VIA WCE X86 AC97 Audio Driver for Playing Sound Installation Guide
2/29/2000
Copyright (C) 1999,2000 VIA Technologies, INC.
1. Release note
This software package release is version 1.2. The audio driver
supports the playing of sound and operates on any Windows CE
X86-based platform using VIA's south bridge VT82C686A, which
integrates an on-chip audio controller complying AC97 2.1
specification. In addition, the package provides a sample wave
player for playing sound. OEM's may use it for development and
production test. The driver works properly with Microsoft
Windows CE 2.11 and 2.12.
2. Revision note
Features supported in Version 1.1 but different from Version 1.0 are
described below:
(1) Add the DirectSound support for DXPAK 1.0 Beta.
Features supported but different from Version 1.1 are
described below:
(1) Fix a bug that some wave files cannot be repeatedly played.
(2) Remove the DirectSound support for DXPAK 1.0 Beta.
(3) Add a sample wave player and a sample wave file.
3. File descriptions
The package contains 10 files as described below.
\debug\VIAWAVE DLL 32,607 02-24-00 15:15 driver debug version
\debug\VIAWAVE MAP 36,634 02-24-00 15:15 debug map file
\debug\VIAWAVE PDB 208,896 02-24-00 15:15 debug pdb file
\retail\VIAWAVE DLL 13,008 02-24-00 15:17 driver retail version
PLATFORM BIB 137 02-24-99 15:25 sample bib file
PLATFORM REG 132 10-21-99 14:17 sample reg file
PROJECT BIB 79 02-24-99 15:25 sample bib file
SAMPLE WAV 933,932 11-09-99 10:01 sample wave file
(8-bit stereo, 22.05K sampling rate)
WPLAYER EXE 57,344 01-07-00 13:42 sample wave player
README TXT this readme file
4. Assume the target platform is named VIACEPC and the Windows CE 2.12
MAXALL configuration is used for an initial evaluation of the audio
driver. Step-by-step installation and test instructions are
described below.
5. Make a WCE binary image
Make sure an IRQ is allocated for the on-chip audio controller by
proper BIOS settings. Type "blddemo" in the command prompt.
6. Copy files to directory \Wince212\release
For a retail build, copy the following three files:
\retail\VIAWAVE.DLL
WPLAYER.EXE
SAMPLE.WAV
For a debug build, copy the following five files:
\debug\VIAWAVE.DLL
\debug\VIAWAVE.MAP
\debug\VIAWAVE.PDB
WPLAYER.EXE
SAMPLE.WAV
7. Update bib files in directory \Wince212\release
To include the driver into NK.bin, in the platform.bib file
add the following lines:
IF VIA_AUDIO
VIAWAVE.dll $(_FLATRELEASEDIR)\VIAWAVE.dll NK SH
WPLAYER.exe $(_FLATRELEASEDIR)\WPLAYER.exe NK
ENDIF
A sample platform.bib file is included for your reference.
To include the driver into NK.bin, in the project.bib file
add the following three lines:
IF VIA_AUDIO
SAMPLE.WAV $(_FLATRELEASEDIR)\SAMPLE.wav NK S
ENDIF
A sample project.bib file is included for your reference.
8. Update registry in directory \Wince212\release
In the platform.reg file, add the following registry settings:
IF VIA_AUDIO
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Drivers\BuiltIn\WaveDev\]
"Prefix"="WAV"
"Dll"="viawave.dll"
"Order"=dword:0
ENDIF
A sample platform.reg file is included for your reference.
9. Set environment variables
In the command prompt, type
set VIA_AUDIO=1
set ODO_NOAUDIO=1
10. Execute "makeimg" and download the NK.bin binary image to your
target platform.
11. Basic testing
(1) Verify the success of driver installation
Double click the "Volume & Sounds" Control Panel
application. Verify you may adjust the loudness of the
sound as you wish. Press the "Sounds" button and select
several wave files to play. Press the "OK" button to
close the application.
(2) Verify the audio playing function
Run the sample "wplayer" program. Press the on-screen
right arrow button and select the "SAMPLE.WAV" file to
play. Press the on-screen automatic rewind button to repeat
playing the music. Press the on-screen stop button to stop
playing. Finally, select the "File" menu to exit the player.
12. Known problems & limitations
(1) For a debug build, the audio driver might not work properly
due to severe interference from debugging. A continuous
duration of noise, an asynchrony between how much wave
being played and its displayed elapsed time, or failures
in recording sound might encounter.
(2) The "wplayer" program is provided as is, whose usage is
without warranty of any kind. It is not supported to
concurrently playing the sound through the "wplayer" and
the "Volume & Sounds" Control Panel application.
(3) The driver supports only the audio codec with variable
sampling rate. The audio codec with fixed 48kHz sampling
rate is not supported.
13. Trouble shooting
In case you encounter any problem, first connect the debug port in
your target Windows CE platform to a serial port in your PC-based
NT development platform, e.g. with communication parameters
{38400, n, 8, 1}. Make a debug build binary image and download it
to your target platform. Dump related debug messages and then
contact VIA's representatives for further technical assistance.
14. Quality assurance
The software package has been tested by the WAVEBVT program,
shipped along with Windows CE 2.12. The test procedures thoroughly
exercise all the wave API functions. These include passing bad
parameters and sending buffers to the driver, and playing the
standard PCM format. This release passed all the tests.
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.