ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver
Version 2.10
Software Release Notes
March 19, 1997
About This Release
ESS Technology is providing new OS/2 drivers for the
ES1869 AudioDrive chip in this Software Release.
This document provides:
- a description of the changes to the drivers
- installation notes
Please read this document completely before you upgrade your
system, and follow the instructions carefully.
Release Information
Product: ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Device Driver,
Version 2.10
Drivers: ES1869 (with ESFM and wavetable)
OS: OS/2 Warp 4.0 and OS/2 Warp 3.0
Release Date: March 19, 1997
Release Description
The ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver Software Release incorporates
new features such as 3D Spatializer available in ES1869
AudioDrive chip.
Known Problems
1. For OS/2 Warp 3.0, opening too many MIDI files makes the
OS/2 system unstable. This problem is related to MMPM/2
and depends on system resource. On systems with 8 Mbs
memory, the limit is 3; 16 Mbs, 6.
2. Tempo in MIDI files may not be 100% accurate due to timing
delay and MMPM/2 architecture.
3. For OS/2 Warp 3.0, running MCI commands "seek wave to #"
and then "play wave" to a 16-bit wave file sometimes generates
very loud static noise. Likewise using "record wave from #"
to record a 16-bit wave file may generate wrong file. It all
depends on the seek position.
4. To be able to play and record wave files at the same time,
the enforcement of only one active wave file by MMPM/2 is
relaxed. Therefore, some problems or erratic behaviors may
pop up if two wave files are played.
5. The OS/2 driver allows sharing of audio and MPU-401
interrupts, but it is not recommended. If both are shared,
occasionally too much MIDI in data will lock up AudioDrive's
interrupt processing when a wave file is played or recorded.
To get out of this situation, stop the wave file, stop the
MIDI in source, close all MIDI files, and restart the wave
file to re-initialize AudioDrive's interrupt processing.
6. Due to the nature of MIDI music, turning MIDI in on while the
MIDI in data are coming may not generate the right sounds.
It is recommended to stop the MIDI in source first before
enable MIDI in.
Installation Notes
To install the new drivers successfully the following steps must
be taken:
1. Open an OS/2 Window and run the EINSTALL.EXE program on the
installation disk by typing "A:\EINSTALL." The program first
runs ESDETECT.EXE to auto-detect the chip, then calls
ESUNINST.EXE to remove old drivers. That program will create
a backup of CONFIG.SYS named CONFIG.ESS and remove the audio
device lines from CONFIG.SYS. It also creates a backup of
MMPM2.INI named MMPM2.ESS and removes the audio drivers
information from MMPM2.INI. In addition, it removes any
other ESS driver information in COMPLIST.INI. After then,
the installation program calls Multimedia Application Install
program, MINSTALL.EXE. After it finishes, another program,
ESCONFIG.EXE, will be called to update CONFIG.SYS if
necessary.
2. When Multimedia Application Install program brings up, a
check mark beside ES1869 AudioDrive means that item is
already selected. To toggle selection, click the mouse on
the item. Click the Install button to start the
installation. Once the drivers are installed, shutdown OS/2
and reset the computer for the new ES1869 drivers to take
effect.
3. If the installation cannot be completed, read the logs
EINSTALL.LOG in \MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory and MINSTALL.LOG
in \MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory or root directory to find out
the problem.
4. If during the installation an error saying the audio device
is already in use by another application comes up, make sure
all applications that utilize audio have been closed. If
this is caused by system sounds not closing the audio device,
you have three options to remedy this situation:
A. Remove the audio driver by running ESUNINST.EXE.
B. Go to Sounds object in System Setup folder and uncheck
Enable system sounds option. After the driver is
installed properly, check the option to enable system
sounds.
C. Run DINSTSND.CMD in d:\MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory. After
the driver is installed properly, run INSTSND.CMD d: to
enable system sounds.
Perform one of these operations and reboot to disable system
sounds. Install the drivers again.
5. If WIN-OS/2 is installed in the system, start WIN-OS/2 and
run "A:\SETUP" to install WIN-OS/2 drivers. Change the
WIN-OS/2 settings to the following if necessary:
AUDIO_ADAPTER_SHARING = Required
INT_DURING_IO = On
6. Since OS/2 Warp 3.0 MINSTALL.EXE changes the icons of MIDI
player and Digital Video player to that of Digital Audio
player in the Multimedia folder, you may want to change them
back to the originals. To change the icon of MIDI player,
right click MIDI player to bring up the menu. Select
Settings, select General, and click the Find... button. In
the Start Folder window, enter \MMOS2\INSTALL. Click the
Find button and a window of all found icons appears. Select
MIDIPLAY.ICO and click OK. Close the MIDI player Settings
notebook. For Digital Video player, repeat the above steps
but select VIDPLAY.ICO instead.
8. If the MIDI plays are not smooth in WIN-OS/2, you need to
change the timer resolution. Edit SYSTEM.INI in your Windows
directory. Under [timer.drv] are TIMERMax386Res and
TIMERMax286Res. You need to change the values to less than 8
from the default of 10.
These are the files copied to your hard disk for the MMPM/2
component:
\MMOS2
ES1869DD.SYS
VAUDDRV.SYS
ESDAEMON.EXE
ES938.EXE
\MMOS2\DLL
CARDINFO.DLL
ESSVSD88.DLL
\MMOS2\HELP
ES1869IN.HLP
\OS2\BOOT
CLOCK01.SYS
CLOCK02.SYS
TIMER0.SYS
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.