Multimedia: General MIDI Troubleshooting for Windows 95/98

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Using Media Player

1. Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to Multimedia, and then click Media Player.
2. On the Device menu, click MIDI Sequencer.
   
   NOTE: If MIDI Sequencer is not listed, the driver might not be installed, or might be disabled. Refer to the section below to determine if the driver has been installed correctly.
3. Double-click the file Canyon.mid, located in the Windows\Media folder.
4. Click the Play button.
   
   NOTE: The play button contains a triangle pointing to the right. If no sounds are heard, see below.

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Troubleshooting Steps

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Making Sure Sound Card is Properly Installed

1. Determine if the sound card can generate sounds. Windows 95 comes with sample sound files. If no sound can be played, the sound card may not be installed correctly, or its drivers might not be properly configured.
   
   
   1. Run Media Player. Click Device.
   2. Click Sound.
   3. Double-click any .wav file.
      
      NOTE: By default, Windows 95 does not display file extensions. For information on how to view hidden file extensions, see Windows 95 online help.
   4. Click the Play button.
      
      NOTE: If vendor-supplied sound card drivers were furnished with the sound card, contact the sound card manufacturer for technical assistance.
2. Eliminate any sound card conflict with other hardware installed on the system. Make sure no conflicts exist with:
   
   - Base I/O Address
   - IRQ
   - DMA Channel Settings
   
   To make sure hardware conflicts don't exist, do the following:
   1. With your right mouse button, click the My Computer icon, and then click Properties.
   2. Click the Device Manager tab. Make sure View Devices By Type is selected.
   3. Double-click Sound, Video And Game Controllers.
      
      NOTE: If you do not see Sound, Video And Game Controllers listed, the Windows 3.x drivers may be loaded. Contact your sound card or driver manufacturer for assistance.
   4. Click the sound card driver, and then click Properties.
   5. Click the Resources tab, and make sure no conflicts are listed in the Conflicting Device List.
      
      NOTE: Any listed conflicts must be resolved. Use Windows 95 Help to resolve hardware conflicts.
      
      
      1. Run Windows 95 Help, and click the Index tab.
      2. Type the word "conflicting", and the Help selection "Conflicting Hardware, Troubleshooting" becomes the selected topic.
      3. Click Display.
      4. Follow the Help instructions.

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Sound File Appears to Play; No Sounds Are Heard

• The speakers are not turned on or are incorrectly connected.
• The mixer control for MIDI is turned down.
• The MIDI Sequencer is not installed.
• The .idf file is corrupt or invalid.

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Checking Speakers and Mixer Controls

1. Are any sounds heard when Windows starts? Do .wav files play when using Media Player?
   
   From the Media Player Device menu, click Sound, and then attempt to play any file with a .wav extension.
   
   NOTE: This test demonstrates properly installed speakers.
2. Check the Mixer settings.
   
   For information on how to accomplish this task, see your sound card user's guide for information about MIDI playback in Windows. Most sound cards use individual controls for the different types of sounds the card can play.
   
   To check the Windows volume control, do the following:
   
   
   1. Double-click the Speaker icon, located on the taskbar.
   2. Make sure the volume is not turned down or set to Mute.

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Verifying Installation of the MIDI Sequencer Driver

1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Multimedia icon.
3. Click the Advanced tab. Double-click Media Control Devices.
   
   Make sure the following are present:
   
   - MIDI Sequencer Device (Media Control)
4. If the entry is listed, click it, and then click Properties.
5. Make sure the Use This Media Control Device option is selected.
6. If the device driver is not installed, use the Windows Add New Hardware wizard to install the Microsoft MCI MIDI Sequencer component.
   
   To add the device driver, do the following:
   
   
   1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   2. Double-click Add New Hardware.
   3. Click Next, and then click No. Click Next.
   4. On the Hardware Types: list, click Sound, Video And Games Controllers. Click Next.
   5. On the Manufacturers List, click Microsoft MCI.
   6. On the Models list, click MIDI Sequencer Device (Media Control), then click Next.
   7. Click Finish, and restart your computer.

