AudioDrive ES688 OS/2 Drivers

                                 Version 2.02

                            Software Release Notes

                               February 12, 1996




        About This Release

        ESS Technology is providing updated OS/2 drivers for the
        AudioDrive ES688 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 ES688 OS/2 Device Drivers,
                        Version 2.02

        Drivers:        ES688 (with OPL3), ES688 PnP

        OS:             OS/2 Warp 3.0

        Part Number:

        Release Date:   February 12, 1996




        Release Description

        The AudioDrive ES688 OS/2 Drivers Software Release incorporates
        new changes done to the previous release, Version 2.01.

        Version 2.02 Changes

        1. DOS session can use 2 operation MIDI music.

        2. An OS/2 driver for use with ES688 PnP is added.

        3. 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.




        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 688."  For ES688
           with PnP support, use "A:EINSTALL 688P."  The program first
           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
           checkmark beside AudioDrive ES688 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 ES688 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.

        For ES688 PnP, in a system with Plug and Play support the
        optimal settings will be used instead of the settings specified
        in CONFIG.SYS.  If you change the ES688 PnP settings in a
        system with no Plug and Play support, be sure to reset the
        computer for ES688 PnP to forget its previous settings.


        These are the files copied to your hard disk:

        \MMOS2
                ES688DD.SYS, ES688PP.SYS
                VAUDDRV.SYS
        \MMOS2\DLL
                CARDINFO.DLL
                ESSVSD88.DLL
                WININST.DLL
                WINRES.DLL
        \MMOS2\HELP
                ES688IN.HLP
        \OS2\BOOT
                CLOCK01.SYS
                CLOCK02.SYS
                TIMER0.SYS
        \WINDOWS
                AUDDRIVE.HLP
        \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
                AUDMPIO.DRV
                ES688WIN.386
                ES688WIN.DRV
                MIDIMAP.CFG
                MSMIXMGR.DLL