Installation and Configuration of Software for the Sound Blaster
Live! and 512 Sound Cards under the OS/2 Operating System (rev 6)
By Jason R Stefanovich © August 2002





This document covers the steps needed to install and configure the
drivers and software which support the Creative Labs Sound Blaster
Live! and Sound Blaster 512 under the OS/2 operating system. The
method described in this document is designed for a typical
installation on OS/2 Warp 4 (Merlin) or later. It is by no means a
comprehensive description of the myriad ways this software can be
installed but aims to provide the user with a simple and quick path
to functionality. Use of the RTMIDI system and external MIDI
synthesizers is specifically excluded. As always, documentation for
each package should be reviewed before installation.

Currently, there are eight separate packages, plus 3 optional
packages, that need to be downloaded and installed to fully utilize
these cards. Once these packages are installed and correctly
configured, the user will have access to nearly all the functionality
of the card. Notably, support for sound under DOS sessions and MIDI
under Win-OS/2 is still lacking. John Gow, author of the Generic Win-
OS/2 audio driver has stated that he is looking at these issues.

Part I: Gathering Resources

1. Download the following packages into a temporary directory:
Product: MMPack
Author: Thetaband

URL: http://www.thetaband.com/download/index.html

Product: SBLive Driver

Author: Sander van Leeuwen

URL: http://www.xs4all.nl/~sandervl/sbliveos2.zip

Product: Timidity MCD (Media Control Device)

Author: Darwin O'Connor

URL: http://www.reamined.on.ca/doconnor/timidity.html

Product: GUS (Gravis Ultra Sound) Patches

Author: Various

URL: http://www.reamined.on.ca/doconnor/dgguspat.zip

Product: EMX Runtime Library

Author: Various

URL: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/dev/emx/v0.9d/emxrt.zip

Product: Generic Win-OS/2 Audio Driver

Author: John Gow

URL: http://home.wanadoo.nl/~rwklein/download.htm

Product: LBMix

Author: Lesha Bogdanow

URL:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/mmedia/util/mixers/lbmix008.zip

(requires WarpIN installer)

http://www.xworkplace.org/proj_warpin.html

Product: Enhanced Joystick Device Driver

Author: Vesa Jääskeläinen

URL:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/system/drivers/misc/joy_driver_v02.zip

URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ejoyos2/files/enhanced2.wpi
(Requires WarpIN installer)

Product alternate: Enhanced Joystick Device Driver "GameDD2" (For use
with non 0x201h port assignments)

Author: Jose Da Silva

URL: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/system/drivers/misc/gamedd2.zip

Product: Joystick Device Driver

Author: IBM

URL:
http://www7.software.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/Driver+Profile+Web/GAMEDD.ZIP
?OpenDocument



Part II: Backing up Critical Files
2. Make backup copies of the following files:
X:\CONFIG.SYS
X:\MMOS2\MMPM2.INI

X:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM.INI

X:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\MIDIMAP.CFG

X:\NETSCAPE\PROGRAMS\PLUGINS\NPOS2MID.DLL

(only if NS Plugin Pack is installed)

X:\MMOS2\GAMEDD.SYS

X:\MMOS2\GAMEVDD.SYS



Part III: Preinstallation Preparation
3. Reboot the system and enter into the BIOS configuration menu. If
the system BIOS contains a "PnP OS" parameter, set it to "OFF" and
reboot the system (terminology may differ depending on BIOS).
(skip steps 4 and 5 if the emx runtime is already installed)

4. Open the X:\Config.sys file in a text editor and REM out all
references to previous sound card drivers. Append the line "SET
TIMIDITYDIR=X:\TIMIDITY" to the end of the file. Add ";X:\EMX\BIN" to
the PATH and ";X:\EMX\DLL" to the LIBPATH.

5. Place emxrt.zip in the root directory X:\. Unzip the EMX runtime
archive to X:\EMX with the command "unzip -Z emxrt.zip".

6. Unzip the MMPack and run the INSTALL.CMD script from the MMCheck
directory.

Open the newly created MM Pack folder on the desktop and run the MM
Check program. If any errors are displayed refer to the MM Check
Documentation and attempt to resolve the problem. (note: any changes
made to the MMPM2.INI file while a sound device is open will be
overwritten upon shutdown.)

(Skip step 7 and 8 if this is a fresh install of OS/2 or if there was
no previous sound card.)

7. Reboot the system and press ALT-F1 when the "OS/2 blob" is shown
in the upper left corner, at the menu press F2 to go to a command
line. Navigate to the X:\MMOS2 directory and open up the MMPM2.INI
file with an INI or text editor. Remove all identifiable statements
referring to previous sound cards. (This may be difficult because
some settings are not readily identified as belonging to a specific
device.)

8. Run the MM Check program again. Repeat the steps 7 and 8 until no
errors are detected. Reboot the system.



Part IV: Installation of the Base Driver
9. Unzip the SBLive driver and run the INSTALL.CMD script.
Select "SoundBlaster Live! Wave Audio" and "1" for the number of
devices. After installation is complete, reboot the system
10. During the reboot process, note the address in the statement " SB
Live! joystick at :" reported by the SB Live driver. Save this
information for later.

