
                 SOUND BLASTER PRO MCV LATEST INFORMATION
                 ========================================

This file  contains  information  that is  not  available  during the
printing  of  the  manual.  Please  read  all the sections before you
proceed with any installation procedure .

This file contains the following sections:

   1. Removal of Microsoft Windows 3.0 support
   2. Hard disk Installation
   3. Trouble Shooting for Installing Windows 3.1 Drivers
   4. Starting Microsoft Windows 3.1 in Enhance Mode
   5. Base address conflict
   6. MIDI files
   7. SBSIM support for MIDI
   8. New commands for MMPLAY
   9. Upgrading of Sound Blaster Pro Mixer for DOS


1. REMOVAL OF MICROSOFT WINDOWS 3.0 SUPPORT

   With the release of applications and drivers for Microsoft Windows
   3.1, we removed the Windows 3.0  software on the disk.  Therefore,
   please ignore any documentations  on  Windows 3.0 software, in the
   Sound Blaster User Reference Manual.


2. HARD DISK INSTALLATION

   The   installation   program,  INST-HD.EXE    will   modify   your
   AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.  Your original  files  will  be
   renamed with extension B~K.

   The program  also  allows  you  to  add  a  command  that runs the
   WINSETUP.EXE  program  to  your  Windows 3.1  WIN.INI  file.  This
   program  (WINSETUP.EXE)  automatically  sets  up the Sound Blaster
   Audio Drivers and Windows 3.1 applications when you run Windows.

   The procedure for installation is as follows.

   a. Read the README.TXT file (this file) for latest information.
   
   b. Test the sound card for proper operation by running the program
      "TESTPMCV.EXE" which can be found on Disk #1.

   c. Run the program INST-HD.EXE  from DOS prompt.  This program can
      be found on Disk #1.

   d. Select "Begin Installation" and follow  the instructions on the
      screen.

   e. Quit the installation program when it completes successfully.

   f. REBOOT YOUR SYSTEM.

   g. If you choose to have  the  installation  program  modify  your
      WIN.INI  file, Sound  Blaster  Audio  Drivers  and  Windows 3.1
      applications  will be set up.  Otherwise, follow the procedures
      below.

      i.   From the FILE menu in Program Manager, choose RUN.

      ii.  Type  "C:\SBPRO\WINSETUP"  and  press  ENTER, assuming  you
           have installed Sound Blaster software onto drive C.

      iii. Follow the instructions on  the  screen  to  complete  the
           installation.

      iv.  Restart Windows.

   NOTE
   ====

   WINSETUP will NOT set up the drivers and applications properly  if
   your BLASTER environment strings are incorrectly set.  Please make
   sure  that  these  environment  strings are set up properly before
   executing  WINSETUP.EXE.  You  may  enter  "SET"  at DOS prompt to
   check  the  environment  settings.   Refer to your  Sound  Blaster
   manual for more details on the BLASTER environment strings.

   In normal cases, WINSETUP.EXE only  needs  to be run once.  If you
   happen to  change  the hardware settings of your  Sound  card, you
   should  use  the  DRIVER  applet  in  CONTROL  PANEL to change the
   settings  of  your  Windows drivers.  Refer to your Windows manual
   for more details on the DRIVER applet.


3. TROUBLE SHOOTING FOR INSTALLING WINDOWS 3.1 DRIVERS

   A program "WINSETUP.EXE" was included to install the  Windows  3.1
   drivers  for  Sound  Blaster.  This  program  can be found in your
   Sound Blaster \SBPRO  sub-directory.  However, if  you  prefer  to
   install these  drivers  manually  in  Windows, please refer to the
   User  Reference  Manual.  If  somehow   you  are  having  problems
   installing  the  drivers, here are some points to check before you
   call Technical Support.

   a. If you installed Windows  3.1 using the "Express Installation,"
      Windows scanned your hard disk  for  programs to be  installed.
      As  a  result, older  versions  of  the  Jukebox were installed
      if they  were  on your hard  disk at the  time of installation.
      Please remove  these  icons.  To do  this, click  on  the  icon
      once to select it, then press the delete key.  Windows will ask
      you for confirmation.  Repeat for each icon.

   b. Open the Driver applet in Control panel.  You should  at  least
      have the following driver names in the Installed Drivers list:

          Creative Sound Blaster *** Auxiliary Audio
          Creative Sound Blaster *** MIDI Synthesizer
          Creative Sound Blaster *** Wave and MIDI
          MIDI Mapper
          Timer
          [MCI] CD Audio ;this is only for owners of CD-ROM drives
          [MCI] MIDI Sequencer
          [MCI] Sound

          where *** correspond to the type of card you are having.

