VideoLogic
Apocalypse 5D Sonic for Windows 95
November 11 1997
Contents
Introduction
Updates in this driver release
Installing
the Apocalypse 5D Sonic hardware
Installing the Apocalypse drivers from the
Apocalypse CD-ROM
Upgrading
the drivers
Removing
Apocalypse 5D Sonic
Hints and
tips
Troubleshooting
This file contains late-breaking information, detailed installation and removal instructions, hints and tips, system details and troubleshooting information for Apocalypse 5D Sonic.
The Apocalypse installer
Although this file gives instructions for manually installing the card, we strongly recommend that you install the software with the Apocalypse installer, as it is quicker, easier and more comprehensive than Windows Plug and Play. To use the Apocalypse installer, insert the Apocalypse CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive before installing the hardware. (If your Windows systems is set up to automatically run CD-ROMs, it will auto-play, otherwise run the file \autorun.exe on the CD-ROM.) Follow the on-screen instructions to install the card.
If you want to install the card using Windows Plug and Play, follow the instructions in this file.
Before you continue
Follow these instructions to find out which build of Windows 95 you are using before installing the hardware, then follow the instructions for that version when installing the software:
Updates in this driver release
This section shows the changes in each driver release, up to this one. This means that if, for example, you are currently running 5D drivers that are earlier than v4.0.1, by installing the latest drivers, you will get the cumulative benefits of all the driver releases since then.
Version 4.3.4 of the GrafixStar Apocalypse drivers
The following problems were fixed in v4.3.4:
Version 4.0.2 of the Apocalypse 5D Sonic drivers
The following has changed in v4.0.2:
Version 4.0.1 of the Apocalypse 5D Sonic drivers
The following were changed in v4.0.1:
Installing the Apocalypse 5D Sonic hardware
Software installation differs slightly depending upon which version of Windows you are running. You should check which build of Windows you are running before installing the hardware.
Disable on-board sound/joystick port in BIOS.
Before installing Apocalypse 5D Sonic in your computer, please remove your existing soundcard (remember to switch off your computer first) and uninstall the drivers for it. If you have on-board audio in your system, please disable the audio option in the BIOS setup of your motherboard. Refer to your motherboards user manual for instructions on how to disable on-board audio.
Installing the Apocalypse drivers from the Apocalypse CD-ROM
We strongly recommend that you install the software with the Apocalypse Installer, as it is quicker, easier and more comprehensive than Windows Plug and Play. However, if you want to install the card with Plug and Play, follow the instructions below.
Software installation differs slightly depending upon which version of Windows you are running. You should check which build of Windows you are running before installing the hardware.
Software installation for Windows 95 build 4.00.950 or 4.00.950a
Software installation for Windows 95 build 4.00.950b (otherwise known as OSR2)
Devices added to the Device Manager
After installing Apocalypse 5D Sonic,
you can see which devices have been added to your system through
the Device Manager.
To access the Device Manager:
Now, from the list of devices, click Sound, video and game controllers (you may have to scroll down the list). You should see the Apocalypse 5D Sonic 3D driver and SonicMAX devices listed, as shown below.
From time to time, VideoLogic may issue upgrades to the drivers.
Upgrading from the World Wide Web
The latest drivers are always available through the software pages of our web site at http://www.videologic.com, or directly through our ftp site at ftp://ftp.videologic.com.
Upgrading the GrafixStar Apocalypse display drivers
Find out which build of Windows you are running, then follow the instructions for that version.
Upgrading the GrafixStar Apocalypse display drivers for Windows 95 build 4.00.950 or 4.00.950a
Upgrading the GrafixStar Apocalypse display drivers for Windows 95 build 4.00.950b (otherwise known as OSR2)
Upgrading the Apocalypse 5D Sonic drivers for 3D
Find out which build of Windows you are running, then follow the instructions for that version.
