From: ron@minnow.sp.unisys.com (Ron Burns)
Subject: PAS 16 problems 
Summary:  We will see what happens
Reply-To: ron@minnow.UUCP (Ron Burns)
Organization: Unisys Corporation
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 20:35:15 GMT

The following is the text of a fax I send about 5 minutes ago to Media
Vision, following an unsuccessful attempt at contacting MV's Tech Support.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

        
        I have just gotten a Pro Audio Spectrum 16.  I got it to replace  my 
        Media Vision Thunder Board in my PC.  The PC has been stripped  down 
        to  the following configuration in an attempt to convince the  PAS16 
        to work:
             12 MHz 286  VLSI chip set
             4 Mb RAM
             MFM Hard/Floppy controller
             2 Hard drives, C: and D:
             1 - 360K and 1 - 1.44Mb floppy,  A: and B:
             ATI VGA Wonder 512K  (NOT an Ultra or Advantage)
             Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum 16
             NO COM ports
             NO modem
             NO printer ports
             NO other peripheral card of any kind. 
             NO CD-ROM drive
        
             DOS 5.0
        
             Autoexec.bat reduced to a PATH command alone
        
             config.sys reduced to FILES, BUFFERS, STACKS, and the
             device=MVSOUND line as produced by the install procedure
        
        No jumpers were touched since the card came from the shrink  wrapped 
        package.
        The TBPRO program seems to work once I slow the rate to 32K and text 
        mode.
        The Voyetra sequencer seems to work.
        
        The volume (pas get volume) starts out at 123%.  This setting allows 
        NO  sound from the card.  Is this normal?  I know about the  V:  op-
        tion, and I can also put a 'PAS set volume to' in autoexec, but  why 
        is this?  PAS *  shows NO setting for the volume sliders, but when I 
        set the volume, the slider suddenly appears at 100%.  It then  works 
        normally.
        
        The monologue text to speech program does not work at all.
        The Stereo FX (sfx) program does not seem to work at all.
        
        Occasionally, usually after trying to get a program to work with the 
        PAS16,  running  the  PAS program results in PAS  "divide  by  zero" 
        crashing.
        
        Sierra's  Hoyle3, which liked the thunderboard, does not  work  with 
        the  PAS16.  neither configured for soundblaster or  proaudio  spec-






        trum.   It says "Cannot initialize your music hardware"  or  similar 
        message.  Then it hangs, requiring a reset.
        
        Sierra's Leisure Suit Larry 5 does the same.
        
        The time I tried Dr. Brain, it complained, but worked anyway.
        
        Wolfenstein 3D plays the music, but the door slams are silent or are 
        faint clicks.
        
        The "Hover" game says that it detects a soundblaster, but then it is 
        silent.  After a while, it made a LOUD crashing sound, then hung.
        
        Programs which use the FM features exclusively, like CakeWalk, seems 
        to work fine.
        
        The  Windows  3.1 stuff doesn't work at all.  I don't even  get  the 
        'tada.wav'  sound  that I did with the ThunderBoard.   The  programs 
        don't come up, giving General Application Faults.  Now it has  dete-
        riorated  to the point where Program Manager also GAF's  (trying  to 
        bring up your MultiMedia Program Group) so now it appears I'll  have 
        to reload Windows.
        
        There  are  NO IRQ conflicts that I can determine.  Same  with  DMA.  
        The Soundblaster settings were unchanged, yet the PAS16 emulates  it 
        worse  than my $99.00 Thunderboard.  I have run diagnostics  on  the 
        PC,  and used them to verify the IRQ and DMA usage.  I have NO  con-
        flicting TSR's.  No TSR's loaded at all, except for MVSOUND.SYS.
        
        Is there some compatibility problem?
        Is this a known problem?
        Is my MVSOUND.sys bad?
        Can you help me?
        Did I just waste a whole lot of money?
        Did someone get jumpy and release a product not fully tested?
        
        I  couldn't get an answer on the (510)770-9905 Tech support  number, 
        and 8 minutes later found out that the messages mailbox was full.  I 
        hope this FAX gets a satisfactory and timely response.
        
        USENET  is  a worldwide network of computers.  Thousands  of  people 
        nationwide  and  worldwide use it daily.  Among  it's  features  are 
        discussion groups for certain topics.  One of these topics is IBM PC 
        SoundCards.  A copy of this fax is being posted to that news  group.  
        There may be individuals with similar systems who would want to know 
        about  these  problems,  and their solutions.  Others  may  want  to 
        factor the available customer support into their purchase decisions.
        
        I will also post to that group the results of any and all  responses 
        I get from MediaVision.
        
        Thank  you very much for your prompt response.  I hope the  problems 
        are  all mine, and I only need to change some  simple  configuration 
        item.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So for any of you who have similar systems and are considering a PAS 16 card,
stay tuned.

-Ron
-- 
Ron Burns              
Unisys Corporation                                      ...!rosevax!minnow!ron
Phone:(612)635-6927                           minnow%ron@rosevax.rosemount.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard