are you using the latest drivers? if you use the collection CD I released, it will have all of the latest driver updates included

I used the driver CD here: http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=9 originally upped by RG100.

I'll download your compilation and see if it makes a difference.

Can you tell me how it's supposed to work? (The AWE64 I mean! 😀)

SquallStrife wrote:

if I choose "General MIDI" in a DOS game and specify port 330, I hear the music played with the selected SoundFont.

But if I choose "SoundBlaster AWE32" and specify the AWE and MIDI ports, I hear the music as if it were played using the on-board sample ROM... that doesn't seem right to me.

That is how it is supposed to be.

Native SoundblasterAWE game support will load up the default sound presets for the 1MB ROM to the card.

General Midi can only be emulated, and in windows the emulation can use soundfonts.

I can also assure you that this is completely normal! AWE32 will load from ROM (1MB) and General Midi will load from RAM.

SquallStrife wrote:

The next game I tried was Duke Nukem 3D. The music was very broken, notes that should have been sustained weren't, and notes were missing.

I experienced this exact same issue on a SoundBlaster 32 PnP CT3600, which makes me wonder if either the Windows drivers for the AWE32/AWE64 are crap or the AWE support in Duke Nukem 3D is buggy. Have you tried running Duke Nukem 3D in pure DOS with your AWE64 Gold? If you haven't, try it to see if the music is broken under DOS as well.

I've had similar problems with my AWE 64 Gold and Duke Nukem 3D. I'm not sure if I was running it through Windows or DOS ... 🙁

Thanks for the answers guys! Very re-assuring! 😀

Ace wrote:

I experienced this exact same issue on a SoundBlaster 32 PnP CT3600, which makes me wonder if either the Windows drivers for the AWE32/AWE64 are crap or the AWE support in Duke Nukem 3D is buggy. Have you tried running Duke Nukem 3D in pure DOS with your AWE64 Gold? If you haven't, try it to see if the music is broken under DOS as well.

I kind of assumed dodgy drivers too, but when I loaded the "General MIDI" soundfont through the Synth tab, the problem corrected itself, and it's been fine since, seemingly despite the SoundFont settings having nothing to do with the "native" AWE32 support... 😖

Even my SoundBlaster AWE64 CT4520 has the same problem with Duke Nukem 3D under Windows 95 and Windows 98. I still need to check under DOS if AWE sound cards have problems with Duke Nukem 3D. Problem is: every SoundBlaster AWE sound card I use works once, then the next time I use AWE synth, the EMU8000 produces a MASSIVE amount of garbage instead which doesn't go away until the computer is restarted.

SquallStrife wrote:

I kind of assumed dodgy drivers too, but when I loaded the "General MIDI" soundfont through the Synth tab, the problem corrected itself, and it's been fine since, seemingly despite the SoundFont settings having nothing to do with the "native" AWE32 support... 😖

Thing is, when you're doing this, you're simply using the exact same soundfont built into the ROM. If you notice when you use the default General MIDI soundfont on any AWE card, none of the RAM is used. This is because the card is taking the instruments straight from the ROM. Using General MIDI instead of proper AWE synth usually results in different instrumentation. It's more apparent in X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM edition, but it's much less noticeable in Duke Nukem 3D.

Ace wrote:

Thing is, when you're doing this, you're simply using the exact same soundfont built into the ROM. If you notice when you use the default General MIDI soundfont on any AWE card, none of the RAM is used.

For using the ROM soundbank it requires the corresponding presets to be resident in system memory. About 42kB. These presets are included with games that support the AWE.

I can confirm the AWE synth issues with Duke Nukem 3D are caused by the Windows drivers for the AWE32 and AWE64. Under DOS, there aren't any missing notes like under Windows.

Ace wrote:

Thing is, when you're doing this, you're simply using the exact same soundfont built into the ROM. If you notice when you use the default General MIDI soundfont on any AWE card, none of the RAM is used. This is because the card is taking the instruments straight from the ROM. Using General MIDI instead of proper AWE synth usually results in different instrumentation. It's more apparent in X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM edition, but it's much less noticeable in Duke Nukem 3D.

I get that.

I just don't understand why loading a RAM SoundFont inexplicably makes the ROM SoundFont start working!

And it seems like it's a driver quirk, since you don't get that behaviour in pure DOS.

SquallStrife wrote:

I just don't understand why loading a RAM SoundFont inexplicably makes the ROM SoundFont start working!

I assume it's because of the soundfont simulating General MIDI rather than using straight-up AWE synth through port 620. It's really weird.

Well, if you haven't loaded anything in the RAM, it's going to load the ROM instead. It's like that in DOS too if you use AWEUTIL.

AWEUTIL requires the GM or MT32 Preset soundbank to be present.
As for Win9x, I could imagine using native AWE drivers in a game in a DOS window, while the windows driver emulates GM on port 330h could be problematic.

Have you guys had problems with AWEUTIL where the first time you use AWE synth, the sound is perfect, but the next time AWE synth is used, it comes out as a massive mess of garbage until you restart your computer? I can't seem to figure out why my SoundBlaster 32 PnP CT3600 and SoundBlaster AWE64 CT4520 do this(my SoundBlaster AWE64 CT4500 used to do the same thing before it died). I have this same problem under Windows as well, but under Windows, the garbage stops as soon as you exit the DOS program you're using.

Afaik AWEUTIL as TSR is just for realmode GM emulation nothing more.

If you use the native AWE Synth I would recommend to unload AWEUTIL always.

AWEUTIL in windows should complain, if not the NMI hook will screw up your system for sure.

I'm experiencing the same issue on a retro gaming rig I just built. Did anyone ever figure out the cause of this?

It's probably the drivers like the others said. This particular flaw is fixed by running in DOS, but Creative cards have even more problems with Build games, see here. I had some varying music in DN3D and SW even with a SC-55ST hooked up to a CT4520 where you just wouldn't hear any music with SFX set to higher frequencies...

I forgot that I found another solution to this: starting a MIDI file just before running the game. Really a pain, but it works... Maybe this will help running Build games under W9x with AWE synth until a real solution is found (if ever) 😀