:QUESTION. What developer's tools are available for the WindSurfer? :ANSWER. From Programmer's Paradise, the Intermetrics Mwave Developer's Kit (MDK) can be purchased for $445 (Through 2/28/94). It includes both the ADK and PDK described below. For a limited time, the MDK with a WindSurfer card is $495. Prices subject to change after 2/28/94. Programmer's Paradise: 1-800-445-7899 :QUESTION. How does Mwave relate to my PC? Where does it fit? :ANSWER. Mwave Software structure Pictured below is the software architecture for the Mwave system. Starting from the top are your favorite applications running on your preferred operation system (i.e. OS/2, Windows, etc.). The next layer consists of multiple drivers that control multiple functions down in the Mwave Processor. The drivers use the Mwave Manager for loading, removing, and controlling task parameters. Residing in the Mwave DSP processor is Mwave/OS and the various tasks which form the various functions. Mwave/OS schedules the tasks for execution and ensures that all realtime requirements for the function are met. Functions are made of of one or more tasks and Mwave supports multiple functions. These functions may be added and removed without disruption of the operation of other functions. We refer to this as a DYNAMICALLY configurable, multi-TASKING, multi-FUNCTION system. нннннннннннннй нннннннннннннй нннннннннннннй | Application | | Application | | Application | | #1 | | #1 | | #1 | ннннннннннннн ннннннннннннн ннннннннннннн ннннннннй ннннннннй ннннннннй Mwave Host | Driver | | Driver | | Driver | Processor | A | | B | | C | нннннннн нннннннн нннннннн нннннннннннннннннннннннннннннннннй | Mwave Manager | Mwave Host ннннннннннннннннннннннннннннннннн Processor - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mwave DSP Processor нннннннннннннннннннннннннннй | Mwave/OS | ннннннннннннннннннннннннннн нннннннннй нннннннннй нннннннннй нннннннннй Function A | Task #1 | | Task #2 | | Task #3 | | Task #4 | ннннннннн ннннннннн ннннннннн ннннннннн нннннннннй нннннннннй нннннннннй Function B | Task #5 | | Task #6 | | Task #7 | ннннннннн ннннннннн ннннннннн нннннннннй нннннннннй ннннннннннй Function C | Task #8 | | Task #9 | * * * | Task Nth | ннннннннн ннннннннн нннннннннн :QUESTION. What is the MIDI DIP switch for? What function does the MIDI DIP switch on the WindSurfer provide? :ANSWER. DIP Switch number 6 on the IBM WindSurfer ISA card serves to enable or disable the hardware PS/1 MIDI emulation present on the card. This will have no effect on the WindSurfer MIDI drivers supplied for Windows. Programs that talk to the WindSurfer via these drivers will have access to the WindSurfer MIDI capabilities regardless of the position of this DIP switch. When the DIP switch is set to "on", and the WindSurfer MIDI drivers are not installed under Windows, a DOS program running in a Windows DOS box will see a genuine PS/1 MIDI interface. The PS/1 MIDI interface will also work under DOS without Windows, as long as the DIP switch is set to "on" (no special drivers required). Note that the base I/O address used by the PS/1 MIDI port is x'330'. This will conflict with the Roland MPU-401 and some SCSI controllers (Adaptec being one). Setting the DIP Switch to "off" will resolve the conflict. :QUESTION. What CD-ROM is supported by the WindSurfer MCA card? :ANSWER. The WindSurfer MCA announced support for the IBM Internal CD-ROM (PN 32G2961) meaning it will provide interface control and audio input connections to offer a total CD-ROM solution. Note: Under the hood of the IBM Internal CD-ROM is a double speed PANASONIC 563B CD-ROM. Both the control cable and the audio cable are provided with the CD-ROM. The connectors on the WindSurfer MCA card were chosen for this specific attachment. :QUESTION. Are other CD-ROM's supported with this WindSurfer MCA offering? :ANSWER. At announcement, the only full support which was offered was the IBM Internal CD-ROM (PN 32G2961). Since announcement, support has been included for a SONY CD-ROM (CDU31A). The current WindSurfer MCA adapter provides the control interface via (2x17 connector header) and the audio input connection via (1x4 header). The definition of these connectors are provided within the Windsurfer MCA INSTALL/USER'S Guide. :QUESTION. The IBM Internal CD-ROM (PN 32G2961) is offered as an ISA CD-ROM, how do I use this product within a MCA machine? :ANSWER. The