SOUND BOARDS: IBM
Mwave-based boards

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

IBM offers a number of products based around their Mwave chips. Most of IBM's offerings have OS/2 drivers available and are reasonably well supported under OS/2 3.0; but Warp 4.0 support is spottier, and you should check the section on Mwave in general. These models tend not to be heavily marketed; the best source of supply is IBM PC Direct.


1000-series boards

Type:
Wavetable
Chipset:
IBM Mwave 1000-series
CD-ROM:
??
Street price:
Discontinued
OS/2 Drivers:
Available for some or all models
Drivers from:
IBM -- usually in the box; ftp.pcco.ibm.com, /pub/os2_apps, /pub/mobiles, /pub/refdisks (various files)
Comments:
IBM sold various boards based on the 1000-series Mwave DSP, including an MCA card. The 1000 series is barely able to sustain a 28,800 bps modem connection, however, and is limited in its SoundBlaster emulation.

Multimedia Modem Plus

Type:
Wavetable
Chipset:
IBM Mwave 2780
CD-ROM:
Proprietary (Sony, Panasonic)
Street Price:
~$300
OS/2 Drivers:
Available
Drivers from:
In the box; ftp.pcco.ibm.com, /pub/os2_apps, /pub/mobiles, /pub/refdisks (various files)
Comments:
This board is identical in hardware to the Spectrum Office F/X, but comes with different software. Older boards (minus the "Plus" in the name) have identical hardware but come without 28,800 bps modem support; software updates for these boards are available free from IBM's ftp sites. The Windows voicemail software provided with this board reportedly functions well under OS/2. Unfortunately, there are two problems with these boards under Warp 4.0 (these problems don't exist under Warp 3.0, though). First, the provided CONFIGO.EXE utility, used to configure the board's interrupts and so on, doesn't run. An updated version of this utility is available from the unofficial Mwave site, but IBM reportedly is not planning on actively supporting the board under Warp 4.0. The second problem is that Win-OS/2 configuration doesn't work. I've seen two reported fixes for this problem. The first is to use the Windows drivers for some other Mwave product, such as for the IBM ThinkPads, on the theory that the Windows drivers interface with the OS/2 drivers and so should be compatible across products under OS/2, assuming the correct OS/2 drivers are installed. The second method is to set a Win-OS/2 session to DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION OFF and full-screen and to start the installation in this session. You must then interrupt the installation early on by madly hitting [Ctrl-Esc] and edit the file INSTALL.INI (created in your WINOS2\TEMP directory) so that the line DO_SYSTEMREQ=1 instead reads DO_SYSTEMREQ=0. You should then be able to continue with the installation. Timing on this is critical, though; if you interrupt it too early, the file won't be in the WINOS2\TEMP directory, and if you do it too late, the install will fail. Instead of madly hitting [Ctrl-Esc], you might try the following procedure:
  1. Attempt the install of the Windows drivers and allow it to fail -- but do not exit the program; simply [Ctrl-Esc] out of it when it presents the error message.
  2. Copy the file INSTALL.INI to another name (say, INSTALL.BAK).
  3. Edit the line that causes the problem to read "DO_SYSTEMREQ=0", as described above, in the INSTALL.BAK file.
  4. Create an OS/2 REXX file (say, KLUDGE.CMD) which reads:
         /* */
         stop = 0
         do while stop = 0
           if stream('INSTALL.INI','c','query exists') <> " " then
              do
                 stop = 1
                 'COPY INSTALL.BAK INSTALL.INI'
              end
         end
    
    (Note that the above includes HTML escape sequences; you can download the REXX script itself without the HTML codes.)
  5. Go back to the Win-OS/2 session installation program and clear the error dialog, to let the program clean up its temporary files.
  6. Go back to OS/2 and start the REXX script running.
  7. Go back to the Win-OS/2 session and do the install again.
If all goes well, the install should proceed smoothly. The REXX script will execute until the Windows install program creates the INSTALL.INI file, and it will then replace that file with your edited backup, which should then allow everything to go fine. I've also received one report to the effect that the Windows install sets up a pair of Windows DLLs in the /OS2/MDOS/WINOS2 directory, MWAVE.DLL and MWAGENT.DLL, which may interfere with operation under OS/2. The person reporting this problem said that deleting these files fixed it. Note that these install problems are unique to the MultiMedia Modem Plus; they don't exist with other Mwave boards. Another option for getting sound from Win-OS/2 is to rely on the board's SoundBlaster emulation and to use SoundBlaster Pro drivers in Win-OS/2. Windows programs should still be able to use the OS/2 Mwave Modem, but not Windows-based voicemail software, in this configuration. This product is not available in Europe. This product has been discontinued.

16-bit DSP Wavetable Sound Card

Type:
Wavetable
Chipset:
IBM Mwave 2780
CD-ROM:
Proprietary (Sony, Panasonic)
Street Price:
~$200
OS/2 Drivers:
Available
Drivers from:
In the box; ftp.pcco.ibm.com, /pub/os2_apps, /pub/mobiles, /pub/refdisks (various files)
Comments:
This board is essentially a Multimedia Modem Plus minus the modem and voicemail functionality.

PCMCIA Sound Card

Type:
Wavetable
Chipset:
IBM Mwave 2780 (?)
CD-ROM:
None
Street Price:
??
OS/2 Drivers:
Available (??)
Drivers from:
In the box; ftp.pcco.ibm.com, /pub/os2_apps, /pub/mobiles, /pub/refdisks (various files)
Comments:
I'm not positive if OS/2 drivers exist for this board, and I know relatively little about it other than that it exists.

ThinkPad Notebooks

Type:
Wavetable
Chipset:
IBM Mwave 2780 (?)
CD-ROM:
N/A
Street Price:
N/A
OS/2 Drivers:
Available
Drivers from:
In the box; ftp.pcco.ibm.com, /pub/os2_apps, /pub/mobiles, /pub/refdisks (various files)
Comments:
Some (but not all) of IBM's ThinkPad notebook computers come with Mwave chips for sound and modem functionality.

Aptiva Computers

Type:
Wavetable
Chipset:
IBM Mwave 2780
CD-ROM:
??
Street Price:
N/A
OS/2 Drivers:
Available for some models
Drivers from:
In the box; ftp.pcco.ibm.com, /pub/os2_apps, /pub/mobiles, /pub/refdisks (various files); see also http://www4.pc.ibm.com/aptips/sprtdsks.html
Comments:
Some (but not all) of IBM's Aptiva desktop computers come with Mwave chips for sound and modem functionality. If you have a Windows 95-preloaded Aptiva and want to install OS/2, you'll need a complete set of Mwave driver disks from the net (be sure to get the drivers for the Aptiva; drivers for the IBM Multimedia Modem or some other Mwave board likely won't work), or a driver update CD from IBM. The newest Aptiva computers (the S-series) come with a new model of Mwave board (the "Stingray") for which OS/2 drivers are not yet available. Check with the unofficial Mwave web site and/or the Mwave mailing list (instructions on joining are at the web site) for updates on this.

Copyright © 1996, 1997, Rod Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com
Return to the sound boards listing
Return to the OS/2 Soundcard Summary main page