SC400 Revision 3 Troubleshooting Guide Overview: Possible causes of SC400 rev. 3 Audio Failures: IRQ, DMA, ADDRESS CONFLICTS. Poor connection between the sound card and slot or bad slot. Incorrect connection of CD-ROM data cable or bad data cable. Bad or Damaged sound card. Jumper settings not at default. Bad or Damaged speakers. Procedure: Confilcts see step #1. Produces No sound but sound card is detected begin with step #2. Sound but the CD-ROM drivers are not loading or cdr101 errors begin with step #3. Does not detect the sound card or TADA LOOP begin with step #4. VSGLX16.386 Initialization Error see step #5. 1) Remove all added hardware to insure there is no irq,dma. Or address conflict. If the system: For example: Another sound card, scanner, TV card, joystick card etc. 2) If no sound is produced: A: check speaker connections: if amplified check power indication lights, if not amplified make sure speakers are turned off. Try Headphones. B: Boot F5 or make a basic boot disk (if you have DOS 5.0 or earlier) and run the sound tests. *** NOTE: To run sound tests follow instruc- tions below.*** 1) Go to the C:\SC400\UTILITY directory and type DIAGNOSE and press ENTER. 2) Run the FM MUSIC test, the 16-BIT .WAV test and the SOUND BLASTER 8-BIT .VOC test. C: Check mixer settings: 1) Go to the C:\SC400\UTILITY and type MIXTSR and press ENTER. 2) Press (ALT + /) to activate the mixer. 3) Follow the directions on the screen to change and save the settings (if nece- ssary). D: CHKDSK /F or SCANDISK and delete and rein- stall software. E: If cmos has option for cache disable it. F: Check speaker amplification jumpers make sure there at default. G: Reseat card in a different slot. 3: If produces sound but CD-ROM drivers doesn't load or cdr101: *** NOTE: If the drivers in config.sys are not loading. *** 1) Make sure you are using the correct drivers boot F8 and just load the CD-ROM drivers. 2) Go to the C:\SC400\UTILITY direct- ory. 3) Type CONFIG and press ENTER. 4) Choose CDROM DRIVES and press ENTER. 5) Highlight the CDROM driver and press ENTER. 6) Choose NO CDROM and follow the in- structions to remove the drivers. 7) Reboot the system and follow steps 1-5 above. 8) This time choose the CDROM driver for your CDROM and follow the direct- ions to add the drivers to the AUTOEXEC.BAT and the CONFIG.SYS files. 9) Reboot (using the f8 key) and see if the CONFIG.SYS driver loads and then run AUTOEXEC.BAT mscdex.exe B: Make sure there is power to the CD-ROM drive, if there is reseat the data cable or if possible try different 40 pin data cable. Make sure it is plugged to the correct CD-ROM interface connection. C: If getting CDR101 errors. Check to see if the CD is spinning by placing CD on tray; checking orientation, closing tray waiting for light to come on and go off, ejecting the tray to see if it moved from the orientation that you placed it in. if not remove data cable from back of CD-ROM and loosen mounting screws. * If it spins reseat data cable or try different data cable or add /M:20 to the MSCDEX.EXE driver line. * RMA may be necessary. 4) If the sound card is not detected or you are getting stuck in a TADA LOOP. A: Remove CD data cable from sound card if there is one. B: See if they have a BUSS mouse. If they do then change the JMPBO jumper to address 240H. Go to the C:\SC400\UTILITY, run CONFIG and change the driver in SOUND BLASTER to 240H. C: Reconfigure the sound card: 1) Go to the C:\SC400\UTILITY directory. 2) Type CONFIG and press ENTER. 3) Press ENTER to run configuration. 4) Go ot MPU401 and change the IRQ to IRQ 7. 5) Go to MWSS and change the address to F40H. 6) press ESC 2X and follow directions and reboot system. 7) Enter Windows (you will get an address error) just say OK. 8) Go to MAIN, then CONTROL PANEL, and then DRIVERS. 9) Choose the 16BIT AUDIO DRIVER and click on SETUP. 10) Click on ADVANCED. 