README.TXT For REALmagic Xcard(TM)
Release 1.1 (Build 144_05) - May 17th, 2002
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Congratulations on your purchase of REALmagic Xcard DVD/MPEG2/
MPEG4/DivX multimedia playback card. This file contains important
information in addition to the Quickstart and Users' Guides.
__________________________________________________________________
FOR FUTURE DRIVERS UPDATES AND INFO VISIT OUR WEB SITE
www.sigmadesigns.com
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Please read your Quickstart Guide for Hardware & Software
Installation. More details are in the Users' Guide in the same
folder. These guides are in the documents folder of your CD.
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IMPORTANT NOTES :
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- PLEASE RIGHT-CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON TO SELECT BETWEEN PLAYLIST
MODE AND DVD/CD-ROM DRIVES. IN FACT, MANY BUTTONS
HAVE A USEFUL RIGHT-CLICK MENU.
- PLEASE DO NOT USE THE FLOPPY DISKETTE FOR THE REMOTE CONTROL
DRIVER (if included). IT'LL GET INSTALLED AS PART OF THE
REALMAGIC XCARD DRIVERS ON THE ENCLOSED CD DISC.
SOFTWARE RELEASE NOTICE for Release 1.1
========================================
- Implementation of a Help feature - press F1.
- Implementation for the aspect ratio of DivX files playback.
This will fix the stretching vertically of these movies.
You now are able to scale the video manually if the displayed
aspect ratio is incorrect. Press the Up/Down buttons on the
Remote Control or the keyboard for such effect.
- Faster loading of Xmedia Player.
- Support for MP3 bit rates below 96 KHz as well as mono audio
streams within DivX files/movies.
- Support for DivX files with frame size 720x576.
- Support for DivX files encoded in "cropped" PAL mode.
- More descriptive information from the AVI Check program.
- Implemented AB segment playback mode.
- Saving the audio output mode after a reboot under Win 2000/XP.
Switching it on the fly while playing will require a few seconds
to synchronize.
- Mute button and audio volume are preserved now in Playlist mode.
- You can play an SVCD file after being copied on the hard disk.
- Note that any application other than Xmedia Player will output
on TV set only. This feature is to keep the users' capability
in controlling the desktop.
KNOWN ISSUES for Rel 1.1
========================
1 - Under Windows 2000, there may be some instances where playback
may not be optimal if Administrator rights do not exist.
2 - Keyboard shortcuts are not active while in fullscreen VGA mode.
3 - There may be instances of OSD graphics distortion in 1080i
HDTV mode.
SOFTWARE RELEASE NOTICE for Rel. 1.0
=====================================
GENERAL USAGE INFO :
- It takes around 30-40 sec to start the Xmedia Player.
It's a skin-nable application. Info on modifying it will be
published later.
- Note that the REALmagic Xcard plays video in full VGA screen
only - press ESC or double click the mouse (VGA/TV on Remote
Control) to switch playback to TV in order to see the Windows
desktop.
- Parental Control using Xmedia Player :
* Setting the level : click on Configuration, set the
required level, enter a password (please remember it as
it is case sensitive - forgetting it will require to
uninstall/install the drivers/applications), click
Apply, and close the Configuration window
* Playing a movie : for parental controlled movies -
- Some movies will cause Xmedia player to show a message
that the playback is not allowed (in this case it is
required to change the setting after entering the
password),
- Some movies will show a menu in the playback to select
if you want or not to play the movie. If you select
no there will be no playback, if you select yes, it
will wait for the password (you have three chances to
enter the correct password) - if you fail to enter it,
it will not play the movie.
- No support for DivX 5 files with Global Motion Compensation(GMC)
and Quarter Pixel (QPEL). The Xmedia Player will issue a
message accordingly.
- The program AVI Check in the REALmagic group analyzes DivX files
for their compatibility with the REALmagic Xcard.
* If the file is DivX 3.x, it issues the message "Not a DivX or
DX50 file.
* For non-MP3 audio streams, it issues the message "Audio
format isn't MP3!". AC-3 files will still be played.
* It'll issue messages for GMC and QPEL features of the DivX 5.
