



                         ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver

                                 Version 2.10

                            Software Release Notes

                               March 19, 1997




        About This Release

        ESS Technology is providing new OS/2 drivers for the
        ES1869 AudioDrive chip in this Software Release.

        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:        ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Device Driver,
                        Version 2.10

        Drivers:        ES1869 (with ESFM and wavetable)

        OS:             OS/2 Warp 4.0 and OS/2 Warp 3.0

        Release Date:   March 19, 1997




        Release Description

        The ES1869 AudioDrive OS/2 Driver Software Release incorporates
        new features such as 3D Spatializer available in ES1869
        AudioDrive chip.



        Known Problems

        1. For OS/2 Warp 3.0, 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. For OS/2 Warp 3.0, 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.

        4. To be able to play and record wave files at the same time,
           the enforcement of only one active wave file by MMPM/2 is
           relaxed.  Therefore, some problems or erratic behaviors may
           pop up if two wave files are played.

        5. The OS/2 driver allows sharing of audio and MPU-401
           interrupts, but it is not recommended.  If both are shared,
           occasionally too much MIDI in data will lock up AudioDrive's
           interrupt processing when a wave file is played or recorded.
           To get out of this situation, stop the wave file, stop the
           MIDI in source, close all MIDI files, and restart the wave
           file to re-initialize AudioDrive's interrupt processing.

        6. Due to the nature of MIDI music, turning MIDI in on while the
           MIDI in data are coming may not generate the right sounds.
           It is recommended to stop the MIDI in source first before
           enable MIDI in.




        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."  The program first
           runs ESDETECT.EXE to auto-detect the chip, then 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.  After it finishes, another program,
           ESCONFIG.EXE, will be called to update CONFIG.SYS if
           necessary.

        2. When Multimedia Application Install program brings up, a
           check mark beside ES1869 AudioDrive means that item is
           already selected.  To toggle selection, click the mouse on
           the item.  Click the Install button to start the
           installation.  Once the drivers are installed, shutdown OS/2
           and reset the computer for the new ES1869 drivers to take
           effect.

        3. If the installation cannot be completed, read the logs
           EINSTALL.LOG in \MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory and MINSTALL.LOG
           in \MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory or root directory to find out
           the problem.

        4. If during the installation an error saying the audio device
           is already in use by another application comes up, make sure
           all applications that utilize audio have been closed.  If
           this is caused by system sounds not closing the audio device,
           you have three options to remedy this situation:

           A. Remove the audio driver by running ESUNINST.EXE.

           B. Go to Sounds object in System Setup folder and uncheck
              Enable system sounds option.  After the driver is
              installed properly, check the option to enable system
              sounds.

           C. Run DINSTSND.CMD in d:\MMOS2\INSTALL subdirectory.  After
              the driver is installed properly, run INSTSND.CMD d: to
              enable system sounds.

           Perform one of these operations and reboot to disable system
           sounds.  Install the drivers again.

        5. If WIN-OS/2 is installed in the system, start WIN-OS/2 and
           run "A:\SETUP" to install WIN-OS/2 drivers.  Change the
           WIN-OS/2 settings to the following if necessary:
              AUDIO_ADAPTER_SHARING = Required
              INT_DURING_IO = On

        6. Since OS/2 Warp 3.0 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.

        8. If the MIDI plays are not smooth in WIN-OS/2, 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.


        These are the files copied to your hard disk for the MMPM/2
        component:

        \MMOS2
                ES1869DD.SYS
                VAUDDRV.SYS
                ESDAEMON.EXE
                ES938.EXE
        \MMOS2\DLL
                CARDINFO.DLL
                ESSVSD88.DLL
        \MMOS2\HELP
                ES1869IN.HLP
        \OS2\BOOT
                CLOCK01.SYS
                CLOCK02.SYS
                TIMER0.SYS