Upgrading the Apocalypse 5D Sonic drivers for Windows 95 build 4.00.950 or 4.00.950a
To upgrade the drivers in Windows 95 build 4.00.950 or 4.00.950a:
Upgrading the Apocalypse 5D Sonic drivers for Windows 95 build 4.00.950b (otherwise known as OSR2)
To upgrade the drivers in OSR2:
Removing Apocalypse 5D Sonic
Introduction
This section gives late-breaking information on how to get the most out of your Apocalypse 5D Sonic.
Installing games
Some DirectX games currently on the market are supplied with DirectX 2. If the games installation forces DirectX 2 to be installed, you should reinstall DirectX 3a or a later release.
Microid Research BIOS
Some PCs with an MR BIOS can give a much lower frame rate with Apocalypse 5D Sonic. Switching to another BIOS can greatly enhance performance.
PCI Burst
Some PC BIOSes allow the user to alter the settings for PCI Burst. Enabling this feature enhances Apocalypse 5D Sonic's performance.
PCI Latency
Some PC BIOSes allow the user to alter the settings for PCI Latency. Other typical names for this feature are:
Setting this to 80 PCI clocks can enhance Apocalypse 5D Sonic's performance.
16-bit Color
To avoid problems with the Start menu and Windows menus containing corrupted text, or missing text, you should set your display mode to a high-color palette, of at least 65,536 colors (16-bit).
Using the Wavetable
The MIDI interface of Apocalypse 5D Sonic is compatible with the MPU-401 standard and Sound Blaster MIDI interface. Apocalypse 5D Sonic can support Wavetable in Windows 95 and Windows 95 DOS box (default). In Native DOS mode it only supports FM Synthesis.
To make sure Apocalypse 5D Sonic is being used to generate Wavetable audio, follow these steps:
Using the MIDI port
If you want to connect your MIDI keyboard to Apocalypse 5D Sonic, follow these steps:
A MIDI adapter (not supplied) is required to connect a MIDI instrument to Apocalypse 5D Sonic. The MIDI adapter can be purchased from your local computer store and is connected to the MIDI/game port.
Sound Blaster Pro® compatibility in DOS
Apocalypse 5D Sonic provides complete DOS/Sound Blaster® support. In addition, Apocalypse 5D Sonic also supports the MPU-401 MIDI standard. These features are enabled by default when you install the Windows 95 drivers.
The Sound Blaster Pro settings (I/O, IRQ and DMA resources) are taken from the Windows 95 settings of the following devices in Device Manager.
- SonicMAX DOS Games/FM Devices (DOS)
- SonicMAX MPU401 Device (WIN/DOS)
The default resource settings for DOS should work for most games. If you have problems with games you can change the I/O range of Sound Blaster Pro and MPU-401 port settings in the Windows 95 Device Manager. However, you cannot modify the IRQ and DMA channel settings as they are configured by Windows Plug and Play.
For more details on how to configure DOS resources settings, please refer to Problems with Games in the Troubleshooting section of this document.
The mixer settings in DOS (eg. Volume control, muting, 3D Spreader, etc.) depend on the mixer settings in Windows 95. For changing the mixer settings for DOS, please use the Windows 95 Volume Control panel or AudioRack.
Enhancing sound quality
You can enhance the playback sound quality of Apocalypse 5D Sonic by turning on some of the effects controls like Reverb, Chorus and 3D Spreader. You can also adjust the Treble and Bass level of Apocalypse 5D Sonic.
Reverb is an effect applied to a sound signal to make it sound as if the sound signal was being played or recorded in a natural space, such as a nightclub, a hall, a bathroom, a cathedral, or a cave.
Chorus is an effect which makes a sound such as a single violin sound more like an ensemble. 3D is an effect which enhances the 2-speaker stereo effect. The sound is transmitted in a wider arc, creating a resonant 3D sound environment.
