Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!paperboy.osf.org!bone.think.com!blanket.mitre.org!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!newsxfer2.itd.umich.edu!news.itd.umich.edu!towwang

Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!paperboy.osf.org!bone.think.com!blanket.mitre.org!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!newsxfer2.itd.umich.edu!news.itd.umich.edu!towwang
From: [email protected] (Tow Wang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.misc,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Tropez ISA sound board FAQ
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.misc
Date: 22 Jul 1996 19:09:58 GMT
Organization: none
Lines: 1301
Sender: [email protected]
Approved: [email protected]
Expires: 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
NNTP-Posting-Host: breakout.rs.itd.umich.edu
Summary: FAQ file on Tropez sound board by Turtle Beach Systems, for owners
and prospective purchasers.
Keywords: Turtle Beach Tropez sound board
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.misc:23506 comp.answers:20116 news.answers:77575

Archive-name: PCsoundcards/Tropez-faq
Comp-sys-ibm-pc-soundcard-misc-archive-name: Tropez-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: Monday 22 July 1996
Version: 1.20

================================================================================
Turtle Beach Tropez (TM)
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Copyright 1995-1996 by Tow Wang
Version 1.20
Release date: Monday 22 July 1996
================================================================================

Contents

(I) Introduction
(A) What information was updated?
(B) Abbreviations
(C) How to obtain the latest release of this document.
(D) Additional sources of information
(II) Technical specifications
(III) Errata to the User's Guide
(IV) Software for the Tropez developed by TBS
(A) Utilities
(B) Drivers
(C) Other software
(V) Installation
(A) Tips
(B) Hardware checks
(C) Installation tips for 3-diskette set
(VI) Other questions
(VII) Software and firmware upgrades
(A) Not included but distributed
(B) FTP sites
(C) Module (".mod" file) players
(D) MIDI (".mid" file) players
(VIII) Operating system support
(A) OS/2
(B) Windows 3.x
(C) Windows 4.x (aka "Windows 95")
(D) Windows NT
(E) Linux
(IX) Programming information
(A) Software Development Kit
(B) Sound Blaster modes
(C) Windows Sound System mode
(D) CS4231A codec chip
(E) Components made by ICS
(F) FM synthesizer
(X) Unanswered questions
(XI) Credits
(XII) Disclaimer and permission to distribute

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(I) Introduction

Tropez:
~ ~ ~ ~
Pronounced as "Tropa" ( 'o' as in toe, 'a' as in pay ).
Presumably named after the french island St. Tropez, famous for its
beautiful beaches.

In late 1994, Turtle Beach Systems of York, Pennsylvania, USA, began
distribution of the "Tropez" soundcard, which along with the "Monte Carlo"
card, marked the entry of Turtle Beach products into the entertainment
market of sound hardware for personal computers compatible with the Intel/ISA
architecture. Keeping up with a tradition of high-quality sound products, the
Tropez promises full game compatibility while delivering audio performance
comparable to that of compact discs and digital audio tapes.

The purpose of this document, referred to as "Tropez FAQ file" from hereon,
is two-fold:

1) To supplement the documentation provided with the Tropez package and aid
owners of this product in setting it up and troubleshooting it.

2) To inform the general public of the characteristics of the Tropez and
help assess the suitability of this product for the applications of
potential end-users.

(A) What information was updated?

Each update is to be found in the (sub)section indicated within parentheses.
The previous release of this document was version 1.11

********************************************************************************
Minor typographical modifications throughout this document. (many)
Clarification about initializing the WaveFront synthesizer. (IV.A)
Suggestion to remove "setupsnd.exe" from "autoexec.bat". (V.A)
Found MPU-401 driver for Windows NT (using archie). (VIII.D)
How to use generic MPU-401 drivers under most OS's. (VIII)
What does "oswf.mot" file enable? (IV.B)
Found MPU-401 driver for OS/2 "Presentation Manager". (VIII.A)
Put the "[business]" question in context. (VI)
Correction: Windows 4.x cannot have 32-bit sound drivers. (VIII.C)
Do not use the Maui driver that comes with Windows 4.0! (VIII.C)
"AWave" versions 2.7, 3.0 and 3.1 and released. (VII.A)
One less FTP distributor, one more WWW distributor. (I.C, XI)
Created sub-section: (VII.B.2)
Created section: (VII.E)
How to identify boards missing the microphone pre-amp. (V.B)
Created section: (IX.F)
Split chapter VIII and shifted all following chapters. (VIII, IX)
Created section: (IX.A)
Latest version of "Wave SE II" is 1.32 (IV.C)
The telephone number of "Norcomp" is 408 733 7707. (IX.D)
Native drivers for Windows 4.0 now available. (VIII.C)
Tropez officially discontinued. (VI)
********************************************************************************

(B) Abbreviations

Following is a list of abbreviations used throughout this document.

DOS Disk Operating System (TM)
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
GM General MIDI (TM)
ICS Integrated Circuit Systems, Inc.
MIDI Music Instrument Digital Interface
RWM read/write memory
SB Sound Blaster (TM)
SIMM Single In-line Memory Module
TBS Turtle Beach Systems, Inc.
WSS Windows Sound System (TM)

(C) How to obtain the latest release of this document.

