Copyright: Copyright ©1998-2000. Creative Technology, Ltd.    Creative Sound Blaster AudioPCI Help - Version 2.2
Citation: Copyright ©1998-2000. Creative Technology, Ltd.


What is Sound Blaster AudioPCI?

The new Sound Blaster AudioPCI card uses breakthrough technology which takes full advantage of the PCI bus architecture while maintaining compatibility with older legacy software.

Legacy game compatibility was originally a problem when considering a PCI-based audio card since existing software and games for the personal computer had been designed to run on ISA-based audio cards. To function properly, those cards must write directly to the inherently slow ISA Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller. These signals are not present in the PCI bus. Sound Blaster AudioPCI, thus, allows legacy software to function as if the ISA signals are present, while using the faster speed of the PCI bus.

Note

Depending on your geographical region, your audio card product name may be one of the following:

Creative Sound Blaster 16 PCI

Creative Sound Blaster AudioPCI 128

Creative Ensoniq AudioPCI

Creative VIBRA 128


Why PCI?

The PCI bus is far superior than the ISA bus. It is capable of transferring data on a wider 32-bit bandwidth bus. This allows much more data to pass from the PCI bus to the host processor. The ISA bus is only capable of 16-bit bandwidth transfers. Using the PCI bus will allow a 4-to-20 times increase in speed over much slower DMA transfers on the ISA bus. This drastically reduces the overhead on the host CPU. This tremendous processing power opens up new possibilities for audio cards. Real-time software-based audio fields are now possible without slowing down the host CPU.


Sound Blaster AudioPCI's Main Features

Besides the installation software, configuration utilities, device drivers and initialization utilities, Sound Blaster AudioPCI includes:

Synthesizer

Provides up to 128 voices of wavetable synthesis.

Includes 2MB, 4MB and 8MB General MIDI/ Roland MT-32 sound sets as well as AdLib/ SoundBlaster 16 (with OPL2) FM synthesizer emulation.

Because of the high data transfer rates that the PCI bus will allow, Sound Blaster AudioPCI is able to use a flexible method of storing and accessing wavetable sounds. All 128 General MIDI instrument sounds are stored on the computer hard drive and accessed using the computer's on-board RAM. This technology allows for expandable sound sets.

Digital Audio

Allows the recording of CD-quality stereo sound (up to 16 bits, 48.0 kHz sampling rate) from Aux, CD and Line In Inputs as well as from the internal synthesizer.

Allows the recording of mono sound from the Mic Input and optional 20-dB boost.

Allows the recording of mono sound from the TAD Input/Output.

Playback of stereo wave samples of 8- or 16-bit sound.

Enables playback of standard computer wave files.

MIDI

Provides an MPU-401 compatible MIDI interface, including MIDI In and MIDI Out/Thru (requires external cable, not supplied).

Allows the recording of MIDI events from an external MIDI keyboard controller.

Enables playback of standard computer MIDI files (i.e., .MID, .ROL, etc.) to either the on-board synthesizer or to an external synthesizer.

Creative Mixer

Provided software mixer allows synthesizer and digital audio output to be mixed with signal arriving at the card's CD, Aux, Mic and TAD  Inputs.


Configuring Sound Blaster AudioPCI

Sound Blaster AudioPCI requires one 64-byte Input/Output (I/O) Range and one PCI Interrupt to function in Windows 95/98. However, additional resources must be allocated to enable legacy compatibility in an MS-DOS Prompt and MS-DOS Mode applications.

The Sound Blaster AudioPCI Properties window contains several tabs with the configuration options for the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card.

To open the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Properties window

1	Open the Device Manager by selecting Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.

2	Double-click the System icon.

3	Double-click the Sound, Video and Game Controllers option from the hardware tree under the Device Manager tab.

4	Double-click the Sound Blaster AudioPCI option. The following Sound Blaster AudioPCI dialog box appears.

Figure 1: Sound Blaster AudioPCI Properties dialog box

Note

Depending on the features supported by your audio card, the dialog box may appear different from the one above.


MIDI Synthesizer Wavesets

The first section under the Settings tab contains a drop-down menu that will allow you to choose from either the 2-megabyte, 4-megabyte or 8-megabyte wavetable instrument set included with Sound Blaster AudioPCI.  It is likely that new wavesets will be available in the future, so an Add Waveset button has been included.
Generally, the larger the waveset the better it will sound.

