Specifications
converter 1.5
2000 - 2005 urr Sound Technologies Inc.
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proper soundcard configuration under DOS
This section is provided for users configuring an older soundcard within DOS, for which there may be
no accompanying documentation or installation software.
If you are experienced with DOS and
setting environment variable hardware settings, or you have all the necessary software and
documentation to properly configure the card under DOS, or your soundcard already works
under DOS with other software (and especially if it works fine with converter), you will likely have
no need to read this section
.
..
. If you have difficulties getting converter to locate your soundcard, this
reference might be able to give you some pointers in the right direction. Note that the details of
complete hardware installation for soundcards is far beyond the scope of what can be covered here.
If
you are looking for certain drivers and/or documentation for a specific soundcard, visit the
‘driver support’ page of the converter section of our website – you may find what you are
looking for there.
In order for converter to make use of your soundcard, it must be able to find out its particular hardware
settings which tend to differ from computer to computer based on the other peripherals one has
installed in the machine. Both the Gravis Ultrasound and SoundBlaster series make use of what’s called
a ‘DOS environment variable’, or in other words a line of text placed in the
autoexec.bat
file (editable
using Windows’ notepad or DOS edit) which lists the specific information a software application needs
in order to ‘connect’ with the interface. Both the Gravis Ultrasound and SoundBlaster cards were
packaged with DOS-based configuration or installation utilities which allowed the setting (and testing) of
correct hardware DMA, IRQ, and port address settings for the card. However, due to the fact that the
soundcards have been discontinued, and the DOS-specific software for these ‘obsolete’ soundcards
may not remain available on the manufacturer’s website indefinitely, the following information is
provided to assist in the successful configuration of these cards.
Note that this guide does not necessarily replace the need for the appropriate installation
software and documentation for your particular card.
Note for users running with Windows9x
: Even if you have the appropriate drivers installed for the
card under Windows, you might want to verify that an environment string has been placed in the
autoexec.bat file for DOS usage. Often it seems that the Windows-based installation software for
soundcards doesn’t automatically perform this task.
Some utilities to configure Plug & Play cards under DOS may require the “P&P OS Installed” parameter
Some utilities to configure Plug & Play cards under DOS may require the “P&P OS Installed” parameterSome utilities to configure Plug & Play cards under DOS may require the “P&P OS Installed” parameter
Some utilities to configure Plug & Play cards under DOS may require the “P&P OS Installed” parameter
in the computer’s BIOS to be set to NO or OFF.
in the computer’s BIOS to be set to NO or OFF.in the computer’s BIOS to be set to NO or OFF.
in the computer’s BIOS to be set to NO or OFF.
Gravis Ultrasound
The Gravis Ultrasound uses a jumper on the card itself to select the base address for the card (either
210, 220, 230, 240 etc), while the rest of the parameters (IRQ, DMA) are configured by software.
Environment variable:
SET ULTRASND=240,1,5,7,5
The numbers after the = sign in the line represent:
base address, 8-bit DMA, 16-bit DMA, Audio (GF1) IRQ, Midi port IRQ.
Typically, the DOS software installation for this soundcard will automatically update the autoexec.bat file
with the correct parameters. However, a caveat:
•
if a Windows9x (specific) driver was installed as well, the ULTRASND string might instead look like
this:
SET ULTRASND=XXX,X,X,X,X
(literally). To function under DOS, this line should be
‘disabled’ by typing the letters ‘rem’ at the beginning of the line (before the word ‘SET’), and a new
line with actual numerical information should be typed in to look something like this:
rem SET ULTRASND=XXX,X,X,X,X
SET ULTRASND=240,1,5,7,5