home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
Soundscape S-2000 Release Notes Date: 03/31/95 Version: 1.25.01 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v 1.25.01 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Installation** The uninstall program will now check for the SNDSCAPE environment variable before running. If it is not present, the uninstall will not run. This will prevent the program inadvertently deleting files. **Audiostation** There is a new version of Audiostation (1.78) that fixes incompatibilities with some CD-ROM brands. Specifically it adds support for the TORISAN CDR-C3G. NOTE: If you remove a disk from the Torisan drive while Audiostation is loaded you must insert a disk in the same slot. If you do not, the Audiostation CD door will not close. The work around for this is to shut down Audiostation and reload it. This is a problem in the Torisan driver that will be fixed in the next release. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v 1.25.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **OS/2 Support** OS/2 Support has been implemented in this release. The OS/2 drivers as well as a README can be found on disk 2. **Installation** **Firmware** The Sound Blaster emulation is now 2.0 compatible. This fixes games that only support SoundBlaster 2.0 or higher (Cyberia, Creature Shock). It also will clean up games that try to simulate the auto-restart capabilities of a Sound Blaster 2.0 on earlier Sound Blaster models (i.e., Rebel Assault). In some games, it may be necessary to select Sound Blaster Pro to take advantage of the additional 2.0 functions. **SSInit** The SSInit Exit dialog is more intuitive . Now, the only choices in the Exit dialog are Accept or Discard changes. In previous versions, when invoked, SSInit would read in the current settings from the card and display the Quick Setup dialog. Then if the user selected Advanced it would discard any changes made on this dialog and reload all the values from the SNDSCAPE.INI file. This has been a source of confusion for our customers. In this version, all settings are obtained from the SNDSCAPE.INI file and if the user selects "Accept", upon exit the changes are written back out to the INI file. If the user selects "Discard," no changes are saved and the Soundscape card will be left in the same state as when SSInit was invoked. Detection of the Wave Port and Base Port is now done when SSInit is invoked OR anytime you exit the Hardware settings page. If either port fails detection, SSInit will put the user back into the Hardware page. The user can then change the Port and select OK or select Cancel to abort any changes. **MT32 Utility** The MT32 program will now set the Soundscape card to MT32 mode when invoked without any arguments. Example: MT32 <- Sets the Soundscape card to MT32 mode MT32 ON <- Sets the Soundscape card to MT32 mode MT32 OFF <- Sets the Soundscape card back into the default (General MIDI) mode. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v 1.20.04 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Installation** Added a test for the PCI bus that will detect when the installation program is first run if a PCI bus is installed in the system. If a PCI bus is detected, the installation program will ask the user if they wish to reconfigure their interrupts to facilitate the PCI bus. (See Installation Notes 1.20.03 below). **Firmware** The Soundscape firmware files SNDSCAPE.CO0 and SNDSCAPE.CO1 are now generic. This means that they can be used with all OEM versions of Ensoniq Soundscape. The impact of the generic firmware on the original OEM boards is that use of the TDA8421 tone controller chip has been disabled. This was done because of increased code space as well as to facilitate faster development. **SSInit** The SSInit interface is now the same for all Soundscape OEM boards. This can be seen by bringing up the mixer. The DMA test failed on some systems in v1.20.03. It has been fixed in this release. **VSB** Because of our changes in our Sound Blaster emulation code the following files are no longer needed: VSB_EMM.COM EMM386.EXE MAKEBOOT.EXE These can be removed from your Soundscape directory. **Windows Drivers** The Windows Driver is now generic. To use it with OEM boards with the TDA8421, you must insert the line IsDvb=1 in the [sndscape.drv] section of your SYSTEM.INI file. If necessary, this is done at boot time. The compatibility problem with programs authored with the Directory v4.x has been fixed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v 1.20.03 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Installation** When you first run the installation program it will display a dialog asking you if you have a PCI BIOS. If you have a PCI BIOS or are unsure then you should change your default MIDI IRQ. In most cases IRQ 10 is a safe choice. **Compatibility Note** Some older DOS programs (usually games) do not allow you to specify an alternate IRQ and assume IRQ 2/9. If you have any software that does this then you will need to make a change in your BIOS. Typically, the PCI BIOS allows you to allocate one or more IRQs for use with either the PCI bus or the ISA bus. By default, many of the BIOSs use IRQ 9 as the PCI IRQ. To resolve a conflict you must tell the PCI BIOS to use a different IRQ. This can generally be accomplished by going to the PCI settings screen of the BIOS setup program. Once there, most setup programs give you a set of IRQs that can be switched between the PCI bus and the ISA bus. The basic idea is to set IRQ 9 to the ISA bus and while each manufacturer may implement this differently the common selections are: IRQ 9 ISA/PCI IRQ 9 Available/Used -> where Used allocates the IRQ to the ISA bus. IRQ 9 Free/Used -> where Used allocates the IRQ to the ISA bus. For additional information consult the BIOS documentation that comes with your PC. The software will remove any previous reference in your AUTOEXEC.BAT of the following: SSINIT SNDSCAPE environment variable BLASTER environment variable It will then place the new Soundscape startup information at the TOP of your AUTOEXEC.BAT. **Firmware** The software now addresses the MIDI volume problem that was present in v1.20.0x. In earlier versions of 1.20.0x if the synth volume was set to 0 occasionally you would hear buzzing from the synthesizer. The MIDI routing bug in 1.20.0x has been fixed. In earlier versions of 1.20.0x the ability to use an external synthesizer from DOS was not implemented correctly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v1.20.02 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Installation** Installation program will now check for a previous CD-ROM install. If it detects Soundscape CD-ROM drivers in your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT it will not overwrite them. **SSInit** SSInit now downloads both the General MIDI firmware and the FM firmware. Previous versions of Soundscape software required the Soundscape card to be redownloaded when switching between GM and FM mode. This is no longer necessary. The SSInit command-line interface has changed. To initialize the Soundscape card type SSINIT /I. This is done at boot-up time. The Hardware Test page has changed. To Test your current hardware settings select Hardware Tests, then select either IRQ or DMA Test. These tests will show conflicts with the current hardware settings. If there is a conflict, it can be resolved by making changes on the Hardware Settings page in SSInit. The Synth Settings screen has been removed. A MIDI Settings screen has been added to SSInit. Under DOS MIDI data can go to either the internal synth or the external MIDI port. The MIDI settings screen allows you to route your MIDI data to either the Internal Synth or External MIDI port. The default for the MIDI routing is the Internal Synthesizer. **MT32** A new utility has been added to allow switching between the General MIDI patch set and the MT32 patch set. To switch between the patches you need to run the MT32 command. The arguments for MT32 are as follows: MT32 [ ON | OFF ] [ /? ] Where ON switches to the MT32 patch set, OFF switches to the General MIDI set. MT32 without any arguments returns the current patch set. **Firmware** The intermittent noise that was present in the 1.20.0x Sound Blaster emulation has been eliminated. **Windows** SSINITGM.DLL has changed to handle the new firmware. TAPIPKB3.DRV has changed to handle the new firmware. 