PC Direct catalog offers the ISA CD-ROM which provides the CD-ROM, software drivers, cables, and an ISA adapter card for driving the CD-ROM. Obviously, you do NOT use the ISA adapter provided within the CD-ROM offering. Instead use the Windsurfer MCA card as the controller for the CD-ROM. :QUESTION. I already have a CD-ROM in my MCA machine (i.e. SCSI attach, etc) and do not want to purchase the IBM internal CD-ROM as was announced as a supported product. Can I continue to use my CD-ROM? :ANSWER. YES.... Continue to use your previously purchased CD-ROM. You then can attach the AUDIO OUTPUT cable of your CD-ROM to one of the two(2) AUDIO INPUT connectors on the WindSurfer MCA product. Appendix B of the WindSurfer MCA product "USER'S GUIDE" illustrates the connector wiring. Be sure your cable matches the pin designations. At worst case, you may need to modify your connector to mate with one of those provided on the WindSurfer MCA adapter. NOTE: The Audio input connectors were chosen in support of the announced support CD-ROM: PN 32G2961 and the SOny CDU31A. :QUESTION. What is different in the WindSurfer MCA CD-Rom offering and the previously announced WindSurfer (ISA) offering? :ANSWER. The WindSurfer (ISA) product does not currently provide the mechanism for driving a CD-ROM via interface cable, it only provides a connector for AUDIO INPUT from a CD-ROM. The WindSurfer MCA offering provides the control harware for driving the CD-ROM as well as receiving AUDIO INPUT from a CD-ROM. :QUESTION. Will the IBM Enhanced CD-ROM II work with the WindSurfer (ISA) and the WindSurfer MCA adapters? :ANSWER. Yes, but providing the appropriate cabling is the trick. The AUDIO OUTPUT cable(PN 92F2168) will directly attach the Enhanced CD-ROM II to the audio connector on the WindSurfer (ISA) product. NOTE: A description of the Audio input connector and mating connectors are detailed in the WindSurfer INSTALL/USER's GUIDE. The WindSurfer MCA product offers Audio input connectors which are compatible with the ANNOUNCED supported CD-ROM's. Therefore cable(PN 92F2168) would need to be modified at the adapter connection end for appropriate mating. This was a trade-off as a result of the market requirement needing a less expensive CD-ROM "total" solution. :QUESTION. What is supported on the MWave WindSurfer by the 2.00 software? :ANSWER. The following function is provided by the 2.00 level of software when running under Windows 3.1: Data modem : 14.4 Kbps via V.32bis Fax modem : 9.6 Kbps G3; TRIO DataFax application Telephone Answering Machine : supported by PhoneFx application MIDI : supported by MWave Audio Control or Windows Media Player. Audio support is MCI compliant. Soundboard : software emulation of original Sound Blaster In addition, the MicroChannel version of the WindSurfer provides support for control of a CD-ROM drive. Note that analog audio input from CD to Windsurfer is present in both ISA and MCA versions. :QUESTION. What is "QSound" and how does it relate to MWave? :ANSWER. QSound Licenses Its Virtual Audio Technology To IBM Microelectronics . -93C1111127- WORLD NEWS TODAY NOV 12 1993 40296 QSound Licenses Its Virtual Audio Technology To IBM Microelectronics. QSound Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:QSNDF;TSE:QSL) announced today that the IBM Microelectronics Division has licensed QSound's Virtual Audio technology to be part of IBM Microelectronics' Mwave technology platform. This license provides the consumer with the world's first shipment of QSound Labs multi-dimensional sound localization technology on MIDI synthesis. QSound Virtual Audio is now available to customers through an upgrade to existing Mwave-based products and will be offered with future products from various IBM Divisions and their OEM customers. QSound Virtual Audio allows software developers to generate soundscapes that exceed the physical bounds of stereo speaker geometry, providing an audio experience of previously unheard depth, clarity and realism. The soundscape can be more complex than existing stereo or mono situations permit because QSound facilitates less crowding or masking of sounds. QSound's 3-D sound technology is perfect for interactive games. It adds a high degree of realism to the game-play experience. We will be using their technology anywhere we can in our games, said Charles Deenen, Audio Director, of Interplay Productions. :QUESTION. What