



                         AudioDrive ES1888 OS/2 Driver

                              Version 1.00 Final

                            Software Release Notes

                                 March 5, 1996




        About This Release

        ESS Technology is providing updated OS/2 drivers for the
        AudioDrive ES1888 chip in this Software Release.  These drivers
        are complete updates to prior ESS releases for OS/2 Warp 3.0.

        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:        AudioDrive ES1888 OS/2 Device Driver,
                        Version 1.00 Final

        Drivers:        ES1888 (with ESFM)

        OS:             OS/2 Warp 3.0

        Part Number:

        Release Date:   March 5, 1996




        Release Description

        The AudioDrive ES1888 OS/2 Driver Software Release incorporates
        new changes done to the previous release.

        Version 1.00 Features

        Full-duplex capability

        The OS/2 driver supports playing and recording simultaneously 2
        wave files.


        ESFM support

        The OS/2 driver supports ESFM, ESS's advanced FM music synthesis
        technology.


        APM support

        The OS/2 driver supports Advanced Power Management (APM).  It is
        recommended that users stop audio applications before putting
        the system into Suspend mode.


        Hardware volume control support

        The OS/2 driver supports hardware volume control.  The volume
        settings are passed to MMPM/2 via a daemon program,
        ESDAEMON.EXE.


        Version 1.00 Final Changes

        Device sharing between OS/2 and WINOS2

        This release adds WinOS2 audio support.  The audio device can be
        shared between Windows applications and OS/2 under an exclusive
        sharing arrangement.  If the device is not currently being used
        by an OS/2 application, when Windows runs an audio application,
        Windows will own the audio device until the Windows application
        (or session) is terminated.  Then ownership will pass to the
        next application requesting it (OS/2 or Windows).  This all
        occurs while maintaining the state of the device for all
        applications.


        Limited MPU-401 support

        If MPU-401 is enabled, the OS/2 driver will send out MIDI data
        when MIDI files are played.  If MPU-401 interrupt is enabled,
        MIDI in data can be received.  A MIDI file has to be opened for
        the MIDI in data to be sent to the FM synthesizer.  MIDI record
        is not supported.  In WinOS2 only MIDI out is supported, but the
        driver requires a MPU-401 interrupt to start.  In OS/2 if a MIDI
        file is played while MIDI in is receiving, the MIDI file has
        priority.  After a stop command is sent to the MIDI file, MIDI
        in will continue generating FM music.  Note that the stop
        command is only sent when the MIDI file play is completed or
        there are switching between two MIDI files.


        Input monitoring

        Input source monitoring during non-recording time is
        implemented.  However, there are some limitations to this
        feature due to the design of MMPM/2.  When Digital Audio comes
        up, the default microphone input source is used.  If you want to
        switch to line in, you must start recording to send the
        information down to the driver.  After then if the input source
        is switched back to the default microphone because a wave file
        is opened, you have to turn monitor off and then on to switch
        back to line in.




        Known Problems

        1. 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. 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.

        2. When Multimedia Application Install program brings up, a
           check mark beside AudioDrive ES1888 means that item is
           already selected.  To toggle selection, click the mouse on
           the item.  If WinOS2 is installed in the system, you can
           select WinOS2/Windows Audio support also.  If not, make sure
           that item is not checked.  Click the Install button to start
           the installation.  Once the drivers are installed, shutdown
           OS/2 and reset the computer for the new ES1888 drivers to
           take effect.

        3. Since this version of 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.

        4. If the MIDI plays are not smooth in WinOS2, 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.

        5. If you are using OS/2 Warp full pack and the one millisecond
           resolution timer TIMER0.SYS fails to load, use the old timer
           in \MMOS2.  In CONFIG.SYS replace the line
                BASEDEV=TIMER0.SYS
           with
                DEVICE=x:\MMOS2\TIMER0.SYS
           The old timer is not accurate and you will experience slow
           down in MIDI files.  The timer is required to play MIDI
           files.


        These are the files copied to your hard disk:

        \MMOS2
                ES1888DD.SYS
                TIMER0.SYS
                VAUDDRV.SYS
                ESDAEMON.EXE
        \MMOS2\DLL
                CARDINFO.DLL
                ESSVSD88.DLL
                WININST.DLL
                WINRES.DLL
        \MMOS2\HELP
                ES1888IN.HLP
        \OS2\BOOT
                CLOCK01.SYS
                CLOCK02.SYS
                TIMER0.SYS
        \WINDOWS
                AUDDRIVE.HLP
                AUDMPU.HLP
        \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
                AUDMPU.DRV
                ES1888WN.386
                ES1888WN.DRV
                MIDIMAP.CFG
                MSMIXMGR.DLL
