PCI 338-A3D Audio Sound Card V1.20
C o n t e n t s
===============
(1) Overview
(2) New Features
(3) Known Issues and Limitations
(4) System Requirements
(5) Mixer Application
(6) Installing in Windows 95
(7) Uninstalling
(8) Legacy Audio Compatibility
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(1) O v e r v i e w
This README.TXT contains instructions to install the PCI 338-A3D Sound
Card under Win95.
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(2) N e w F e a t u r e s
A. Improved A3D performance
A3D now works on 75MHz CPUs. On faster CPUs, 3D audio realism is
greatly enhanced by adding atmospheric absorption effects, and by
using sophisticated head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) instead
of simple pan and delay models for 3D positional rendering.
B. 64-Voice Wavetable
This release add a configurable 32-voice software wavetable engine
to the 32-voice hardware wavetable engine already available. The
PCI 338-A3D Control Panel's MIDI tab selects between:
* 32 voice pro mode (hardware only)
* 64 voice gamer mode (32 h/w, 32 speed-optimized voices)
* 64 voice pro mode (32 h/w, 32 quality-optimized s/w voices.
Overall voice quality has been improved.
C. OPL3 Support
Both Windows DOS boxes and real-mode DOS now support 4-operator OPL3
FM synthesis, in addition to 2-operator OPL2 FM synthesis.
D. Simpler installation
If DirectX5 is not detected on the computer during plug-and-play
installation, this release starts DirectX5 setup invisibly. If
no problems are detected, installation is automatic and transparent.
E. Improved MIDI performance
PCI 338-A3D now includes its own MIDI driver that replaces the slower
default MIDI driver supplied with Windows 95. This MIDI driver
increases the number of games that can use wavetable in a DOS box.
F. Multimedia Application Installation
During the drivers installation, the driver requests the
Windows 95 CD-ROM and installs the multimedia applets (Volume
Control, Sound Recorder, Media Player, and CD Player) if not
already installed on the system.
G. Improved Mixer
The Windows 95 mixer now displays only those devices that are
available on the system. The mixer also provides a +20dB gain
switch setting for condenser/electret microphone support.
H. DirectSound Safe Mode
Some DirectX games do not check the number of hardware buffers
available before creating a new DirectSound buffer. This can
result in no sound. A button on the Vortex Control Panel A3D
tab lets you disable DirectSound hardware acceleration.
I. Multiple Sound Card Configurations.
This release lets users install sound cards from multiple vendors
in their system. If two A3D cards are installed, A3D will be used
on only one of the cards, selected randomly.
J. Automatic AUTOEXEC.BAT and DOSSTART.BAT updating.
The BLASTER environment variable is updated automatically if the user
changes the DOS audio configuration.
K. Improved Installation
Optimized installation method requires less user interaction.
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(3) K n o w n I s s u e s a n d L i m i t a t i o n s.
- Joystick Acceleration - Windows 95 always uses the standard analog
gameport by default. Use the Gameport control panel's "Advanced"
tab to select the PCI 338-A3D Gameport driver for a boost in speed.
- Multiple sound cards - Some sound cards, such as Ensoniq sound
cards, do not correctly report their I/O port utilization to the
operating system, which can result in device conflicts and hang
the system.
- Diamond Monster 3D Graphics card - Download the new drivers from
Diamond's WWW site to fix noise problems with some games, such as
"Incoming."
- Hercules Stingray 128 Graphics Card - In the "Display Properties"
control panel, enable "Allow PCI retries" to fix audio problems.
- IBM 300GL and Sony VAIO USB - A system hang may occur during
PCI 338-A3D driver installation. Disable USB during installation
to fix.
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(4) S y s t e m R e q u i r e m e n t s
- 75MHz Pentium-compatible CPU (200+ MMX CPU recommended for full
A3D performance).
- 16MB DRAM (the Vortex hardware wavetable engine uses a native
4MB sample set. Samples are stored on disk and swapped to RAM
as required. Typical DRAM footprint is <2MB.
- 15MB hard disk space
- CD-ROM drive
- Access to Microsoft Windows 95 Installation CD-ROM.
- Good-quality speakers or headphones and connecting cables.
- Joystick and MIDI keyboard (optional).
- 1 free PCI-bus expansion slot.
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(5) M i x e r A p p l i c a t i o n
For Windows 95 user, a mixer was created and located at the right bottom
corner on the Task Bar. This mixer application can be used to control the
volume outputs of the sound card under windows 95 environment.
