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Copyright (c) 1998-2003 VIA Technologies Inc.
VT82C686A/VT82C686B/VT8231/VT8233/VT8233A/VT8233B/VT8235/VT8237
Audio Device Driver ReadMe.txt
for
DOS/Win98/Win98SE/Win40/Win2000/WinME/WinXP
This readme file is to provide the information for installing and
uninstalling "VIA AC'97 PCI Audio Device" , "VIA AC'97 PCI Enhanced
Audio Device" and "VIA AC'97 Audio Codec" (for 3rd party controller)
drivers. VIA Technologies assumes no responsibility for any errors
in this document and no part of this document may be reproduced,
transmitted, or translated into any language,or in any form without
the prior written permission of VIA Technologies Incorporated.
Package Version 3.90 / ReadMe Version 3.90
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VT82C686A/VT82C686B/VT8231 (68) family south bridges are named as
"VIA AC'97 PCI Audio Device"
VT8233/VT8233A/VT8233B/VT8235/VT8237 (74) family south bridges are named as
"VIA AC'97 PCI Enhanced Audio Device"
CONTENTS
========================
1) Recommended Hardware
2) System Requirements
3) Package Version Identification
4) Distribution Package Contents
5) DOS (VT82C686A/VT82C686B/VT8231 only)
6) Windows 95/98 (VxD) Driver
7) Windows 98 SE (WDM) Driver
8) Windows 2000/XP Driver
9) Windows ME Driver
10) Windows NT 4.0 Driver
11) OS/2 Driver (VT82C686A/VT82C686B/VT8231 only)
========================
1) Recommended Hardware
Minimum system specifications of Pentinum II 266 MHz CPU, Pentinum 200 MHz
CPU, AMD K6-2 200MHz, or any other VIA CPUs. 32 MB RAM are recommended to ensure
sound quality.
2) System Requirements
This package can be installed for the Audio function with any VIA south bridge chips.
This driver package supports drivers on the following Operation Systems:
Operation System Version
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOS* 6.22
Windows 95 4.00.950 or above
Windows 98 4.10.1998 or above
Windows NT 3.51
Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 ,build 1381
Windows 2000 RTM or above
Windows ME RC1 or above
Windows XP RC1 or above
OS/2*
Note : (a) The EMM386.EXE above the DOS 6.22 will handle the NMI routine
inproperly if the DOS program is also using the NMI ISR.
(b) DOS and OS/2 drivers are for VT82C686A/VT82C686B/VT8231
south bridges only.
3) Package Version Identification
1. In this package, there is a TXT file named VIAUDIO.REV. The release
version is in the first line of this file. ex. If you see 3.90 in
in this file, the Setup program will show 3.90 in the driver
installation screen.
To change the company name in the setup program, please modify the
string in the second line of VIAUDIO.REV.
2. The driver versions included in this package (Ver 3.0) are:
Operation System Version
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
68\DOS* 1.11
68\Windows 9x(VXD) 4.05.00.1130
68\Windows NT 3.51 4.00.Beta
68\Windows NT 4.0 4.03.00.3160
68\OS/2 1.11
74\Windows 9x(VXD) 4.05.00.1130
74\Windows NT 3.51 4.00.00.3100
74\Windows NT 4.0 4.03.00.3130
Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP(WDM) 6.14.01.3890
4) Distribution Package Contents
If this driver is compressed, it must be decompressed before executing
the setup program.
