Vogons Wiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:List of games that support AWE synth

2019-04-03T09:26:53Z

Enigma: Created page with "The description states: For these games, selecting AWE32 as the music device provides wavetable-quality MIDI output, utilizing the built-in ROM bank of the EMU8000 (or sound..."

The description states:

For these games, selecting AWE32 as the music device provides wavetable-quality MIDI output, utilizing the built-in ROM bank of the EMU8000 (or sound fonts loaded into the AWE RAM).

Which DOS game actually supports sound fonts loaded to the AWE RAM and which tool is required to preload a SF from DOS to AWE RAM that the game utilizes it?

Talk:Athlon Motherboards

2016-11-07T12:51:19Z

Enigma:

The Ali/SIS Socket A chipsets are missing.

The MP chipsets are not mentioned.

The PCI arbitration errata is described too generic, indicating more issues than actually occur.

Talk:Athlon Motherboards

2016-11-07T12:48:47Z

Enigma:

The Ali/SIS Socket A chipsets are missing.

The PCI arbitration errata is described too generic, indicating more issues than actually occur.

Talk:Athlon Motherboards

2016-11-07T12:48:06Z

Enigma: Created page with "The Ali Socket A chipsets are missing. The PCI arbitration errata is described too generic, indicating more issues than actually occur."

The Ali Socket A chipsets are missing.

The PCI arbitration errata is described too generic, indicating more issues than actually occur.

2013-04-10T22:50:51Z

Windows versions

2013-04-09T00:08:09Z

Enigma:

This is a list describing different Windows versions in terms of game compatibility.

'''Windows 3.x:''' 
'''Windows 95:''' 

'''Windows NT4:''' Windows NT4 uses a preemptive multitasking kernel and supports two CPUs and up to 4 GB RAM in the Workstation Professional version. The system is rather lightweight and requires only a 486DX2-66 and about 32 MB RAM, a Pentium system is recommended. After boot the whole Windows system uses just about 16 MB RAM. Windows NT4 has a higher stability as Windows 95.
It was released with DirectX2 and got support for DirectX3 with the latest servicepack 6a. The user interface is the same as in Windows 95 with some additional features from Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95. However it is possible to upgrade to the user interface known from Windows 98 by installing Internet Explorer 4 with Active Desktop.
Windows NT4 does not support Plug and Play and USB. This is usually no problem since drivers for PnP hardware bring their own configuration sheet and for mass storage USB devices third party software is available.

For gaming Direct3D from DirectX3 is supported. However most DirectX games with accelerated 3D graphics require at least DirectX5. Still, DirectX3 allows most 2D games that use DirectDraw to run (e.g. Starcraft, Diablo e.g.). Benchmarks show that due to the different driver architecture accelerated 2D graphics is a lot faster compared to Windows 95.
The OpenGL support from graphics card drivers for Windows NT4 is solid. Also the most important gaming 3D accelerator cards from 3dfx at this time have Glide support in Windows NT4. Thus most Glide compatible games work (e.g. Unreal engines, Quake engines).

Any 16 bit related code like DOS programs are run in a Virtual DOS machine (NTVDM). It supports 486 code. Direct hardware calls are not possible.

'''Windows 98:''' Best all-in-one operating system for DOS and Win9x gaming. Basically a much more refined continuation of Windows 95. Good DOS compatibility either by DOS window or rebooting into DOS. Emulates USB mouses and gamepads in DOS window as well. Has numerous features that Win95 got only with the OSR releases and which weren't present in its original release, such as support for P6 (Pentium Pro and up), FAT32, selection of IRQs, AGP, UDMA, USB and MMX. 
Furthermore, SSE and multiple monitor support is exclusive for Windows 98 and up. Windows 98 supports up to 512 MB RAM without tweaking, with tweaking up to 1 GB. 3rd party USB mass storage drivers, namely nusb33e, are only available for Windows 98 SE due to its newer USB stack, so this revision is by far preferable. 3rd party drivers are also available for ADSL connectivity (raspppoe). 
'''Windows 2000:''' 
'''Windows XP:''' Last OS from Microsoft so far to support game ports, MPU-401 ports, the IPX protocol, out of the box MIDI device selection and EAX 3D sound hardware acceleration through the DirectSound HAL. Generally good Win9x game compatibility.
DOS programs are run in the NT Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM). Basic Sound Blaster 2.0 and MPU-401 support can be enabled by adding SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330 T3 to the autoexec.nt file. The virtual resources do not have to represent real hardware resources. The NTVDM emulation uses the default windows multimedia devices. Direct hardware access from within NTVDM is not possible.

