home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
OS/2 Shareware BBS: 8 Other
/
08-Other.zip
/
sb2warp.zip
/
sb2warp.txt
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-08-14
|
10KB
|
217 lines
Using Sound Blaster 2.0 clones
(such as the Media Vision ThunderBoard Card)
with OS/2 2.1 and Warp
by Jacco de Leeuw (leeuw@fwi.uva.nl)
---------------------------------------------
Introduction
------------
Many sound cards, including the Media Vision Thunderboard, claim to be
Sound Blaster 2.0 compatible (8-bit mono) but in fact Warp's SB 2.0
driver fails to install. I found a way to get it working!
Your mileage may vary though, depending on your sound card. If it's
"compatible" enough with the original SB 2.0, i.e. upto the hardware
level, it should work. So far, I received conformations for sound cards
which use the Thunder chipset, such as the Thunderboard and the Sound Blaster
part of the PAS/16. So, no guarantees, but the least you can do is give it
a try...
It all started when I found the file TBOS2.ZIP on Hobbes. It contains
an OS/2 2.1 driver patched by MediaVision. This is what MV wrote:
"As many of you know, Media Vision has perfected Sound Blaster compatibility
and all of our sound cards that claim 100% Sound Blaster are, in fact,
compatible at the hardware level.
Paradoxically, the Sound Blaster driver that ships with OS/2 2.1 (SBD2.SYS)
does not work with the Media Vision ThunderBoard nor the Sound Blaster
section of the Pro AudioSpectrum 16, even though the hardware is the same.
Here's the reason why: When Media Vision cloned the original Sound Blaster
(calling our clone 'ThunderBoard'), we added some extra features. For
example, the ThunderBoard has the ability to record at up to 22KHz. We
needed a way to check whether the card in the system was a Sound Blaster
or a ThunderBoard to determine whether or not to allow the enhanced
functionality.
The method we came up with was to have a 'hidden' version number. The first
time a program asks a ThunderBoard (TB) for its version number, the TB
returns the same value the Sound Blaster returns. The second time, the TB
returns its own version number (which is different from the Sound Blaster
version number.)
The Sound Blaster people discovered our trick and now they put a _double_
version check into their code to detect the ThunderBoard. We think
that's a fair and reasonable thing to do, as long as they don't crash the
user's system or do anything else destructive. Claims that the ThunderBoard
isn't 100% compatible are obviously misleading.
The OS/2 driver peforms a double version check and so it's possible to
bypass the second check and allow the ThunderBoard to work. All that is
necessary is to change a single byte. We're telling you which byte it is
here so that you can verify the change or perform it yourself. We've also
supplied a patched version so that you can avoid the details and just
start using the driver".
Unfortunately, the OS/2 2.1 driver did not work under Warp so I was back
to square one. I had a look at the 2.1 driver and the new one, and after
a while, I found a similar location in the Warp driver which could be
patched. And sure enough, it worked!
But let me correct myself because of legal reasons...
Disclaimer
----------
Creative's licence agreement (which is not included with Warp as far as
I know, but you can pick it up with the latest driver from ftp.creaf.com)
says the following: "THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED FOR USE ONLY WITH
CREATIVE'S HARDWARE AND RELATED SOFTWARE. [...] You may not reverse
engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software".
So here's my own little disclaimer:
NO WARRANTY. ANY USE BY YOU OF THE SOFTWARE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE
SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED FOR USE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO
THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, JACCO DE LEEUW DISCLAIMS ALL
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. JACCO DE LEEUW SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, LOST
PROFITS OR INFORMATION, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS,
EVEN IF JACCO DE LEEUW HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT
APPLY TO YOU.
JACCO DE LEEUW HEREBY DENIES HAVING REVERSE ENGINEERED, DECOMPILED
OR DISASSEMBLED THIS SOFTWARE. So there.
That means, for instance, should this Creative Labs driver format your
harddisk because it detected it has been tampered with, I cannot be
held responsable. There's actually very little chance it will, though :-).
Installation instructions
-------------------------
First, make sure the original Sound Blaster driver included with your
copy of OS/2 is installed.
(If you haven't done that yet, start Selective Install and choose "Sound
Blaster Non-Pro (ISA and MCV)" at the Multimedia part of the window. Be sure
to enter the correct IRQ and I/O port for your sound card. Now continue
the normal installation process. When the Selective Install program has
finished, it says you to shutdown the machine. Do so. When OS/2 boots, you
get an error that "x:\MMOS2\SBD2.SYS has not been installed. Line yy is
ignored". Never mind, just press Enter).