It is recommended that you turn on the 3D Spreader as it improves the sound quality of Windows and DOS games. You may want to turn off Reverb and Chorus when playing games as these effects may make the audio in games sound strange.
We recommend turning on both Reverb and Chorus when playing MIDI files.
Note: All the effects controls can only be applied to digital audio generated by the Apocalypse 5D Sonic (eg. Wavetable MIDI playback, speech and sound effects in games, playback of wave files etc.). Analog audio inputs (eg. CD audio, mic and line-in) are not affected by the effects controls.
The GrafixStar Apocalypse drivers
Introduction
This section describes the display modes available with overlay video acceleration, and how Apocalypse 5D Sonic interacts with DirectDraw.
Display modes with video acceleration
The Apocalypse 5D Sonic uses an intelligent graphics engine which provides true-color video playback even when the display is set to 256 colors. This means that you dont have to sacrifice speed and functionality by being in a true-color display mode; instead, you can play video clips in true-color while using a 256 or 65k color mode.
Display size Colors Refresh rate (Hz)640 x 480 256 60, 72, 75, 85, 90, 100, 120, 150800 x 600 256 56, 60, 72, 75, 85, 90, 100, 1201024 x 768 256 60, 70, 72, 75, 801152 x 864 256 60
640 x 480 65,536 60, 72, 75, 85, 90, 100, 120, 150800 x 600 65,536 56, 60, 72, 751024 x 768 65,536 60, 70, 72, 75, 80
640 x 480 16.7m 60, 72, 75, 85, 90, 100, 120800 x 600 16.7m 56, 60, 72, 75
All other modes display AVI files using software only, which gives poorer quality playback
Introduction
This section describes common problems you may encounter when installing or running Apocalypse 5D Sonic.
Installation Problems
The PC locks up when clicking Cancel at the Update Device Driver Wizard
When you install the Apocalypse 5D Sonic card in your system, it will detect a new graphics card and display the Update Device Driver Wizard. Clicking Cancel at this point might lock up your PC. In this case, please follow the installation instructions in the user guide or in this file.
The Windows 95 Device Manager shows a resource conflict between Apocalypse 5D Sonic and a standard PCI-to-PCI bridge.
This happens due to a problem some versions of Windows 95 have with PCI-to-PCI bridges. Version 4.00.950b of Windows 95 shows up a resource conflict of the PCI-to-PCI bridge on the Apocalypse 5D Sonic card, even though no conflict exists. Your Apocalypse 5D Sonic card will not be affected by this conflict and it cannot be resolved by trying to change the resources.
3D Problems
The application display is corrupted.
Your graphics system may not support the required DirectX version.
Reinstall DirectX 5 by running the program \directx\dx5\dx5eng.exe on the Apocalypse CD-ROM.
When running an application that uses PowerSGL or Direct3D, the system freezes restarts.
You may have installed Apocalypse 5D Sonic into a PCI bus slot that does not have bus-mastering capability.
Install the card into a slot that supports bus-mastering.
I am not given the D3D Hal option with the D3D demos.
Ensure that you have the DirectX graphics drivers installed, and that your computer is in a display mode greater or equal to 16 bits per pixel (65,536 colors).
If your system received an Invalid Page Fault or a General Protection Fault, restart your system.
When running an application that uses PowerSGL the system restarts.
The display driver may not support buffer flipping. To support flipping the amount of free off-screen memory must be greater than the current on-screen memory.
The Use Hardware Accelerator option within an application is grayed out.
The application is currently set to run in a graphics resolution that cannot be accelerated by Apocalypse 5D Sonic. Setting the applications graphics mode to a lower resolution mode makes the check-box available.
Apocalypse 5D Sonic is not being recognised by the system. If you have sufficient technical knowledge, check that it is in System Properties, check the BIOS, IRQ allocations etc, otherwise contact VideoLogic through one of the points listed in the technical support section of the user guide.
Some textures within the game are corrupt
Enable Automatic MIP Mapping for the game in the Apocalypse 5D Sonic Display Properties page.