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(6) I n s t a l l i n g I n W i n d o w s 9 5
1. Start WIN95.
2. Upon rebooting, Win95 will auto-detect the Audio devices and
prompts for the PCI 338-A3D Multimedia Studio CD.
3. Insert the CD into your CDROM drive and path to the "Win95" directory
of the CD. Click [OK] to complete the installation. After hardware
detection, DirectX 5.0 will be installed. Please ensure that the
PCI 338-A3D Multimedia CD is in the CDROM drive.
** Note that installation is not complete if you did not install DirectX 5.0
or do not have DirectX 5.0 or later on your system.
4. Reboot when prompt. Please do not remove the PCI 338-A3D Multimedia
Studio CD from your CDROM drive.
5. On the startup of Windows again, the second phase of Hardware detection
will carry on. You may be prompt for the Windows 95 CD along the way.
6. After Hardware Detection finished. The setup of PCI 338-A3D is completed.
** IMPORTANT : This is a fully integrated setup procedure. However, some
systems may have encounter some problems in Installation
due system performances.
If you skip or miss DirectX 5.0 Installation, please manually path to
the "DIRECTX" directory of the CD and run SETUP.EXE.
If you skip or miss A3D installation, please manually path to the
"SETUP" directory of the CD and run SETUP.EXE.
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(7) U n i n s t a l l i n g
1. To uninstall the PCi 338-A3D Sound Card. Please go to Control Panel,
system. Choose the "Devices Manager" Tab and click "Multifunciton
Adapter".
2. HighLight "PCI 338-A3D Multifunction PCI Platform" then the "remove"
Button.
3. Next go the Control Panel, "Add/Remove Programs". Remove
the demo Application and then PCI 338-A3D Audio.
4. Shut down your system properly and power down.
5. Remove the PCI 338-A3D from the Slot.
6. Uninstallation is complete.
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(8) L e g a c y A u d i o C o m p a t i b i l i t y
A. CHECKING DOS AUDIO CONFIGURATION
Be sure to configure the games for Sound Blaster Pro or Sound
Blaster operation. Typical settings are I/O 220h, IRQ5, and DMA3.
You can verify your system is configured for these settings the
resource tab under:
Control Panel->
System (Device Manager) ->
Sound Video, and Game Controllers->
Available settings:
I/O range: 220h, 240h, 260h, and 280h
Interrupt: 5, 7, 9(2), 10
DMA: 1, 3
Joystick port: 201h, 202h, 203h, 204h, 205h, 206h, and 207h.
MIDI port: 300h, 310h, 320h, and 330h.
Not all of these settings may be available, depending on the
hardware in your computer.
B. CHANGING THE HARDWARE CONFIGURATION
Generally, you should not need to change the hardware settings.
If you wish to use manual settings, use the following procedure:
1. Open "Sound Blaster Emulation", "Gameport Interface" or "MPU-
401 Interface" in the system control panel's "Sound, Video
and Game Controllers" tree.
2. Clear the "Use Automatic Settings" checkbox.
3. Select "Basic Configuration 0007"
(This lets you select all possible settings on your computer.)
4. Move the highlight to select the resource to change.
5. Press the "Change Setting" Button.
6. Change settings and press "OK."
When you change DOS audio settings, the drivers automatically
update the BLASTER environment variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
and DOSSTART.BAT configuration files.
C. DOS BOXES
Windows DOS boxes are launched from the "MSDOS prompt" in the
Windows 95 Start menu. Simply run the game as usual. The game
still needs to be configured for the hardware settings.
PCI 338-A3D provides wavetable support in DOS boxes if the game
supports General MIDI output. To use wavetable in a DOS box:
1. Open the Vortex Control Panel MIDI tab.
2. Ensure that "PCI 338-A3D Wavetable Receives DOS Box MIDI" is
selected.
3. Open the application in a DOS box. Configure the music to use
MPU-401 output.
The PCI 338-A3D drivers can also send MIDI to other software
wavetable or external MIDI devices installed or attached on your
computer.
D. REAL-MODE DOS
DOS runs in real mode when Windows 95 is not loaded, or when you
restart the computer in MSDOS mode from Windows 95. In real mode,
make sure the game is configured correctly. Select Sound Blaster
or Sound Blaster Pro for both the Music and the Effects device
(unlike in DOS box where you can select MIDI for Music). You can
select MPU-401 output if you have an external synthesizer connected
to the PCI 338-A3D MIDI port. Make sure the settings for I/O, IRQ
and DMA match the configuration for the PCI 338-A3D card.