== External Links ==
*[http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html Unofficial Win98 SE service pack with several tweaks and fixes]

Windows versions

2013-04-09T00:03:20Z

Enigma:

This is a list describing different Windows versions in terms of game compatibility.

'''Windows 3.x:''' 
'''Windows 95:''' 

'''Windows NT4:''' Windows NT4 uses a preemptive multitasking kernel and supports two CPUs and up to 4 GB RAM in the Workstation Professional version. The system is rather lightweight and requires only a 486DX2-66 and about 32 MB RAM, a Pentium system is recommended. After boot the whole Windows system uses just about 16 MB RAM. Windows NT4 has a higher stability as Windows 95.
It was released with DirectX2 and got support for DirectX3 with the latest servicepack 6a. The user interface is the same as in Windows 95 with some additional features from Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95. However it is possible to upgrade to the user interface known from Windows 98 by installing Internet Explorer 4 with Active Desktop.
Windows NT4 does not support Plug and Play and USB. This is usually no problem since drivers for PnP hardware bring their own configuration sheet and for mass storage USB devices third party software is available.

For gaming Direct3D from DirectX3 is supported. However most DirectX games with accelerated 3D graphics require at least DirectX5. Still, DirectX3 allows most 2D games that use DirectDraw to run (e.g. Starcraft, Diablo e.g.). Benchmarks show that due to the different driver architecture accelerated 2D graphics is a lot faster compared to Windows 95.
The OpenGL support from graphics card drivers for Windows NT4 is solid. Also the most important gaming 3D accelerator cards from 3dfx at this time have Glide support in Windows NT4. Thus most Glide compatible games work (e.g. Unreal engines, Quake engines).

Any 16 bit related code like DOS programs are run in a Virtual DOS machine (NTVDM). It supports 486 code. Direct hardware calls are not possible.

'''Windows 98:''' Best all-in-one operating system for DOS and Win9x gaming. Basically a much more refined continuation of Windows 95. Good DOS compatibility either by DOS window or rebooting into DOS. Emulates USB mouses and gamepads in DOS window as well. Has numerous features that Win95 got only with the OSR releases and which weren't present in its original release, such as support for P6 (Pentium Pro and up), FAT32, selection of IRQs, AGP, UDMA, USB and MMX. 
Furthermore, SSE and multiple monitor support is exclusive for Windows 98 and up. Windows 98 supports up to 512 MB RAM without tweaking, with tweaking up to 1 GB. 3rd party USB mass storage drivers, namely nusb33e, are only available for Windows 98 SE due to its newer USB stack, so this revision is by far preferable. 3rd party drivers are also available for ADSL connectivity (raspppoe). 
'''Windows 2000:''' 
'''Windows XP:''' Last OS from Microsoft so far to support game ports, MPU-401 ports, the IPX protocol, out of the box MIDI device selection and EAX 3D sound hardware acceleration through the DirectSound HAL. Generally good Win9x game compatibility.
DOS programs are run in the NT Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM). Basic Sound Blaster 2.0 and MPU-401 support can be enabled by adding SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330 T3 to the autoexec.nt file. The virtual resources do not have to represent real hardware resources. The NTVDM emulation uses the default windows multimedia devices. Direct hardware access is not possible.

== External Links ==
*[http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html Unofficial Win98 SE service pack with several tweaks and fixes]

Talk:Windows versions

2013-04-08T10:32:26Z

Enigma: Created page with "Please never write that something is best, like with Win98. Always write for which application. If you have a 386 system for vintage gaming, Windows 98 is definitely not the b..."

Please never write that something is best, like with Win98. Always write for which application. If you have a 386 system for vintage gaming, Windows 98 is definitely not the best because it wont even install.
You should also try to mention the drawbacks and disadvantages and f.e. Win98 has some.[[User:Enigma|Enigma]] ([[User talk:Enigma|talk]]) 20:32, 8 April 2013 (EST)

Talk:Socket 7 Builds

2013-04-05T11:39:29Z

2013-03-16T20:35:39Z

Enigma: /* Hardware description */

The EWS64 is a line of semi-professional ISA soundcards released by [[Terratec]] in 1997. They consist of a codec and the Dream SAM9407 synthesizer chip and are thus basically two soundcards on one PCB.

There are two different versions of the actual card: the EWS64L/XL/XXL and the EWS64S. The former are basically variants built around the same card and only differ in the type of the front panel delivered with the card (L: no front panel, XL: basic front panel, XXL: front panel with integrated MicrowaveXT synthesizer).

