Setting up the Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (et al) for Use with OS/2

From OS2World.Com Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Article Info
Author IBM‎
Date 1993-07-11
OS Version
Companion File N/A
Source passetup.doc

Setting up the Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (et al) for Use with OS/2 Version 1.0

Author:   Steve Freeman [IBM]
CIS:      76474,443
Internet: sfreeman@vnet.ibm.com
IBM:      SFREEMAN at DETVMIC1

If you find any problems with this document or you wish to provide suggestions, please provide feedback directly to my mailbox. Thanks.

NOTE: This is not intended to be a completely definitive guide to installing the Pro Audio Spectrum cards. Instead it is intended to give you some guidelines to work with. If you're having problems getting your card to work with OS/2, please call Media Vision's technical support line with your problems. They will help you work through any problems. When the problem is resolved, please let me know what the problem was and how it was resolved so that I may incorporate that information into this document.

Media Vision Technical Support: (800) 638-2807

-- other numbers at the end of this document --

The following cards are supported for audio under OS/2 2.1:

   Pro AudioSpectrum Plus (with MMPM2.INI file change, required below)
   Pro AudioSpectrum 16  
   Pro Audio Studio 16 (++) 
   Pro 16 Multimedia Upgrade Kit    
   Fusion CD 
   Fusion CD 16
   Fusion CD 16E
   CDPC  (**)
   CDPC XL (**)
   (**)  The CDPC and CDPC-XL front panel volume and mute controls are not
         yet supported.     
   (***) Audio support for the original Pro AudioSpectrum (8-bit ISA bus
         slot interface) has not been tested for this release. OS/2
         MMPM support will be available in a future release.
   (++) Pro AudioStudio 16's selectable input gain feature is not supported
        on this release.

If you have a PAS+ card, there are certain restrictions. These will be noted in context. The major differences are that the PAS+ only supports 8 bit audio and the Soundblaster emulation is performed in software (on the PAS-16, it's done in hardware).

Before you get started opening up your machine, you need to perform a little organizational activity; namely mapping out the I/O ports, IRQ lines and DMA channels in your machine. Then you need to configure everything so there is no overlap.

What I mean by this is to answer to the following questions:

  • For each board or port installed in your system (also for I/O installed on the motherboard or planar), what are its I/O addresses, IRQs and DMA channels? List possible configurations to select from.
  • What combinations of configurations can be selected so that I/O, IRQ and DMA from two or more boards doesn't overlap?

Probably the best aid in performing this task is to make up a chart. Each entry in the chart should look like this: (I'll fill in the information for some common ports.)

 Description                           I/O Addr Range    DMA    IRQ
 COM1                                    03F8-03FF       none     4
 COM2                                    02F8-02FF       none     3
 LPT1                                    03BC            none     7
 LPT2                                    0378            none     5
 LPT3                                    0278            none     7
 PS/2 Mouse                                              none    12
 MS Bus Mouse                            023C-023F       none   3,4,5,7
 primary hard disk controller            01F0-01F7        6      14
 secondary hard disk controller          0170-0177        ?      15
 floppy controller                       03F0-03F7        2       6
 second IRQ controller                                            2
 SoundBlaster                            0220-022F        1     2,3,4,5,7
 SDLC Adapter                                ?            ?     3 & 4
 ATI Mouse Port                          023C-023F,      none   2,3,4,5
                                         0238-023B

Leave the PAS-16 mapping until last, because it is very complex.

 PAS Base Address Settings            0388 (default),
                                      0384,038C,0288,0280,0284,028C
   the resulting address is the selected base + one of the offsets,
   offsets are:  0-3, 400-403, 800-803, C00-C03, 1000-1003, 1400-1403,
   1800-1802, 1C00-1C01, 2000, 2001, 2400, 2401, 3C00-3C03, 4000, 4001,
   5C00-5C03, 7001, 7003, 7403, 8000-8003, BC00, BC02, E38A, E38B,
   E800-E803, EC03, F000-F003, F400-F403, F800-F803, F80A, FC00, FC03
   Just add the base addresses to the above.  If you stick with the 
   default, you get:  388-38B, 788-78B, B88-B8B, F88-F8B, 1388-138B, 
   1788-178B, 1B88-1B8B, 1788-178B, 1B88-1B8A, 1F88-1F8B, 2388, 2389, 
   2788, 2789, 3F88-3F8B, 4388, 4389, 5F88-5F8B, 8388-838B, BF88, BF8A, 
   E388-E38B, EB88-EB8B, EF8B, F388-F38B, F788-F78B, FB88-FB8B, FF88, FF8B
 PAS IRQ Settings                     2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,14,15
 PAS DMA Settings                     1,2,3,5,6,7
 Soundblaster Address Settings        220 (default), 230, 240
   the resulting address is the selected base + an offset (01-0F)
   which turns out to be 2x0-2xF (x=2, 3 or 4), also 3x0 and 3x1.


