SOUND BOARD CHIPSET: MWAVE
by IBM
Last update: 12/26/97
- Phone:
- ??
- Fax-back:
- 800-426-4329 (option 2, document 3928)
- Fax:
- 800-426-3396
- BBS:
- 919-517-0001
- e-mail:
- ??
- Web:
- http://watson.mbb.sfu.ca
- Type:
- Wavetable
- OS/2 Drivers:
- Available for some models
- Drivers from:
- Board manufacturer -- usually in the box; ftp.pcco.ibm.com, /pub/os2_apps,
/pub/mobiles, /pub/refdisks (various files),
unofficial Mwave web site
- Boards using this chipset include:
- IBM Multimedia
Modem & DSP Sound Card, miroCONNECT 34 wave,
Dynalink,
Proline-Tesla
- Comments:
- There are two lines of Mwave chips: the 1000 series and the 2000
series, the latter being more powerful. The very latest Mwave
products do not yet have OS/2 support, but these are used mostly in
IBM's S-series Aptiva machines and a few other computers with Mwave
boards pre-installed. Many Mwave boards can function as modems,
faxes, and voicemail systems as well as serving as wavetable sound
cards. These boards store their wavetable samples on disk and use DSP
code loaded from disk, so there are delays when starting a new
function; but this design gives unusual flexibility and the capacity
for software-only upgrades of the board's features. Most
modem-capable Mwave boards have 28,800 bps (v.34) speed. Driver
availability varies with the model; check for a specific model before
buying. Mwave drivers present many installation pitfalls and cause
problems with Galactic Civilizations prior to version 2.11, but
otherwise work well. There's a beta-test OS/2 Mwave fax/voicemail package
available. At least one other company is also beta testing an OS/2
Mwave fax/TAM program, but it's under tight wraps. There should be no
problems using native OS/2 modem and fax applications with these
boards. IBM made MCA versions of some 1000-series Mwave boards, but
there are no MCA 2000-series boards available. One person has
reported that the default Mwave configuration using IRQ 15 interfered
with the secondary channel of an EIDE controller. I've had problems
with VTD enrollment hanging with a miroCONNECT board but not with an
SB16, but other Mwave users have reported no problems, so this seems
to be an interaction specific to my system. Be aware that these
boards' modem capabilities, when present, are very dependent upon
software in the host OS, so don't buy an Mwave board if you want to
use the modem under, say, Linux. This is in contrast to most other
multi-function boards, where the modem and sound features are
independent, and each is relatively conventional in design. Some
Mwave boards may require a MIDI
update and/or a CD
audio update to get these functions working under OS/2. Some people
have reported using the Mwave board's SoundBlaster emulation mode to get
8-bit sound from Win-OS/2 using the standard Windows SB drivers without
installing a full set of Mwave drivers for Windows/Win-OS/2. When used
in this configuration, Windows telecommunications programs should still
be able to use the OS/2 Mwave Modem, but Mwave voicemail software for
Windows won't work. The division of IBM responsible for Mwave seems to
be distancing itself from the division responsible for OS/2; as far as
I know, no recent Mwave products have OS/2 drivers, so this appears to
be a dead-end technology as far as OS/2 is concerned. I don't know if
there are any Mwave products currently shipping that have OS/2 drivers
or that can be made to work with publicly-available Mwave drivers.
Copyright © 1996, 1997, Rod Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com
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