Yes, I understand that many dislike Win98FE. My main intention was to see if anyone had ever heard of this issue before. Perhaps had made a system change, and experienced the issue occurrence. That way I might know the exact issue. Win98FE, as a blanket statement, is more broad of and answer then I was looking for; even if, undistilled, it is true.
To the letter, Microsoft says Win98FE's audio and WDM support is inferior. I would guess that the issue, I am/was having, is somehow related to WDM support not being complete enough. That and the fact that the DAW(s) themselves operate differently upon detecting the host O.S.. But these limitations are almost superficial.
I have parts/cases laying around, and appropriate era model laptops. However, this particular laptop is fanless. Since I am recording audio, in the same room as the laptop, this is important to me. Also, be it freakish as it may, I prefer Win98FE.
I could dual boot this machine with XP; but I have noticed enough performance difference (Sonar2.2XL/GuitarRig2) to stay on the 9x platform. I still have the option to use SE/ME. However, I endeavored to solve the issue anyway. And, I have.
I had forgotten to mention that the Sigmatel DX accelerated driver was from 2009; It is meant for XP/Vista/7. Note, that the Realtek Win98FE WDM driver also had the issue. The only WDM driver that did not, was Win98FE's own USB audio driver. The 2009 Sigmatel driver is enabled to function, in Win9x, via Rloew's WDMEX. But this hasn't prevented the solution. I also have improved USB audio.
First off, ASIO4ALL is not supposed to work with Win98FE, anyway. But, it does. The main issue is USB. ASIO4ALL can not handle the use of input and output, simultaneously, over Win98FE USB. According to the driver's author, it isn't supposed work on Win98FE, at all. I imagine the author just didn't want to deal with cries for support, had he listed Win98FE as supported. I am using ASIO4ALL version 2.14. That is the last one that will work.
For the internal AC97 Sigmatel device, with the NT based driver, I am able to use ASIO4All fine. With Sonar2.2XL and FL Studio 5, I must set KernelEx to run the application(s) .exe in XP compatibility mode. But the option "Don't use these settings in child processes" needs to be checked. This seems to also work, in a handful of other applications. Some variations may need to be discovered.
I didn't have complete success with Orion 7. The DirectX plugin issue was solved. Audio output was great, but no input. I have also had problems getting Orion 7's input to work, in correct environments.
The USB audio device is more useful, then the internal AC97. It is a Behringer Xenyx Q502USB. Worst case scenario, I ran the AC97 in/out to the Q502's RCA in/out. Then I could use it as an Anolog mixer/preamp. I was fortunate, however, and Ploytec's ASIO USB driver (ver 2.2.3) works with the Q502. With that driver, I have both in/out ASIO (simaltaneous). Without the workaround, it also causes the DirectX plugin issue.
On the way to getting things working, I also discovered that ASIO2K works on Win98FE (WDM drivers only). It is meant to work on Win2k and XP. I tried two versions, Behringer ASIO2KS 1.-01 and ASIO2KS 0.90-2 Beta. Both worked, but the latency was not as low, as I have now.
Depending on resolution, I am getting between 7 and 11ms latency.
The work around also allows Sonar to use it's internal WDM/KS, with Win98FE. But the latency was still higher than I have now.
This is still no professional rig, by any standards. I am still capped at 48000khz and 16bits. Until I can fork out the cash, for a $150-600 piece of excellent legacy gear (Win98FE compatible and VxD), this will have to do. Even then I'll be capped at 96000khz and 24bits; plenty enough for me.
Thanks for the suggestions and input. I knew that this had a high improbability of resolution. But, sometimes fate favors the mad.
