ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver

                         ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver

                                 Version 2.10

                            Software Release Notes

                               March 19, 1997

        About This Release

        ESS Technology is providing new OS/2 drivers for the

        ES1869 AudioDrive chip in this Software Release.

        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:        ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Device Driver,

                        Version 2.10

        Drivers:        ES1869 (with ESFM and wavetable)

        OS:             OS/2 Warp 4.0 and OS/2 Warp 3.0

        Release Date:   March 19, 1997

        Release Description

        The ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver Software Release incorporates

        new features such as 3D Spatializer available in ES1869

        AudioDrive chip.

        Known Problems

        1. For OS/2 Warp 3.0, 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. For OS/2 Warp 3.0, 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.  After it finishes, another program,

           ESCONFIG.EXE, will be called to update CONFIG.SYS if

           necessary.

        2. When Multimedia Application Install program brings up, a

           check mark beside ES1869 AudioDrive means that item is

           already selected.  To toggle selection, click the mouse on

           the item.  Click the Install button to start the

           installation.  Once the drivers are installed, shutdown OS/2

           and reset the computer for the new ES1869 drivers to take

           effect.

        3. If the installation cannot be completed, read the logs

           EINSTALL.LOG in \MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory and MINSTALL.LOG

           in \MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory or root directory to find out

           the problem.

        4. If during the installation an error saying the audio device

           is already in use by another application comes up, make sure

           all applications that utilize audio have been closed.  If

           this is caused by system sounds not closing the audio device,

           you have three options to remedy this situation:

           A. Remove the audio driver by running ESUNINST.EXE.

           B. Go to Sounds object in System Setup folder and uncheck

              Enable system sounds option.  After the driver is

              installed properly, check the option to enable system

              sounds.

           C. Run DINSTSND.CMD in d:\MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory.  After

              the driver is installed properly, run INSTSND.CMD d: to

              enable system sounds.

           Perform one of these operations and reboot to disable system

           sounds.  Install the drivers again.

        5. If WIN-OS/2 is installed in the system, start WIN-OS/2 and

           run "A:\SETUP" to install WIN-OS/2 drivers.  Change the

           WIN-OS/2 settings to the following if necessary:

              AUDIO_ADAPTER_SHARING = Required

              INT_DURING_IO = On

        6. Since OS/2 Warp 3.0 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 \MMOS2\INSTALL.  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.

        8. If the MIDI plays are not smooth in WIN-OS/2, 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 for the MMPM/2

        component:

        \MMOS2

                ES1869DD.SYS

                VAUDDRV.SYS

                ESDAEMON.EXE

                SPATIAL.EXE

        \MMOS2\DLL

                CARDINFO.DLL

                ESSVSD88.DLL

        \MMOS2\HELP

                ES1869IN.HLP

        \OS2\BOOT

                CLOCK01.SYS

                CLOCK02.SYS

                TIMER0.SYS