To select from existing wavesets

1	Click the down arrow in the MIDI Synthesizer Waveset section to display the drop-down box with all the available wavesets.

2	Highlight and click the waveset you want to use.

3	Click the OK button to close the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Properties window.

To load a new waveset

1	Click the Add Waveset button in the MIDI Synthesizer Waveset section.

2	Click the Browse button and point to the new waveset file (those with extension .ecw) . Click the OK button. The .ecw file will be copied to the Windows 95/98 system folder (that is, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM).

3	The new waveset will appear in the MIDI Synthesizer Waveset drop-down menu.

4	Click the OK button to close the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Properties window.


Locking the MIDI Waveset

The Lock MIDI Waveset checkbox in the Settings tab determines how Sound Blaster AudioPCI manages the waveset memory.

If selected, the entire waveset is locked into a physical memory each time the driver is initialized during startup or if the MIDI Device is in use.  When the MIDI Device is closed, the waveset is unlocked making the memory available to other applications.

If not selected, only the wavetable sounds in use are locked into memory. This means that as a complicated MIDI sequence is played, there may be a delay as each instrument is locked to and paged out of memory.  The only time this should be necessary is when another memory-heavy application has a greater need for more RAM than the MIDI device.

For MS-DOS Prompt and MS-DOS Mode applications, the entire waveset is always locked in memory regardless of this setting.


Legacy Emulation

Sound Blaster AudioPCI legacy emulation provides applications with the resources necessary to function in MS-DOS Mode or an MS-DOS Prompt.  Sound Blaster AudioPCI does not require most of the resources used by non-PCI (also called ISA or Legacy) devices.  To ensure compatibility with applications designed to function with those non-PCI cards, the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device is used.

When legacy emulation is enabled in the Settings tab, the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device will appear in the Device Manager.


Allow LPT Interrupt Sharing

Enabling LPT interrupt sharing allows you to conserve system resources . When this box is selected, the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device attempts to use the same interrupt that the LPT port is using, which is typically 5 or 7.


Joystick Port

To enable the Sound Blaster AudioPCI joystick port in Windows 95/98, the Gameport Joystick drivers must be installed.  The Gameport Joystick driver is provided in Windows 95/98. The Gameport Joystick device will appear in the Device Manager after an initial installation of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI or when the Joystick Port Enabled box is selected in the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Settings tab.

Note

If another game card is installed in the system, the Joystick Port Enabled box should not be selected.


Output Mode

Under Output Mode, select the type of signal sent to the Line Out jack.

When Autosense is selected, Line Out will automatically detect whether the jack plugged in is in SPDIF or Analog Stereo format.

When Analog is selected, the audio output will be in analog format.

When Digital is selected, the audio output will be in digital format.
(This is available only for some audio cards).


SPDIF Output

If you select Digital under Output Mode, you can specify the source of this digital audio in SPDIF Output.

Select Digital Sources Only if you want to hear playback of only digital sources, for example MIDI and .WAV files. This way, you will not hear any of the external analog input sources (e.g. Mic, Aux, CD).

Select Analog and Digital Sources when you want to hear digital playback of both analog and digital sources.

Note

SPDIF Output selection is only valid in Digital Output Mode. Some audio cards may not support Digital Output Mode.

SPDIF Output is only applicable to 2-speaker setups.

Under Digital Mode, the 3D test mode is only applicable to 2-speaker setups.


Driver Files

There should never be a need to use the Change Driver button under the Driver tab of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Properties window.


PCI Resources

The PCI resources for Sound Blaster AudioPCI are assigned by the BIOS and should never be changed in Windows 95/98.  Using the BIOS setup utility, you can ensure that the Sound Blaster AudioPCI acquires the resources it needs.

Legacy devices, including the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device, use only the resources available to the ISA bus.  The majority of the resources in a system can be reserved for the ISA bus. Almost every PCI device in a system can share a single interrupt.  Only rare PCI devices, using distributed DMA, need a DMA channel to be available.

Some BIOS setups allow the reservation of DMAs for the ISA bus as well. Sound Blaster AudioPCI does not require a PCI DMA, but reserving DMAs 1 and 0 for the ISA bus will ensure that one of them is available to the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device.

Note

For those who use MS-DOS applications:
Unless you plan on using LPT interrupt sharing, reserve IRQ 5 for the ISA bus to allow the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy device to acquire it.  IRQ 7 is typically used by the LPT port and IRQ 10 by legacy devices (i.e., scanners and network adapters). They should also be reserved for the ISA bus.  Remember that at least one interrupt must be available to the PCI bus.  IRQs 11 and 9 are good interrupts to leave for the PCI bus.


Configuring Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device

Windows 95/98 assigns Plug and Play (PnP) legacy device resources after the BIOS assigns PCI resources. The Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device requests the most popular resource settings when installed.  The Windows 95/98 Device Manager allows you to reconfigure the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device resources so that you can easily manage other legacy devices.  Changes made to these settings are also reflected in MS-DOS Mode.  If the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device is disabled in Windows 95/98, the Sound Blaster AudioPCI will be disabled in MS-DOS Mode as well.

To reconfigure the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device resources:

1	Open the Device Manager by selecting Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.

2	Double-click the System option.

3	Double-click the Sound, Video and Game Controllers option from the hardware tree under the Device Manager tab.

4	Double-click the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device option. The Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device Properties dialog box similar to the Figure 2 appears

5	Select the Resources tab.
This will display the current Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device resources. These resources settings are obtained from one of the ten basic configurations.  These basic configurations contain the most popular hardware resource options. In most cases, you can change just the basic configuration to resolve a conflict.

Figure 2: Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device Resource tab


Changing the basic configuration

1	Clear the Use Automatic Settings checkbox by clicking on it.

2	Select the Basic Configuration pull-down menu.

3	Choose the Basic Configuration option, noting the changes in the Resource window.

In some cases, however, you may wish to have more control over which resources are used.  In this case, you can modify individual resources.

To modify individual resources

1	Clear the Use Automatic Settings checkbox.

2	Select the resources that you wish to modify in the Resource Settings window, and then click the Change Setting option or double-click the Resource option.

3	If the Device Manager indicates that the resource can not be changed, you may still be able to change it by selecting an alternative basic configuration.

4	The Device Manager will then present you with the available options for this device.  Use the Up and Down arrows to change the resource values, or enter a specific value when prompted by the Edit Resource dialog box.

When you are finished configuring the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device, select the OK button to close all windows.


Disabling the driver

To disable all the Sound Blaster AudioPCI drivers

1	Open the Device Manager by selecting Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.

2	Double-click the System option.

3	Double-click the Sound, video, game controllers option from the Device Manager hardware tree.

4	Double-click the Sound Blaster AudioPCI option.

5	Select the General tab.

6	Clear  the Original Configuration (Current) option.

7	Select the OK button.

To disable either or both the Gameport Joystick and Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device only

1	Open the Device Manager by selecting Start -> Settings -> Control Panel

2	Double-click the System option.

3	Double-click the Sound, video, game controllers option from the Device Manager hardware tree.

4	Double-click the Sound Blaster AudioPCI option.

5	Select the Settings tab.

6	Clear the Legacy Emulation Enabled option to disable the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device.

7	Clear the Joystick Port Enabled option to disable the Gameport Joystick.

8	Click the OK button to apply the changes

Note

If the Legacy Emulation is disabled in the Device Manager, MS-DOS Mode and MS-DOS Prompt applications will not be able to use the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card for sound or music.


Using Sound Blaster AudioPCI in Windows 95/98

The Sound Blaster AudioPCI card is compatible with popular audio standards in the market.  Games that support the following sound modes will operate on the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card: SoundBlaster 16, SoundBlaster Pro DirectX, AdLib and MPU401/Roland (Sound Canvas/General MIDI or MT32/LAPC-1).

Three Operating Modes

You will use one of these modes when using the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card in Windows 95/98:

1	Windows 95/98 Mode

2	Windows 95/98 MS-DOS Prompt

3	Windows 95/98 MS-DOS Mode

Windows 95/98 Mode

Windows 95/98 Mode is the native mode of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI  card.  Games that indicate that they are for Windows 95/98 use this mode.  In general, the only thing required to play a game under Windows 95/98 is to install the game.

Some Windows 95/98 games will use DirectX.  Sound Blaster AudioPCI  is fully compatible with DirectX.

Windows 95/98 MS-DOS Prompt

The majority of games currently out in the market are designed for MS-DOS only.  The Sound Blaster AudioPCI  card fully supports MS-DOS games.  The recommended method for playing MS-DOS games is to open an MS-DOS virtual machine (also known as MS-DOS Prompt or MS-DOS Box), and then to install and run the MS-DOS game.  The icon, MS-DOS Prompt, should appear in the Start Menu under Programs.  This will give you an MS-DOS Prompt.