When you install the PCI 338-A3D drivers from CD-ROM, some lines
are added to your computer's AUTOEXEC.BAT and DOSSTART.BAT files:
PATH=C:/WINDOWS
ASP4DOS
SET BLASTER=A240 I5 D3 T4
ASP4DOS is the real-mode DOS driver, which is installed in
your default Windows directory (C:\WINDOWS by default). If an upper
memory manager is detected, it attempts to load ASP4DOS high
(see your memory management documentation for more information).
Your computer finds ASP4DOS via the PATH statement, which includes
a reference to your Windows directory. Your computer then executes
the ASP4DOS program during boot. When ASP4DOS.COM is executed, you
see text similar to:
VORTEX DOS AUDIO DRIVER (01.1) Copyright (c) 1998, Aureal Semiconductor
PCI AUDIO PRO enabled at Ports 220-22Fh, Interrupt 5, DMA 3, Joystick 201h.
Some games require the "SET BLASTER" line to find the sound card
in your system. In the above example, the BLASTER environment
variable is set to I/O port 240h, interrupt 5, and DMA channel 3.
The "T4" parameter sets the Type of Sound Blaster to Sound Blaster
Pro.
When exiting from Windows to MS-DOS, the computer runs DOSSTART.BAT
file in the Windows directory, in much the same way as it runs
AUTOEXEC.BAT when you boot. Vortex thus places the ASP4DOS.COM
command and BLASTER environment variable in the DOSSTART.BAT file.
These lines reinstall the Vortex DOS driver and reset the BLASTER
environment variable. You do not need to run DOSSTART.BAT in Windows
boxes.
E. COMPATIBILITY LIST
Correct audio operation has been verified on the following games.
* Games that run in a DOX box are flagged with and asterisk.
** Games that run in a DOS box, whereas the original Sound Blaster Pro
card requires real-mode DOS, are flagged with two asterisks.
11th Hour* Magic Carpet 2*
1942 Pacific Airwar Master of Orion*
3D Labyrinth* Master of Orion 2*
7th Guest* Masters of Magic**
Absolute Zero* Math Ace*
Abuse* Math Rescue*
Aces of the Deep MAX*
Across the Rhine* MDK**
Aegis Mech Warrior 2*
Alien Legacy* MegaRace*
Alone in the Dark* MegaRace II**
Are you Afraid of the Dark Metaltech Earthsiege*
Armored Fist Mickey's 123*
Armored Fist 2* Might and Magic II
Bailey's Bookhouse* Might and Magic III
Baseball 94 (FPS) Mortal Kombat 1*
Baseball Tonight* Mortal Kombat 2
BattleChess Mortal Kombat 3
Battledrome MS Flight Sim 5*
Beast Within(Gabriel 2)* Nascar Racing
Betrayal at Krondor* Nascar Racing 2*
Big Red Racing* NBA Jam TE*
Bioforge NBA Live 95*
Black Thorne * NBA Live 97
Blake Stone* Need for Speed**
Blood* Nemesis**
Blood Bowl NHL Hockey 96
Breach 3* NHL Hockey 97**
Brett Hull Hockey 95 Night Trap*
Bureau 13** Necropolis*
Busy Town* Orion Conspiracy*
Caesar 2* Out of this World
Capture the Flag* Pandora Directive**
Carmageddon* Panzer General*
Carmen Sandiego* PGA Tour*
Castle of Dr Brain** Phantasmagoria*
Castle Wolfenstein 3D* Piranha*
Chaos Engine* Police Quest 4*
ChronoMaster* Populous II*
Circle of Blood* Power F1 Racing*
Circuit Racer* Power Monger
City of Lost Children* Prince of Persia 1*
Civilization* Prince of Persia 2*
Commanche Overkill Privateer 1
Command & Conquer* Privateer 2
Commander Blood Psychic Detective
Commander Keen 4* Pure War Game
Conqueror* Quake 0.9x*
Conspiracy* Quake 1.0x*
Constructor** Railroad Tycoon*
Corridor 7* RAMA*
Creature Shock* Raptor*
Crusader Ravenloft*
Cyber Mage** Reading Carnival
Cyberia** Realms of the Haunting*
CyberWar* Rebel Assault 1
D* Rebel Assault 2*
Daggerfall Chronicles** Rebel Runner*
Dark Forces Red Baron*
Dark Light Conflict** Redneck Rampage**