11) Put an (X) next to USE SINGLE DMA and clock on OK. 12) Now change the WAVE IRQ to IRQ 9 and click on OK. 13) Restart windows and look for errors. E: Check JMPCFG if it is on 1-2 try it on 2-3. F: Try card in a different slot a couple if necessary. G: If possible try card in a different system. H: Go to the [SC400] section of the SYSTEM.INI and change DMADAC=0 to DMADAC=1. 5) If you're getting vsglx16.386 errors. A) Try steps 4,C above. B) Go to the SYSTEM.INI ([386ENH] section) and add a (;) to the VSGLX16.386 line. C) Delete and reinstall the sound card soft- ware. Note: If eeprom settings don't save check the jmpcfg jumper if on 2-3 put it on 1-2 if symptom persists RMA card. If Above procedures fail press transfer key and dial 2525 for RMA. A good troubleshooting procedure is to narrow down isolate the problem, a process of elimination. ************************************************ SC400 Rev 3 GENERAL ISSUES CONTENTS: Subject: When loading mscdex.exe line keep get- ting General Failure Error Reading De- vice. Subject: The SC400 sound test doesn't pass the sound test, it locks up the system and /or hangs Windows. Subject: SC400 rev.3, sw ver. 1.06 problem with installation Subject: Error on Windows startup: "Programs written for Windows not installed" Subject: Dr. T's sing a long and no speech. Subject: Local Bus machines and Sound cards (16bit) Subject: The computer locked up during the 16 bit audio test and while loading Windows. (Some AST computers do this) Subject: I have had several instances of sound test failures with the SC400R3 in DX2/50 and DX2/66 computers running at speed Subject: Getting error during the installation: SETUP.INF IS CORRUPTED. Subject: SC400 Rev 3 locking up in Windows. Subject: SC400R3 / Windows reset FM/MIDI volume. Sounds fine but upon exiting and restarting Windows, the levels would be zero'd out again. Subject: SC400 r3 (SW ver.1.06) installation and QEMM 7.04. Subject: SC400 REV 3 and Gateway 2000 / install- ation problems. Subject: SC400 rev.3 installation software ver. 1.06 and "VSGLX16.386 Initialization Error ! Subject: System locks up going into Windows. No errors. Subject: Audio Station won't come up and when you click on it again you get an already running msg. Subject: Windows 95 & SC400 Rev 3 (Chipmunk & Tada Loop Fix) ________________________________________________ Subject: When loading mscdex.exe line keep get- ting General Failure Error Reading Device. Solution: Remove JP5 and tried again. MSCDEX should load fine now. ________________________________________________ Subject: The SC400 sound test doesn't pass the sound test, it locks up the system and /or hangs Windows. Solution: In both cases, the machines had the AMI BIOS. Disabling the C000 video rom shadow in the advanced chipset menu from the CMOS seems to cure the problem for these folks. Give it a try.... ________________________________________________ Subject: SC400 rev.3, sw ver. 1.06 problem with installation Solution: If you have problems installing the software try the following. Edit the WIN.INI and rem out (put a semicolon ;) in front of the LOAD AND RUN statements. Edit the SYSTEM.INI and rem out(put a semicolon ;) SHELL=WHATEVER and replace it with SHELL=PROGMAN.EXE. Do an F8 boot and load HIMEM.SYS only. Reinstall the software. After reinstallation you can set the lines back to the original state. ________________________________________________ Subject: Error on Windows startup: "Programs written for Windows not installed" Solution: Enable the "USE SINGLE DMA CHANNEL" in the advance settings of the version 1.04 software. ________________________________________________ Subject: Dr. T's sing a long and no speech. Solution: I found the fix for the "speech" problem with Dr.T Sing-A-Long vs. the SC400 rev.3 card. The new version 1.04 software fixed this problem, but the default setting in the MidiMapper is STILL "FM Synth BASE" and first 10 channels are STILL set to NONE. Therefore, you have to EDIT the Midi- Mapper and change