv in the Windows folder. It's just...Weird! I thought sure your Doublebuffer suggestion must have been the problem, but no, it's got to be some obscure hidden thing nobody ever could figure out.

For years I ran 98 with Smartdrv in the Windows folder, and of course only using it when in MS-DOS Mode. No problem. Now for some reason it can't stay there. I don't see how it could effect anything if nothing is loading it. And it's not just these newer boards either. I got the same problem on an Intel SE440BX recently.

These computers must sense my presence and decide to throw weird stuff like this on me!

Edited by Eck
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Three soundcards? You can do that?

I've read that XP works okay with 2, and that 98 can be coaxed into it but is not as 2 card friendly as XP is.

I'm trying to imagine 24 speakers and laughing a lot. I know that's not the point, but that's what went through my mind.

By the way, I don't use the Dos sound driver in Windows. I just set it up in pif's. I figure there's no need to have that stuff running in Windows where it won't be used anyway.

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I have never tried it so I can't say if it will work. Asio4All theoretically can handle several souncards and make them available to an application as if there was only one. Of course you need an app that supports that many audio channels.

BTW I have found a SBA2_EAX4DRV_031031.exe in my drivers folder which is apparently Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2/Audigy 2 ZS Soundcard Driver 5.12.05.0441 For Win98SE/ME/2000/XP. Is that no good ?

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Well i gave in to the hype this project has gained and installed it. Install went fine, rebooting into win was actually faster (i think) but i have only one big problem: my RASPPPoE connection won't work anymore :(. I've read the big TXT file describing potential bugs but still i tought won't happen to me but it did. I uninstalled all the protocols, reinstalled them even the NIC card but still to no avail. The raspppoe.exe app that is used to create the dial-up connection to my ISP says it can't find any dial-up adapters exposed by the PPP protocol. I've read some posts about this problem here but seen no real solution to it. Please take note that i don't have a USB modem that is connected to the network adapter, i just use that app to make a connection to connect to the ISP. I just reinstalled windows now but i MIGHT give 98SE2ME a chance again ONLY if a solution to this is available. Thanks in advance. :unsure:

Edited by aLeXis
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Well i gave in to the hype this project has gained and installed it. Install went fine, rebooting into win was actually faster (i think) but i have only one big problem: my RASPPPoE connection won't work anymore :(. I've read the big TXT file describing potential bugs but still i tought won't happen to me but it did. I uninstalled all the protocols, reinstalled them even the NIC card but still to no avail. The raspppoe.exe app that is used to create the dial-up connection to my ISP says it can't find any dial-up adapters exposed by the PPP protocol. I've read some posts about this problem here but seen no real solution to it. Please take note that i don't have a USB modem that is connected to the network adapter, i just use that app to make a connection to connect to the ISP. I just reinstalled windows now but i MIGHT give 98SE2ME a chance again ONLY if a solution to this is available. Thanks in advance.
I'd love to test this RASPPPOE environment and replace whatever files need to be replaced with older Win98SE counterparts, but unfortunately I don't have such a connection, nor do I have access to another computer that does. :(

Therefore it's up to you and/or other RASPPPOE users to test this.

There is an older post in this 98SE2ME forum:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=327274

in which I explain which files one may want to replace in order to test RASPPPOE.

If you're willing to perform such tests, please post your results here.

Thanks.

Hope this helps.

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eidenk,

That is the final driver for 9x for the Audigy 2 ZS. So yes, that IS a good driver. It is the driver installed by the last Creative Insstallation Cd that comes with the newest Audigy 2 ZS Platinum boxes.

They actually had 3 different install cd's that they put into various retail box releases of the Audigy 2 ZS. The last one they made contained that driver so we don't need to run that driver file you have if you already have them on the cd. I happened to wind up with all 3 versions with the 3 cards I bought. The rest of the cd is the same. Only the driver version was updated each time. So if you have any of these you'll still need to run all the software updates from the website downloads if you install that stuff.

For some crazy reason Creative removed all the driver updates for 98SE on the Audigy 2 ZS series. I suspect it was because if a user used CTZAPP to install the driver, instead of just running the update, on a 9x system, and chose to "replace all existing Creative files" when doing so, one would get a botched driver install and a crashing Windows.