is the difference between the IBM Audiovation adapter and the IBM MWave Windsurfer? :ANSWER. Feature AV ISA AV MC WS ISA WS MC ------- ------ ----- ------ ----- DSP 17 MIP 17 MIP 17 MIP 17 MIP Memory 4Kx40 4Kx40 32Kx40 32Kx40 Audio Intf 16 bit 16 bit 16 bit 16 bit Max Sample 44.1K 44.1K 44.1K 44.1K Joysticks 2 2 No No MIDI Yes Yes Yes Yes Sony CDROM Yes No No Yes Pan CDROM Yes No No Yes Telephony No No Yes Yes Mono Amp Yes No No No Clearly the Audiovation is oriented toward audio applications. It uses a variation of the Mwave DSP employing 4K of memory on-chip, rather than a non-memory DSP using external memory, as on Windsurfer. If you want a card w/telephony functions (modem, fax, TAM) in addition to audio, buy a Windsurfer. If you are in the market for an MPC-2 audio card with excellent sound quality, CDROM support, MIDI, and joysticks, plus interesting software upgrade capabilities that come with Mwave technology (and yes you can still stuff a fair amount in 4K) you may want to look at Audiovation. However, bear in mind that this card will NOT do telephony. Note also that either Audiovation or Windsurfer (as well as many other available and soon to be available Mwave-based products) will do functions such as Qsound. :QUESTION. After installing my Mwave software and restarting Windows I lose the CD-Audio entry on the Device menu of Media Player. :ANSWER. Our testing has revealed that with a number of CD-ROM drives (and their driver code), the CD Audio entry in the Media Player Device menu can be made to disappear when following a particular sequence of events. The culprit appears to be in the status presented to Media Player by the particular CD-ROM, its interface adapter, or its driver code. Apparently, when starting, Media Player checks the file creation dates of its own MPLAYER.INI and Windows' SYSTEM.INI and if SYSTEM.INI has a more recent date that MPLAYER.INI, it then checks the status of devices shown to be installed in SYSTEM.INI. If the status of any of these installed devices is questionable, Media Player appears to then remove the questionable device from its list of available devices. Apparently, Media Player will then not make such a check again until it once again finds its own .INI file to be older than the SYSTEM.INI file. The sequence that causes the CD Audio entry to disappear is: 1) Cause the file creation date of SYSTEM.INI to be more recent that the file creation date of MPLAYER.INI. (Using Windows Control Panel to install a device driver or editing and then saving SYSTEM.INI will cause this to happen.) 2) Ensure there is no CD-ROM platter in the CD-ROM drive. 3) Start Media Player. 4) Select the Device menu of Media Player. The CD Audio entry should not be present if yours is one of the machines affected by this problem. If the CD Audio entry is still there, this problem description doesn't apply to your machine. The following sequence should cause the CD Audio entry to reappear: 1) Cause the file creation date of SYSTEM.INI to be more recent that the file creation date of MPLAYER.INI. (Using Windows Control Panel to install a device driver or editing and then saving SYSTEM.INI will cause this to happen.) 2) Ensure that a CD-ROM platter is in the CD-ROM drive and the CD-ROM drawer is closed. 3) Start Media Player. 4) Select the Device menu of Media Player. The CD Audio entry should now be present if yours is one of the machines affected by this problem. NOTE: Keeping a CD-ROM platter in the drive at all times should prevent this problem from occurring. :QUESTION. I've installed OS/2 2.1 for Windows on my Windows/Mwave system, and I get errors when starting full-screen WIN-OS2. :ANSWER. Mwave "Breaks" OS/2 2.1 for Windows ----------------------------------- The Problem ----------- Testing has revealed that installing OS/2 2.1 for Windows on a system with existing Windows 3.1 and Mwave software installed results in not being able to cleanly start WINOS2 applications. The manifestations of the problem are that windowed WINOS2 applications hang when started and that full-screen WINOS2 applications get a number of error messages during startup. A suggested work-around follows and it in turn is followed by a more detailed description of the problem. Problem Work-around ------------------- One way of preventing these errors (and hangs) is to have different SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI files for the two environments (DOS/Windows and OS/2 for Windows). The following steps provide one way of accomplishing this goal. 1. Copy SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI from your \windows subdirectory into your Mwave root directory (ie. \MWW). Our example below uses the names SYS_INI.DOS and WIN_INI.DOS for these file names. 