ES1887 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver
Version 1.03
Software Release Notes
September 16, 1996
About This Release
ESS Technology is providing updated OS/2 drivers for the
ES1887/ES1888 AudioDrive chips in this Software Release. These
drivers are complete updates to prior ESS releases for OS/2
Warp 3.0.
This document provides:
- a description of the changes to the drivers
- installation notes
Please read this document completely before you upgrade your
system, and follow the instructions carefully.
Release Information
Product: ES1887 AudioDrive OS/2 Device Driver,
Version 1.03
Drivers: ES1887/ES1888 (with ESFM and wavetable)
OS: OS/2 Warp 3.0
Release Date: September 16, 1996
Release Description
The ES1887 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver Software Release incorporates
new changes done to the previous release, Version 1.02.
Version 1.03 Changes
BIOS audio volume control support
The driver checks the master volume before changing it in case
the BIOS or other application has modified it.
ES1888 AudioDrive support
The ES1887 AudioDrive OS/2 driver can be used for ES1888
AudioDrive.
Known Problems
1. Opening too many MIDI files makes the OS/2 system unstable.
This problem is related to MMPM/2 and depends on system
resource. On systems with 8 Mbs memory, the limit is 3;
16 Mbs, 6.
2. Tempo in MIDI files may not be 100% accurate due to timing
delay and MMPM/2 architecture.
3. Running MCI commands "seek wave to #" and then "play wave" to
a 16-bit wave file sometimes generates very loud static
noise. Likewise using "record wave from #" to record a
16-bit wave file may generate wrong file. It all depends on
the seek position.
4. To be able to play and record wave files at the same time,
the enforcement of only one active wave file by MMPM/2 is
relaxed. Therefore, some problems or erratic behaviors may
pop up if two wave files are played.
5. The OS/2 driver allows sharing of audio and MPU-401
interrupts, but it is not recommended. If both are shared,
occasionally too much MIDI in data will lock up AudioDrive's
interrupt processing when a wave file is played or recorded.
To get out of this situation, stop the wave file, stop the
MIDI in source, close all MIDI files, and restart the wave
file to re-initialize AudioDrive's interrupt processing.
6. Due to the nature of MIDI music, turning MIDI in on while the
MIDI in data are coming may not generate the right sounds.
It is recommended to stop the MIDI in source first before
enable MIDI in.
Installation Notes
To install the new drivers successfully the following steps must
be taken:
1. Open an OS/2 Window and run the EINSTALL.EXE program on the
installation disk by typing "A:EINSTALL." The program first
runs ESDETECT.EXE to auto-detect the chip, then calls
ESUNINST.EXE to remove old drivers. That program will create
a backup of CONFIG.SYS named CONFIG.ESS and remove the audio
device lines from CONFIG.SYS. It also creates a backup of
MMPM2.INI named MMPM2.ESS and removes the audio drivers
information from MMPM2.INI. In addition, it removes any
other ESS driver information in COMPLIST.INI. After then,
the installation program calls Multimedia Application Install
program, MINSTALL.EXE.
2. When Multimedia Application Install program brings up, a
check mark beside ES1887 AudioDrive means that item is
already selected. To toggle selection, click the mouse on
the item. If WinOS2 is installed in the system, you can
select WinOS2/Windows Audio support also. If not, make sure
that item is not checked. Click the Install button to start
the installation. Once the drivers are installed, shutdown
OS/2 and reset the computer for the new ES1887 drivers to
take effect.
3. If the installation cannot be completed, read the logs
EINSTALL.LOG in MMOS2INSTALL subdirectory and MINSTALL.LOG
in MMOS2INSTALL subdirectory or root directory to find out
the problem.
4. Since this version of MINSTALL.EXE changes the icons of MIDI
player and Digital Video player to that of Digital Audio
player in the Multimedia folder, you may want to change them
back to the originals. To change the icon of MIDI player,
right click MIDI player to bring up the menu. Select
Settings, select General, and click the Find... button. In
the Start Folder window, enter MMOS2INSTALL. Click the
Find button and a window of all found icons appears. Select
MIDIPLAY.ICO and click OK. Close the MIDI player Settings
notebook. For Digital Video player, repeat the above steps
but select VIDPLAY.ICO instead.
5. If the MIDI plays are not smooth in WinOS2, you need to
change the timer resolution. Edit SYSTEM.INI in your Windows
directory. Under [timer.drv] are TIMERMax386Res and
TIMERMax286Res. You need to change the values to less than 8
from the default of 10.
These are the files copied to your hard disk:
MMOS2
ES1887DD.SYS
VAUDDRV.SYS
ESDAEMON.EXE
ES938.EXE
MMOS2DLL
CARDINFO.DLL
ESSVSD88.DLL
WININST.DLL
WINRES.DLL
MMOS2HELP
ES1887IN.HLP
ES1888IN.HLP
OS2BOOT
CLOCK01.SYS
CLOCK02.SYS
TIMER0.SYS
WINDOWS
AUDDRIVE.HLP
AUDMPU.HLP
WINDOWSSYSTEM
AUDMPU.DRV
ES1887WN.386
ES1887WN.DRV
MIDIMAP.CFG
MSMIXMGR.DLL