Remember the PAS-16 has both a SoundBlaster and a PAS on it. That means that it will use two sets of I/O addresses, DMA channels and IRQs. The SoundBlaster side of the PAS-16 is fixed to DMA 1.

Older PAS-16's will have the SoundBlaster settings made via jumpers on the card. This is documented in the PAS-16 manual. On newer boards these are set via a parameter on the device driver.

One of the ways of mapping things out, and the way I've used, is to select a high IRQ (10, 11, 12 or 15) and a high DMA channel (5 or 7) for the PAS side of the card. You can then use the Soundblaster side for DOS and games and the PAS side for OS/2 sounds. You can elect to use either with Win-OS/2.

If you have the PAS+ card, the high order IRQ and DMA channels may not work correctly with your card. Either use the low IRQ (below 8) and DMA channels (below 4), or call Media Vision for support.

Remember that either Win-OS/2 or OS/2 can use the PAS side of the card, but not both. It's really up to how you use your system. You can always reconfigure Win-OS/2 later to use the other interface if you find that you have troubles.


OS/2 Configuration Notes

To install the OS/2 support, you'll need to install MMPM/2. Insert the first MMPM/2 diskette, open a command prompt and type: A:MINSTALL (or B: or C:, etc.). The program will eventually display a list of devices. Unhighlight any options you don't have (like Soundblaster). Then proceed with the install.

The installation program will ask you to specify the number of PAS16 cards you've installed (1, unless you have more). After that, it will ask you to specify the IRQ (default=11) and DMA (default=3) for each card installed. Enter the settings you've selected from your analysis of your system. Then proceed with the rest of the installation.

Parameters for the MVPRODD.SYS device driver:

       /S:X,XXX,X,X     SoundBlaster { enable,base addr,DMA,IRQ }
                        Note: Sound Blaster DMA channel must be 1 on this
                        driver release. 
       /N:<name>        allows naming of driver /N:PAS161$ (do not change)
       /T:X             T:1 = use PAS oscillator for OPL-3 (default /T:0)
       /D:X             sets the DMA channel
       /Q:X             sets the IRQ channel
       /I:X             also can be used to set the IRQ channel
       /B:XXX           HEX Base board I/O location (DEFAULT: /B:388)
       /W:X             /W:1 enables warm boot reset (DEFAULT /W:0)
       /M:X,XXX,X       MPU {enable,base addr,IRQ}
       /F:X             FM Synth disable switch; /F:1 enabled by default
       /J:X             /J:1 cause Joystick to be enabled, J:0 is default

If you have a PAS+ card, you'll need to change the MMOS2.INI file after installation. From the MVNOTES.TXT file in MVOS2.ZIP:

A: In the file MMPM2.INI found in your MMOS2 directory, you'll find a header like this:

  [ibmwavepas1601]

Under this heading you will find the PARMSTRING parameter. Change the string BPS=16 to BPS=8 and digital audio will work.

DOS Configuration Notes

Before starting the discussion, one warning: Don't put MVSOUND.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS file.

Most DOS programs will not need to use MVSOUND.SYS. Some will. An example of one that does is the TrackBlaster Pro application that comes with the card. To set up a program to use this driver, create a program object on the desktop for the program. Fill in the program name, working directory, title (General page), etc. Go to the settings page and click on the appropriate session type (DOS Windowed or DOS Full screen). Then click on the DOS Settings button.

Find DOS_DEVICE and select it. Fill in the blank box with the path and name of the MVSOUND.SYS file. Append the correct DMA and IRQ to the end of the line. An example would be:

  C:\PROAUDIO\MVSOUND.SYS /D:5 /Q:12
Note
The IRQ and DMA settings MUST match those you set for OS/2.

Now close the settings notebook and run the program by opening the program object that you just created. MVSOUND.SYS will load and the application should run with sound.