The latter EWS64S has a different, more simple card design and comes with a different codec chip. Both cards are PnP-compatible and can be configured by software.

== EWS64L/XL/XXL ==

[[File:EWS64XL.JPG|thumb|400px| ''EWS64 XL'']]
=== Hardware description ===
The codec is a CS4236B made by Crystal Semiconductors, featuring SBPro, OPL3 and Windows Sound System compatibility. The card's IN-1 and the CD/MIDI-DB analog-in is wired to the codec. The synthesizer is a Dream SAM9407 which has access to the onboard memory (2MB) and PS/2 SIMM module. Version 1.0 of the EWS64 also had an onboard ROM, which was removed for the 1.2 revision of the card. The IN-2 connector can also be wired to the SAM9407.

The card has two analog outputs: OUT-2 is permamently connected to the SAM9407. OUT-1, however, can either output the analog signal from the codec or the output from the SAM9407. In the former case, the synthesizers' signal is routed into the codec. In the latter case, the signal of the codec can be sent to the SAM9407 instead of the IN-2 signal.

The Dream chip also features an effects processor which can apply different (predefined) reverb and chorus effects to the SAM9407 input signals. If the codec sound is routed through the synthesizer, these effects also can be applied to this signal. The SAM9407 also provides a four-band equalizer, echo and pseudo-3D (Vspace) effects.

Using OUT-1 and OUT-2, the EWS64 also provides basic DirectSound3D compatibility, however, in 4-channel mode, the effects are unavailable. The EWS64 also has two independent MIDI ports (UART only). MIDI-1 is always connected to the SAM9407 chip, while MIDI-2 is connected to the daughterboard header in the front panel, or, if no daughterboard is connected, to the Gameport on the back of the card. Both MIDI ports can also be used by the 5-pin DIN connectors in the front panel.

=== Operating system support ===
The EWS64 is supported by the following operating systems: DOS, Windows 9x, Windows NT4, Windows 2000, Linux (via 3rd-party driver). OSs which have support for the CS4236 can drive the codec part only. The DOS and Windows drivers and tools can be downloaded from the Terratec FTP server.

Only the 1.2 revision can be used with Windows 2000 or XP.

==== DOS support ====
The EWS64 comes with a few DOS utilities:

* EWS64CFG.EXE: Is used to configure the IO/IRQ/DMA resources used by the card. The codec can also be disabled with this tool. EWS64CFG '''must''' be run under plain DOS (i.e. Not in a Win9x DOS box). This tool writes a default configuration to the internal EEPROM that is used for ISA-PnP initialization of the card. After changing resource settings the computer has to be cold booted (i.e. by pressing Reset).

* EWSINIT.EXE: This must be called on each boot as it initializes the codec and the SAM9407 according to the EEPROM settings. It loads the SAM9407s firmware and can load a single .94B sound set into the on-board RAM. It also sets up the mixer, card routing and effects using a .TTM file.

* FMON.EXE: Enables output from the codecs FM-Synth. The codecs FM-Synth uses the same mixer volume setting as the Dream SAM9407 wavetable in a typical routing configuration of the card for DOS games.

As the EWS64 has no dedicated DOS mixer application, all mixer settings are read from a configuration file (extension .TTM). The easiest way to create these mixer files is to use the Windows EWS64-Mixer to adjust the volumes as desired and then save the settings to a .TTM file. This file, in turn, can be passed to the DOS initialization tool.

Due to a (hardware?) bug, the codec tends to mute several of its input channels (such as the wavetable daughterboard / CD-in) when the SBPro part is used. In 2009 user Locutus from Vogons forum [http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?p=156857&highlight=#156857 reported a solution]. The bug can be overcome by doing a „post-initialization“ of the codec with the DOS mixer application from the original Crystal CX423X drivers. This program is usually called CS32MIX or CWDMIX, depending on the driver version and can also be used as DOS mixer application.

A typical default initialisation looks like this:

C:\EWS64\EWSINIT -F -V -B SOUNDSET.94B -M MIXER.TTM

C:\EWS64\FMON

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4

C:\EWS64\CS32MIX /M=15,15 /W=13,13 /L=0,0 /X=1 /F=7,7 /C=11,11 /I=L

where W denotes the digital part of the codec as SBPro and WSS, L is Line-In, F is FM-Synth and SAM9407 wavetable, C is the volume of the front module wavetable and I chooses the input. The BLASTER= settings should of course correspond to the resources set by EWSINIT that are shown with the -V switch.