The decompressed package includes the following files:
Root:
_INST32I.EX_ Setup Program
_ISDEL.EXE InstallShield5 related files below
_SETUP.DLL
_SYS1.CAB
_SYS1.HDR
_USER1.CAB
_USER1.HDR
DATA.TAG
DATA1.CAB
DATA1.HDR
LANG.DAT
LAYOUT.BIN
OS.DAT
SETUP.BMP
SETUP.EXE
SETUP.INI
SETUP.INS
SETUP.ISS
SETUP.LID
WDM.BAT
WIN98SE, WIN2000, WINME and WINXP
VIAUDIO.INF Installation file
VIAUDIO.SYS Audio WDM miniport driver
VIAUDIO.CAT Microsoft Digital Signature Catalog file
(Does not support VIAUDIO.CAT file for Windows 98SE, because
Microsoft does not accept 98 SE WHQL submission since 7/1/2002)
68\DOS
INSTALL.EXE VIA Sound Blaster Pro Compatible setup program
VIAUDIO.COM VIA Sound Blaster Pro Compatible TSR program
DOS4GW.EXE Enter Protect mode Watcom DOS4GW program
68\WIN9X and 74\WIN9X
VIAUDIO.INF VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device installation file
VIAUDIO.VXD VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device VxD driver
VIAWAVE.DRV VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device Wave driver
VIAFM.DRV VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device FM driver
VIAMIDE.DRV VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device MPU401 driver
68\WINNT40 and 74\WINNT40
OEMSETUP.INF VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device installation file
VIAUDIO.SYS VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Deivce kernel mode driver
VIAUDIO.DLL VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device user mode driver
68\WINNT351 and 74\WINNT351
OEMSETUP.INF VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device installation file
VIAUDIO.SYS VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Deivce kernel mode driver
VIAUDIO.DLL VIA AC97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device user mode driver
74\WINAPP
SPKCFG.EXE This utility is for users to identify the right speaker
5POINT1.WAV 5.1 sound wave file
CH1L.WAV Front left speaker sound wave file
CH1R.WAV Front right spkeker sound wave file
CH2L.WAV Surround left speaker sound wave file
CH2R.WAV Surround right speaker sound wave file
CH3L.WAV Central speaker sound wave file
CH3R.WAV LFE speaker sound wave file
68\OS2
AUDFILES.SCR This file tells MINSTALL which files need to be copied,
and into which subdirectories those files should be
copied to.
AUDHELP.HLP This file provides information for users when installing
the audio adapter.
CARDINFO.DLL This file contains information relevant to the audio
adapter. MMPM/2 uses this information to interface with
the adapter.
CONTROL.SCR This file tells MINSTALL which subsystems and devices the
user can install.
GENIN.DLL This file is the generic installation program that installs
the audio adapter.
GENINMRI.DLL Contains the text used in GENIN.DLL.
VIAUDD.SYS VIA Audio Physical Device Driver.
5) DOS Sound (VT82C686A/VT82C686B/VT8231 only)
(a) General Information:
DOS sound can be divided into two classes:
1) Waveform sound,such as the Gun shot, knock sound...etc. The "Sound Blaster
Pro Compatible Sound Device" hardware is build-in within the VIA
VT82C686A/686B/VT8231 south bridge chips, as to support the DOS Waveform sound.
2) Music sound, which is in MIDI format such as the background music. A software
synthesizer that plays the MIDI format is supported by VIA.
(b) In pure DOS environment or "Restart to MS-DOS mode" from Win 9X:
How to play a DOS game with both Waveform and MIDI sound:
1) For Waveform sound: First enable the Sound Blaster setting in the
BIOS CMOS setup. Then proceed the following instructions to enable
the setting in BIOS :
INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS -> Onboard Legacy Audio (Enabled)
-> Sound Blaster (Disable -> Enabled)
2) For MIDI music sound: Since the chipset does not support MIDI hardware
synthesizer, the user needs to install the VIA software synthesizer TSR
utility. This utility can transform the MIDI format into waveform format.
To install this utility, please go through the following procedures:
i) Run "install.exe" in "\DOS" directory.
ii) This program will copy the relative files into the directory
assigned by the user, the default is "C:\VIAUDIO\VIAUDIO.COM".
The program will then add a new line
"C:\VIAUDIO\VIAUDIO.COM" to the AUTOEXEC.BAT, and copy the
original AUTOEXEC.BAT to AUTOEXEC.VIA.
iii) Reboot the system when the installation is completed.
iv) The user can uninstall this TSR utility by removing the new line
added to the AUTOEXEC.BAT and deleting the file C:\VIAUDIO\VIAUDIO.COM
(c) In Windows MS-DOS prompt environment:
If VxD audio driver is installed: First enable the Sound Blaster setting in the
BIOS CMOS setup. Then proceed the following instructions to enable the setting
in BIOS :
INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS -> Onboard Legacy Audio (Enabled)
-> Sound Blaster (Disable -> Enabled)
VxD audio driver will trap the I/O port of the SB Pro compitable device to simulate
game program I/O access. VIA also supports FM synthesizer driver to play DOS game's
MIDI music data.
