FreeDOS by itself doesn't include sound drivers because, in the DOS era, games communicated directly with the hardware. If you are getting no sound, it’s usually for one of two reasons: either your hardware is too modern for the game to "see" it, or your configuration files (the "Blaster" line) are missing. Here is how you could fix it depending on what you are using:
1. If you are on a Modern PC (Laptop/Desktop) Modern computers use AC97 or Intel HD Audio, which Space Ace doesn't understand. To bridge this gap, you need a specialised emulator called SBEMU. * What it does: It intercepts the game’s "Sound Blaster" calls and translates them for your modern audio chip. * How to set it up: * Download SBEMU (available on GitHub by author crazii). * Place the files in a folder like C:\SBEMU. * In your FDAUTO.BAT (the FreeDOS version of Autoexec.bat), add these lines: C:\SBEMU\JLOAD.EXE C:\SBEMU\QPIEMU.DLL C:\SBEMU\SBEMU.EXE * Restart FreeDOS. If successful, SBEMU will report that it has "found" a Sound Blaster at A220 I5 D1. 2. If you are on an Older PC (with a real Sound Blaster card) The hardware is there, but the game doesn't know where to look. You need to tell FreeDOS your card's "address." * Edit your FDAUTO.BAT file and add the following line: SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 T6 (Note: Use I7 if your card is older, or I5 for SB16 and later). * Run the Space Ace install or setup utility again and select Sound Blaster (or SB16) using those same numbers. 3. Check for the "JEMMEX" Conflict FreeDOS often loads a memory manager called JEMMEX. Sometimes this blocks sound card communication. If you still have silence: * Open FDCONFIG.SYS. * Find the line starting with DEVICE=JEMMEX.EXE. * Try adding NOEMS or SB to the end of it: DEVICE=C:\FREEDOS\BIN\JEMMEX.EXE NOEMS SB On Tue, 27 Jan 2026, 14:50 Franco Martelli via Freedos-user, < [email protected]> wrote: > On 26/01/26 at 21:12, Liam Proven via Freedos-user wrote: > >> my goal is to run the DOS game "Space Ace" > > > > Have you tried an emulation route with fewer intermediate steps? > > > > E.g. DOSbox? > > Yeah, in DOSBox works well, but I'd prefer to avoid DOSBox because I > would have an only virtualization environment: VirtualBox+FreeDOS on > Debian 13 Trixie. > I have also tried VirtualBox+MSDOS6.22 and the game works but with no > sound, I don't know why. > Any hint? > > -- > Franco Martelli > > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-user mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user >
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