Gahhhrrrlic wrote:

The video I watched on Phil's Computer Lab showcased the 0100 and he seemed to think that one was ok. Are there any better models? Since he had a 0060 for reference, why didn't he use that one if it's part of the Platinum series?

Please don't search logic in each step of Phil's actions. He took an SB0100 for his tests because it's just latest model (except "Dell" 0220). He could choose any other model with proper driver and nothing would change in practise. There aren't "best" and "worst" Lives, they all have a same DSP with a same features. CTXXXX are all 4.0 (centre and LFE are blocked in EEPROM), SBXXXX are all 5.1.

Phil knows about Live! no more and no less than you.

Ok ,so it's my turn.
As often happens, inspirated from the Phil's works and videos, I decided to put a Sound Blaster Live! SB0100 in my retro system, to play games on Windows 98SE and in the DOS mode, expecially cause he found it largely compatible with lot of games.
I downloaded the drivers that he suggest, on Windows 98SE I cannot install VXE drivers cause after the installation and I have to reboot Windows 98SE want to put from the Windows CD the WDM drivers over it. I don't know why.
And I have another trouble: when I start the DOS command "liveinit" to initialize my sound card, it returns me the error: could not configure the PCI port.

Someone have idea how to resolve these problems? I just want to make it work correctly and enjoy some old games as they have to be enjoyed.

Thanks a lot.

Loris

biessea wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:20:

And I have another trouble: when I start the DOS command "liveinit" to initialize my sound card, it returns me the error: could not configure the PCI port.

You will have to be more specific about what retro system you are referring to. It is well-established at this point that the PCI Sound Blaster drivers require specific motherboard features that started disappearing around when the Pentium 4 was introduced. Fortunately many games will still work just fine from an MS-DOS prompt while Win9x is running.

biessea wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:20:

I just want to make it work correctly and enjoy some old games as they have to be enjoyed.

The DOS MIDI support for the SB Live cards is highly questionable. This has also been covered in other threads.

biessea wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:20:

I just want to make it work correctly and enjoy some old games as they have to be enjoyed.

Try my guide.

Using that approach, you get support for loading soundfonts which can be used for General MIDI music in DOS games as long as they run under the Win9x MS-DOS prompt.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2020-10-20, 17:10:

biessea wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:20:

I just want to make it work correctly and enjoy some old games as they have to be enjoyed.

Try my guide.

Using that approach, you get support for loading soundfonts which can be used for General MIDI music in DOS games as long as they run under the Win9x MS-DOS prompt.

Jorpho wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:51:

You will have to be more specific about what retro system you are referring to. It is well-established at this point that the PC […]
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biessea wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:20:

And I have another trouble: when I start the DOS command "liveinit" to initialize my sound card, it returns me the error: could not configure the PCI port.

You will have to be more specific about what retro system you are referring to. It is well-established at this point that the PCI Sound Blaster drivers require specific motherboard features that started disappearing around when the Pentium 4 was introduced. Fortunately many games will still work just fine from an MS-DOS prompt while Win9x is running.

biessea wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:20:

I just want to make it work correctly and enjoy some old games as they have to be enjoyed.

The DOS MIDI support for the SB Live cards is highly questionable. This has also been covered in other threads.

Thanks a lot, I am more specific for this retro-gaming system:

Pentium 3 Coppermine 1.0Ghz
Asus CUV266 Socket 370
512MB RAM PC2100
Sound Blaster Live! SB0100
ATi Radeon 9800PRO 128MB

Thanks a lot.

I will follow the guide of Joseph, for sure. I will let you know.

Thanks another time to help me.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2020-10-20, 17:10:

biessea wrote on 2020-10-20, 16:20:

I just want to make it work correctly and enjoy some old games as they have to be enjoyed.

Try my guide.

Using that approach, you get support for loading soundfonts which can be used for General MIDI music in DOS games as long as they run under the Win9x MS-DOS prompt.

I just follow your guide and it's seems to be ok, but... If I want to install the Creative nice software for Windows 98 without obviously overwrite the VXD drivers that I have just installed following your guide?

I really like to have the nice equalizer in Windows that can sounds better my card.

biessea wrote on 2020-10-22, 09:29:

I just follow your guide and it's seems to be ok, but... If I want to install the Creative nice software for Windows 98 without obviously overwrite the VXD drivers that I have just installed following your guide?

I really like to have the nice equalizer in Windows that can sounds better my card.

I don't think any software from the Live driver CD will work with the Audigy2 ZS drivers that I use in my guide.

You could try manually installing the Audigy2 ZS version of that software from its driver CD, but I have never tested that myself.

I thought I would chime in to mention that I have just installed my CT4830 with a CT4660 bracket and am using digital audio out under Windows 98 SE with VXD drivers (Sound Blaster Retail Disc (SB0100 (5.1) & CT4780) from vogonsdrivers) with no issues .