If WDM audio driver is installed:
i) For Waveform sound: In WDM architecture, Microsoft provides
a SB Pro enumeration driver, named sbenum.sys, which is used
to simulate SBPro behavior for DOS games to play waveform sound.
ii) For MIDI music sound: In WDM architecture, Microsoft provides
a WDM kernal driver named swmidi.sys to play MIDI format music.
Users should have the settings in DOS games. Wave player is SBPro
and Music player is General MIDI.
6) Windows 95/98 (VxD) Driver
=========================
== Driver Installation ==
=========================
a) Automatic Installation
For Windows 95 and 98, setup program will automatically install the VxD driver.
Decompress the zip folder and Type D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of
the setup file) in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file.
Select "Install driver" option. After the system reboots, the driver will be
completely installed.
b) Manual Installation
Under Device Manager, the "PCI Audio Multimedia Device" will be displayed
if the "VIA AC'97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device" is detected by the PCI enumerator.
Set the source destination directory to the "\WIN9X" with the "VIA AC'97
PCI (enhanced) Audio Device" installation file, VIAUDIO.INF.
After the selection, the "VIA AC'97 PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device" and its subsystems
will be installed automatically.
Windows 98 (WDM) Driver
=========================
== Driver Installation ==
=========================
For win 98, if you want to install the WDM driver instead of VxD, type
D:> SETUP.EXE -WDM (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt and the WDM driver will be installed.
===========================
== Driver Uninstallation ==
===========================
Type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select
"Uninstall driver". After the system reboot, the driver will be removed.
7) Windows 98 SE (WDM) Driver
=========================
== Driver Installation ==
=========================
a) Automatic Installation
For Windows 98 SE, the setup program will automatically install the WDM driver.
Decompress the zip folder and type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select "Install".
After the system reboots, the driver will be installed completely.
b) Manual Installation
Under Device Manager, "PCI Audio Multimedia Device" will be displayed if the
"VIA AC'97 PCI Audio Device" is detected by the PCI enumerator.
Set the source destination directory to "\WIN98", where the "VIA AC'97
PCI Audio Device" installation file for the Win 98, VIAUDIO.INF, is located.
After the selection, the "VIA AC'97 PCI (enhanced) Audio Device" and its subsystems
will be installed automatically.
===========================
== Driver Uninstallation ==
===========================
a) Type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select
"Remove". After the system reboots,the driver will be removed completely.
OR
b) Remove the "VIA AC'97 PCI Audio Device" from the device manager:
To completely remove this driver, the relative "VIAUDIO.INF" file
under "\WINDOWS\INF" or "WINDOWS\INF\OTHER" directory should be deleted.
At the same time, the driver file under "WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\VIAUDIO.SYS"
should be removed as well. The driver will then not be installed again
after the next boot.
=================================================
== Sound Blaster Compatible DOS Game Supported ==
=================================================
Sound Blaster compatible DOS games can be played with GENERAL MIDI
music format ONLY in the Windows DOS box. There is no need to enable
the "Sound Blaster" setting in BIOS. The Sound Blaster emulation is
by Microsoft and the OPL3 music format is not supported under the
Microsoft WDM driver architecture.
The user should change the MUSIC setting in his or her Sound Blaster
compatible DOS game from FM MIDI to GENERAL MIDI. Otherwise, the music
playing feature will not be functioning when the Sound Blaster compatible
game is played.
8) Windows 2000/XP Driver
=========================
== Driver Installation ==
=========================
a) Automatic Installation
Decompress the zip folder and type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select "Install".
After the system reboots, the driver will be installed completely.
b) Manual Installation
Under Device Manager, "PCI Audio Multimedia Device" will be displayed if the "VIA AC'97 PCI
(Enhanced) Audio Device" is detected by the PCI enumerator.
Set the source destination directory to the "\WIN2000", where the "VIA AC'97
PCI (Enhanced) Audio Device" installation file for the Win2000, VIAUDIO.INF,
is located.
