Modem Installation under Windows 9X/NT
======================================
9 July, 1998 by Maestro Technical Support
To install a Maestro modem, first print this document out,
read it all, then follow "Initial Installation" below.
For Windows 95, 98 and Windows NT V4 and later, modem-related
native applications use special drivers developed for hardware
used in conjunction with Windows; these drivers are controlled
by Inf files in the C:\Windows\Inf folder (directory).
This document does not apply to earlier versions of Windows,
for example, Windows V3.X or NT V3.X.
It does not matter which folder the Inf files are initially
located in. They could be on a floppy disk, the Maestro CD-ROM
or somewhere on your hard disk. They may be downloaded from the
Maestro Internet site or the Maestro Support BBS. There are Inf
files in the Inf folder of the Maestro CD-ROM. When viewing the
contents of a folder, please note that Windows says that an Inf
file type is "Setup Information".
Initial Installation
====================
1. Ensure your Maestro CD-ROM is in your CD-ROM drive.
2. Double-click on My Computer, then double-click on the CD-ROM
icon. A window showing the contents of the CD-ROM should
appear. Double-click on the Inf folder. A window will appear
with some Inf files and other files. You should see the two
files Mdmmaes.inf and Maewav.inf. The filenames may not
appear with ".inf" at the end, do not worry about that, just
treat Mdmmaes and Maewav as the Inf files you are after.
3. The Inf files could start off in any folder. The purpose of
this procedure is to make them end up where Windows expects
to find them, in the Windows\Inf folder. Get the folder where
the Inf files are, open on your screen.
4. Resize or move the window so that you can see the drive (C:)
icon in the My Computer window. Double-click on the drive
(C:) icon, then the Windows folder icon. Make sure you can
see the Inf folder icon in the Windows folder. If you do not
see the Inf folder icon, see the section below, "Finding the
Windows\Inf Folder".
5. Ensure that you can see both the contents of the folder where
the Inf files are and the Windows\Inf folder icon. You may
have to move, close or resize windows to achieve this.
6. Drag the two files Mdmmaes.inf and Maewav.inf from inside
the folder to on top of the Windows\Inf icon. When you see
the word Inf highlighted, drop the file. That has the effect
of copying the two files from where they were, to the folder
Windows\Inf. If a question pops up, asking whether you
really want to copy the file, answer Yes.
7. Close all open windows. If you like, check that the files
have ended up in the right place by doing Start, Find, Files
or Folders, type in the full filenames, separated by a space,
then click on Find Now. Find Files should report that the
files are in folder C:\WINDOWS\INF . Close Find Files.
8. Make sure your modem is connected to the computer and turned
on.
Now there are two options.
9a. You can restart your computer and allow Windows
to detect the modem as new hardware. It should now
automatically recognise your modem and install it with
little intervention from you. Just follow the prompts.
9b. Alternatively, go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, double
click on Modems, Click Add, then click Next. Windows should
then begin a detection process. It should recognise your
modem, and install it. Follow the prompts and your modem
will be installed.
You may then select the just installed modem type in all native
Windows 9X/NT modem-related applications. For example, Dial Up
Networking. The modem type goes in the "Connect Using" field.
Note: On a very few computers, Windows was not installed in
C:\Windows. If so, substitute the correct Windows folder name in
the instructions above, instead.
Happy modeming!
Manual Modem Installation
=========================
If automatic detection FAILS then manually install the modem
type.
1. Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, double click on
Modems. Click on the Add button.
2. Turn on the option 'Don't detect my modem, I will select
it from a list'. Then click Next.
3. A list of Manufacturers and Models will come up. Look for
the manufacturer Maestro Pty Ltd. If it is there, Windows
has found the file Mdmmaes.inf, go to step 7.
4. If Maestro Pty Ltd is not there, click on the Have Disk
button.
5. In the field below "Copy manufacturers files from:", you
need to specify where the Mdmmaes.inf file is. Click on
Browse and go to the folder where Mdmmaes.inf is.
In the Maestro CD-ROM, look in the Inf folder. You will be
able to identify which drive letter is the CD-ROM drive, by
the icon, which looks like a CD. Once you have found the
CD-ROM in the 'DRIVES' section of the 'Open' window which
has popped up after you clicked on Browse, the folders will
be listed in the 'Folders' section.
6. Select the folder with Mdmmaes.inf and click on OK.
7. Now a list of modems will come up. Select the modem model
which matches the capabilities of the modem you have and
follow the prompts.
Voice Modem Wave Table Driver
=============================
If Windows prompts you for a wave table driver for the modem,
browse for the Maewav.inf file. There is a copy of it in the
Inf folder on your Maestro CD-ROM.
Alas, Windows sometimes seems to have difficulty seeing the file
Maewav.inf and reports that it cannot find information on the
device and refuses to install the wave modem device. If that
happens, follow the procedure given in the "Initial
Installation" section to put the file Maewav.inf into the
Windows\Inf folder. Restart the computer and when the box about
the wav device appears, click on "Select from a list of
alternate drivers", then select the manufacturer "Maestro
Pty Ltd". If you cannot find the manufacturer "Maestro Pty
Ltd", you still do not have the file Maewav.inf in the right
place. The model "Maestro Modem Serial Wave Device" will be
automatically shown. Click on OK.
If even that is not working, try putting a copy of Maewav.inf
on an otherwise blank floppy disk, then browsing to that disk
when prompted for a driver.