11. Wave output/input should now be enabled in PM and VIO sessions.
Wave output can be tested by opening up the folder "X:\MMOS2\SOUND
BITES" , choosing a .wav file and double clicking on it or
typing "play foo.wav" from the command line. If no sound is heard,
recheck the steps in Parts III and IV; ensure that all hardware is
properly installed and connected and that the volume is set at an
audible level.



Part V: Installation of the MIDI Driver
12. Unzip the Timidity MCD archive to X:\TIMIDITY. Unzip the Dgguspat
archive to X:\TIMIDITY\PATCH.
13. Open the file X:\TIMIDITY\TIMIDITY.CFG with a text editor.
Replace line 30 "# dir /usr/local/lib/timidity" with "dir /timidiy".
Append the lines "dir x:\timidity\patch" and "source gravis.cfg" to
the end of the file beginning at line 82.

14. Copy the file X:\TIMIDITY\NPOS2MID.DLL to
X:\NETSCAPE\PROGRAMS\PLUGINS, overwriting the existing file. (only if
NS Plugin Pack is installed)

15. Open an OS/2 VIO window and go to the X:\TIMIDITY directory.
Run "minstall" from the command prompt. Step through the Multimedia
Application Install. After the installation, reboot the system.

16. Open the Multimedia Setup object and select the new TiMidity tab.
Ensure the "Default Sequencer device" box is checked. Go to the
second TiMidity page and ensure that the association extentions "MOD"
and "MID" exist. Close the Multimedia Setup object. If changes were
required, reboot the system.

17. TiMidity should now be the default sequencer for the system. MIDI
files can be tested by running the MID files in X:\TIMIDITY\MIDI. If
the files do not play, or do not play correctly, open the Multimedia
Setup object and ensure there are no other devices associated with
the MOD and MID file types. Check all hardware connections, that the
volume is set at an audible level, and ensure that all steps in Part
V have been followed correctly. Note: After installation of TiMidity,
MMCheck will always detect an error on the sequencer name in the
MMPM2.INI file.



Part VI: Installation of the Win-OS/2 Driver
18. Unzip the Generic Win-OS/2 Audio Driver archive.
19. From the \BIN subdirectory copy the files GENAUDD.EXE,
VGENAUD.SYS, GWDTA.STS, GWACFG.EXE and GWACFG.HLP to the X:\MMOS2
directory.

20. From the \BIN subdirectory copy the files OS2WAVE.DRV,
OS2MIDI.DRV and MIDIMAP.CFG to the X:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM
directory.

21. From the .\ and \DOC subdirectories copy the files README.TXT,
MANUAL.INF, BETANOTE.INF and BUGREP.TXT to the X:\MMOS2\HELP
directory. (Some files may have to be renamed.)

22. Open the file X:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM.INI with a text editor.
Find the section labeled "[Drivers]". If there are lines beginning
with "WAVE=" and "MIDI=" comment them out by placing a semicolon in
front of them. Add the lines "WAVE=os2wave.drv"
and "MIDI=os2midi.drv".

23. Open the OS/2 System -> System Setup -> Win-OS/2 Setup notebook.
Click on the "Win-OS/2 settings..." button. Select "DOS memory
settings" and then click Ok. Select EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT and set the
slider to zero. Click on Save and then close the Win-OS/2 Setup.
Reboot the system.

24. Open the X:\CONFIG.SYS file with a text editor. Add the
lines "DEVICE=X:\MMOS2\GWDTA.SYS", "DEVICE=X:\MMOS2\VGENAUD.SYS"
and "RUN=X:\MMOS2\GENAUDD.EXE"

25. Wave and MIDI will be available in WIN-OS/2 sessions after the
reboot in Part VII. The "ta-da" wave file should be heard when
opening a WIN-OS/2 session. If the sound does not play, check to
ensure that sounds are turned on in the WIN-OS/2 control panel, that
the volume is set at an audible level, and ensure that all steps in
Part VI have been followed correctly.



Part VII: Installation of the Mixer and Joystick Driver
26. Unzip the LBMix archive into a separate temporary directory. Open
the file folder object for the directory and double click on the
LBMIX.WPI object to begin installation, continue with the PIPEMIX.WPI
object.
27. If the port address previously reported by the SBLive driver was
other than 0x201h, then follow the alternate instructions. Unzip the
JOY_DRIVER_V02.ZIP archive in the X:\MMOS2 directory or, if using the
WarpIN archive, double click the object to install. Alternate: Unzip
the GAMEDD.ZIP, the subsequent DRIVERS.ZIP and then the GAMEDD2.ZIP
archives in the X:\MMOS2 directory.

28. Open the X:\CONFIG.SYS file with a text editor. Add or update the
lines "DEVICE=X:\MMOS2\GAMEDD.SYS" and "DEVICE=X:\MMOS2\GAMEVDD.SYS".
Alternate: Open the X:\CONFIG.SYS file with a text editor. Add or
update the lines "DEVICE=X:\MMOS2\GAMEDD.SYS /P:ZZZ"
and "DEVICE=X:\MMOS2\GAMEVDD.SYS". (where ZZZ is the port address
reported previously by the SBLive driver). Reboot the system.



Part VIII: Final Notes
29. The system should now have full access to audio in all sessions
with the exceptions of DOS and MIDI in Win-OS/2. Joystick access
should be available in all sessions. Save all archives downloaded and
all backup files. Delete all temporary files created during
installation.
30. Enjoy!!