After the selection, the "VIA AC'97 PCI (enhanced) Audio Device" will be installed
successfully.
===========================
== Driver Uninstallation ==
===========================
a) Type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select
"Remove". After the system reboots,the driver will be removed completely.
OR
b) Remove the "VIA AC'97 PCI (enhanced) Audio Device" from the device manager:
To completely remove this driver, the relative "OEMx.INF" file under
"\WINDOWS\INF" directory should be deleted. At the same time, the driver
file under "WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\VIAUDIO.SYS" should be removed as well.
The driver will then not be installed again after the second boot.
NOTE: Please note, under Win2000/WinXP, the .cat file cannot be installed from
the setup program (option a). To check the "Digital Signed file" from Micrsoft,
the driver using option b - through the Device Manager, must be installed.
9) Windows ME Driver
=========================
== Driver Installation ==
=========================
a) Automatic Installation
Decompress the zip folder and Type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select "Install".
After the system reboots, the driver will be installed completely.
b) Manual Installation
Under device manager, "PCI Audio Multimedia Device" will be displayed if the "VIA AC'97
(Enhanced) Audio Device" is detected by the PCI enumerator.
Set the source destination directory to the "\WINME", where the "VIA AC'97
Audio Device" installation file for Win2000, VIAUDIO.INF, is located.
After the selection, the "VIA AC'97 (enhanced) Audio Device" will be installed
successfully.
===========================
== Driver Uninstallation ==
===========================
a) Type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select
"Remove". After the system reboots, the driver will be removed completely.
OR
b) Remove the "VIA AC'97 Audio Device" from the device manager:
To remove this driver completely, the relative "VIAUDIO.INF" file under
"\WINDOWS\INF" or "WINDOWS\INF\OTHER" directory should be deleted.
At the same time, the driver file under the "WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\VIAUDIO.SYS"
should be removed as well. The driver then will not be installed after the
second boot.
10) Windows NT 4.0 Driver
=========================
== Driver Installation ==
=========================
a) Automatic Installation
Decompress the zip folder and type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select "Install".
After the system reboots, the driver will be installed completely.
b) Manual Installation
i) Select the "Multimedia" icon from the Control Panel to install
the driver.
ii) When the "Multimedia Properties" is displayed, select the "Devices"
sheet and then click on the "Add" button.
iii) When the "Add" page is displayed, select the "Unlisted or Upgraded
Driver" from the "List of Drivers". Then click the "OK" button.
iv) Type the source column and "\WINNT40" directory where the driver
is located. Then click the "OK" button.
v) The "VIA AC'97 PCI Audio Device" will be displayed on the
"Add Unlisted on Updated Driver" page. Select "OK" and the driver
will be installed.
NOTE: To use the joystick device, please follow these procedures:
vi) Select "Joystick Devices" in Multimedia Properties" and then click
"OK".
vii) Select the joystick from the "List of Drivers" or the "Unlisted
or Upgraded Driver", which are supported from the joystick manufacturers.
After the selection, the "VIA AC'97 PCI (enhanced) Audio Device" and its subsystems
will be installed automatically.
===========================
== Driver Uninstallation ==
===========================
Follow the instructions listed below to uninstall the driver :
a) Type
D:> SETUP.EXE (where D equals the location of the setup file)
in the run command prompt or double click the setup.exe file. Select "Remove".
After the system reboots, the driver will be removed completely.
OR
b) Manual Uninstallation
i) Select the "Multimedia" icon from the Control Panel to uninstall
this driver.
ii) When the "Multimedia Properties" is displayed, select the "Devices"
sheet and click on the "Remove" button.
iii) When the "Remove" page is displayed, click the "OK" button and the
driver will be removed.
11) OS/2 Driver (VT82C686A/VT82C686B/VT8231 only)
=========================
== Driver Installation ==
=========================
(a) Place the installation diskette in drive A.
(b) Type MINSTALL on the OS/2 command line.
(c) Change the source drive to A.
(d) Select the adapter, then press "OK"
(e) If an error occurs, check the MINSTALL.LOG file in the \MMOS2\INSTALL
subdirectory for an error message.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.