2. Make copies of these two files into the Mwave root directory and give them different names. Our example below uses the names SYS_INI.OS2 and WIN_INI.OS2. 3. Modify these two files (sys_ini.os2 and win_ini.os2 in our example) by removing all references to the Mwave drivers as shown below: (in these .INI files, a leading semicolon comments out the line) You may comment out the line or simply delete it. (The commented lines are nice to see what it used to be.) SYS_INI.OS2 Under the heading [boot] make the following change: ;drivers=mmsystem.dll, MWGames drivers=mmsystem.dll Under the heading [386Enh] comment out these lines: ;device=e:\mww\MWGAMES\VMWGames.386 ;device=e:\mww\MANAGER\Mwave.386 Under the heading [drivers], comment out any of these lines that are present: ;WAVE=e:\mww\PCMWAVE\mwSOUND.DRV ;AUX=e:\mww\PCMWAVE\mwSOUND.DRV ;MIDI=e:\mww\MIDISNTH\mwSYNTH.DRV ;MWGames=e:\mww\MWGAMES\MWGames.Drv ;MIDI1=e:\mww\MIDIPORT\mwMIDIp.DRV Comment all the lines under the [Mwave] and [MWGames.Drv] headings. WIN_INI.OS2 Comment out the following Run= statement under the [Windows] heading: ;run=e:\mww\MANAGER\MWS.EXE 4. Add the following lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the DOS/WINDOWS disk: copy c:\mww\sys_ini.dos c:\windows\system.ini copy c:\mww\win_ini.dos c:\windows\win.ini 5. Add the following lines to your STARTUP.CMD file on the OS/2 disk: copy c:\mww\sys_ini.os2 c:\windows\system.ini copy c:\mww\win_ini.os2 c:\windows\win.ini Placing these lines in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file causes those two files to be copied into the Windows subdirectory each time you start DOS. The lines added to the STARTUP.CMD file cause the SYS_INI.OS2 and WIN_INI.OS2 files to be copied into the Windows subdirectory and thereby bypass the loading of the Mwave related files when starting Windows functions under OS/2 for Windows. One problem with this approach is that any subsequent updates to SYSTEM.INI or WIN.INI in either the WIN-OS2 or Windows environment will be lost unless additional steps are made to include such updates into the saved .INI files on the \mww directory. Detailed Description of Problem ------------------------------- Because the Mwave Windows drivers are VXDs and VXDs are not supported by OS/2, and because OS/2 2.1 for Windows uses the same system files used by the DOS/WINDOWS environment, WIN-OS2 applications experience errors when starting. These errors reveal themselves in two ways depending on how the application is started under OS/2. If the full-screen WIN-OS2 command prompt is selected and started, error messages are seen on the WIN-OS2 screens. These can be ignored and the loading process continued, and eventually WIN-OS2 can be used. This is "a pain", but at least it allows the Windows functions to be used. A more subtle indication of the problem is encountered when starting an application from one of the folders within the WIN-OS/2 Groups folder. For example, opening the WIN-OS/2 Groups folder, then opening the Accesories folder from that screen, and then opening the Paintbrush program from that screen results in the Paintbrush icon becoming crosshatched and a lot of disk activity but the Paintbrush screen never appears. After that there's no way to remove the crosshatch indication from Paintbrush until OS/2 is shutdown. At shutdown, the screen is presented asking if you really want to shutdown Paintbrush. I think what is happening is that WIN-OS2 is trying to start Paintbrush, the error mentioned in the previous paragraph has occurred, and WIN-OS2 doesn't have a way of presenting the error message to the user. These errors occur because the Mwave Windows driver gets loaded (Windows and OS/2 for Windows use the same files) and OS/2 prevents that VXD from access the Mwave hardware. Because the driver can't access the hardware, it reports an error for each driver that tries to use it to access the hardware, and thus we see all those errors (or the crosshatched indicator for an app started from the WIN-OS2 groups route).