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Appendix
5 - Troubleshooting your Desktop Music PC
Here are
answers to some of the most common questions about Music Software and
Hardware on the PC Checking this list may save you a lot of time and
a phone call to technical support!
| Question: |
Why
can't I hear anything on my synthesiser or keyboard (no MIDI output)?
|
| |
|
| Answer: |
If
you aren't getting any MIDI output, please run through this checklist: |
| |
- Make
sure you've connected your MIDI Adapter cable to your synthesiser
or keyboard correctly. MIDI In to MIDI Out and MIDI Out to MIDI
In.
|
| |
- Make
sure your synthesiser or keyboard is connected to an amplifier
and speakers or amplified speakers.
|
| |
- Make
sure you install a MIDI driver for your Sound Card or MIDI interface
using Windows Control Panel. Make sure you specify the correct
configuration information-like IRQ and base port address-in
the driver's setup dialog box.
|
| |
- Now
the driver is available for Windows programs to use. Next, you
need to tell your Music Software to use it. Here are examples
for the main sequencers
|
| |
Cakewalk:
Choose the MIDI Devices command on the Options menu and make
sure the device (i.e. SB Live MIDI Out or similar for Sound
Blaster products and SW1000XG MIDI Out for Yamaha SW1000XG)
is selected (highlighted) in the MIDI Out list. Click on the
device name to be sure it is selected; if the name only has
a dotted box around it but isn't drawn in reverse video, then
it is not selected!
Cubase
VST: Open Setup MME in Cubase Program Group. In the section
MME Outputs, make sure the device (i.e. SB Live MIDI Out or
similar for Sound Blaster products and SW1000XG MIDI Out for
Yamaha SW1000XG) is active if not select the device (highlight)
and then click Set active.
Logic:
Logic sets all MIDI devices active by default.
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| Question: |
Why
can't I record anything from my keyboard (no MIDI input)? |
| |
|
| Answer: |
If
you aren't getting any MIDI input, please run through this checklist: |
| |
- Make
sure you've connected your MIDI Adapter cable to your keyboard
correctly. MIDI In to MIDI Out and MIDI Out to MIDI In.
|
| |
- Make
sure you install a MIDI driver for your Sound Card or MIDI interface
using Windows Control Panel. Make sure you specify the correct
configuration information-like IRQ and base port address-in
the driver's setup dialog box.
|
| |
- Now
the driver is available for Windows programs to use. Next, you
need to tell your Music Software to use it. Here are examples
for the main sequencers
|
| |
Cakewalk:
Choose the MIDI Devices command on the Settings menu and make
sure the device (i.e. SB Live MIDI Out or similar for Sound
Blaster products and SW1000XG MIDI Out for Yamaha SW1000XG)
is selected (highlighted) in the MIDI In list. Click on the
device name to be sure it is selected; if the name only has
a dotted box around it but isn't drawn in reverse video, then
it is not selected!
Cubase
VST: Open Setup MME in Cubase Program Group. In the section
MME Inputs, make sure the device (i.e. SB Live MIDI Out or similar
for Sound Blaster products and SW1000XG MIDI Out for Yamaha
SW1000XG) is active if not select the device (highlight) and
then click Set active.
Logic:
Logic sets all MIDI devices active by default.
|
| |
- If,
after you have gone through the above steps you find your MIDI
Input still not working, then it is highly likely you need to
do some kind of additional procedure to enable the MIDI Input
on your sound card. Generally sound cards that ship pre-installed
into PC's will have the MIDI Input disabled. What you need to
do is speak to your support contact for the PC/Soundcard and
ask the support representative "How can I enable the
MIDI Input on my soundcard?"
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| Question: |
Why
can't I hear anything playing or my playback is very poor whilst
I'm recording into my Music or Sound Software. |
| |
|
| Answer: |
This
can be one of several things. |
| |
- Your
software does not support simultaneous record and playback,
so if you require this ability you need to change your software
(all Cakewalk products, Digital Orchestrator Pro, Cubase, Logic
and Cool Edit Pro support simultaneous record and playback).
|
| |
- Your
Sound card does not support simultaneous record and playback,
(check manual) so if you require this ability you need to change
your Sound card. Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion about
this feature as there is a lot of cards claiming full duplex
and passing this off as a the same as simultaneous record and
playback, unfortunately this is rarely the case, full duplex
is a term borrowed from the world of communications not music
and refers to the sound cards ability to work with InterNet
Telephony.
|
| |
- Your
sound card is full duplex but only at 8-bit, so the playback
whilst recording is at 8-bit and hence sound noisy and generally
poor. (the Sound Blaster 16/AWE family of products only support
16-bit record with 8-bit playback hence have the 8-bit playback
problem if the software supports this mode) so if you require
this ability you need to change your Sound card.
