Sound Blaster AWE32 Configuration

Introduction

The AWE32 can be a pig to setup and work with your games. If you simply run the INSTALL utility and think you're done, you will probably soon realise it's just not that simple.

Other sound card manufacturers in the 90s followed Roland's suit and ensured their game/MIDI port fully supported the MPU-401 interface. Creative, for whatever reason, decided they wouldn't, so Creative Labs' cards do not have true hardware MPU-401 compatibility. They get around this pretty serious limitation by putting the compatibility layer into software, via the AWEUTIL.EXE driver.

AWEUTIL can use up to 44 KB of conventional memory, which as most DOS gamers know, is just absurd - many games will require close to 600 KB of free conventional memory for a game to run, and we have learned many tricks along the way to free up as much of this precious memory space as possible.

Another major limitation of AWEUTIL is that it will not work with any Protected Mode games (like Doom, which start using DOS4/GW).

After running INSTALL, you will see several new lines appear in your CONFIG.SYS file, such as:

DEVICE=C:\AWE32\DRV\SBCD.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220
DEVICE=C:\AWE32\DRV\CSP.SYS /UNIT=0 /BLASTER=A:220
DEVICE=C:\AWE32\DRV\CTSB16.SYS /UNIT=0 /BLASTER=A:220 I:5 D:1 H:5
DEVICE=C:\AWE32\DRV\CTMMSYS.SYS

and in AUTOEXEC.BAT, you will also have some new lines:

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
SET SOUND=C:\AWE32
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
C:\AWE32\DRV\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 /V /M:15
C:\AWE32\DIAGNOSE /S
C:\AWE32\AWEUTIL /R:50 /C:50 /EM:GM
C:\AWE32\SB16SET /P /Q

 

So let's dissect all of this, line by line...

SBCD.SYS is the CD-ROM device driver, so if you want to have access to your CD-ROM drive, this is necessary (though a smaller driver than this one may exist - this driver takes up 11 KB of memory).
CSP.SYS drives the onboard ASP/CSP chip, which I don't think was ever used by any DOS games, so we can win back 7 KB of memory by putting a REM in front of this line.
CTSB16.SYS, weighing in at a whopping 27 KB and is part of the required files necessary for AWE32 to function.
CTMMSYS.SYS uses up a further 10 KB, and is the mixer.

In AUTOEXEC.BAT, the first 3 lines are simply storing some environment variables for DOS programs to use.
The fourth line is the standard MS-DOS CD-ROM extension which gives your CD-ROM drive a drive letter and gives access to it. This, like SBCD.SYS is large, and there are definitely smaller versions of this program out there these days.
DIAGNOSE.EXE and SB16SET are not loaded into memory - they simply makes adjustments to the card's configuration and then unload.
AWEUTIL.EXE however, is loaded into memory (it's a TSR). It provides games and music applications with the ability to talk "MPU-401" to your card. At its largest size, which is when you set the /EM flag to '=GM' which puts it into 'General MIDI' mode, it takes up 44 KB of memory. '=MT32' will set it to use 'MT-32 patches', and '=GS' will set it to use 'Roland Sound Canvas GS patches'. You can also use the /C and /R flags to add chorus and reverb effects to FM synthesis, but these are really not worth it. running AWEUTIL /s will enable both effects and then unload from memory.

So in total, we have 87 KB of AWE32 drivers on top of 56 KB of CD-ROM drivers, making a total of 143 KB! I'm not sure what Creative Labs were thinking when they threw this out the door to the unsuspecting public. Without loading anything else like mouse drivers or disk caches, this leaves DOS with under 490 KB, and that assumes you load DOS high. Absolutely no DOS games will work with that little amount of conventional memory (most will have a minimum requirement of 550-580 KB).

So What is the Solution for Protected Mode Games?

If you absolutely need to run a protected mode game like Doom and want to still have General MIDI music, you need to comment out AWEUTIL and use a wavetable daughterboard connected to the card's wavetable header (yes, it's crazy right? the reason you bought the AWE32 was because it provided wavetable synthesis, and now you can't use it !). Incidentally, in the case of Doom, version 1.5 apparently does work with the AWE32 without AWEUTIL loaded.

As of August 2021, there is a replacement DOS extender (like DOS4/GW), called DOS32AWE. At the time of writing it's up to version 1.9. You must have AWEUTIL installed as a TSR for this to work - there is a Vogons thread that covers it here.

And For Non-Protected Mode Games?

There are John Miles (Miles Sound System) sound and music drivers for numerous games out there that will work directly with the AWE32 in protected mode without AWEUTIL loaded, so search for those online.

For non-protected mode games, you will need AWEUTIL to be loaded. Go through the usual steps to load as many drivers high as you can.

AWEUTIL, at least from AWE64 era onwards, did used to attempt to load itself high if it detected sufficient high memory for it to fit into, so maybe look for a later set of drivers that contain a later version of AWEUTIL.

MS-DOS's own MemMaker is a good start. Alternatively, try out Quarterdeck's QEMM or Qualitas' 386Max. These are excellent tools that will attempt to automatically 'fix' your startup files to free up as much conventional memory as possible.