All game menus are displayed correctly but when playing a game, but it fails to display the screen correctly.
Enable Render Overlap for the game in the Apocalypse 5D Sonic Display Properties page.
Some textures within a game appear to have joining marks on the edges of the tiles.
Disable Bilinear filtering for the game in the Apocalypse 5D Sonic Display Properties page.
When deleting an entry from the applications list, clicking the OK button has no effect.
After confirming the deletion, select another application setting from the list prior to clicking the OK button.
When running MageSlayer parts of the introduction screens are corrupted.
Enable Render Overlap in the Apocalypse 5D Sonic Display Properties page for MageSlayer. The executable for MageSlayer is called mageslay.exe.
Disabling Render Overlap will make the MageSlayer gameplay slightly slower.
I have enabled bilinear filtering in a game, but the graphics still look "unfiltered".
Enable Dithering for the game in the Apocalypse 5D Sonic Display Properties page.
2D Graphics Problems
Display sizes not supported by your monitor
Windows 95 does not restrict the generic SVGA monitor settings to a given set of display sizes, so allows any display size to be selected. If you have a standard monitor selected, there is therefore a possibility that you could select a display size that your monitor does not support.
Choose the correct monitor type, or contact your monitor supplier for more information.
Corrupt or blank display
Windows 95 does not restrict the generic SVGA monitor settings to a given set of refresh rates, so allows any refresh rate to be selected. If you have a standard monitor selected, there is therefore a possibility that you could restart your system with a refresh rate that your monitor does not support. This usually results in a corrupted or black display in Windows 95. To rectify this problem, restart Windows 95, holding down the CTRL key on your keyboard. This starts Windows 95 in the lowest possible refresh rate for the resolution selected.
QuickTime movies do not run correctly
If you experience problems when viewing QuickTime movies, run the QuickTime Control Panel from the Windows 95 Control Panel, and follow the steps below:
Playing AVI with MS PLUS! pack
If you are using a display mode which is capable of video acceleration and you have the Show Window Contents While Dragging option enabled, you will see the accelerated video displaced from the video window while dragging the video window around the desktop. Disable the Show Window Contents While Dragging on the PLUS page in Display Properties.
Monitor screen centering
Some advanced monitors create a display setting by detecting the horizontal line frequency, and this may change the size and positioning of the Windows 95 screen when task switching from a DOS full-screen session to a Windows 95 session. This problem occurs when the monitor is at the borderline between two settings. To remedy this, use the controls on your monitor to adjust its screen settings.
Xing 3.X
MPEG clips replayed in modes that are not video accelerated may cause Windows to become unstable. If this problem occurs, change the display mode to one that supports video acceleration.
Windows 95 Screensavers
If you are using the 'Mystify your Mind' Windows screensaver with the password option enabled, you may see additional lines appear when the password entry window is active. We recommend that you choose another screensaver if you are using password protection.
If you are using 'Curves and Colors' in 65k colors, you may see some color corruption. Select another color depth, or use another screensaver.
Installing Windows 95 with an Apocalypse 5D Sonic card
If you are installing Windows 95 for the first time from DOS, the Windows 95 auto-detection process will Plug 'n' Play Apocalypse 5D Sonic as an ET4000 Display adapter and an 'Other device: PCI VGA-Compatible display adapter'.
Although this does not affect the Apocalypse 5D Sonic installation or performance, you may want to remove the section 'Other device'. To do this, delete both the 'Other devices' and the GrafixStar - Apocalypse entry in the 'Display adapter' section of your System control panel. After this, Windows 95 will Plug'n'Play the GrafixStar Apocalypse drivers on the next restart, producing a single entry for the display adapter.
Adobe Type Manager
If Adobe Type Manager is installed with Windows 95, Apocalypse 5D Sonic performance may be degraded.