|
| |
If
your not sure if your sound card is full duples, ask directly
"does this sound card support simultaneous record and playback
at 16-bit 44.1/48 kHz with my software"? Some examples of card
manufacturers which are "Full Duplex at full bandwidth"; Turtle
Beach, Yamaha, Guillemot, M Audio & EGO SYS.
|
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| Question: |
Why
won't my Music or Sound Software install from my CD Drive? or I'm
getting a "Please Insert Original Disk" error message |
| |
|
| Answer: |
If
you have a CD-ROM drive which has not got a driver for Windows 95/98/ME,
it will significantly degrade Windows real-time performance and
it can give you an error when trying to install and run some true
Window 95/98/ME/NT 32 bit software and some copy protected software.
|
| |
This
may happen if there's a real mode CD-ROM driver being installed
in Autoexec.bat or Config.sys. You can check for this problem by
going to Control Panel | System | Performance and checking File
System and Virtual Memory. Both need to read "32 Bit" and not "Compatibility
Mode". |
| |
Users
need to reconfigure their system, eliminating the real mode drivers,
or replace the real mode driver with a true 32 bit version. In which
case the only solution is to get a correct Windows OS driver for
the CD Drive from where ever you bought the CD Drive, off the World
Wide Web. |
| |
Note:
Real-mode drivers are one terminology to describe older, Windows
3.1 style CD-ROM drivers. The newer drivers are usually called 32
bit Windows 95/98/ME drivers. "Compatibility Mode" may be in use
for any of the following reasons: |
| |
- An
"unsafe" device driver, memory-resident program, or virus hooked
the INT21h or INT13h chain before Windows loaded.
|
| |
- The
hard disk controller in your computer was not detected by Windows.
|
| |
- The
hard disk controller was removed from the current configuration
in Device Manager.
|
| |
- There
is a resource conflict between the hard disk controller and
another hardware device.
|
| |
- The
Windows protected-mode driver is missing or damaged.
|
| |
- The
Windows 32-bit protected-mode disk drivers detected an unsupportable
configuration or incompatible hardware.
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| Question: |
Why
do I get a "General Protection Fault" or my print is all funny when
I try to print a Score from Sequencers or Notation software? |
| |
|
| Answer: |
Contact
the manufacturer of your printer and make sure you have the most
recent version of their driver for Windows. If not, obtain and install
it. |
| |
Explanation:
When most Sequencers or Notation software print, they use the printer
driver that you've installed in Windows. Many printer drivers have
problems ("bugs") which appear only when certain applications use
them, even when the application is using them correctly. Unfortunately,
Sequencers or Notation software's intensive use of TrueType fonts
may flush out a problem with a printer driver, which is not apparent,
when you're using other programs. The printer driver may crash.
You can tell this because the error message identifies the printer
driver as the program that crashed not your Sequencers or Notation
software. The only solution, unfortunately, is to obtain a fixed
version of the printer driver. The good news is that many printer
manufacturers update their drivers frequently, and newer versions
of many will work fine with Sequencers or Notation software. |
| |
Hint:
Most of the drivers that ship as standard with Windows work
fine, so try using one of these i.e. if you have a DeskJet 660C
use the standard DeskJet driver that comes with Windows. You can
still leave the newer driver installed for printing colour from
other applications. |
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| Question: |
I'm experiencing erratic hanging, stuttering, General
Protection Fault's and general seemingly unexplainable problems
using my Cakewalk, Cubase or other Music or Sound Software such
as Cool Edit Pro, SAW, Personal Composer, Finale etc |
| |
|
| Answer: |
Frequently the problem isn't actually with the software
itself. But a hardware conflict within your system. Almost everyone
who has ever owned a PC has had to deal with these problems and
they can be difficult to resolve. But if you want things to work,
you have to bite the bullet and fix them. |
| |
The Most Common Type of Conflicts: |
| |
There are three very common types of conflicts that
can affect Music or Sound Software. |
| |
- IRQ. (Interrupt Request)
|
| |
- Port Address. (Input/Output or I/O ports)
|
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- DMA. (Direct Memory Access)
|
| |
You may be asking yourself, "What the heck is an IRQ,
Port Address, or DMA?" Good question. Basically, IRQs, Port Addresses,
and DMAs are settings for devices connected to your computer. These
settings-if correct-enable the devices to work with your computer
and avoid interfering with each other. |
| |
Here's a simple analogy that might help you understand
the nature of a conflict. Think of an IRQ as a street address, and
think of your computer as Forrest Gump the mailman. Then, imagine
that both you and your next door neighbour share the same address:
1 Strawberry Lane. What's going to happen when good ol' Forrest
tries to deliver mail to 1 Strawberry Lane? He's going to see the
same address on both mailboxes at which point his brain will start
churning and churning so much that he won't know what to do-he'll
lock up-he'll freeze-he'll stand there unable to deliver the mail-he'll
crash-he'll "General Protection Fault." |
| |
This is essentially what can happen when you have
two pieces of hardware set to the same IRQ, Port Address, or DMA.