I did add the CT4830's PCI device ID to the VXD driver's INF, installed the VXD driver manually and renamed the WDM driver's folder to avoid having the installer load it by default (the WDM driver has the CT4830's PCI device ID, but the VXD one does not).

@darry: Does changing the INF-file also enable 5.1 on your CT-model Live! card?

villeneuve wrote on 2020-10-29, 14:21:

@darry: Does changing the INF-file also enable 5.1 on your CT-model Live! card?

@villeneuve

5.1 can mean one of several things, including, but not limited to, the following scenarios :

a) 5.1 channels of AC3 (Dolby Digital) or DTS pre-compressed digital audio (like from a DVD being played) sent through a single S/PDIF output
b) 5.1 channels of live digital audio (like from a game) routed through DACs to 6 analogue outputs (usually in the form of 3 stereo 3.5mm TRS sockets).
c) 5.1 channels of AC3 (Dolby Digital) or DTS pre-compressed digital audio (like from a DVD being played) being decoded to PCM and then output through DACs to 6 analogue outputs (usually in the form of 3 stereo 3.5mm TRS sockets).
d) 5.1 channels of AC3 (Dolby Digital) or DTS pre-compressed digital audio (like from a DVD being played) being decoded to PCM and routed to multiple S/PDIF outputs .
e) 5.1 channels of live digital audio (like from a game) sent as digital signals through 3 S/PDIF outputs

AFAIK, a) should be possible on any Live! card with an exposed S/PDIF output (on a live! drive, a breakout board like the CT4660 or by connecting to to proper pins on AUD_EXT header) and any official driver set .
Scenarios b) and c) are not possible on a CT4830, AFAIK, at the very least because it does not have enough physical DACs .

AFAIK, scenario d) requires an EEPROM modification like the one described here http://ixbtlabs.com/articles/livetolive51/index.html . This may also allow scenario c) to work using an external DAC .

I would guess that scenario e) would also require an EEPROM modification .

I have never used multi-channel audio on a Live! card beyond scenario a) (a very long time ago) as I usually play games with stereo headphones .

EDIT : So to answer your question more directly, I do not believe that INF modding will change anything as to 5.1 support (or lack thereof), but I could be wrong .

Thank you *very* much for your detailed answer. My question could've been a bit more pointy to get the information I needed, though your all-encompassing answer could be very helpful for anyone coming across this thread in the future 😀

To sumarize what I basically wanted to know: an INF-file modification isn't a known work around to avoid the need of en EEPROM modification. It's great that you also posted that link about the EEPROM modification, since I didn't even know somebody had ever actually tried. I'm gonna read through it now.

My usecase is still the same like it was in 1999: output the DS3D/EAX gaming sound digitally via the Digital-DIN output connector (3x SPDIF). While I do this for many years with later Creative soundcards I'm still angry about Creative advertising 5.1 and even 7.1 output via Digital-DIN on the box of my original Sound Blaster Live! CT4620 I got in 1998 when in fact Creative artificially limited that to 4.1 or 4.0 (not sure) only to release dedicated 5.1 Live! models later on. Though I still absolutely loved the card despite that and still own it.

Greetings to everyone.

I own the CT4620 with the CT4660 board which a friend of mine had donated it to me four years ago and it's installed on my DOS / Windows 9x 3Dfx build.

Recently I bought the CT4760 with Live Drive II the CT4860 and the Digital DIN header bracket. This one is the 5.1, or 4.1 like the other? They have the same specifications?

JSO wrote on 2021-06-14, 17:36:

Greetings to everyone.

I own the CT4620 with the CT4660 board which a friend of mine had donated it to me four years ago and it's installed on my DOS / Windows 9x 3Dfx build.

Recently I bought the CT4760 with Live Drive II the CT4860 and the Digital DIN header bracket. This one is the 5.1, or 4.1 like the other? They have the same specifications?

The CT4760 is 4.1 just like its predecessor the CT4620, it wasn't until the Live! 5.1 series (SB0060 and later) that 5.1 was added.

In terms of functions, they should basically be the same (such as EAX 1-2, SoundFont hardware MIDI, etc), its mostly minor differences like some of the brackets having an IR remote, the size of the MIDI In/Out ports on the bracket (some may need an adapter to convert them to full-size MIDI DIN connectors). The software and drivers are a bit newer though (Liveware 3.0 on the CT4760 and later vs Liveware 1.0 and 2.0 on the CT4620).

Hm, I ran Liveware 3.0 back then on my CT4720 as well. And with that it was made EAX 3 compatible, too.

Is the Live! Drive IR (SB0010) compatible with the CT4760 or the CT4620?

Also which remote control is the best for Live! Drive IR and Audigy Drive IR?