1853L/1857L Sound Card Version 1.0 The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of the vendor. No warranty of representation, either expressed or implied, is made with respect to the quality, accuracy or fitness for any particular purpose of this document. The manufacturer reserves the right to make changes to the content of this document and/or the products associated with it at any time without obligation to notify any person or organisation of such changes. In no event will the manufacturer be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use this product or documentation, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Microsoft and Microsoft Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro are trademarks of Creative Labs Inc. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. FCC Compliance Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1. this device may not cause harmful interference, and 2. this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. FCC Warning Statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can emit radio frequency energy and, if not installed or used in accordance with the instructions, may cause interference to radio communications. However, television reception interference can be determined by turning the equipment off and on. The user is encouraged to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: - Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna - Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver - Connect the equipment into an outlet different from that to which the receiver is connected - Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. **************************************************************************** Caution Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment. **************************************************************************** Table of Contents INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 UNPACKING THE SOUND CARD CHAPTER 2 HARDWARE INSTALLATION 2-1 INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS 2-2 HARDWARE CONFIGURING 2-2.1 General Overview 2-2.2 CD-ROM Interface Connector (J9) 2-2.3 CD-ROM Audio Input Connectors (J4,5,6) 2-2.4 Front Panel Audio Control (JP3) 2-2.5 External Wavetable Connector (J8) 2-2.6 Modem Interface (J7) 2-3 CARD INSTALLATION 2-4 OUTSIDE CONNECTIONS CHAPTER 3 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 3-1 INSTALLATION UNDER DOS 3-1.1 Driver Installation 3-1.2 DOS 3D Sound Settings 3-2 INSTALLATION UNDER WINDOWS 3.1 3-2.1 Driver Installation 3-2.2 AudioRack Installation 3-2.3 Windows 3.1x 3D Sound Settings 3-3 INSTALLATION UNDER WINDOWS 95 3-3.1 Driver Installation 3-3.2 AudioRack for Windows 95 Installation 3-3.3 Windows 95 3D Sound Settings 3-4 INSTALLATION UNDER OTHER OS 3-4.1 Installation under Windows for Workgroups 3.11 3-4.2 Installation under OS/2 Warp 3.0 3-5 OTHER INSTALLATION OPTIONS 3-5.1 Installation Problems 3-5.2 Driver Uninstall (Windows 3.1 Only) ADDENDUM A TROUBLESHOOTING ADDENDUM B CD-ROM INTERFACE ADDENDUM C TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- **************************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of the sound card! This sound card will enable you to explore the exciting world of multimedia on your PC. Your sound card is a state-of-the-art 16 bit stereo sound card capable of playing back, recording and compressing audio data from a variety of sources. It is equipped with all the features you need to enjoy today's and tomorrow's demanding multimedia applications. DOS games compatibility is ensured through Adlib, Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro and Windows Sound System support. This manual will give you all the information you need to get your sound card up and running as quickly as possible. After this Introduction, we will first take a look at the contents of the package contents in chapter 1: Unpacking the sound card and check if all necessary accessories have been included. After that, in the chapter Hardware Installation, we will take a look at the installation procedure of your sound card. The next part, Software Installation, describes how to quickly and correctly install all the necessary drivers in order to make your sound card run under your operating system. For those of you who would like to know more precise technical details of your sound card, please refer to the Technical specifications section of this manual (see addendum C). Please refer to the Troubleshooting section if there are any problems during or after installation. Should you encounter any problems during installation or use of your sound card which cannot be solved with the help of this manual then do not hesitate to contact your dealer for technical support. Enjoy your sound card!!! ____________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 1 UNPACKING THE SOUND CARD After unpacking your sound card, please check if the following items were included in the package: * 16-bit sound card * Setup & Utility installation diskettes (optional 'AudioRack' diskettes * Sound card user manual If there is any item missing from this list, please contact your supplier! ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 Hardware Installation _____________________________ 2-1 Installation Requirements This section will give you instructions on how to successfully install your sound card into your PC system. Before you install the sound card, please check the following minimum hardware requirements of your PC: Minimum Requirements for Using the Sound Card: * IBM PC/AT or compatible PC (486 or higher recommended) * 2 MB RAM (4 MB or more recommended) * A free 16-bit ISA expansion slot for installing the sound card * Approximately 4 MB of free hard disk space for installation files and Windows applications * EGA display adapter (VGA or better recommended) * Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later (for Windows applications) * DOS 3.3 or later If your PC system meets these minimum requirements please continue to read the installation instructions. If not, please refer to your supplier for information on how to update your PC for use with your sound card. Before installing your sound card, make sure the installation site has been shielded from static electricity. High voltages caused by static electricity could permanently damage components on your sound card and other parts of your PC system and will void your warranty! ____________________________ 2-2 Hardware Configuring ______________________ 2-2.1 General Overview We will now take a look at the connector layout of your sound card. Please refer to your card for the exact locations of the various connectors. _____________________________________ 2-2.2 CD-ROM Interface Connector (J9) You can connect your ATAPI (IDE) CD-ROM drive's data-cable to this connector. Make sure the orientation of the cable is correct, so that the red edge of the flat cable corresponds with the '1'-pin of the interface connector. Use this CD-ROM interface only if your PC system's IDE interface does not supply enough connections for your configuration (see Addendum B for more detailed information). When you do use this interface, don't forget to enable and configure the interface during the driver installation procedure (see also chapter 3 'Software Installation'). ____________________________________________ 2-2.3 CD-ROM Audio Input Connectors (J4,5,6) Depending on what type of audio-cable your CD-ROM drive has been supplied with, you can connect the audio output of your drive to any of these three connectors. Refer to your card for determining the right connector to use with your CD-ROM drive. R=CD Audio right channel L=CD Audio left channel G=Ground _______________________________________ 2-2.4 Front Panel Audio Control (JP3) If the case of your PC system is equipped with volume control push buttons, you can make the cable connections for these buttons according to the pin description of figure 4. _________________________________________ 2-2.5 External Wavetable Connector (J8) An external WaveBlasterTM compatible wavetable can be connected to your sound card through connector J8. During installation of your external wavetable make sure that all pins of connector J5 are connected to the wavetable card's socket. ____________________________ 2-2.6 Modem Interface (J7) A simple direct connection between the sound card and the modem can be made by connecting to J7, thus enabling the use of speakerphone applications through the connection of the sound card's microphone input and speaker output to the appropriate connections on the modem. Consult fig. 2 for more detailed information on the pin assignment of this connector. _____________________ 2-3 Card Installation After checking the various connections we can now start to install the card into your PC system. Please follow the guidelines below. 1. Unplug the power cord from the back of your computer. 2. Remove the cover from the PC system. 3. Locate a free 16-bit ISA expansion slot. 4. Remove the slot cover screw and slot cover. 5. Connect the necessary cables to your sound card, such as the CD-ROM interface and audio cables and the front panel volume control cables as described in section 2-2 of this chapter. 6. Position the sound card over the free ISA expansion slot and gently push the card into the slot. 7. Check if the card has been properly inserted. 8. Re-insert the slot cover screw. 9. Close the PC housing and re-attach the power cable. _______________________ 2-4 Outside Connections Now that you have successfully installed your sound card into your PC system, let us take a look at the outside connections of your sound card. ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 Software Installation This section will provide instructions on how to successfully install the driver and application software for your sound card on your PC system. ______________________________ 3-1 Installation under DOS ___________________________ 3-1.1 Driver Installation N.B. Run this DOS setup program only when you don't want to install the sound card's driver under your Windows environment ! If you do want to install the sound card's drivers for use under both Windows and DOS then refer to section 3-2 for installation of the drivers. To use your sound card under DOS, first insert the installation disk that contains the DOSSETUP directory into your floppy disk drive. Assuming your floppy disk drive is drive A:, then type the following: A: (+ ENTER) CD\DOSSETUP (+ ENTER) INSTALL (+ ENTER) The DOS driver installation program will now start up. The program will ask you to make a selection of a series of different configuration settings. The most commonly used values for the sound card are as follows: Sound card I/O address: 220H Sound card IRQ channel: 5 Sound card DMA channel: 1 MPU-401 (Wavetable, when available) I/O address: 330H no IRQ CD-ROM interface: Disabled Game/MIDI port interface: Enabled After making your selection, the program will show all values once more and will ask you whether the entered values are correct. If they are correct type 'Y' for confirmation. If not, type 'N' and re-enter the correct values. After confirmation, the setup program will create a directory on your hard disk (C:\AUDIODRV) in which the initialisation files will be placed. After that your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files will be updated. After a system's reboot your sound card will be initialised and is ready to be used. If your application/game software uses any other sound card configuration values than the ones that are used by your sound card, you can change the values by doing the following. When in the DOS prompt (C:\), type: CD\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) ESSCFG (+ ENTER) You can now change any configuration value. After exiting this program and rebooting your system, the new values will take effect. When selecting a sound card option during the installation of your game or application software it is recommended to choose (in order of preference) Sound Blaster Pro, Sound Blaster (or compatible) or Adlib, if applicable. These settings are mostly used for sound effects. If your game or application software has a selection procedure for music support (MIDI), you can choose Sound Blaster (Pro) MIDI or, when your sound card has been equipped with a Wavetable (1855/1859 standard, other models optional external) you can choose MPU-401 or General MIDI compatibility. _____________________________ 3-1.2 DOS 3D Sound Settings If your sound card is equipped with a 3D sound effect generator, you can enable this function by running the 3D utility program 3DDOS.EXE. Insert the disk that contains the 3D utilities for your sound card into your floppy disk drive and type the following : COPY A:\3D\3DDOS.EXE C:\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) COPY A:\3D\ESSCTL.DLL C:\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) Then go to the C:\AUDIODRV directory by typing: C: (+ ENTER) CD\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) After that you can manipulate the 3D settings by typing the following: 3DDOS /S:x /B:y /T:z (+ ENTER) For the values of x, y, z refer to the following table: S = Spatializer level: 0=Off, 1=Low, 2=Medium, 3=High B = Bass level: 0 through 7 (0=lowest, 7=highest) T = Treble level: 0 through 7 (0=lowest, 7=highest) ______________________________________ 3-2 Installation under Windows 3.1 ___________________________ 3-2.1 Driver Installation In order to set up your sound card to work under Windows 3.1x and DOS, please follow the guidelines below: 1. Start up Windows 2. After start up, choose in the File menu of Program Manager the option Run... . 3. Insert the installation disk into your floppy disk drive and type on the command line the following: A:\WIN31DRV\SETUP (assuming your floppy disk drive is the A: drive) 4. Click the OK button. The sound card setup program will now start. Make sure all other applications are closed before you start SETUP. After a few seconds the above window should pop up on your screen (or similar). Click on Continue or press enter to enter the setup program. The setup program can also be used to uninstall the drivers after they have been installed before. Since the drivers have not been installed yet, this option is not available at this stage. This option can be convenient when installing a new sound card or when anything goes wrong during initial installation and you would like to go through the whole installation procedure again. Click on Driver Installation or press enter to continue. During installation of the driver software, your sound card should be installed into your PC system. If the sound card has not been installed or is not recognised by the software, the following message will show up on your screen. If this message comes up, press OK, exit Windows, turn off your system and check if your sound card has been installed correctly. If your sound card has been installed correctly and the setup program still comes up with this error message then don't hesitate to contact your supplier for technical assistance. If your sound card has been installed correctly, the following