The Sound Blaster AudioPCI  Legacy Device must be enabled in order for MS-DOS Prompt games to function.

Windows 95/98 MS-DOS Mode

There could be times when you may not be able or do not want to run a game in an MS-DOS prompt.  The game may be incompatible with Windows 95/98, or you may not have enough system resources to play the game with Windows 95/98 loaded.  When this happens, you can use a mechanism called MS-DOS Mode, which loads only the real-mode portions of the operating system.


Using Windows 95/98 MS-DOS Mode

To start the system in MS-DOS Mode:

1	Select the Shutdown option from your  Start menu.

2	When the Shutdown dialog box appears, select the Restart the computer in MS-DOS Mode option.

3	Select the OK button. This closes the Windows 95/98 interface and puts the system in MS-DOS Mode.

How MS-DOS Mode works

When the system enters MS-DOS Mode, the DOSSTART.BAT file is run. DOSSTART.BAT contains any MS-DOS Mode drivers that must be loaded, including the Sound Blaster AudioPCI MS-DOS Mode driver SBINIT.COM.

Windows 95/98 will add the necessary lines for Sound Blaster AudioPCI to initialize to the AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, and DOSSTART.BAT each time it loads, even creating these files if they are missing.


AUTOEXEC.BAT

The installation adds a few lines to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to initialize Sound Blaster AudioPCI. If the AUTOEXEC.BAT file is missing, it will be created. The lines added are listed as follows.

SET SBPCI=<SBPCI.INI location>

SET BLASTER=Axxx Ix Dx Hx Pxxx T6


CONFIG.SYS

The installation adds a few lines to the CONFIG.SYS file to initialize Sound Blaster AudioPCI. . If the CONFIG.SYS file is missing, it will be created.

The lines added are listed as follows:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE


DOSSTART.BAT

The installation adds a line to the DOSSTART.BAT file to initialize Sound Blaster AudioPCI.  If the DOSSTART.BAT file is missing, it will be created. The line added is listed as follows:

<Sound Blaster AudioPCI Path>\SBINIT.COM

SBINIT.COM is the Sound Blaster AudioPCI MS-DOS driver.  It is required for the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card to function properly under MS-DOS Mode.

SBINIT.COM requires that EMM386.EXE or another memory manager, such as QEMM.SYS, is loaded. If needed the installation adds the necessary EMM386.EXE and HIMEM.SYS lines to your CONFIG.SYS file, creating CONFIG.SYS if it is not present.

On the rare occasion a program does not work with expanded memory, simply add the NOEMS parameter to your memory manager (that is, DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS).

You may load this driver into high memory in the AUTOEXEC.BAT, even though by default it is not (that is., LOADHIGH C:\PROGRAM FILES\CREATIVE\AUDIO\DOSDRV\SBINIT.COM)

Do not remove the memory manager all together. Do not attempt to load SBINIT.COM into high memory when using the NOEMS option if SBINIT.COM fails to run SBLOAD.EXE or SBCFG.EXE.

In the rare case that a program will not work with a memory manager you will not be able to use the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card.


Installing Games for Sound Blaster AudioPCI

Determining Resources

In both the MS-DOS Prompt and MS-DOS Mode, you will generally have to type what hardware is installed and what resources (Port, IRQ, DMA, etc.) the hardware is using.

To find the current Sound Blaster AudioPCI resources in Windows 95/98

1	Open the Device Manager by selecting Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.

2	Double-click the System option.

3	Select the Sound, video, game controllers option from the Device Manager hardware tree.

4	Double-click the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device option.

5	Select the DOS Application Settings tab.

You can use the information in this dialog box to help you configure MS-DOS games for use with the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card.

To find the current Sound Blaster AudioPCI resources in MS-DOS Mode

1	Switch to your Sound Blaster AudioPCI directory (that is, C:\PROGRAM FILES\CREATIVE\AUDIO\DOSDRV).

2	Type SBCFG and press the Enter key from your keyboard.

Note

The MS-DOS driver SBINIT.COM must be running in order for SBCFG.EXE to work properly.
Some older games may have difficulty detecting the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card at certain resource settings.  Typically, these games would expect the card to be at a fixed set of resources and would fail to load if those resources were not detected. If you have any older MS-DOS games that do not work properly, try changing the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device’s configuration.

Use the following table as a guide.

