Why does the sound in Zentris come from inside of my computer, instead of through my computer's speakers?

Answer

When Zentris for DOS was written, back in 1990, “sound cards” and external speakers were very uncommon on computers. Every computer did, however, come with an internal speaker. The industry had not yet settled down on one standard for sound cards and external sound. Thus it was the internal PC speaker that Zentris for DOS (and most other games of this era) used to generate sounds.

All of our later games do support sound cards directly, and thus with those games sounds will be heard through your external speakers if you have an appropriate sound card.

Workaround

With most sound cards, it is actually possible to route sounds that were intended for your PC’s internal speaker to your sound card instead, and thus to your external speakers.

To do this, you need to construct a cable that runs from the PC Speaker Output on your motherboard to the PC Speaker Input on your sound card, and then install this cable. In some cases, you may also need to add a resistor across this cable in order to properly simulate the PC Speaker and avoid destroying your motherboard and/or sound card. (For that reason, we cannot recommend doing this.)

For more information, and for specific instructions for your situation, you must consult the owner’s manual for your sound card and your motherboard, and contact the manufacturers directly if you have any questions or would like to buy an appropriate cable pre-assembled. (Please note that we are not able to help you in modifying your computer in this way.)

Last Reviewed

This article was last reviewed on 25 May 2002.

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