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands* Relentless
Day of the Tentacle* Return to Ringworld*
Death Gate* Return to Zork*
DeltaV Ripley's Believe it
Descent 1* Rise of the Triad*
Descent 2 * Rocketeer
Desert Strike Savage Warrior*
Dig* Scorcher*
Doom 1* Screamer 2*
Doom 2* Scud Attack*
Dragon Lore SDI 2040*
Dragon's Lair Seawolf*
Duke Nukem 2 ** Shadow Caster
Duke Nukem 3d* Shadows of Cairn
Earth Treks* Shadows of Riva**
Ecstatica* Shattered Steel**
Epic Pinball Silent Hunter*
Eradicator Silver Pinball*
ESPN 2 Extreme Games* SimAnt*
Extractors* SimCity*
F117a Demo* SimIsle*
F22-Lightning 2* Simon The Sorcerer*
Fable* Sunny's Back to the Forest*
Falcon 3.0 SlipStream 5000**
Fade to Black* Space Quest 4*
Fast Attack* Space Quest 6*
FIFA 97 Spycraft*
Fleet Defender Star Command*
Flight Unlimited Star Control 1*
Fighter Duel Star Control 2*
football Pro 95 Star Control 3*
Football Pro 96 Star Fighter**
Full Metal Jacket* Star Trek: 25TH**
Full Throttle* Star Trek: Final Unity
Future Shock* Steel Panthers*
FX Fighter** Steel Panthers 2*
Gabriel Knights* Stellar 7*
Gene Wars* Stonekeep
Global War* SU 27 Flanker**
Grand Prix II** Super Karts*
Great Naval Battles* Syndicate Wars*
Gunship 2000 System Shock*
HardBall 3* Table Sports 3D*
Hardball 4** Tank Commander
Hardball 5* TekWar**
Harpoon 2* TerraNova*
Harpoon 2 Deluxe Terminator 2029*
Hell* Test Drive Off Road*
Heretic* Theme Park*
Hexen* Thunder Strike Air Assault*
Hi-Octane Thunder Truck Rally
Hind Tie Fighter*
Hocus Pocus Time Treks*
I Have No Mouth* Tomb Raider**
Inca TonyLaRussa Baseball3*
Incredible Machine* Top Gun*
Indiana Jones Torin's Passage*
IndyCar Transport Tycoon*
Iron Assault TreeHouse*
Iron Cross* Twinson's Odyssey*
Jack Nicklaus* Ultima 7
Jagged Alliance* Ultima 8
Jagged: Deadly Games* Ultimate Football 95
Jane's Adv. Fighters Under a Killing Moon
Jane's Longbow* Unnecessary Roughness*
Jazz Jackrabbit* Unnecessary Roughness 95*
Jill of the Jungle* USNF
Jumpjet* Vikings*
Kid Pix* Warcraft*
Kids Zoo* Warcraft 2*
Kings Quest 5 Wetlands*
Kings Quest 6* Wing Commander 2
Krush Kill & Destroy* Wing Commander 3*
LawnMower Man Wing Commander 4*
Leisure Suit Larry 5* Wing Commander Armada
Leisure Suit Larry 6* Wings of Glory
Lemmings Chronicles Winter Sports
Lighthouse* Witchaven*
Links386 Pro Witchaven 2**
Lord of the Realm 2* Word City*
Lord of the Rings* X-Com*
Lost Eden* XCom Terror from Deep*
Machiavelli the Prince X-Wing*
Madden 97* XCAR*
MadDog McCree* Z*
MadDog McCree 2* Zephyr
Magic Carpet 1* Zone Raiders*
Zork Nemesis
(i) Autodetect
Some older games do not detect audio hardware automatically. You
can still use Vortex legacy audio support for these games by
configuring the hardware resources manually:
* Carmaggedon * Fast Attack
* Castle of Doctor Brain * Grand Prix II
* Command and Conquer * Hard Ball 4
* Constructor * MDK
* Cyberwar * Witchaven 2
(ii) Sound Blaster/Sound Blaster Pro Selection
If both options are available, pick "Sound Blaster Pro" for best
quality. The following games work if "Sound Blaster" is selected:
* Battlechess * NHL Hockey 96
* Cyberia (use DMA1) * NHL Hockey 97
* Death Gate * Ripper
* FIFA97 * Spycraft
* NBA Live 97
***********************************************************
* In case you encounter any problem with our products, *
* please quote the following model(s) when calling our *
* Technical Support : *
* PCI 338-A3D Sound Card *
***********************************************************
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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.