Two of the Same Modem Type
==========================
Sometimes it is useful to have two (or more) of the same modem
type installed. For example, a particular service requires
special settings in the Extra settings string in modem
Properties, but you do not want these same settings for other
services. In that case, install an extra copy of your modem
type.
1. Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, double click on
Modems.
2. Make sure you know which manufacturer, model and COM port
your currently installed modem is. (If you are not sure
about the COM port, click on Diagnostics and you will see
a list. Click on General.) Click on Add.
3. Turn on the option "Don't detect my modem, I will select
it from a list". Then click Next.
4. A list of Manufacturers and Models will come up.
5. Select the manufacturer and model which is the same as your
existing modem type. Click Next.
6. Select the COM port which the modem is
connected to. Click Next. Click Finish.
You now have two modems of the same type installed. The
Properties settings in them are independent.
If automatic modem detection works properly, you can allow it
to auto-detect the modem in step 3. Click Finish.
Updating an Installed Driver
============================
If you already have earlier Maestro modem types installed and
you want to replace them with the latest version, then the
procedure is somewhat more complicated.
Put the new Mdmmaes.inf file with any associated files into a
folder. For example, if you have downloaded MAESTRxx.ZIP,
unzip it (using PKUNZIP or similar) into a blank floppy disk or
an empty folder.
Remove previous versions of the Maestro Inf file. Delete
Mdmmaes.inf (if present) out of the Windows\Inf folder (see the
section below if you cannot find the Windows\Inf folder). There
could be a file called "Maestro Pty LtdMDMMAES.INF" in the
folder Windows\Inf\Other. Delete that as well. To delete a
file, select it (highlight the name), press Delete on your
keyboard, then click OK in the Confirm File Delete box.
During previous installations, some files may have been created
in the Windows/Inf folder, named OEM0.INF, OEM1.INF, OEM2.INF,
etc. All Inf files are text files. Examine the OEMxx files with
Notepad (just double click on the file icon) to see which ones
refer to Maestro. Delete those OEMxx Inf files which refer to
Maestro.
Go into Control Panel, Modems, select the modem type you wish to
update, click Properties and write down all settings. Look at all
tabs. Click on Advanced in the Connection tab. Pay particular
attention to any string in "Extra settings". Quit from Properties,
then click on Remove to remove the modem type. Removing the old
modem type is actually optional provided you do not get confused
between the old one and the new one.
In Control Panel, Modems, General, click on Add to install a new
modem type. Select "Don’t detect my modem ...", click Next.
Click the "Have Disk" button, browse to the folder where your new
Mdmmaes.inf file is, click OK, click OK.
Select the manufacturer "Maestro Pty Ltd", select the model
closest to yours, click Next. Select the COM port which the
modem is plugged into, click Next. Click Finish.
Select the new modem type, click Properties and restore your
settings which you previously wrote down. You may then select
that modem type in all native Windows modem-related
applications.
Finding the Windows\Inf Folder
==============================
Note: By default, the Windows\Inf folder is hidden and cannot
be seen or searched; this means that it must be made visible
before the files can be correctly located.
1. Double-click the My Computer icon on the Windows desktop.
2. Click View in the menu bar, click Options.
3. Click the View tab of this dialog box and check the Show
all files "radio button". Click OK.
4. Double-click the drive which contains the Windows system
folder and files (usually the C: drive).
5. Double-click the Windows folder. You should now be able to
see the Inf folder icon.
6. Double-click the Inf folder icon. Now you can see and delete
Inf files.
Older Metal Case Modems
=======================
Older metal case modems and internal modems of similar age, can
be supported by the original Inf files included with Windows.
Please do a manual modem installation. In Control Panel, Modems,
Add, turn "Don't detect my modem" on, click Next, then select
the manufacturer "Maestro Digital Communications" and the modem
model "Maestro Executive 144" (or 96 as appropriate). Click Next,
select the correct COM port for your modem, click Next, Finish.
If you do not know which COM port your modem is on, do not worry,
you can change it later in modem Properties.
The Registry and the Inf File
=============================
When a device (such as a modem) is installed in Windows, some
of the information in the Inf file is copied into the Windows
registry. When Windows subsequently wants to use the device, it
gets information about the device from the registry. The Inf
file only gets used during initial installation. Alas, the
registry is fearsomely complicated and user-unfriendly. Only
knowledgeable computer experts should change the registry
directly, using Regedit.
It is possible to just look with Regedit, and not change
anything. That is safe. The power and the danger are in your
hands when running Regedit. It is quite possible to make one
wrong change and render the computer unable to boot. If you
are thinking of changing anything in the registry, make
backups of the registry files.
The modem initialisation string is actually in the registry.
The Extra settings string (in Modem Properties) is a secondary
initialisation string. What happens when a modem is initialised
by Windows Dial Up Networking is:
1. The modem manufacturer's recommended initialisation string,
from the registry, is sent to the modem. That string
originally came from the Inf file.
2. Windows examines all the settings in Modem Properties (for
example, loudspeaker volume), develops another modem
command string to implement the settings, then sends that
string to the modem.
3. The Extra settings string is sent to the modem, preceded by
an "AT" if necessary.
All the strings are followed by a carriage return. Windows
expects an OK response to each string. After successful
initialisation, Windows sends a dial command and the modem
should dial and connect. All this is visible in the log file
modemlog.txt, in C:\Windows. The log file is extremely useful
for troubleshooting in the event of connection difficulties.
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.