them (again) to "Voyetra Super Sapi". Otherwise, you can only hear the speech but not the music. ________________________________________________ Subject: Local Bus machines and Sound cards (16 bit) Solution: Some local bus video card uses IRQ 2. This will conflict with the settings for the MPU401. See if you can change the IRQ for the video card. ________________________________________________ Subject: The computer locked up during the 16 bit audio test and while loading Windows. The AST comes with it's own sound drivers and there is evidently a conflict with the SC400R3. I was able to get the SC400R3 to fully operate by adding a ; to the following lines found in the WIN.INI under [SOUNDS]: SYSTEM DEFAULT=DING.WAV,DEFAULT BEEP SYSTEM EXCLAMATION=CORD.WAV,EXCLAMATION SYSTEM START=C:\WINDOWS\AST START.WAV,WINDOWS START SYSTEM EXIT=CHIMES.WAV,WINDOWS EXIT SYSTEM HAND=CHORD.WAV,CRITICAL STOP SYSTEM QUESTION=CHORD.WAV,QUESTION SYSTEM ASTERIK=CHORD.WAV,ASTERIK WELCOME=WELCOME.WAV GOOD-BYE=GOOD-BYE.WAV I'AM=I'AM.WAV FILE DONE=FILE DONE.WAV YOU'VE GOT MAIL=YOU'VE GOT MAIL.WAV ________________________________________________ Subject: I have had several instances of sound test failures with the SC400R3 in DX2 /50 and DX2/66 computers running at high speed Solution: Adjust the AT BUS CLK setting in the ] BIOS. The best way to test if the BUS CLK speed is the problem is to simply to place the machine in the NON-TURBO mode and run the DIAGNOSE test. You should then have the previously mentioned tests pass consistently. To fix the problem, you must reboot the machine and select (depending on BIOS version) either ADVANCED CMOS or ADVANCED CHIPSET setup pages and search for the AT-BUS CLK setting. The default setting will probably be at some divisor value between 1 and 2. Select a value that is higher (Auto- configure mode must first be disabled). This higher setting will mean a slower AT BUS CLK speed. My technique is to select a relatively high value, CLK/8 for example, save it, retest using DIAGNOSE. If it passes, I select a new value and perform the same steps until it begins to fail then back it off one value. This allows the sys- tem to maintain the highest bus clock speeds and still permit full operation of the sound card. ________________________________________________ Subject: Getting error during the installation: SETUP.INF IS CORRUPTED. Solution: You can see this error message when using a harddrive Install program called ROCKET. Also this error may appear in some Western Digital Drives. The way to fix it is to type INSTALL /C instead of INSTALL. The software should install properly. ________________________________________________ Subject: SC400 Rev 3 locking up in Windows. SOLUTION: To unlock Windows do the following: Edit the SYSTEM.INI Go to the [SC400.DRV] Change the 2 DMA lines from 0 to 1 ________________________________________________ Subject: SC400R3 / Windows reset FM/MIDI volume. Sounds fine but upon exiting and res- tarting Windows, the levels would be zero'd out again. Solution: Remove the 16 BIT AUDIO DRIVER AND THE SUPER SAPI FM drivers from the Windows Drivers section. Go the the DOS mixer and set the volumes. Now reinstall the Windows drivers and they should work fine. ________________________________________________ Subject: When you install the SC400 r3 (SW ver. 1.06) with QEMM 7.04, you will encounter a lot of strange things like Windows lock up or it will beep constantly when it tries to launch Windows. These are caused by the STEALTH switch which QEMM installed in your CONFIG.SYS file. The switch is either ST:M (mapping) or ST:F (frame) in the DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS line. Somehow the STEALTH mode, as your system boots up, it will take control of all the interrupts that are in use by the ROMs on your system. That's WHY our Software CHOKES when it tries to load Windows. Solution: To FIX this, you need to(if you're familiar with QEMM): 1. Remove the ST: switch in the CONFIG.SYS 2. Make sure to REOPTIMIZE the QEMM after removing the switch and SAY "NO" to the STEALTH. 