You can use CTZAPP with those. Just don't check the box to overwrite existing Creative drivers and software when starting it. A normal Device Manager install does not install all the stuff so either run the setup (ideal) or use CTZAPP if setup won't work.

A way to jog Creative driver installers so it recognizes that you do indeed have a Creative SoundBlaster hardware installed is to remove the 2 question marked (the card and the midi controller) devices from Device Manager and reboot, cancelling out of Windows hardware installer when it detects the devices upon restart. Then just run the setup and it will detect the card and install.

EXCEPT for this stupid file which needs you to CTZAPP.EXE the driver in if you don't have a previous driver installed!

If you don't have an existing driver installed, you MUST extract the file and run CTZAPP or the installer will not run the driver installation. All the files needed ARE in the extracted file, though the install (even with CTZAPP) does not run smoothly without a previous set installed. You'll need to direct Windows for several files it says it cannot find. Most are in either C:\WINDOWS\CATROOT, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CATROOT, the System folder, the System32 or a subfolder it created when starting, driver cache folders, or somewhere in the extracted file you downloaded.

You can see why Creative pulled the download. Although it contains the full set, it really doesn't run smoothly unless it is updating an existing set. However, if you can manage to direct Windows when it asks to all the files it asks for, then it installs properly.

Really crappy software packaging!

Of course you still need the DOSDRV SBLive dos mode drivers (available from the MAME website) and that AUDIGY12 set to run the card in MS-DOS Mode.

That should be enough info for you. Just don't install any newer driver sets. If you can find version 402 of the drivers, those were the original ones and would make the 441, 442 version you've got there install more smoothly by running the setup.

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http://files.filefront.com/ISO_SB_Audigy_2...;/fileinfo.html

That's a link to the badboy.filefront.com site where the poster from the Creative forums ,badboy, posts the ISO image of the Audigy 2 ZS installation cd.

I tried to find the drivers themselves at driverguide, but saw no Audigy 2 ZS drivers there.

If you can manage to download and burn that ISO, you'll be able to install and then check what version they are. If they are older than 441 then you'll be able to easily run the setup of your 031031 download and have the up to date version for 9x.

Don't update if you ever want to switch to vxd's using the Creative Utility in the Start Menu. That utility installed by the cd is an easy way to go back and forth between the default WDM's and the VXD that is supplied on the cd.

I've never used that as the WDM's are fine. The VXD's DO NOT install the SB16 emulation like the old SBLive cards have for MS-DOS windows within a Windows session.

Nice thing: You'll have the full package. Note that I've got it all installed, but to save resources and avoid CTLOADER freezes on 9x I've placed semi-colons in front of (but within the quotes for the processes that have them) all the Creative processes in Run, Run Services in both the Current User and Local Machine registry sections. Before doing that, I turned off the Remote Control stuff in Media Source Player's Options. Then, as I'm using Norton Utilities 2002, I had WinDoctor ignore the now invalid Startup Items instead of letting it "fix" them by deleting them.

The only difference I notice is I must change the speakers in Windows Multimedia Properties when I switch to headphones. I also place a shortcut to CtPanel.exe in the QuickLaunch Toolbar. This is in Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Program\WDM\Common. That way I've got all the tools without running the resource intensive software.

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Can you add another option to 98S2EME that will only install the new update/changes

so that the ones that have 98SE2ME installed already don't have to go thru the whole entire process

again.Thanks and keep up the great work.

This method will also allow us to detect if any should occur such problems.

Edited by PROBLEMCHYLD
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After installing the new update

Update Information Tool Properties is broken.

Please post more details about what is broken, how did you start this [eventually from Control Panel], how it look like, the exact name of the dialog box(es), error message(s) etc.

Thanks.

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When you click Qfecheck.exe

it doesn't expand because there is no tree

Thanks for the details.

I've looked [again] at all registry entries added/deleted/modified by 98SE2ME, and I couldn't find anything that would impair QFECHECK functionality.

Maybe you installed something else [?] around the time you also installed 98SE2ME.

HTH

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When you click Qfecheck.exe

it doesn't expand because there is no tree

Thanks for the details.

I've looked [again] at all registry entries added/deleted/modified by 98SE2ME, and I couldn't find anything that would impair QFECHECK functionality.

Maybe you installed something else [?] around the time you also installed 98SE2ME.

HTH

you right it wasn't 98SE2ME it was a corrupted dll file

SORRY about that.

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