Unzip the contents of this archive to a directory on your OS/2 boot partition.
If you use OS/2 2.1 execute the following command:
PATCH PATCH2_1.FIL /A
If you have OS/2 Warp, without Windows (Red box) or with Windows (Blue box)
execute the following command:
PATCH PATCH213.FIL /A
If you have downloaded the latest driver, v2.14, from the Creative Labs
FTP site (ftp.creaf.com), execute the following command:
PATCH PATCH214.FIL /A
I'm not sure what driver is included with Warp Connect. Try PATCH213.FIL
or PATCH214.FIL. If these do not work for you, contact me and I'll see
what I can do.
Note: Warp Red box has an installation bug which adds an extra parameter to
the SBD2.SYS line in the CONFIG.SYS. This parameter is for the DMA channel
(default 1) but AFAIK the original Sound Blaster 2.0 doesn't have DMA. The
extra parameter does not seem to have any effect on Warp Red though. I don't
know if this bug is fixed in Warp Blue box or Warp Connect. But if you use
the latest v2.14 SBD2.SYS driver with Warp Red box you _will_ get an error
saying "an invalid argument was specified" and that the default settings
(IRQ 7, Port 220) will be used. If you get this error, just delete
the second digit after the SBD2.SYS driver:
DEVICE=x:\MMOS2\SBD2.SYS 1 1 5 220 /N:SBAUD$ etc.
^ Delete this one if SBD2.SYS is version 2.14
Now reboot your computer and you should have sound! If your sound card
does not use dipswitches for setting the IRQ and I/O port, you may
have to boot DOS first and use the DOS utility supplied with your sound card.
That program will configure your sound card (they have to agree
with what you chose in the installation of the Warp driver). I can run
this DOS program even from a DOS box but you may have to boot to pure DOS.
If your sound card uses dipswitches, you may not have a DOS utility
to configure your card. You won't have to boot DOS then.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES (copied from the Mediavision text):
-------------------------------------------------------
* Digital audio appears to work fine.
* FM synthesis (MIDI player) doesn't appear to work. We don't know why.
If you get it to work, let us know.
* In theory, this driver should work on the Sound Blaster section of the
PAS 16. This would allow you to have two Sound drivers working
at the same time in MMPM. We have not tested this. If you get it
to work, let us know. If you can't get it to work, we don't want to
know.
[JdL: according to one report I got, the PAS 16 seems to work.]
* The ThunderBoard does not have a MIDI interface! Do not waste your
time or money trying to use a MIDI connector box.
* Since we have only patched this driver and don't have the ability to
modify the original source code, do not expect any bug fixes or
changes to come from Media Vision.
* Media Vision's Tech Support department will not be able to assist
you with this driver. If you have comments or questions about this
driver send them to:
Internet: 75300,2772@compuserve.com
CompuServe: Media Vision [75300,2772]
FAX: (510) 226-2582, Attn. OS/2 engineering
* Many people have asked whether Media Vision will write a ThunderBoard
driver for OS/2. The answer is 'probably not'. We recommend that our
ThunderBoard customers upgrade to the Pro Audio Spectrum 16. Prices
in computer specialty stores have been as low as $139. That's an
excellent price! And the PAS 16 is fully supported under OS/2. Even
the SCSI interface.
If you'd like to learn more about Media Vision's products, call our
Sales department.
Media Vision, Inc Main: (800) 348-7116 or (510) 770-8600
3815 LaurelView Ct. Sales: (800) 845-5870
Fremont, CA 94539 FAX: (510) 770-8648 or (510) 770-9592
Customer Service and Tech Support: (800) 638-2807 or (510) 770-9905
ISV Relations and Developer Assistance: (800) 472-6147
BBS: (510) 770-0968 2400
(510) 770-0527 9600
There are a total of 8 lines and all lines support
8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, 300 - 14,400 bps
CIS: GO MEDIAVISION or send CIS mail to 75300,2772
European Customers:
Media Vision Technology GMBH
Raiffeisenalle 16
8024 Munchen-Oberhaching
Germany
Main: 89-61381-175
Tech Support: 89-61381-167
FAX: 89-61381-174