      If  one  or  more  of  these  drivers  do  not  exist, you must
      install the driver(s) using the Driver applet in Control  Panel
      (See the Windows manual for more details).

   c. Check your SYSTEM.INI file by choosing RUN from  the File  menu
      of the Program Manager, and  typing SYSEDIT in the command line
      box.  Examine  the [drivers] and [sndblst.drv]  sections.  They
      should look something like this:

          [drivers]
          Timer=timer.drv
          Midimapper=midimap.drv
          Aux=sbpaux.drv
          MIDI=sbp2fm.drv
          Wave=spmcvsnd.drv
          MIDI1=spmcvsnd.drv

          [sndblst.drv]
          port=220
          int=7
          dmachannel=1

   d. If Windows refuses  to  install a  device driver or you get the
      error  message  "Device not found" when playing a Wave or  MIDI
      file or a CD, be sure you have the following  settings   in the
      [mci] section of SYSTEM.INI file:

          [mci]
          WaveAudio=mciwave.drv
          Sequencer=mciseq.drv
          CDAudio=mcicda.drv  ;this  is  only  for  owners  of CD-ROM
                               drives

      If  one  or  more  of these do not exist, you must install  the
      driver(s) using the Driver applet  in  Control  Panel  (See the
      Windows  manual  for instructions).  Do not type in the entries
      into the SYSTEM.INI file because the files have to be installed
      into your SYSTEM directory by Windows.


4. STARTING MICROSOFT WINDOWS 3.1 IN ENHANCE MODE

   Some of  the PS/2 system may encounter a "BUS TIME-OUT" error when
   starting Windows in enhance mode after bootup.  We have included a
   driver  "VDMAD.386"  to  counteract  this   problem.  The  program
   "WINSETUP.EXE"  will  copy this  driver  to  your  Windows \SYSTEM
   sub-directory  and  change  the  following line under the [386Enh]
   section in your SYSTEM.INI file.

          [386Enh]
          ; change this line
          DEVICE=*VDMAD
          ; to this line
          DEVICE=VDMAD.386

   NOTE
   ====

   If your PS/2 system uses the basic 8237 DMA  controller  (not  the
   extended 82037  DMA  controller), you  MUST  manually add the line
   "MCADMA=off" to the [386Enh] section in your SYSTEM.INI file.

       e.g

          [386Enh]
          MCADMA=off

   Currently, we have identified that  the  PS/2  system  model 57 is
   using the basic 8237 DMA controller  while  systems  such as model
   60, 70 ,80 and 90 are using the extended 82037 DMA controller.


   If you have difficulty implementing  the  above  procedure, please
   change the line "DEVICE=VDMAD.386"  back  to  "DEVICE=*VDMAD"  and
   follows the steps to start Windows in enhance mode.

   a. Start Windows in standard mode first by entering "WIN /S"  from
      the DOS prompt.

   b. Exit from Windows.

   c. You can now start Windows in enhance mode as usual by entering
      "WIN" from the DOS prompt.

5. BASE ADDRESS CONFLICT

   Some  of the  PS/2 systems may use the address range that conflict
   with the base addresses of the Sound Blaster Pro MCV.  Should this
   happens on your system, please change the base address settings on
   your card.

   Although our base address are  set  at 220H & 240H, the  following
   addresses  will  be decoded.  Please make sure that other cards do
   not make use of these addresses.

       220 - 23F             240 - 25F           388 - 389
       620 - 63F             640 - 65F           788 - 789
       A20 - A37             A40 - A5F           B88 - B89
       E20 - E37             E40 - E5F           F88 - F89

6. MIDI FILES

   When playing MIDI files with MMJBOX, a warning message in a dialog
   box may appear.  The message is only an indication of whether  the
   MIDI file conforms to Microsoft MIDI standard.

   Even if the file conforms to  the standard, the  message may still
   appear if the code defined by  Microsoft  is  not indicated in the
   MIDI  file.  Please ignore  the  message if the MIDI files created
   conforms to the standard.

   For more  information  on  how  to  indicate the code in your MIDI
   files, refer to the "Microsoft Windows Software Developer Kit".