Problem	Solution
The SoundBlaster 16 emulation is not recognized.	Try switching the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Wave IRQ between 7 and 5; use DMA channel 1, Wave Port 220, a high DMA of 5 and an MPU-401 address of 330.
The SoundBlaster Pro emulation is not recognized.	Try switching the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Wave IRQ between 7 and 5; use DMA channel 1 and Wave Port 220.
The MPU-401 emulation is not recognized.	Try using Port Address 330.
Table 1 : Troubleshooting Tips


Selecting the Best Sound Options in a game

Most MS-DOS based games that provide sound have some procedure for sound setup.  These procedures generally present you with a list of popular sound cards or sound devices to choose from.  The Sound Blaster AudioPCI card will work with one or more of the available options.

The methods used by games to present sound options can vary greatly.  Some may present a single choice that corresponds to a particular sound device. (i.e., SoundBlaster 16, SoundBlaster Pro , Roland Sound Canvas, etc.)  Others will provide an option for music and digital audio separately.  (i.e., General MIDI music with SoundBlaster 16 digital audio, etc.)  Often there are two separate menus to configure in this case.

Some games allow you to set the MIDI port address and IRQ for music and sound.  Make sure that these settings correspond to the values displayed by SBCFG.EXE or the DOS Application Settings tab of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device Properties window.

There are games that offer MPU-401/Roland (General MIDI or MT-32/LAPC-1) as an option. Often these games allow you to set the MIDI port address and/or IRQ. Make sure they match the MIDI Address and IRQ settings in the MIDI Settings section of the DOS Application Settings tab in Windows 95/98.  The same values can be found under MPU-401 (General MIDI, Roland MT-32/LAPC-1) Emulation, displayed by SBCFG.EXE in MS-DOS Mode.  Remember to load the MT-32 MIDI patch with the MT32.EXE or SBMIXER /M: 1 command if you select Roland MT-32 or LAPC-1 for music.

Occasionally, a game only offers SoundBlaster for digital audio, but most times SoundBlaster 16 will be desired over other options for your digital audio.  The values you enter should correspond to the Wave/SB settings in the DOS Application Settings tab. Sound Blaster AudioPCI software emulates a SoundBlaster 16 board with OPL2 FM synthesis. Generally, when you set up a game that does not have direct SoundBlaster 16 support, you should choose SoundBlaster Pro as your digital audio option.

Note

When configuring Sound Blaster AudioPCI game settings, make sure that the IRQ and DMA settings match the Wave settings of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device.  Remember that an easy way to find out the current hardware settings in MS-DOS Mode is to use SBCFG.EXE from the Sound Blaster AudioPCI directory
(i.e., C:\SBPCI\SBCFG).


Music Options

Most MS-DOS games offer a menu choice for sound when they start up.  Sound Blaster AudioPCI supports all of the popular music options. The only time you will need to provide an instruction to Sound Blaster AudioPCI is when MT32/LAPC-1 is offered and Sound Canvas/General MIDI is not.

Because General MIDI provides the highest quality sound, the majority of today's popular games offer it as an option. If you have a choice between General MIDI and MT-32, always choose General MIDI, since it will provide you with better sound quality.

If you need to use MT-32, you must first switch from the General MIDI patch set (the default) to the MT-32 patch set. Be sure to switch back to the General MIDI set when you are finished using the MT-32 waveset.


Digital Audio Options

Sound Blaster AudioPCI supports SoundBlaster 16, SoundBlaster Pro and AdLib digital audio emulation. If an application provides all of these as options, specify SoundBlaster 16 as your first, SoundBlaster as your second, SoundBlaster Pro as your third, and AdLib as your last choice for digital audio.

Sound, Sound FX or Digital Audio	Music Synthesis

SoundBlaster 16 (16-bit Stereo)	SoundBlaster 16 FM

SoundBlaster Pro (8-bit Stereo)	GM, MPU-401, Sound Canvas

SoundBlaster (8-bit Mono)	SoundBlaster, FM, OPL2, AdLib

Table 2: Game Setup Suggestion


MS-DOS Mode Utilities

The Sound Blaster AudioPCI card includes a few MS-DOS utilities.  These utilities require the Sound Blaster AudioPCI driver, SBINIT.COM, to be loaded.


SBCFG.EXE

The SBCFG.EXE utility is used to obtain hardware settings and show the status of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card. This is useful for finding out how the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card is configured so that you may properly setup a particular game.

