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volkertb / ich2player

AC'97 DOS .wav player for the Intel ICHx (ICH through ICH7) and 440MX chipsets.
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A FreeDOS programer want a sound driver #1

Open juegosenlazaruscr opened 4 years ago

juegosenlazaruscr commented 4 years ago

From many years ago, I released a FreeDOS game each year without any sound. They have Windows and other system versions. You could see many of them on: ITCH.IO or My own WEB Actually only Bumpcars 2019 do not have DOS version. My last game is Whatisit?. but it is very simple (a JAM game), and do not need sound.
Well, I really want a sound driver or something similar on FreeDOS or FreePascal. My test with old units on FreePASCAL do not work actually, at least on my own tests. Allegro is working on Virtual Box, but I am using FreePASCAL, and I am having a lot of problems with communications with static, or obj libraries from FreePASCAL. My own test with assambler in go32v2 and FreePASCAL only work 8 bit wav on DosBOX for now, but not in FreeDOS in Virtual Box. I use FreePascal with go32v2 (it is the same extender than allegro on djgpp). I am studiyng about sound blaster programming from assembler with go32v2.

volkertb commented 4 years ago

If you wish to use a more high level driver model, you could consider the VBE/AI specification. The formal specification can be found on-line through some Googling. Even though it's an old specification for a DOS standard, I'm not sure if it's permitted to share that document without the consent of VESA. (Maybe it's okay, but we should ask them first, I think.) So in the mean time, just Google for for the PDF.

As for where to find actual VBE/AI drivers, you can find them bundled with the VBE/AI SDK, which you can download here:

The ZIP file contains drivers for a number of sound devices. (Along with the SDK itself, which might also be useful for you when you wish to add VBE/AI support to your DOS game.)

There are WAVE drivers for Sound Blaster (and compatibles), Pro Audio Spectrum and Disney Sound Source. There are MIDI drivers for OPL2 (Adlib and compatibles) and MPU-401.

Ultimately, I hope the FreeDOS project will adopt the VBE/AI specficiation and breathe new life into it in the form of drivers for more modern sound devices such as PCI(e) sound cards, ICHx AC'97, Intel HD Audio, and perhaps even USB audio.

Once you've loaded the appropriate drivers, you can access the API through int 10h, just like with regular VBE graphics calls.

I hope this helps in bringing sound support to your game and at the same time future-proofing it a little. :slightly_smiling_face:

juegosenlazaruscr commented 4 years ago

They are great news...! I am going to try and see... Thanks a lot... I was resigned for my next release at the end of 2020, without any sound on FreeDOS. I have a new hope... For now, I will try SoundBlaster emulation on Virtual Box. I guess VBE/AI will simplify a lot the life of future DOS programmers. If Sound Blaster works, I will study a more powerfull solution next year. Of course, I want my games run with sound on a only FreeDOS computer. Well, I could buy a SoundBlaster but... I am thinking on general users.