Studio 128X Read Me (PC) 4/8/98 WINDOWS 95 USERS: IMPORTANT DRIVER INSTALLATION INFORMATION Due to a limitation of Windows 95, you can only install and enable drivers for 11 MIDI Ports/Devices. If you exceed that amount, you may experience repeated system crashes either when booting Windows 95, when opening the Multimedia control panel, or when attempting to run a MIDI application. Note: Microsoft has fixed this problem in Windows 98, and the problem was not present in Windows 3.1. It only exists in Windows 95. The installer for the 128X will install 9 MIDI Ports (8 MIDI Output Ports + 1 Control Port for Sync). In order to avoid the MIDI Port Limit problem, BEFORE you install the drivers for your 128X you should: 1) Go to Start> Settings> Control Panels> MultiMedia> Advanced> Click on the '+' next to MIDI Devices and Instruments. 2) If you see 2 or fewer items listed you may proceed with the installation of the 128X driver and ignore the following steps. Otherwise proceed to step 3. Note: A driver may still be in this list, but disabled. To see if it is disabled, select an item in this list, and then click on the properties button at the bottom of the window. This will bring up a window which will tell you if the device is enabled or disabled. 3) If you see 3 or more drivers listed, you will need to disable one or more drivers for the other MIDI Ports/Devices which are installed (and currently enabled) in your system in order to install the drivers for the 128X properly. DISABLING DRIVERS Disabling drivers can be done in two ways: 1) For previously installed MIDI Interface drivers, software synth drivers, virtual piano drivers, etc. open Multimedia Control Panel> Advanced Tab> MIDI Devices and Instruments, select the driver to be disabled, click the Properties button and then select the radio button labeled "Do Not Use MIDI Features For This Device." 2) For most sound card drivers, open the System Control Panel> Device Manager Tab> Sound, Video and Game Controllers, select the driver to be disabled, click the Properties button and then check the checkbox labeled "Disable in this configuration." If you need further instructions on disabling specific drivers or have concerns about how disabling certain drivers will effect the performance of the corresponding devices in your system, you should consult the documentation for those devices or contact the Technical Support department for the manufacturer of the device in question for help. Remember, since you are only disabling and not deinstalling the driver, you can always enable it later without needing to reinstall it. Drivers which would be good candidates for disabling are the drivers for MIDI interfaces that are no longer attached to your computer, duplicate copies of drivers for the same device, drivers for the MPU-401 emulating joystick port on standard sound cards (most sound cards install multiple drivers, check with the manufacturer of your sound card to determine which driver you should remove), TTS Virtual Piano Driver (installed by Cakewalk, allows your computer keyboard to function as a MIDI input device), etc. =============== IF YOU CAN NOT RESTART WINDOWS 95 AFTER INSTALLATION This is most likely because you failed to disable MIDI port drivers before installation as described above. MMSYSTEM.DLL is overloaded with more than 11 MIDI ports and Windows 95 may not restart. To be sure that this is the problem you can click on the Details button of the Windows Error box and look for an error message that refers to a general protection fault in module MMSYSTEM.DLL. To get Windows restarting again, and back to where you are ready for new driver installation, follow these directions... 1) Reboot holding down F5. This will boot Windows into Safe Mode without any drivers loaded. 2) Choose Run in the Start menu. Type Sysedit into the Run dialog and click on OK. 3) Click on the window labeled System.ini. 4) Delete all lines in your SYSTEM.INI file that contain the text 128X. 5) Quit Sysedit saving your changes and restart Windows. 6) Now you're in a position where you can attempt to reinstall drivers. Go to the top of the ReadMe and follow the directions. ----------------------------------------- LATE ADDITIONS & CORRECTIONS The Studio 128X's SMPTE LED does triple duty: - Slow flash when striping SMPTE - Fast flash when reading SMPTE - If not striping or reading, the SMPTE LED is ON if the 128X Mac OMS driver or the 128X Windows driver is in communication with the interface. Checking for this solid SMPTE LED is a good way to verify the 128X is communicating with the computer and its software drivers. Studio 128X Getting Started Guide, Correction: On page 13, Preset Programs. The manual says, "Preset 4-8, SMPTE: Initiate SMPTE at rate of 30 FPS non-drop, 29.97 drop, 29.97 non-drop ... respectively". It SHOULD say "Preset 4-8, SMPTE: Initiate SMPTE at rate of 30 FPS non-drop, 29.97 non-drop, 29.97 drop ... respectively." (29.97 drop and 29.97 non-drop are reversed.) Online Help file, Correction: The 128X Help file also reverses the order of the preset SMPTE Frame Rates with regards to the order of Presets 5-8 (29.97 drop and 29.97 non-drop are reversed). 128XDIAG: The 128XDIAG.EXE application is a DOS-only program. Do not run the 128XDiag in a Windows DOSbox or your computer may hang. Instead, reboot your computer under DOS and run the DOS Diag under stand alone DOS. Activating the Triggers or Footswitches: Triggers or Footswitches will not become active until you open then Global Footswitch/Trigger window and make a selection. Make sure your footswitch is plugged into the front of the 128X on power up in order for it to be recognized and configured correctly. Networking: PC Networking - On IBM compatible PCs the Studio 128X will network only under Windows 98 software. Windows 95 does not allow a user to configure more than 11 MIDI Ports without crashing. Windows 98 will correct this limitation. Opcode will have a revised PC driver for the 128X after the release of Windows 98, which will allow it to share a serial port with another 128X or the Studio 64 XTC. Visit the Opcode Web Page: http://www.opcode.com/ and check the Downloads > Hardware section to get the latest 128X (PC) driver.