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AU8820 Windows 95 Driver                                    README.TXT
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This is version 4.05.0112.12 Release Candidate 1 of the Aureal Vortex 
AU8820 Windows 95 driver.


I.  Overview
------------

A. WINDOWS 95 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

   * 75MHz Pentium-compatible CPU (200+ MMX CPU recommended for full 
     A3D performance).
   * 16MB DRAM (the Vortex hardware wavetable engine uses a native 
     4MB sample set. Samples are stored on disk and swapped to RAM 
     as required. Typical DRAM footprint is <2MB. 
   * 15MB hard disk space
   * CD-ROM drive
   * Access to Microsoft Windows 95 Installation CD-ROM. 
   * Good-quality speakers or headphones and connecting cables. 
   * Joystick and MIDI keyboard (optional). 


B.  NEW FEATURES:

1. 64-Voice Wavetable
     The 1.10+ releases add a configurable 32-voice software wavetable 
     engine to the 32-voice hardware wavetable engine already
     available. The Vortex Control Panel's MIDI tab selects between:
     * 32 voice pro mode (hardware only)
     * 64 voice gamer mode (32 h/w, 32 speed-optimized voices)
     * 64 voice pro mode (32 h/w, 32 quality-optimized s/w voices.
     Overall voice quality has been improved.

2. Intelligent Wavetable Voice Allocation
    If an application requires more than 32 wavetable voices, and a 
    64-voice wavetable mode is enabled, the Vortex drivers examines 
    available CPU cycles before issuing new notes. If sufficient CPU
    cycles are available, the drivers create wavetable notes as 
    required.

3. Improved MIDI performance
    Vortex now includes its own MIDI driver that replaces the
    lower-performance default MIDI driver supplied with Windows 95. 
    The Vortex MIDI driver increases the number of games that can 
    use wavetable in a DOS box. 

4. Multimedia Application Installation
    During the Vortex driver installation, the driver requests the 
    Windows 95 CD-ROM and installs the multimedia applets (Volume 
    Control, Sound Recorder, Media Player, and CD Player) if not 
    already installed on the system.

5. Enhanced Vortex Control Panel
    The panel organization has been improved. Individual tabs can 
    be hidden and the control panel name can be changed with 
    command-line parameters.  Coding has been restructured to 
    facilitate localization. 

6. Improved Mixer
    The Windows 95 mixer now displays only those devices that are
    available on the system. The mixer also provides a +20dB gain 
    switch setting for condenser/electret microphone support. 

7. DirectSound Safe Mode
    Some DirectX games do not check the number of hardware buffers 
    available before creating a new DirectSound buffer. This can 
    result in no sound. A button on the Vortex Control Panel A3D 
    tab lets you disable DirectSound hardware acceleration. 

8. Multiple Sound Card Configurations
    The 1.10+ releases let users install sound cards from multiple 
    vendors in their system. If two A3D cards are installed in one
    system, A3D will be used on only one of the cards, selected
    randomly.


C.  WINDOWS 95 DRIVER ISSUES:

1. Joystick Acceleration - When installing new joysticks, the standard 
    analog gameport is used by default. Use the Gameport control 
    panel's "Advanced" tab to select the Vortex gameport driver. 
2. Changing audio hardware settings - Select "Base Configuration 6"
    before manually changing joystick or legacy I/O resources. See 
    DOSGAMES.TXT in this directory for more information. 
3. Multiple sound cards - Some sound cards, such as Ensoniq sound 
    cards, do not correctly report their I/O port utilization to the 
    operating system, which can result in device conflicts and hang 
    the system. 
4. Vortex settings in Autoexec.bat & dosstart.bat are not removed when
    the driver is removed from the system.
5. A system hang will sometimes occur if USB is enabled when the 
     Vortex driver is installed (IBM 300GL and Sony VAIO).
6. If MIDI is playing, a playing note may hang when the system is 
    suspended.