If this doesn't work, you may need to get the latest MVSOUND.SYS driver from the MediaVision BBS or the forum on Compuserve (MULTIV, lib 12). The minimum version that works for me is 3.19.

Win-OS/2 Configuration Notes

After you have gotten the system set up for use by OS/2, it's time to install and configure the Win-OS/2 drivers.

If you elect to use the SoundBlaster side of the card for Windows applications, installation doesn't require any additional drivers. Just bring up the Win-OS/2 Control Panel (type CONTROL from an OS/2 prompt) and install the SoundBlaster using the Drivers icon. Don't restart Win-OS/2 yet. Open up the Drivers icon again and set up the SoundBlaster. Make sure that the proper I/O address and IRQ are selected. Now you should exit Win-OS/2 and bring it back up. You should get a Ta-Da sound.

If you elect to use the PAS side of the card for Windows, setup is a bit more difficult; you need to install the Windows drivers. I've heard of two separate installation mechanisms for this. The early boards and Windows driver updates supply the drivers on a separate diskette. This code is installable from within Win-OS/2. Later boards bundle the Windows setup with the DOS installation. I'll walk through both of these.

For the separate Windows driver diskette, bring up the Win-OS/2 Program Manager (type PROGMAN from and OS/2 prompt). Pick File, then Run from the Program Manager menu and execute A:\INSTALL.EXE (B:\INSTALL.EXE if the diskette is in the B: drive). Follow through with the installation and don't restart Windows yet.

Bring up the Control Panel and open the Drivers icon. You'll need to set up the PAS drivers so they select the right port addresses. These MUST be the same as the ones you used for OS/2. Then exit Win-OS/2 and bring it back up. You should get a Ta-Da sound.

Also in the Drivers, there is a CDPC Mixer driver. If you set this up, you can elect to Save and Restore the volume settings when entering and exiting Win-OS/2. Select both of these options. This will eliminate some of the volume jumps when going in and out of Win-OS/2.

Please note that Win-OS/2 does not currently support Windows' Virtual Device Drivers. This function is provided by OS/2. Win-OS/2 doesn't provide sound when running in Enhanced mode. There is a patch that you can make to VDMA.SYS that will enable Enhanced mode support. Ken Nicholson of Media Vision posted this set of instructions on Compuserve:

patching VDMA.SYS

>IBM has an open defect against the VDMA component returning the wrong >revision level when queried by the Mediavision Windows driver. You can >be notified of the defect/APAR closure by submitting the problm.txt file >in the IBMOS2 file area. Just say you want the VDMA Mediavision ProAudio >Spectrum fix and they should find the APAR and attach you to it accordingly.

We have a patched OS/2 VDMA.SYS driver that we're testing.

If you want to patch your VDMA.SYS, here's how to do it. (Somebody save this message to help other people with the same question).

copy c:\os2\mdos\vdma.sys c:\os2\mdos\vdma.bak       /* backup original */
cd c:\os2\mdos                                       /* go to directory */
debug vmda.sys                                     /* use debug to edit */
-e 1c01                                       /* verify byte 1c01 == 01 */
-e 1c01 2
-w

This patch can only be used on ISA systems and only with the OS/2 2.1 GA release of VDMA.SYS!

Disclaimer
If you patch any file and screw up your OS/2 installation it's your own fault.

---

The latest Windows drivers are available from the MediaVision BBS or thier area on Compuserve.

Getting in Touch with Media

Media Vision's Technical Support department telephone number is (800) 638-2807. Media Vision also has a European office that offers technical assistance. They are located in Munich. Check directory assistance for Media Vision GMBH.

  Media Vision, Inc        Main:         (800) 348-7116 or (510) 770-8600                                   
  3815 LaurelView Ct.      Sales:        (800) 845-5870
  Fremont, CA 94539        Parts:        (800) 356-7886
                           Tech Support: (800) 638-2807 or (510) 770-9905
                           FAX:          (510) 770-8648 or (510) 770-9592
  BBS: (510) 770-0968 2400 (8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit)
       (510) 770-1661 2400 (8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit)
       (510) 770-0527 9600 (8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit)
  Developer Assistance Program: (800) 472-6147
  CIS: GO MEDIAVISION or send CIS mail to 75300,2772
  Internet: Send mail to 75300,2772@compuserve.com