configuration setting selection window should be shown.Though this whole installation procedure works under Windows, this part of the configuration is applicable only to the DOS settings. Windows settings will be automatically installed. Enable the IDE CD-ROM interface settings only when your PC system does not provide a free IDE port for your CD-ROM and you therefore want to use the sound card's IDE interface. These IDE CD-ROM settings are applicable only to drives connected to the sound card's IDE port! Please refer to Addendum B for more detailed information on the use of your card's IDE. If you encounter any problems during the installation of your CD-ROM drive while using your sound card's CD-ROM interface, try using different installation values (IRQ, I/O address) first before contacting your supplier for technical support. After clicking on the OK button, the software will make the necessary changes to your system and install the correct drivers for use under Windows and DOS. The driver software has now been installed. Click on Reboot System or press enter to restart your system. After restart your sound card will be initialised and is ready for use. If you encounter any problems or irregularities during the startup and/or use of your sound card, please check all connections of your speaker, amplifier and restart your system. (refer to Addendum A Troubleshooting if necessary) ______________________________ 3-2.2 AudioRack Installation For installation of the (optional) AudioRack software, enter the disk into your floppy drive and start up Windows. After start up, choose in the File menu of Program Manager the option Run... and type on the command line the following: A:\AUDRACK.W31\SETUP (assuming your floppy disk drive is the A: drive) Click the OK button or press enter. The AudioRack setup program will now start. Follow the instructions on the screen. Please note that settings in the mixer part of the AudioRack will affect your sound card's output, even when used under DOS ! ______________________________________ 3-2.3 Windows 3.1x 3D Sound Settings If your sound card is equipped with a 3D sound effect generator, you can enable this function by running the 3D utility program 3DWIN.EXE. If you are running Windows, click on the MS-DOS Prompt icon and insert the disk that contains the 3D utilities for your sound card into your floppy disk drive. Then type the following on the command line: COPY A:\3D\3DWIN31.EXE C:\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) COPY A:\3D\ESSCTL.DLL C:\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) EXIT (+ ENTER) Now you are back in Windows. In Program Manager click on File and then New. Then press enter to confirm the creation of a new file item. In the Program Item Properties window click on Browse... Then select the file 3DWIN31.EXE in the C:\AUDIODRV directory and press enter or click on OK. Back in the Program Item Properties window click on OK again. A new icon will be added to your current Program Manager group. Activate the 3D utility by clicking on the icon. The following window (or similar) will appear: Now you can manipulate the 3D settings using your mouse pointer. _____________________________________ 3-3 Installation under Windows 95 ___________________________ 3-3.1 Driver Installation Under Windows 95 it is possible to install your sound card according to the Plug and Play method as described in the Windows 95 manual. Please refer to the Windows 95 manual for more detailed information on Plug and Play devices. After installation of your sound card, Windows 95 will automatically recognise the new card and ask for the Windows 95 compatible driver files for the card. When Windows 95 asks for these files, insert the disk that contains these files and select the correct path by clicking on Browse and then searching the right path (A:\WIN95DRV). When installing a sound card under Windows 95 for the first time, Windows 95 will need to copy some files from the Windows 95 installation disk, so make sure you have these at hand during installation ! Follow the instructions on the screen. After installing the correct driver files, you can immediately start to use your sound card. If you would like to use the wavetable (if available) for playing MIDI files, don't forget to change the standard settings in the Windows 95 Control Panel. Default settings will use the FM synthesizer for playing MIDI files. _____________________________________________ 3-3.2 AudioRack for Windows 95 Installation For the installation of the (optional) AudioRack for Windows 95, please insert the AudioRack installation disk into your floppy disk drive, click on START and choose Run... and type on the command line the following: A:\AUDRACK.W95\SETUP (assuming your floppy disk drive is the A: drive) Click the OK button or press enter. The AudioRack setup program will now start. Follow the instructions on the screen. ____________________________________ 3-3.3 Windows 95 3D Sound Settings If your sound card is equipped with a 3D sound effect, you can enable this function