II.  QUICK START
----------------

   1.  Remove any existing Vortex drivers from previous installations. 
   2.  Install the Vortex hardware.
   3.  Install the Vortex Windows 95 drivers, Microsoft DirectX 5.0, 
       and Vortex demonstration applications.

   In most cases, you will be able to insert the card into your 
   computer, insert the Installation CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and 
   follow the on-screen prompts for complete system installation. 


III. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
--------------------------

A. DRIVER INSTALLATION 

   If you have older drivers in your system, please uninstall them 
   first, as described in Section C below. 

   1.  Power on the system, placing the Install CDROM in the 
       CDROM drive.
   2.  Windows 95 displays "New Hardware Found" message and starts 
       driver installation.
   3.  If Windows prompts you to provide the drivers for the PCI 
       multimedia audio device, choose "Driver Disk Provided by 
       Manufacturer" and select the installation CD-ROM's root ("\") 
       directory.
   4.  You may also be asked to insert the Windows 95 CD-ROM during 
       the install process.

   Note: Some Windows 95 versions (OSR2) do not show this prompt. 
   Instead, they ask whether to search the diskette and CD-ROM drives 
   for the appropriate drivers.

   Installed drivers may include Vortex PCI audio, Vortex wavetable, 
   Vortex mixer, DOS modem port, Vortex gameport interface, Vortex 
   MPU401 interface, and Vortex Sound Blaster emulation. 

   Depending on the version of Windows 95 and the configuration of the 
   system, you may be prompted to provide several file locations. Here
   are the CD-ROMs and directory locations for which you may be 
   prompted:

        Vortex Installation & Driver Disk   \Win95 
        Windows 95 Installation Disk        \Win95 
        Microsoft DirectX 5.0               \directx\directx\dxsetup 
        Vortex Application Setup            \Setup 
        PCI Multifunction Audio Device      \Win95


B  DIRECTX 5.0 INSTALLATION

    You may be prompted to install Microsoft DirectX 5.0 after Vortex 
    driver installation. 

   1.  When the DirectX setup panel opens, select "Reinstall 
       DirectX". (Even if you do not have DirectX installed on 
       your machine, the Microsoft DirectX 5.0 setup program still 
       asks if you wish to reinstall).

   2.  You may receive some prompts as to whether to replace specific 
       DirectX files on your computer. If you've previously installed
       an older version of DirectX on your machine, be sure to replace 
       any sound-related DirectX drivers. Video DirectX drivers do not 
       need to be changed.

   NOTE:  You may be asked to reboot several times during installation.
   Reboot when asked.  Additional software will continue to load when 
   Windows restarts, until all components have been installed.


C.  UNINSTALLING WINDOWS 95 DRIVERS

For driver releases prior to 1.0, please the UNINSTAL.BAT file as 
described in the previously distributed install guide. For driver 
releases 1.0 and later, you can use the following procedure: 
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   1. Open to the Windows 95 Device Manager (right-click on "My 
      Computer" and select "Properties").
   2. Open the "Multifunction Adapters" tree and select "Vortex 
      Multifunction PCI Platform"
  3.  Press the "Remove" button at the bottom of the Device Manager 
      window pane. 
  4.  The drivers are now removed from memory, but are still on the 
      hard disk. To delete the files from the hard disk:
		
      a.  Open the Windows 95 control panel's "Add/Remove Programs"
          applet.
      b.  To remove the drivers, double-click "Aureal Vortex". A 
          Vortex uninstaller application starts.
      c.  To remove the demo applications, double-click "Aureal 
          Vortex Applications". There is no need to reboot the 
          computer.


For Technical Support please contact your board manufacturer.

Aureal. A3D, A3D-I, A3D-Interactive, and the Aureal logo are trademarks 
and Vortex is a registered trademark of Aureal Semiconductor Inc. 
All other trademarks are owned their respective owners.

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Aureal Semiconductor, Inc.         (c) 1996-98, All Rights Reserved
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