[[example .TTM file for EWS64L/XL/XXL]]

==== Windows 9x support ====
The EWS64 Windows driver comes with several tools in order to control the EWS64:

* The EWS Control Panel controls the volume settings of the codec and the SAM9407 as well as the audio signal routing on the card.

* The FX panel is used for adjusting the effects processor. Echo, Equalizer, Reverb and Chorus settings can be changed here.

* The „Virtual Channels“ tool is used to control the individual hardware mixing channels. See

„Hardware Mixing“ section below.

* The Set Manager loads and removes sound sets to and from the cards' RAM.

There is also the 3rd-party application „EWS ProMix“ which combines the first three programs to one convenient application.

==== Control panel settings ====

[[File:EWScontrol.png|frameless|600px|EWS64XL Control Panel layout]]

The Control panel has several sections which control either volume levels or specific routing settings. Section A has all the volume sliders for the CS4236 codec. If the codec is disabled, these sliders do nothing. The slider SYN adjusts the volume of the SAM9407 if its output is routed into the codec. This is done when the switch D is set to „A“. When set to „B“, the synthesizer is directly connected to OUT-1 (section B left). The remaining input channel IN-2 of the SAM9407 can be switched with switch „C“ between the IN-2 connector on the cards' bracket (setting A), the digital input of the front panel (setting D) or the output signal from the codec mixer (setting M). The OUT-2 is always connected to the SAM9407.

The MIDI routing switch E controls which of the two MIDI ports of the card is connected to the game port on the back plate. The corresponding MIDI connectors in the front panel are disabled if the routing is active.

==== Hardware Mixing ====
As the SAM9407 also supports hardware mixing, the Windows driver allows for the use of 16 independent wave output devices which represent 2x16 channels of the synthesizer chip. The number of these virtual channels can be adjusted under Control Panel/System/Device Manager/Terratec Devices/EWS Synthesizer. Each of those channels has its own volume and effects control slider, accessible via the „Virtual Channels“ application. If the Reverb/Chorus sliders are set to zero, no effects are applied to the selected virtual channel, regardless of the settings in the FX panel.

==== Windows NT4 and 2000 support ====
TBD

==== Linux support ====
<nowiki>Although Terratec does not offer a driver for it, the EWS64 can be used under Linux as well. The codec is supported by the appropriate ALSA or OSS driver for Crystal CX423X chips. The Dream chip, however, needs a third-party driver from Gerd Rausch (see links below). Unfortunately, this driver has now been unmaintained for years and has several problems:</nowiki>

* Only kernels up to and including 2.4.x are supported.

* The control panel looks sort of „clumsy“ and requires profound knowledge of the inner working of the EWS64.

* Only EWS64L/XL hardware version 1.2 is supported.

The driver requires the firmware EWS64OS.BIN and a .94B sound bank in order to work. As it is a generic driver for all SAM9407-based cards, some of the elements in the control panel are non-functional or disabled.

When installed and configured successfully, the SAM9407 can be used as an audio output device via /dev/sam0_dsp and as a MIDI playback device via /dev/sam0_sequencer or (via MikMod) as a MOD player.

== EWS64S ==
=== Hardware description ===
[[File:EWS64S.JPG|thumb|400px| ''EWS64 S'']]

Despite the name and the use of the same synthesizer chip, the EWS64S is a completely different piece of hardware when compared with the L/XL/XXL counterpart. The main differences are the codec chip and the internal routing possibilities. The codec is an Analog Devices AD1816 which provides SBPro and OPL3 compatibility. It is, however, not WSS-compatible. The AD codec is wired permanently to the SAM9407 and can not be routed directly to the OUT-1. In addition, the codec cannot be disabled as on the L/XL/XXL variants.
The XL/XXL front panel is incompatible with the 64S. In order to get digital outputs, a small slot-mountable PCB called "DigitalXtension R" is needed. The EWS64S has no waveblaster header but a connector for Terratecs ActiveRadio extension.

=== OS support ===
The 64S needs a different set of drivers and applications from Terratec, the L/XL/XXL drivers do not work. Moreover, there are no NT4 or Windows 2000 drivers available for this card. The card is supported under Linux with Gerd Rauschs generic SAM9407 driver.

== External links ==
* [ftp://ftp.terratec.de/Audio/EWS/64XL Terratec FTP archive]
* [http://www.studio4all.de/htmle/welcomeewst.html Site dedicated to the EWS64]
* [http://sam9407.sourceforge.net Linux SAM9407 driver]

[[Category:Hardware]]
[[Category:Sound Cards]]