IBM 5150 won't boot with sound card

[modernclassic]

I just bought a CT2910 Sound Blaster 16 for my 5150, mainly for the joystick port but figured I'd have fun poking around with the few SB-compatible games I could run on it too. This is a 16 bit ISA card but does normally work in 8 bit slots based on posts I've read from others here. I've checked and double checked all the jumper settings.

When I turn on my PC, the card audibly "clicks" and then I either get immediate continuous long beeps from the PC, or I get nothing for 30 seconds or so (not even blinking cursor), then the same continuous beeps. I've checked the POST error codes and there's nothing about continuous long beeps. When the beeps start, whether immediately or after 30 seconds, I hear the card click again simultaneously.

If I take the card out, the PC boots fine.

Does this sound like anything obvious? I mean, more specific than "sounds like the problem's the sound card!" I thought maybe an IRQ conflict with the IDE controller that can't be disabled, but I tried setting the jumper for IRQ 10 through 15 and no setting made any difference.

Thanks...

 

[Malc]

The 5150 has a limited IO port range available for add on cards, Some are reserved and can't be used by add on cards, I've never tried a 16-bit sound card in my 5150 but i suspect the 5150 is not a good candidate for one, Also when a 16-bit card is said to be 8-bit slot compatible sometimes it means an 8-bit slot in an AT PC., Lots of info on minuszerodegrees.net

 

[modernclassic]

The CT2910 almost definitely does work in an XT (there are people who say they're using it here and elsewhere, which is why I bought it), but I'm not sure about the original PC. I know the XT has 3 more slots but are there more meaningful differences to the bus beyond that? I always thought add-on cards themselves were interchangeable between the two machines. My PC does have the last BIOS update.

I believe it's more likely that there's either something wrong with the card, my PC's motherboard or the settings on the card, but I don't know where to look from here. If it's a cap or something, I can replace it, but I just don't want to go on a wild goose chase doing a full recap of the card if that's not the problem. Nothing *looks* out of the ordinary.

 

[Stone]

The CT2910 almost definitely does work in an XT (there are people who say they're using it here and elsewhere, which is why I bought it), but I'm not sure about the original PC. I know the XT has 3 more slots but are there more meaningful differences to the bus beyond that? I always thought add-on cards themselves were interchangeable between the two machines. My PC does have the last BIOS update.

I have a 16-bit VGA card that runs fine in my XT but does nothing in my PC. What does that tell you?

 

[Malc]

The CT2910 almost definitely does work in an XT (there are people who say they're using it here and elsewhere, which is why I bought it), but I'm not sure about the original PC. I know the XT has 3 more slots but are there more meaningful differences to the bus beyond that? I always thought add-on cards themselves were interchangeable between the two machines. My PC does have the last BIOS update.

I believe it's more likely that there's either something wrong with the card, my PC's motherboard or the settings on the card, but I don't know where to look from here. If it's a cap or something, I can replace it, but I just don't want to go on a wild goose chase doing a full recap of the card if that's not the problem. Nothing *looks* out of the ordinary.

There's a bit of difference between the 5150 and 5160 motherboards, IBM 5160 - Significant Motherboard Differences to the IBM 5150
I'd check the soundcard in an AT first to make sure it works, Some 16-bit cards that are known to work in the 5160 do not work in the 5150,

 

[SomeGuy]

Well, I know you don't want to hear it, but the first thing I would do is verify that the card is functional in another computer.

Off hand, I would expect a 5150 to at least power up, even if it turned out there was still a compatiblity problem.

Are you sure that adding this card is not putting your power supply just over its limit? You don't say what else is installed in your system.

The IDE portion clearly will not function, as it requires IRQs that are only available on an AT 16-bit slot. You might try changing the "IDE port selection" jumpers. Ideally you would disable it, but I see there is no option. Still, as long as the port addresses don't conflict, there should not be an issue.

 

[Trixter]

The SB16 comes out of the box jumpered for IRQ 5, IIRC, but the IBM PC/XT range has hard drives on IRQ 5, so you must not use IRQ 5 and instead set your SB16 to something that would never occur while playing audio. Printing is IRQ 7, so most people set to that and that works ok as long as you're not trying to print during gameplay. 8-bit Sound Blasters have an option of IRQ 2 which is great since it doesn't conflict with anything, but a SB16 won't have that option since IRQ 2 on 16-bit systems is a cascade to IRQ 9 so it's not a valid choice on a card meant for 16-bit systems.

First, verify the board works in a different system. If it does, set it to IRQ 7, port 220, and both low and high DMA channels to 1. I believe that's been tested working in an XT.

 

[modernclassic]

First, verify the board works in a different system. If it does, set it to IRQ 7, port 220, and both low and high DMA channels to 1. I believe that's been tested working in an XT.

Ok. This is actually a lot easier than verifying it in a different system so I'll try this first.

The only other systems I currently have to test it in are a Tandy 1000 RL, which is just a total wild card, and a much later Windows XP system that happens to still have one shared ISA/PCI slot, but it's barely functional right now. So I'm not sure if either of those systems would tell me much.

I'm 99% sure the power supply is not the problem - this card is replacing a Hard Card. I'd be shocked if the SB draws more power. (I suppose it's possible, but doesn't seem likely at all.)