by running the 3D utility program 3DWIN95.EXE. If you are running Windows 95, click on the MS-DOS Prompt icon and insert the disk that contains the 3D utilities for your sound card into your floppy disk drive. Then type the following on the command line: COPY A:\3D\3DWIN95.EXE C:\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) COPY A:\3D\ESSCTL32.DLL C:\AUDIODRV (+ ENTER) EXIT (+ ENTER) Now you are back in Windows 95. In order to create a shortcut to the 3D utility press the right mouse button (secondary button) and choose the creation of a shortcut. Then browse to the file 3DWIN95.EXE in the C:\AUDIODRV directory and confirm the selection by pressing enter. A new icon will be added to your desktop. Activate the 3D utility by clicking on the icon. The following window (or similar) will appear: Now you can manipulate the 3D settings using your mouse pointer. ___________________________________ 3-4 Installation under Other OS ______________________________________________________ 3-4.1 Installation under Windows for Workgroups 3.11 For installation of your sound card under Windows for Workgroups 3.11 follow the same procedure as for Windows 3.1. ________________________________________ 3-4.2 Installation under OS/2 Warp 3.0 1. Start up OS/2 and open de OS/2 System group. 2. Click on System Setup, then Selective Install. 3. In the left bottom corner, select in the category Multimedia Device Support the following driver : AudioDrive [ESS1868] ; click on OK for confirmation and restart system. 4. For installation of the audio applications, start up Program Manager in the Windows group and run the install program as indicated above. Choose Software Installation and follow the instructions on the screen. If you have any problems during the installation of your sound card or questions regarding the support of other platforms, don't hesitate to ask your supplier for more information. Updated drivers for your sound card can often be obtained through all large operating systems suppliers (Microsoft, IBM). Look for drivers which support your sound card's ESS1868 sound chip. __________________________________ 3-5 Other Installation Options _____________________________ 3-5.1 Installation Problems Should there be any problems during the installation procedure then follow the guidelines below. 1. Check the I/O address, IRQ and DMA channel settings on your sound card. 2. Start up Windows and restart the SETUP program. 3. Follow the normal steps of installation, but choose Custom Board Configuration instead of the automatic one. Now click on each item and change it until they match your jumper setting. Press OK after you are finished. Follow the normal procedure to exit. Sometimes it may be necessary to change the jumper settings of your sound card. Refer to the 'Hardware Installation' of this manual for more information. ___________________________________________ 3-5.2 Driver Uninstall (Windows 3.1 Only) If you wish to replace your sound card with another sound card, you should remove the driver from your system. To do this, start up the SETUP program and choose the option Driver Uninstallation. The program will remove all the necessary components from your PC system. ____________________________________________________________________________ ADDENDUM A TROUBLESHOOTING This section will help you to solve some minor problems which you might encounter during installation or use of your sound card. **************************************************************************** System works fine during installation, but after reboot the settings seem changed. **************************************************************************** - Check the I/O address, IRQ and DMA channel settings card and run the SETUP program. again. - Choose Custom Board Configuration and enter these settings. **************************************************************************** No sound **************************************************************************** - Check all cable connections.Check volume control thumb wheel. - Check amplifier volume. - Check software setup settings. **************************************************************************** Sound distorted **************************************************************************** - Do not use full volume!Check amplifier specifications. - Note: this sound card is configured to use multiple DMA access for maximum performance. However, some (older) mainboards cannot support this function. This will result in a distorted sound reproduction. In order to solve this problem start up Control Panel, click on Drivers and select the ESS driver. Then choose SETUP and click on Advanced Settings. Now click on Single DMA and press OK for confirmation. **************************************************************************** Game/MIDI port problems **************************************************************************** - Check if there are no other game ports conflicting in your PC. - Run the installation program again and check if the game port has been