- If you choose the DTS option in a DVD movie menu the OUTPUT WILL
BE DIRECTED THRU THE SP/DIF OUPUT IN DIGITAL FORMAT REGARDLESS
OF THE Xmedia PLAYER AUDIO OUPUT SETTING, so the DTS stream is
NOT decoded and output from the analog mini audio jack.
- DivX files encoded in PAL mode after removing the black bars at
the top and bottom are not supported.
- There is no Help feature in the current release (F1 key is not
functional).
- There is no support for video only MPEG 4 or DivX files.
KNOWN ISSUES for Rel 1.0
========================
1 - Mute button and audio volume not preserved in a list playback.
2 - Inserting a VCD2 might still show the DVD navigation - click
the select button in the advanced panel to get the "Keypad
Panel".
3 - Setting bookmarks, stepping by frames, and setting
A-B segments are not implemented in this release.
4 - Please close the Xmedia Player before going into Standby mode.
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ADVANCED USERS ONLY :
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- Windows Media Player WMP can play MPEG 1, MPEG 2, and MPEG 4 files
but not DivX files. If you want WMP to not use the Xcard, please
do the following :
a - Rename the entry quartz.dll.xxx to quartz.dll in the Registry
entries of Win 98/Me (be careful when modifying the Registry -
a backup is recommended):
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\
{4A2286E0-7BEF-11CE-9BD9-0000E202599C}\InprocServer32]
@="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\QUARTZ.DLL.xxx"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\
{FEB50740-7BEF-11CE-9BD9-0000E202599C}\InprocServer32]
@="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\QUARTZ.DLL.xxx"
Check for "WINNT\SYSTEM32" for Win 2000 and WINDOWS\SYSTEM32
for Win XP (depending on your installation).
b - Run in folder C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM or WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 the
following DOS Commands to unregister the XCard filters
(you could put them in a DOS batch file) :
regsvr32 -u rmmpeg2.ax
regsvr32 -u rmsplit.ax
regsvr32 -u crmsplit.ax
regsvr32 -u crmmem.ax
To retore the functionality of the Xcard, change back quartz.dll
to quartz.dll.xxx in the Registry and run the DOS Commands
without the "-u" option to register the Xcard filters as follows:
regsvr32 rmmpeg2.ax
regsvr32 rmsplit.ax
regsvr32 crmsplit.ax
regsvr32 crmmem.ax
DivX file playback :
Please use GraphEdt (the Microsoft DirectShow SDK utility) to build
a graph for the DivX playback.
Use the following filters from the menu :
Graph - Insert Filters - DirectShow) :
* "DivX files" to :
* "AVI Splitter" : Stream 00 to Video-In of
"Sigma designs MPEG-2 hardware decoder"
Stream 01 to "MPEG Layer-3 Decoder" to
"Sigma Designs PCM Swapper" to Audio In of
"Sigma designs MPEG-2 hardware decoder"
For MPEG 1 and 2 with GraphEdt : use the Sigma Designs MPEG Stream
Splitter and Sigma Designs MPEG 2 Hardware Decoder. For MPEG 4,
use Sigma Designs MP4 File Parser and Sigma Designs MPEG 2 Hardware
Decoder.
CLARIFICATION NOTE ABOUT DVD MOVIES REGION CODES :
------------------------------------------------
The program "DVD Drive Region" in the REALmagic Group is for
setting the region code of the RPC2 DVD-ROM drives. The region
code on the REALmagic Xcard is irrelevant in this case.
If you don't have an RPC2 drive (ie using an RPC1 drive), then the
region code of the movie will be compared against the region code
of REALmagic Xcard. This can be set by running SETUP from
Win98_Me\Apps\Disk1 and select the second option in the menu :
1 - Install Application,
2 - Set the region code.
CONTENTS
====================================================
I - DRIVER AND APPLICATIONS INSTALLATION
II - DVD REGION CODE CHANGE
III - HINTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS AND BETTER PLAYBACK
I - DRIVER AND APPLICATIONS INSTALLATION
====================================================
After the hardware installation of the card do the following:12345
1. After booting your system, Windows 9X will detect the card and
issue the "New Hardware Found" message. Insert the REALmagic
Xcard CD Disk in your DVD/CD-ROM drive, point to Win98_Me, and
click Finish. This will install the REALmagic Xcard drivers on
your hard disk, then the Windows desktop will appear.
