Windows 98 DOS Games No Sound (Fixed!)

I felt nostalgic about installing a DOS game on my dated laptop because the majority of the current, sophisticated video games were readily available to me.

But there was no sound when I started playing my favorite DOS games, including panzer general, worms, digger, and shadow warrior!

And it took me all afternoon to search the internet for a solution to this problem.

This post will help you save a lot of time if you are having the same problem. In this article, I’ll go over everything you need to know about Windows 98 DOS games without sound and explain some potential fixes.

Now, without further ado, let’s begin.

Reasons Why Windows 98 Dos Games Output No Sound

The following reasons are that DOS games might not produce sounds in Windows 98:

• The PC does not have a sound blaster or other compatible sound card installed.
• The sound setup for DOS games is incorrect.
• It’s possible that the audio output device is not defaulted.
• There might not be MS-DOS drivers installed.

How To Resolve Windows 98 DOS Games No Sound?

Now let’s look at each of the causes, and I’ll show you how to fix them.

No Compatible Sound Card

If your PC doesn’t already have a compatible sound card (sound blaster), select either your sound card or the PC speaker in the game’s setup.

For better results, I advise purchasing a DosBox sound card. If the issue is with the sound card, it should undoubtedly be fixed.

Ms-DOS Drivers Not Installed For Sound Card

For your sound card to work in MS-DOS games, you must install the MS-DOS drivers.

If you are using an MS-DOS shortcut, a line in the autoexec.bat file should appear something like this: Alternately known as A220 I5 D1.

This line configures the sound card settings for the card in MS-DOS mode. Please take note that the figures could change based on your sound card and how your computer is set up.

It might be necessary to add a line to the config.sys file to load the sound card’s MS-DOS driver.
Consult your computer shop with your sound card or get in touch with the manufacturer for more information on configuring your sound card for MS-DOS.

DOS Games Sound Setup Is Not Configured Correctly

In most Dos games, you can run a sound configuration software to set up the sound. Often, it is simply named setup.exe and its only function is to configure the sound system.

Most likely, you need to execute it and select the appropriate options. The defaults are typically appropriate, but occasionally they are not. These are generally configured on DosBox to Soundblaster 1, Soundblaster 16, A 220, IRQ 7, DMA 1, and HDMA 5. Not all of those are necessary at all times.

To accomplish this, quit the game while DosBox is still open, then search within DosBox for a setup software to adjust the sound.

Accept the default options because they typically work. If not, you can play around with the choices.

Method 02

This is yet another fix I found for the silent DOS games on Windows 98. Since it was designed specifically for some specific games, it might not work for all DOS games.

Search for Multimedia in the device manager (Sound, Video, Game Controllers). A device should emulate the sound driver in the DOS environment for your sound card.

Second, check the AUTOEXEC.BAT file located in C:. You should see a line that looks something like this: SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1. The settings in the device you located in the device manager should match the Blaster line.
You should be able to configure your games to use sound if both are available.

Real-mode DOS drivers and support are still required for the APPS to play sound, even if you are not running them directly from DOS. The Windows 98 vxd drivers cannot be used with older games like Wolf3D.

The Audio Output Device May Not Be Set To Default

This is an all-encompassing problem that may not be unique to Windows 98 DOS games. However, it is crucial to correctly configure the audio output device.

If you are having trouble hearing the audio in the game, your audio output device may not be defaulted.
You’ll see a green checkmark on your default device. If your device doesn’t have a green check, choose “Set as default” from the context menu by right-clicking the device’s name.

Following are responses to a few frequently asked questions in forums:

A sound card on my laptop lacks native DOS support. How can I play games with sounds?

Assume you have a sound card without hardware SoundBlaster emulation and Windows 98. If so, you’re either using the subpar WDM-based emulator that came with Windows or the VxD-based emulator that is integrated with the sound card driver.

If you have WDM drivers installed, think about uninstalling them and installing VxD drivers in their place since the built-in Windows emulator is primarily useless.

The VxD drivers might not provide any emulation, though.

I advise against setting the BLASTER environment variable explicitly in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. When you open an MS-DOS window under Windows, the driver ought to automatically set this variable to the appropriate values.

The sound blaster emulation in my copy of Windows 98SE is functional. But there is no sound when playing DOS games. How do you solve it?
There could be a lot of causes for this problem. Here are some solutions to that; kindly try a variety of approaches rather than just one.

If you had distinct drivers for DOS, that would be helpful. The DOS and Windows versions of sound card drivers and software were included at the time.

If you restart Windows 98 in MS-DOS mode, you will be presented with a fully functional MS DOS environment with no windows running.

If not, Win98 runs in the background while a windowed or full-screen copy of the command is opened.

Bottom Line

No sound is a common problem in Windows 98 DOS games, but fixes can be complicated for some gadgets and games.

During my research, I came across many other trial-and-error fixes, but I didn’t think they were noteworthy enough to mention. But if none of the techniques described in the article seem to be working for you, let me know in the comments section, and I’ll review some additional methods.