So the point is, |
| |
Ideally no two devices
can share the same IRQ, Port Address, or DMA. |
| |
Solving Conflicts: The Safe Way |
| |
- The Safe way is the method we recommend, and it requires that
you first find out all the IRQ, Port Address, and DMA settings
for your hardware. This is a one-time procedure that you should
probably do anyway to prevent future conflicts. The more devices
you have in your computer, the more time consuming it becomes.
|
| |
- Note: There are several utilities that claim to detect
conflicts-these are not wholly reliable. Also, just because
Windows 95 doesn't report that there is a conflict, it doesn't
mean there isn't one.
|
| |
- In the Control Panel. In Windows 95, choose Start
| Control Panel | System | Device Manager | Computer | View
Resources. This will show the IRQ, Port Address, and DMA
setting for many devices.
|
| |
- Note: Windows 95 is not 100% reliable in detecting
conflicts.
|
| |
- Special software that comes with the device. There are some
devices that require special software to manage IRQs and so
forth. This might be called "Configuration" software for the
device, or "Settings/Setup" software.
|
| |
- Where to change your settings.
|
| |
- There are a few ways to change your settings, but the method
is not the same for every device.
|
| |
- On the device itself. You physically move jumpers/dip switches.
|
| |
- In the Settings for the driver. If you're using multimedia
devices in Windows 95, choose Start | Control Panel | Multimedia
| Advanced. Once there, you can look in Audio Devices or
MIDI Devices and Instruments. To get to the driver's settings,
you select the driver, click on Properties, and then choose
Settings. In Windows 3.1 or 3.11 you go to Control Panel | Drivers,
select the driver, and click on Setup.
|
| |
- Note 1: Some devices only require that you change the
settings for the driver, while other devices require that you
change the settings for the driver and on the device itself.
|
| |
- Note 2: Even though your card might be "Plug and Play,"
there could still be a conflict as "Plug and Play" is not 100%
reliable.
|
| |
- Special software that comes with the device. There are some
devices that require special software to manage IRQs and so
forth. This might be called "Configuration" software for the
device, or "Settings/Setup" software.
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
- The only way to know for sure how to change the settings is
to consult your manual or the device manufacturer.
|
| |
Getting to the root of the problem.
|
| |
A good way to find out the source of a conflict is to actually
remove devices from the computer. Here's an example:
|
| |
- Pretend the devices in your computer are a MIDI interface
and two soundcards: Let's call them the Cool soundcard and the
Game soundcard. Say you suspect the Game soundcard is the one
that is causing the trouble. The best thing to do is to make
your system as simple as possible and remove both the Game soundcard
and the MIDI interface.
|
| |
- Note: As well as physically removing the device, you
must also remove the device's driver!
|
| |
The goal here is to see if the Cool soundcard will work by
itself. If it does work by itself, then you know that the conflict
happens when you introduce the other cards into the system.
Next, one at a time, you add back the other cards. Try your
system a few different ways:
|
| |
- Try the Cool soundcard and the Game soundcard. Does it work?
If so, then you know there is not a conflict between the two
of them. If not, then you know they are conflicting and you
will have to adjust their settings.
|
| |
- Try the Cool soundcard and the MIDI interface. Does it work?
If so, then you know there is not a conflict between the two
of them. If not, then you know they are conflicting and you
will have to adjust their settings.
|
| |
- You might even need to try the Game soundcard and the MIDI
interface without the Cool soundcard in your quest to find the
conflicting devices.
|
| |
- So, the moral of the story is detecting conflicts is best
done through a process of elimination. Divide and conquer.
|
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|
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The Risky Way-Is There An Easy Way Out? |
| |
You now know the Safe way. The Safe way is the most thorough
way to resolve conflicts and to prevent future ones, but if
you're the type of person that likes to find an easy way out,
you can take your chances and try the Risky way.
|
| |
The Risky way is very simple. Let's use our previous example
of the two soundcards and the MIDI interface. If you thought
that the Game soundcard was the problem, instead of removing
all the cards or taking an inventory of all the IRQs, Port Addresses,
and DMAs in your system, you could simply change some settings.
|
| |
Let's say you weren't able to record MIDI using the Game soundcard,
and since not being able to record MIDI is indicative of an
IRQ conflict, you could change the Game soundcard's IRQ setting
to one that you thought was free. If you guess correctly and
change it to an IRQ that is free then you're successful at the
Risky way: You have nothing more to do. BUT...if you fail you
can open yourself up to potentially more nightmarish problems-like
your computer not booting into Windows
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