# How can I get a really old game to recognize my Sound Blaster?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-really-old-game-to-recognize-my-sound-blaster/59774>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 28, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-really-old-game-to-recognize-my-sound-blaster/59774 "2001-03-28T02:35:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-really-old-game-to-recognize-my-sound-blaster/59774/1 "2001-03-28T02:35:41Z")

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I have recently gotten some really old shareware games, Blake Stone and Rise of the Triad. They are from about 1995 and dont’ recgonize my Sound Blaster on my new(er) computer.

It wants to know what Port its in, what DPI or something, and what number of voices I want. Is there a way to find these things out?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-really-old-game-to-recognize-my-sound-blaster/59774/2 "2001-03-28T02:39:20Z")

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Oh, I just realized that 1995 is in no way “really old”. I even have old Hugo games(if you know what they are, you are very cool.) Anyway, I still want my answer regarding Soundblaster.

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**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-really-old-game-to-recognize-my-sound-blaster/59774/3 "2001-03-28T11:58:08Z")

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Go to Control Panel, System, Device Manager, and open the properties for your sound card.

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**Author:** ![Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeremy_s_Evil_Twin)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-really-old-game-to-recognize-my-sound-blaster/59774/4 "2001-03-28T14:13:34Z")

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For all intents and purposes, 1995 games are indeed “really old”. Win95/98 didn’t even exist then, and whatever sound card you are using probably didn’t exist then, either.

The default settings on most systems are PORT=220, IRQ=5, DMA=1, DPI(MIDI)=330. Selecting # of voices only chooses how many sounds to play at once, it has no effect on getting the sounds to play.

If that doesn’t work, check your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to make sure the proper settings are listed. It should look something like this:

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 E620 T6  
SET SOUND=C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\CTSND  
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0

Note that the 2nd line points to where your sound drivers are located, so it may be different on your machine. The first line is most important. A, I, D and P must match the settings as I gave above. I’m not sure what H, E & T mean…

Hope this helps…