To maximize performance, make the following changes to your SYSTEM.INI file:
[Boot]
;system.drv=atmsys.drv
;atm.system.drv=system.drv
system.drv=system.drv
Harvard Graphics 4.0
Running Harvard Graphics 4.0 for Windows in a 24-bit color mode (16.7m colors) causes a series of errors. Use a 16-bit (65k colors) mode instead.
Dorling Kindersley
On launching 'The Ultimate Human Body' or 'The Encyclopedia of Science' in 16-bit (65k colors) and 24-bit (16.7m colors) resolutions, you may find that the window background color is incorrect.
In addition, when scrolling the window over the body in the 'The Ultimate Human Body', the main window showing the zoomed portion of the selected window may not show the complete image.
Select an 8-bit mode (256 colors) for running these applications.
cc:Mail v6.0
When using applications with cc:Mail v6 in the background, icons within Windows 95 and other active applications may be drawn incorrectly and, in extreme cases, system integrity problems may occur. This does not happen with earlier versions of cc:Mail.
ActiveMovie
When displaying accelerated overlay video with ActiveMovie in certain display modes, the video may become noisy when moving the video window around the desktop, or by resizing the video window.
Choose an alternative display mode.
Apricot MS540 system BIOS upgrade for compatibility with Apocalypse 5D Sonic
If you are running a GrafixStar 600 or or an Apocalypse 5D Sonic other advanced graphics card with an Apricot MS540 system with IBM SurePath BIOS v1.3 or Apricot 5436 BIOS 5, you get no video output, and the system does not boot:
This is fixed using Patch 237, which has been provided by Apricot Computers Limited / Mitsubishi Electric. This patch contains Flash code to upgrade the system BIOS to v5.07 for both the 5434 and the 5436. The patch can be downloaded from VideoLogic Online website at http://www.videologic.com or copied from the Apocalypse CD in the directory \APOC5D\UPDATES\SN0237\PATCH237\.
Laplink for Windows 95
When using Laplink for Windows 95 and the Client system has a GrafixStar 600 or an Apocalypse 5D Sonic installed, the Client system might lock-up when the host is connected.
This problem can be fixed by disabling bitmap caching in the graphics driver. There are two ways of disabling bitmap caching.
Disabling bitmap caching in systems with SmartTools installed
SmartTools v2.0 or later comes with a feature called SmartMAX. SmartMAX allows you to disable certain parts of the GrafixStar driver. To use SmartMAX, right-click the Windows 95 desktop and click Properties while holding down the CTRL key. In the Display Properties window click the SmartMAX tab and select the checkbox next to "Disable Bitmap Caching". Click OK and restart Windows 95.
Disabling bitmap caching in systems without SmartTools
Add the following entry to the bottom of your SYSTEM.INI file:
[VideoLogic SVGA]
TuningControl=27
RealizeControl=16
Save the changes and restart Windows 95.
Running games without SciTech Display Doctor
GX6VBE.COM, as provided by VideoLogic in Patch 252, is a DOS Terminate-Stay-Resident program (TSR) that adds UniVBE BIOS extensions to the existing GrafixStar 600 or Apocalypse 5D Sonic BIOS. When the TSR is installed, certain DOS games, such as Z or Quake should no longer require SciTech Display Doctor or UniVBE v5.x.
Patch 252 can be downloaded from VideoLogic Online website at http://www.videologic.com or copied from the Apocalypse CD in the directory \APOC5D\UPDATES\SN0252\PATCH252\.
To install Patch 252, copy GX6VBE.COM to the root directory of the hard disk on which you are running Windows, and add the following line to AUTOEXEC.BAT:
c:\GX6VBE.COM
This assumes that the hard disk is your c: drive. Substitute the letter of your disk if it is not the c: drive.
Audio Problems
There is no sound output after installing Apocalypse 5D Sonic.
The problem may be with your audio connections.