Usage: SBCFG.EXE

SBCFG.EXE will display the following hardware settings:

PCI Hardware Settings: Port, IRQ

SoundBlaster 16 Emulation Port: Port, IRQ, DMA, 16-bit High DMA, MPU-401 address

SoundBlaster Pro Emulation: Port, IRQ and DMA

MPU-401 Emulation (GM, Roland MT32/LAPC-1) Emulation: Port, IRQ

AdLib Emulation: Port

Note

If the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device is disabled in Windows 95/98, the SBCFG.EXE file will indicate such and will display only the PCI Hardware Port and IRQ settings.


SBMIXER.EXE

Use SBMIXER.EXE to change the volume levels or the MPU-401 waveset used on the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card. The SBMIXER.EXE file has two modes of operation, command-line mode and interactive mode.

Command-line mode is useful for advanced users who want to setup batch files with particular volume levels.

Usage: SBMIXER [options]

Where

/s: <0-127>	will adjust the synth volume.

/w: <0-127>	will adjust the wave volume.

/c: <0-127>	will adjust the CD audio volume.

/m: <0 or 1>	sets the synth MT-32/LAPC-1 mode (0 is OFF, 1 is ON).

/?	displays a help screen.

The SBMIXER.EXE file without any options will invoke the interactive editor.  The interactive editor mode allows you to change the mixer settings with the mouse, TAB, PGUP, PGDN, or arrow keys.

Figure 3: SBMIXER.EXE Interactive Mode

The settings for the SBMIXER.EXE file are independent of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Audio Mixer settings in Windows 95/98.  If the Save As Default button is not used, the settings will remain in effect until the computer is restarted.  Running Windows 95/98 and shutting down into MS-DOS Mode will not reset SBMIXER.EXE.

SBMIXER.EXE cannot be run in Windows 95/98 Mode.


MT32.EXE

MT-32 or LAPC-1 was a popular waveset in the late 1980s (prior to the General MIDI standard) which provided superior sound over the computer sound systems that were available at that time. During that period, many game manufacturers supported the MT-32 as their high-end sound device.

Sound Blaster AudioPCI provides two sets of patches: a General MIDI compatible patch set and a patch set which emulates a Roland MT-32/LAPC-1 patch set. These patches cannot be used simultaneously, so a utility called MT32.EXE is provided to allow you to easily switch from one patch set to another and show the currently loaded patch. Use this utility whenever a game supports MT-32 as a music/sound option.

Usage: MT32 [/ON | /OFF]

Where

/ON 	selects the MT-32 patch set.

/OFF	 	selects the General MIDI patch set.

Typing MT32.EXE without any arguments (i.e., /ON or /OFF) will display the currently loaded waveset.

Windows 95/98 always uses the General MIDI patch.  Use the MT32.EXE file in a batch file to temporarily enable the MT-32 patch set for MS-DOS Prompt applications.  If the Windows 95/98 MIDI Device is opened, the patch set will automatically be switched to General MIDI.  The MT32.EXE command will have to be executed again before the MT-32 patch set is restored.


Troubleshooting In Windows 95/98

The secret to troubleshooting is to examine the evidence you have, gain as much information as you can, and eliminate the possibilities one by one.  In most cases, the source of the problem will soon become clear.

For example, if Sound Blaster AudioPCI works fine when you remove all other cards from your computer but stops working when you replace your fax-modem, there may be a simple resources conflict between the sound card and the fax-modem (such as port address or IRQ).

Problems are often extremely simple. There may simply be a bad cable, components may not be plugged in or turned on.


Configuration

Adding new hardware and software to your computer requires ensuring that there are no conflicts with your existing system.  If you have difficulty with the installation procedure or are unable to make the card work, there are three major configuration settings to consider: I/O Port Address, Interrupt Request lines (IRQ), and Direct Memory Access channels (DMA).

Even though the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card is a Plug and Play card, the presence of other legacy cards can still cause resource conflicts. To resolve such conflicts, it is important to know the settings of other cards (it is best to remove other sound cards) and peripherals currently in your system, including the mouse, fax-modem, video accelerators.

Many peripherals come with setup software similar to Sound Blaster AudioPCI. This software lets you see and change the current configuration.  There are also utility programs that investigate and report on the configuration of your system and its peripherals.  In either event, make a record of the settings used by all the peripherals in your system for reference when installing new hardware and software or troubleshooting problems.