3. Reboot the system and reinstall our software. If you're NOT familiar with QEMM, refer the customer to their QEMM's manual how to remove the STEALTH mode or have them call QEMM if they're not sure what they're doing. ________________________________________________ Subject: SC400 REV 3 and Gateway 2000 / ins- tallation problems: Solution: If you experience a problem where in- stalling a sc400r3 card in a Gateway 2000 pentium system and with the card installed system doesn't boot up do the following. 1. Change the jumper JMPCFG to 2-3 (computer should boot up). 2. Press F1 after memory count to go to CMOS setup. 3. From the second page change ISA IRQ 9=Free ISA IRQ 10=Free ISA IRQ 11=Free 4. Change the jumper JMPCFG back to 1-2. Boot the computer install the software and everything should work. ________________________________________________ Subject: When you install the SC400 rev.3 soft- ware ver. 1.06 on a machine, upon load- ing Windows, you get an error message states that: "VSGLX16.386 Initialization Error ! "VSGLX16.386 was UNABLE to locate 16-bit Audio Board hardware, Please check your hardware settings and restart." It will ask you to press any key to continue, and it will finish installing the software. It will also add everything into your system.ini EXCEPT the SC400 .DRV] section. If you go to Windows' drivers section and try to reconfigure the hardware set- tings, it WILL NOT allow you to. Solution: What you have to do is: (after ins- talling the software) * Exit Windows, run the EASYSTAR. (Somehow, the MSS and MPU-401 was DISABLE, I have NO idea) * Select the DEFAULT settings, it will ENABLE everything back. * Restart the computer and then go back to Windows, it will automa- tically ADD the sc400.DRV] sect- ion back into your system.ini. * Windows should work fine now, you don't have to reconfigure anything else in there. * Make sure that this line is in the SYSTEM.INI [386ENH] DEVICE=VSGLX16.386. * make sure that Windows is running in 386 enhanced mode. ________________________________________________ Subject: System locks up going into Windows. No errors. Solution: Edit the SYSTEM.INI Go to the [SC400.DRV] Section change DMADAC=0 to DMADAC=1 and DMAADC=0 to DMAADC=1. _________________________________________________ Subject: Audio Station won't come up and when you click on it again you get an already running msg. Solution: Rename the REG.DAT to .OLD and if that doesn't work then reinstall Windows over the top of the old Windows and when it says "the driver you attempting to to install is an older then the one cur- rently running, say YES. ________________________________________________ Subject: Windows 95 & SC400 Rev 3 (Chipmunk & Tada Loop Fix) 1) Go to MY COMPUTER/CONTROL PANEL/SYSTEM/DEVICE MANAGER. 2) Click on the (+) sign to the left of SOUND VIDEO AND GAME CONTROLLERS and remove all the drivers. 3) Go to CONTROL PANEL/ADD NEW HARDWARE and click on NEXT. 4) Put a dot next to NO and click on NEXT. 5) Highlight SOUND,VIDEO AND GAME CONTROLLERS and click on NEXT. 6) Click on HAVE DISK. 7) Type C:\SC400\WINDOWS and click on OK. 8) Load the 16BIT AUDIO and the FM driver etc. 8) Now go to C:\WINDOWS in dos. 9) Edit the SYSTEM.INI and go to the [SC400.DRV] section. 10) Add this line: SINGLEMODEDMA=1. 11) Now go to the [386enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI. 12) Add this line: DEVICE=VSGLX16.386. You may have to reconfigure the sound card. 1) Reconfigure the card in dos same as usual FOR WINDOWS. 1) Go to CONTROL PANEL. 2) Go to MULTIMEDIA. 3) Go to ADVANCED. 4) Click on the (+) sign next AUDIO DEVICES. 5) Highlight the desired driver and click on PROPERTIES. 6) Click on SETTINGS and make the desired changes etc. *********************END FILE******************** ***********************E N D F I L E ***********