   For a start, you  can try out the MMJBOX application with the MIDI
   file CANYON.MID which can be found in your Windows directory.  The
   MIDI files provided in the sub-directory  \PLAYMIDI are created to
   support the MIDI MAPPER and they comply fully to the Multimedia PC
   rules.  When  you  use MMJBOX in WINDOWS 3.1 to play these  files,
   make sure that your MIDI MAPPER is set to either the SP2MCV EXT FM
   or SP2MCV BASIC FM.  Using  it  with  SP2MCV ALL FM will cause the
   song to sound "cluttered".

   For the PLAYMIDI.EXE program, you have to use the /FMT switch when
   you play these MIDI files. For example:

       PLAYMIDI   Midifile  /FMT:Extended
   or  PLAYMIDI   Midifile  /FMT:Basic.

   Refer  to  the manual for more information on MIDI file format and
   MIDI Mapper.

7. SBSIM SUPPORT FOR MIDI

   SBSIM (SB Simplified Interface  Module)  has  now  been updated to
   include  support  for  the MIDI driver SBMIDI.  To make use of the
   MIDI  support,  include  a  new  section  titled  [MIDI]  in  your
   configuration  file.  The  available  keywords, and  their default
   values, are as follows:

    [Midi]
        BufferSize=32        ; Specifies  the size of  the  buffer to
                             ;  allocate for MIDI files, in Kbytes
        MidiMap=0            ; Specifies the type  of MIDI file to be
                             ;  played:
                             ;       0 = General MIDI files
                             ;       1 = Basic MIDI files
                             ;       2 = Extended MIDI files
                             ; Note that types 1 and 2 are as defined
                             ;  in Multimedia Windows.

   Note that you need  to load SBMIDI (the Sound Blaster MIDI driver)
   before you invoke SBSIM.


   The Music player program, MUSIC.EXE, has also been updated to play
   MIDI files.  The command set is the same, except that the commands
   /REPEAT, /TEMPO, /TRANSPOSE  and  /WAIT  are  not  available  when
   playing MIDI  files.  Also, a new  command is implemented to allow
   switching of MIDI modes.

   The resulting command set of MUSIC.EXE is as follows:

    Usage:  MUSIC [ /Q ] option..
        where option is one of:
            /PLAY:filename          +
            /STOP                   +
            /PAUSE                  +
            /CONTINUE               +
            /WAIT:n                 #
            /TEMPO:percentage       #
            /TRANSPOSE:semitone     #
            /REPEAT:count           #
            /MIDIFMT:midiformat     *
                midiformat: GEN, BAS, EXT

      (+ = for CMF and MIDI files, # = for CMF files only,
       * = for MIDI files only)


   IMPORTANT :  USE EITHER SBMIDI OR SBFMDRV DRIVER ONLY (NOT BOTH).

8. NEW COMMANDS FOR MMPLAY

   MMPLAY (Multimedia Presentation Player) has now  been  extended to
   include the following commands:

   .REM

   - Adding  remarks  to  the  program.  Lines  preceding  with  this
     command will not be executed.
      

   .PLAYMIDI <MIDI filename> [Extended] | [Basic] | [General <DrCh>]

   - Playing  MIDI  files with the MIDI file type specified.  Default
     is type Extended.  If type specified is General, DrCh  indicates
     the drum channel used  ranging from 1  to  16.  Default is 10 if
     DrCh is not specified.

9. UPGRADING OF SOUND BLASTER PRO MIXER FOR DOS

   We have upgraded the  mixer (SBP-MIX.EXE) described in the chapter
   "Voice Utilities" of the Sound Blaster User Reference Manual.


   There  are  two  changes in this version compared to  the  earlier
   version:

   a. The  < Stereo on/off > option is now removed.  This function is
       controlled directly by the software drivers.

   b. A new feature has been added:

      <Hidden mode on/off> : Default is ON.

      With the  Hidden mode set to ON, the user  can  control all the
      volumes from the keyboard in the background - without poping up
      to mixer screen.

      To control the volume, use the key combinations of

                   CTRL+ALT+u   - for volume increase
      and          CTRL+ALT+d   - for volume decrease

      To toggle on/off the sound output use the key combinations of

                   CTRL+ALT+q

      To select the channel in-order to control its  volume, use  the
      key combinations of

                   CTRL+ALT+m   -  for Master
                   CTRL+ALT+l   -  for Line
                   CTRL+ALT+f   -  for FM
                   CTRL+ALT+c   -  for CD
                   CTRL+ALT+v   -  for VOC
                   CTRL+ALT+i   -  for Mic


   The pop up mode is still working in the same way as before.


                  *********  End of README  *********