Generally, you will only have a DMA conflict if the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device is enabled and your system contains another sound card; a scanner or an external CD-ROM drive.


Using Two Audio Cards

Having another sound card in your system in addition to the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card will greatly increase the chances of having system conflicts.  We highly recommend that any other sound devices and their associated Windows 95/98 drivers be removed before installing the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card.


Multimedia Components (i.e., Media Player)

If you install the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card after Windows 95/98 is installed, Windows 95/98 will not install the sound utilities that you would expect to find.  Features such as the Audio CODEC, the Media Player, and the Microsoft Mixer may not be present.  This may cause your audio card to malfunction, even when the drivers are installed.  If this is the case, these applications must be installed onto the system from the Windows 95/98 installation media.


Audio Problems

If you are satisfied that the Sound Blaster AudioPCI hardware and software are properly installed, but you do not hear sound, the problem may be with your audio connections.  Here are some suggestions:

1	Try playing both a .WAV file and a .MID file to ensure that there is no sound at all coming from the speakers.  If you hear one and not the other, the problem is internal and has nothing to do with your audio system.

2	Be sure that your speaker system is properly set up.  Try connecting a sound source other than Sound Blaster AudioPCI, such as an audio CD player, and establishing whether or not you can hear it.

3	Be sure that the audio card is properly connected to the speaker system (a 1/8-inch mini-phone cable should be running from Sound Blaster AudioPCI's green Line Out connector to a line input on the speaker system).


Volume and Balance Levels

To make adjustments to the Sound Blaster AudioPCI volume settings and balance levels, use the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Mixer.

The Windows 95/98 mixer can also be used to adjust the volume settings.


Recording with a Microphone

For ease of installation, we recommend that you use a dynamic microphone, which requires the least amount of setup.

To ensure that your software is set up correctly for microphone input

1	Open the Creative Mixer.

2	Under the Recording panel, make sure the Mic box is selected.

3	Make sure the Mic slider is all the way up, and that the Mute and Boost boxes are selected.

4	If you experience distortion with a dynamic microphone, clear the Boost box and select the Mute box from the Microphone panel. Alternatively, you may adjust the volume levels of the Microphone and Master audio devices.


CD Audio

First, be sure that your CD volume is turned up to the maximum in the Creative Mixer.

If there is still no music, you will need to verify that the internal patch cable is connected between your CD-ROM drive and the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card's CD Input.  This is typically a small connector with four wires coming out of it.  If it is connected but not working, try unplugging it and reconnecting it to the Aux connector.  Remember to use the Aux slider control on the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Mixer to adjust the volume.  If this does not work, there is a chance that the patch cable is broken or defective.

Note

Get a 1/8-inch stereo patch cord and connect one end to the headphone out on the front of the CD-ROM drive, and the other end to the blue Line In jack on the back of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI card.  Make sure the headphone volume dial on the CD-ROM drive is turned all the way up. Adjust the Line and Master sliders on the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Mixer to maximum. Clear the  Mute boxes on the Master and Line panels of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Mixer.  Try playing a CD.  You should hear the music playing.  If your internal patch cable is missing or defective, contact your CD-ROM manufacturer for information on how to obtain another cable.


Problems with Games

If the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device is disabled in Windows 95/98, the Sound Blaster AudioPCI will be disabled in MS-DOS Mode.  Be sure that the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device is set up and working properly before configuring a game in MS-DOS Mode or an MS-DOS Prompt.

Make sure that you have the game set up in a music option that Sound Blaster AudioPCI supports.  Remember that you can obtain the Sound Blaster AudioPCI hardware settings by looking at the values displayed by SBCFG.EXE in MS-DOS Mode or the DOS Application Settings tab of the Sound Blaster AudioPCI Legacy Device window in Windows 95/98.

If the game’s installation or setup program does not give you a particular sound option that you know the game supports (i.e., the game box and manual specify MT-32, but the game's installation or setup does not support it) try re-running the game's installation or setup program.

If the game takes advantage of DirectX or DirectSound, be sure that you have the latest DirectX drivers from Microsoft.

If you are encountering problems with external joystick or gamepad, make sure that the Sound Blaster AudioPCI joystick port is enabled and that the Windows 95/98 Gameport Joystick drivers are loaded and working properly in the Device Manager.

In order to use two joysticks, you will need to use a Sound Blaster-compatible Y-connector, or use an industry-standard MIDI Joystick Kit.  This will make allowances for the proper direct connections for dual joysticks.