[WriteLog] Two soundboards under W2K

[Dick Green]

Has anyone successfully configured two soundboards under Windows 2000 (or
any other operating system, for that matter?)

I decided to try two soundboards for two reasons: 1) Despite the use of
isolation transformers on all the inputs and outputs of the soundboard, the
built-in Yamaha chipset in my Dell puts *very* loud computer noise in the
mic line when Writelog uses it under Windows 2000. The computer noise pulses
in step with rig polling and movement of the mouse. Amazingly, the noise
does *not* exist when Writelog runs the exact same hardware under Windows
98, so it must be some mode that W2K drives on the soundboard but Win98 does
not. 2) It would be nice to direct Windows sounds to one soundboard and use
a second dedicated soundboard for Writelog (as suggested in the manual.)

I installed a Creative Soundblaster 16 as the second soundboard and found
that the mic noise was greatly reduced. It's still slightly audible if I
press PTT on the rig and don't speak, but I doubt anyone out there in radio
land will notice when I'm speaking or sending canned messages. This
soundboard seems like the solution to the noise problem.

Now for the two soundboard problem: Everything works fine if I disable the
Yamaha soundboard in the BIOS and just use the Soundblaster. But if I try to
run both soundboards, the mixer functions work only on the Yamaha chipset
and not on the Soundblaster. This is true for the default Windows mixer, the
Creative mixer that came with the Soundblaster, and Writelog's Sound Board
Mixer Control applet. All three of them support the Yamaha chipset just
fine. If I try to set the Windows mixer to the Soundblaster (it's listed as
a choice for preferred device), it says something's wrong with the board. If
I switch from the Yamaha chipset to the Soundblaster under the Creative
mixer, it becomes a thin line (i.e., no controls are displayed.) If I set
the soundboard index in writelog.ini to 0, the Writelog mixer applet uses
the Yamaha chipset and works fine. But if I set the soundboard index in
writelog.ini to 1, the controls do not function in the Writelog mixer
applet.

Note that if I set the soundboard index to 1 in writelog.ini, Writelog
correctly uses the Soundblaster. Trouble is, I can't set the mic gain and
output volume. I need a working mixer for that soundboard.

Does anyone have any idea what's happening here and whether there's a fix?

73, Dick WC1M