VOGONS User JazeFox has been hard at work with a project called Unisound. This allows old Plug & Play (PnP) sound cards to easily setup and initialize in DOS based computers without having to go through the hassle of tracking down specific drivers for those devices that may or may not still exist. Phil’s Computer Lab did a short video showcasing what this enabler can do, how it works and performs, as well as current compatibility, and future viability of this tool. Phil has a couple DOS setup scripts, config.sys and autoexec.bat to assist people who want to try Unisound on their own machines with all his convenient support offerings.
Plug & Play in the modern sense of computing is very much an after thought for many users as computers just more or less work when hardware is installed properly. However older technology during the advent of PnP was often fraught with compatibility issues during setup or Port and IRQ conflict issues with other pieces of hardware in the setup. While not a driver, this DOS Tool attempts to be an all in one type configuration and initializing of ISA slot sound card in DOS with hopefully little fuss.
Though this tool is still very much in development. It has promise and many PnP sound cards are supported and working at the time of this article. Giving these cards a chance to breath new life in to what some consider to be less desirable hardware models. Working with vintage and retro computers can be frustrating but its nice to see an active community of people still striving to make simple and working solutions available so that everyone can still enjoy these machines.
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