Try the following:
There might be a conflict between the Apocalypse 5D Sonic and other add-on cards in your computer. This may be caused by non Plug and Play legacy devices or even other PCI devices. Windows 95 cannot detect these add-on cards; therefore, it cannot solve IRQ, DMA, and I/O Port Address conflicts automatically. Go into system configuration and check "SonicMAX Device manager" to make sure that there are no conflicts. For correcting the conflicts, you need to adjust the motherboard BIOS for PCI configuration manually. Refer to your motherboard manual for information.
How can I check if my Apocalypse 5D Sonic is installed correctly?
In Device Manager, check that all the following devices are present and they do not have a yellow exclamation mark or red cross next to them.
What if I get yellow exclamation marks next to SonicMAX devices in Device Manager?
OR
A device in my computer did not work and caused the system to hang after Apocalypse 5D Sonic was installed, or the computer hung during audio output.
Even though Apocalypse 5D Sonic is a plug and play card, the presence of other legacy cards can still cause resource conflicts.
To resolve such conflicts, its important to know the settings of other cards (we highly recommend that you remove any other previously installed sound devices and their associated drivers before installing Apocalypse 5D Sonic) and peripherals currently in your system, including the mouse, fax-modem, video accelerator, SCSI adapters etc. Many peripherals come with setup utility programs that investigate and report on the configuration of your system and its peripherals. In either event, make a record of the settings used by all the peripherals in your system for reference when installing new hardware and software or troubleshooting problems.
If this doesnt work, try installing Apocalypse 5D Sonic in a different PCI slot.
There is no sound output when Windows starts up.
Make sure that the sound card driver is properly installed. To confirm this, click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and double-click the System icon. Check the system configuration for information on the SonicMAX Device Manager.
Make sure the Windows sound is setup properly. Click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and double-click the Sounds icon. Please refer to your Windows manual for how to define the various sounds of Windows starting up and other events.
Some distortions come with the recorded file.
Decrease the volume of the recording source in AudioRack. For example, if you want to record Audio CD music, click the Recording Control in AudioRacks Panel, then choose the CD source and decrease its volume.
Problems with games.
Click the Start button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and double-click the System icon. Click the Device Manager tab, click Sound, video and game controllers, click SonicMAX DOS Games/FM Devices, and click Resources.
Now check the settings of I/O, IRQ and DMA. While you are playing DOS games, please be sure that the settings of I/O, IRQ and DMA for Games are the same as the ones under SonicMAX DOS Games/FM Devices.
If the game takes advantage of DirectX or DirectSound, be sure that you have the latest DirectX drivers from Microsoft.
If you have a problem with an external joystick or gamepad, be sure that the Gameport JoyStick is enabled and the Windows 95 Gameport Joystick drivers are loaded and working properly in the Device Manager.
How do I play games under previous versions of MS-DOS (5.0 or 6.22)?
You must finish installing the PCI sound card driver under Windows 95.
Power up the computer, and before Windows 95 starts, press the F8 button to select Previous version of MS-DOS.
In DOS, add Device=C:\AECU.SYS to the Config.sys file, and add C:\SonicMAX.com to the Autoexec.bat file.
My DOS games sound weird!
You may have turned on Reverb or Chorus or both, so try turning them off. Reverb and Chorus are best used for MIDI playback.
Ive reinstalled/updated DirectX, now my Joystick is not working.
The DirectX installation may have overwritten your existing Joystick setting, please configure your joystick again in the Games Controller in Control panel.
Apocalypse 5D Sonic audio setting information.
The following settings are supported by Apocalypse 5D Sonic in Windows 95 and DOS for users selections.
For SoundBlaster Pro (DOS):
I/O Address Settings: 220H, 240H
IRQ Settings: PnP setting
DMA Settings: 0, 1, 3
MPU-401 I/O Port: 300H, 320H, 330H, 340H
For PCI (Windows 95):
I/O Address Settings: PnP setting
IRQ Settings: PnP setting