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Checking the MIDI Configuration

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Multimedia icon. If the Multimedia icon is not present, no multimedia drivers are installed.
   
   Correct the missing Multimedia icon by installing the drivers. To install the device driver, use the Add/Remove Programs wizard in the Control Panel.
3. Click the MIDI tab, and then click Custom Configuration.
   
   NOTE: Make a note of the name listed in the "Midi Scheme" area save the information.
4. Click Configure.
5. In the new MIDI Configuration dialog box, click Save As, and then type a name in the Scheme name field. Click OK.
   
   NOTE: You can use any name you want, such as "mymidi" or "test."
6. Click a channel and then click Change. In the Instrument box, click the down arrow button, and select the FM or Synth driver, if listed.
   
   Avoid selections containing the word OUT. For example, do not use the following:
   
   - MIDI Out
   - FM Out
   
   NOTE: The listed choices depend on the type of sound card installed. Examples of listed items are:
   
   - Voyetra OPL3 FM Synth - Media Vision
   - Super Sapi Voyetra FM - Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16
7. If no selections are available in the Change MIDI Instrument dialog box, see your sound card user's guide or contact the sound card manufacturer. The sound card manufacturer is responsible for installation and MIDI playback from within the Windows environment.

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Installing a New General.idf File

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.
2. On the Tools menu, click System File Checker.
3. Click "Extract one file from installation disk."
4. In the "Specify the system file you would like to restore" box, type "general.idf", and then click Start.
5. In the Restore From box, type the following line

         <cdrom>:\Win98
   						

   where <cdrom> is the letter of the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows 98 CD-ROM.
6. In the Save File In box, type the following line, and then click OK

         <drive>:\windows\config
   						

   where <drive> is the letter of the hard disk on which Windows 98 is installed.
7. Click OK, and then click OK again.
8. Click Close.

1. Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode.
2. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line:

         cd windows\config
   						

   ren general.idf general.old
3. Extract the .idf file from your Windows floppy disk or CD-ROM.
   
   To extract the .idf file from your Windows 95 Disk 9 floppy disk, type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER

         extract /a <floppy>:\win95_09.cab general.idf <drive>:\windows\config
   						

   where <floppy> is the letter of the floppy disk drive that contains the Windows 95 Disk 9 floppy disk, and <drive> is the letter of the hard disk on which Windows 95 is installed.
   
   To extract the .idf file from your Windows 95 CD-ROM, type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER

         extract /a <cdrom>:\win95\win95_08.cab general.idf
         <drive>:\windows\config
   						

   where <cdrom> is the letter of the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows 95 CD-ROM, and <drive> is the letter of the hard disk on which Windows 95 is installed.
   
   For more information on how to extract a file, see your Windows printed documentation or online Help file.

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Manually Checking for MIDI Driver Files, File Placement and Modifications

1. The files listed should all reside in the C:\Windows\System folder (where drive C is your hard drive and Windows is your Windows folder).
   
   The installed MIDI driver filename can vary depending upon the sound card installed. For example, Media Vision sound cards use the drivers:
   
   - Opl3fm.drv
   - Mvproaud.drv
   
   while Creative Labs Sound Blaster sound cards use the drivers:
   
   - sb16fm.drv
   - sb16aux.drv
   - sb16snd.drv

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Entries in System.ini

   [boot]
   sound.drv=mmsound.drv
   drivers=mmsystem.dll

   [drivers]
   midimapper=midimap.drv
   MIDI=opl3.drv *

   [mci]
   Sequencer=mciseq.drv
   WaveAudio=mciwave.drv
				

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Entries in Win.ini

   [mci extensions]
   mid=sequencer
				

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Entries in Control.ini

   [drivers.desc]
   mciseq.drv=[MCI] MIDI Sequencer
   sb16fm.drv=Voyetra / Sound Blaster SuperSAPI FM Driver
   sb16aux.drv=Creative Sound Blaster 16 Auxiliary Audio
   sb16snd.drv=Creative Sound Blaster 16 Wave and MIDI

   [Userinstallable.drivers]
   MIDI=sb16fe=sb16snd.drv

   [related.desc]
   MIDI=
				

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