enabled. **************************************************************************** Microphone does not work. **************************************************************************** - Check mixer settings. **************************************************************************** CD-ROM interface problems **************************************************************************** - Check CD-ROM cable connections. - Check your CD-ROM installation software settings. **************************************************************************** No CD audio **************************************************************************** - Check if CD can play. (e.g. using MediaPlayer) - If yes, then check cable connections, check if the pin assignments (L, R, G) are correct. - If no, then check if [MCI] CD-Audio driver is installed (see also 'No sound'). (Windows 3.1x only) **************************************************************************** Windows 95 Plug and Play does not function. **************************************************************************** - Check if your mainboard supports Plug and Play and if it is enabled. **************************************************************************** Erratic behaviour when configuring sound card **************************************************************************** - Check installation parameters (in config.sys / autoexec.bat). ____________________________________________________________________________ Addendum B cd-rom interface Please refer to the following table in order to determine whether you need to use the sound card's CD-ROM interface to connect to your IDE CD-ROM drive. Make sure you are familiar with your PC system's IDE interfaces and devices before consulting this table. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. of IDE Your CD-ROM drive is the ....... IDE device in your PC. ports already ----------------------------------------------------------- in your system 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 Use the X* X* X* X* sound card's CD-ROM interface 1 1st/M 1st/S Use the X* X* sound card's CD-ROM interface 2 1st/M 1st/S 2nd/M 2nd/S Use the sound card's CD-ROM interface Remarks: 1. X* : not applicable 2. 1st : Primary 3. 2nd : Secondary 4. M : Master 5. S : Slave You will notice that only in a few cases it will be necessary to use the sound card's CD-ROM interface. Nowadays PC systems often already have two IDE ports onboard, a primary port and a secondary port. Each IDE port can connect to a master IDE device and a slave IDE device. In total such systems can thus connect to up to 4 IDE devices without the use of any external IDE interface such as the one on your sound card.The secondary IDE port on these systems usually uses IRQ channel 15. In order to avoid conflicts with these devices, your sound card's IRQ has been set to 'DISABLED'. If you need to use the sound card's CD-ROM interface, please carefully follow the instructions next to activate the CD-ROM interface. In the DOS command prompt, switch to the path where the program EEPR1868, and the file IRQ12.BIN, which are included in your utility disk or CD, are located and type on the command line: EEPR1868 IRQ12.BIN (+ ENTER) It is also necessary to open your PC system and change JP5 of your sound card to pin 1-2! After you have executed the above utility and changed jumper JP5, your sound card's CD-ROM interface will support the following IRQ's: IRQ 12,10,11 PS.If you want to use IRQ 15, please repeat the above procedure but only change the file to IRQ15.BIN, which you may allocate from the Utility Disk, CD that came with your card, or from the Website: BTC.COM.TW. ____________________________________________________________________________ ADDENDUM C TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Main audio chip: ESS1868 VLSI chip Audio format: PCM 16-bit, 4 KHz - 44.1 Khz Sound card I/O base 220H, 230H, 240H, 250H address range: Sound card IRQ range: 5,7,9,10,11 Sound card DMA channel: 0,1,3 range CD-ROM interface: IDE (ATAPI) compliant CD-ROM I/F IRQ 9,10,11,15 / I/O 170H, 168H, 1E8H FM synthesizer: 20 voice ESFM enhanced FM synthesizer + Yamaha OPL-3 compatible FM synthesizer(4 operators) FM I/O address range: 388 H-38 BH MIDI characteristics: Compatibility: Sound Blaster (Pro), MPU-401 UART interface with 256-byte FIFO Playback: FM synthesizer or wavetable (1855/1859 only) Mixer: 6 channel stereo mixer / 1 channel mono Audio standard : Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Adlib, compliance WSS (Windows Sound System) Driver support: DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 Windows 95 PnP, Windows NT, OS/2 Warp 3.0 MPC Level: Level I, II (exceeding) Other: ESPCM audio compression on-chip Input characteristics: Microphone input: 600 Ohm, 75 dB Line input: line source level (hi-fi) CD audio in: line source level (hi-fi) Output characteristics: Speaker out: max. 2W, 4/8 Ohm Game port/MIDI: Connection: 15-pin D-sub connector Supports up to two joysticks (Y cable) I/O address range: 200H-207H ******* The End *******