How do I change the resources Windows assigns to my soundcard?
It used to be that I would reccomend that people who had trouble with BAM music ought to change the reources for their soundcard. However, this works so rarely on modern plug&play systems, that I do not reccomend it anymore. There are better ways to deal with BAM music problems, as you can read about here: Why doesn't BAM music work on my computer?
Anyway, as instructions on how to change resources might still be useful for a very small percentage of people, here they are:
To check what resources your sound card is using, right-click on "My Computer" and pick "Properties"
This will bring up the System control panel. Click on the second tab, the "Device Manager"
Inside your Device Manager, you will find a list of all of the devices in your computer.
Locate your sound card. The name will vary depending on your hardware, If you see a device with the words "FM" "OPL" "DOS" or "Legacy" in it then try that one first because it is probably specificly designed for FM DOS music support. If you dont see any of those words, look for something labeled "Sound System" or "Sound Blaster" or something like that. Like I say, it varys from card to card.
Select your sound card, and click the "Properties" button
The last tab in the sound card properties window will be the "Resources" tab. Click on it.
Your sound card should be using Interrupt Request 5 (IRQ 5), Direct Memory Access 1 (DMA 1), and several Input/Output Ranges (the really important one is the 0380-038B)
Look at the Input/output ranges. You should see 0220-022F and 0380-038B in there. If you do not, then that is why you cannot hear BAM music.
Your sound card is probably using "automatic configuration". Uncheck the automatic configuration box, so that you will be able to manually change the configuration.
Your sound card is probably using "Basic Configuration 0000". Look and see if any other basic configurations are available. Try out each configuration, and see if there is one that uses IRQ 5, DMA 1, and I/O ranges 0220-022F and 0380-038B (the really important one is the 0380-038B)
If you find a basic configuration that works, click OK, then click OK again, and windows will reboot. Everything should be happy then.
If there is not a basic configuration that has the correct settings, then double click on the resources, and try to change them yourself. It is possible that some other part of your computer is using the resources that your sound card needs, but if there is a conflict of this type, Windows will warn you, and of course, some cards wont let you tough resource settings at all :(
After you have changed the second I/O range to 0380-038B then click OK, OK again, and reboot
After you reboot, try out the sound and see if it works. If it does not, you might have to switch the I/O ranges around.
Manually changing resources can be intimidating for an inexperienced user. If you arent comfortable doing it, ask the help of a friend who has done it before
If something goes wrong, and things stop working right, dont panic. changing everything back to normal is easy. Reboot your computer, and press F8 the instant the "Windows" logo comes up. Then choose "Safe Mode". In Safe Mode, you can go back into your system control panel, back into the device manager, back into the properties for your sound card, and re-check the box that says "Use automatic settings"
Good luck, I hope that with this help, you will be able to get your sound card working with BAMs.
(By the Way, some sound cards use a smaller I/O range for the FM chip, and if this is the case for your sound card, then you will want 0388-038B instead of 0380-038B)
Bear in mind that some sound cards on some computers will not permit you to change the resources-- and for some sound cards (the best ones), it makes no difference what resources you use. If you have tried these steps, and your sound card still wont work, try contacting Tech-support for the manufacturer of your sound card and asking them for assitance in configuring the card for DOS games (If they need details, tell them what you are trying to use is OPL2 FM Music from real-mode DOS)