2. To install the Xmedia player software, point to
Win98_Me\Apps\Disk1 and run SETUP. The Welcome dialog box
appears. Click the Next button. The REALmagic Xcard Setup
dialog appears with two options :
1 - Install the applications
2 - Set the region code for the REALmagic Xcard.
Click on the Install the REALmagic applications radio button
(default) and then click OK.
3. The Remote Control Serial Port Selection dialog appears. Click
on the COM2 radio button (or COM1, COM3, or COM4, depending on
how your remote control is connected to the computer) and then
click Next.
4. The Choose Destination Location dialog appears. Click Next
unless you wish to specify an alternative destination folder
in which to install files. To specify an alternative
destination, click Browse, and navigate to the desired folder
and then click Next. REALmagic Setup installs the program
files.
5. The DVD region code program kicks in and asks you to set a
DVD region between 1-6. If your DVD-ROM drive is an RPC2 drive
that carries its on region code you don't need to set a code
to the REALmagic Xcard - click Cancel. Otherwise set the region
proper to your region (the application will tell you the region
set successfully and how many changes are still available for you
on the REALmagic Xcard).
6. When installation is completed, the Setup Complete dialog
appears. Click Finish.
NOTE: For an existing installation : uninstall the previous
software by going to Start - Programs - REALmagic Group, run
Uninstall, reboot, and follow the steps above except step 5.
II - DVD REGION CODE CHANGE
1. Run SETUP from Application disk. Select DVD Region Code
change option. Set the region code according to the country
you are in. This setting goes onto the hardware of REALmagic
Xcard and there is NO need to set it again if you move the
board to a different system (or install/uninstall drivers or
upgrades).
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._
Note: The setup program will allow you to change the region
code for five times only.
Note: If the system includes an RPC2 DVD-ROM drive that
carries its own region code, the REALmagic Xcard will check
the RPC2 code against the movie and will issue a proper
message if not matching (the REALmagic Xcard region code
is ignored in this case). Movies will not playback if
the drive is new and has NOT been set for a region.
III - HINTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS AND BETTER PLAYBACK
====================================================
1. When watching the movie on TV, the picture gets dimmer and
brighter at short intervals and with some movies some yellow
horizontal lines appear on the TV screen.
The TV set is connected to the PC system via a VCR or an alike
device. This device initiates the Macrovision protection of
the movie. Connect the TV directly to the PC system.
2. The S-Video connector on the REALmagic Xcard is a 7-hole jack and
my S-Video cable has a 4-pin socket only.
The 4-pin cable is compatible with the 7-pin socket.
3. You see the video but no audio.
- Try first the speakers plugged in the REALmagic Xcard and be
sure the output from Xmedia Player is Analog/PCM.
- Check the audio jumper cable from the output of the REALmagic
Xcard to the input of the sound card. If no sound, check the
volume mixer to have Line-in NOT muted or at low level.
- If you are using a Dolby Digital Receiver, make sure that
it accepts AC-3 streams (if your setting in Xmedia Player
is AC-3), otherwise it must be a PCM decoder and in this
case set the Xmedia Player output to Analog/PCM.
4. You have a third generation DVD-ROM drive (RPC2 specs that
require a region code on the drive) and you cannot playback
movies.
Run the utility for this drive to set the region code to your
country code.
5. What is the pinout of the VGA signals on the pass-thru cable?
View of the 9 pin socket of the pass-through cable,
seen from the bracket:
_________
/_________\
| |
| 9 8 7 |
| 6 5 4 3 |
\ 2 1 /
---------
1:Blue IN
2:GND
3:Green IN
4:GND
5:Vsync IN
6:Hsync IN
7:Red IN
8:SDA (from pin12 of DB15) - PnP monitors
9:SCL (from pin15 of DB15) - PnP monitors
=================================================================
END OF FILE
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.