Can't get Soundblaster PCI512 working under WinNT4
Posted by 66659hi@reddit | retrobattlestations | View on Reddit | 9 comments
Hey -
I have been trying for AGES to get this Soundblaster card I have working under Windows NT4.
I have tried so many different drivers (see photos in my comment) and, while I can get the card to show up in "devices", NT4 still shows no playback devices.
I was able to get sound working with an old S3 Sonic Vibes card I have, but that card is mostly defective (lots of noise and distortion) so there isn't really much I could go at there.
As far as I can tell, this card is basically a Sound Blaster Live, but no drivers I find ANYWHERE will work. I'm just asking here to see if anyone has run into the same problems as me.
calculatetech@reddit
Is it an OEM variant? Sometimes those use special drivers. Dell was notorious for that.
VivienM7@reddit
I don't have any particular experience with this, but one thought that came to me - do you have the BIOS set to do all the IRQ/memory/etc allocations for this card? NT4 is not a plug & play OS...
66659hi@reddit (OP)
I was considering that, and that's why I tried my semi-broken S3 Sonic Vibes card. After installing the drivers for that, it pretty instantly worked...at least, as well as the card CAN work. I am on the verge of thinking that it's just not compatible with NT, even though there are all sorts of drivrers for NT for both the SB Live & the Soundblaster PCI512.
VivienM7@reddit
Hmm, I just did some googling, and the first thing I found was your post from 4 months ago...
66659hi@reddit (OP)
hehe yeah I've already asked about it once. I was asking again to see if I could get any more answers
VivienM7@reddit
I assume you've asked at other places e.g. VOGONS too?
From my 5 minutes of googling, I am inclined to agree with you - this should work...
66659hi@reddit (OP)
I downloaded from friggin' everywhere, including VOGONS, directly from Creative, the retroweb, various other sites. I downloaded all sorts of variants of drivers off VOGONs too. I don't have a VOGONS account, but maybe I should create one and ask there too.
VivienM7@reddit
Yes, there's a lot of expertise in those forums.
66659hi@reddit (OP)
https://imgur.com/a/Z3t1URh