By FTP from the InterNet sites listed in section VII.B and the following:
ftp.otol.fi /pub/music/TB/Maui/ (Finland access only)
rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/comp/sys/ibm/pc/souncard/misc/
/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/PCsoundcards/

On the World-Wide Web:
www.wi.leidenuniv.nl/audio/
www.cs.colorado.edu/~mccreary/
rpinfo.its.rpi.edu/~hsiaoe/soundsite/
www.tbeach.com/faq/
support.aris.com.sg/

On the Andrew File System:
/afs/engin.umich.edu/u/t/o/towwang/Public

On UseNet:
Newsgroup "comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.misc"

(D) Additional sources of information

1) Related information files:

- "Turtle Beach Maui FAQ file", available from ftp.hawaii.edu. READ THIS
FILE! Almost all the information in it is applicable to the Tropez! For
this release of this FAQ file, I have omitted some relevant information
already covered by the Maui FAQ file v3.1.
- "Turtle Beach Maui Software FAQ file", available from ftp.hawaii.edu.
- "The Tropez Tattler" by David Gasior. You may request a copy by sending
e-mail to its author: <[email protected]>.
- "Turtle Beach FAQ file" by Kevin Dangoor ([email protected]),
currently un-maintained.
- Gravis UltraSound FAQ files:
archive.epas.utoronto.ca /pub/pc/ultrasound/info
for information on instrument patches.

2) Mailing lists:

"Turtle Beach mailing list"
To subscribe, send a message to:
[email protected]
with subject and body:
SUBSCRIBE MULTISOUND <your name>
To unsubscribe, send to the preceding address (not to the mailing
list!) a message with subject and body:
UNSUBSCRIBE MULTISOUND

3) Independent commercial reviews:

PC Magazine, 28 March 1995.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(II) Technical specifications

The quoted information for this chapter (lines starting with '|') is
distributed by Turtle Beach Systems in the form of free promotional literature
and is also printed on the Tropez package. I have added some additional
comments and corrections for purposes of clarity.

Compatibility

The Tropez can emulate a Sound Blaster Pro card (revision 2.0 by Creative
Labs), including, but not limited to, DAC and mixer functions and FM music
synthesis. The Tropez is also compatible with the Windows Sound System 1.0
interface. However, only one mode (SB Pro xor WSS) is available to produce
digital audio at any time.

Software running under DOS that supports MIDI music synthesis, using the
General MIDI patch set and the Roland MPU-401 interface, will be able to
take advantage of the wavetable synthesis capabilities of the Tropez. This
capability for music synthesis is available independent of the setting for
digital audio. The Tropez incorporates almost all the hardware found on the
TBS Maui board, so with some subtle restrictions it can be considered as
"three boards in one":
Tropez = Maui + Sound Blaster Pro + Windows Sound System

| Digital Audio
|
| Sampling Rates Selectable between 4 KHz and 48 KHz
| Resolutions 16 or 8 bits per sample
| Audio channels Stereo or mono
| Audio converters A/D 64x oversampled sigma-delta, 16 bit
| D/A 8x interpolating filter
| 64x oversampled, 16 bit
| DMA mode Demand mode for increased performance
| Simultaneous record and play capability

A/D and D/A conversion is performed by a Crystal CS4231A coder/decoder chip.

Date: Thu, 30 Nov 95 11:52:16 +0200
From: Patrik Sandberg <[email protected]>
> The ability to support simultaneous rec/play for stereo 16 bit 44.1 KHz
> audio depends on the ISA bus speed. In normal speed (8 MHz) SRP is
> supported for rates up to stereo 16 bit 32 KHz. When the ISA bus speed
> is >= 11 MHz then SRP is supported in 16 bit 44.1 KHz in enhanced
> duplex mode.

| Stereo mixer
|
| Inputs -- Synthesizer (FM and Wavetable),
| Microphone, Line, Auxiliar

| Supported interfaces
|
| MIDI interface (optional) Up to 2 MPU-401 compatible external
| interfaces using optional cables
| CD-ROM drive interface AT-API (Enhanced IDE)
| Joystick port

Both MIDI ports are MPU-401 compatible in dumb UART mode but not smart mode.
Reported by Martin Fay <[email protected]>:
The pin-out of the second MIDI port (the two-row internal male connector)
is the same as that of the joystick port interface found on most I/O boards
and disk drive controllers.

The joystick port can be disabled by software to avoid an I/O conflict if
another such port is already enabled.

| Wavetable synthesizer
|
| General MIDI compatible Yes
| Simultaneous voices Maximum is 32
| Wavetable instruments 128 instruments in 2 MB ROM
| Sample Data Formats 16 bit, 8 bit and 8 bit u-law

Maximum simultaneous voices Sampling rate (KHz)
32 32
24 44.1

| Sample Store (TM)
|
| RAM size Upgradable to a maximum of 12 MB using
| standard SIMM chips

There are 3 SIMM slots on the Tropez. They all accept SIMMs with 30
contact-pads. Any slot can accept any of the following SIMM capacities at
any time: (TBS recommends an access time no slower than 70ns)

Rows Bits per row (parity not required)
256 * 1024 8 or 9
1024 * 1024 8 or 9
4096 * 1024 8 or 9

On Thu, 8 Jun 1995, John M. Meyers wrote:
> I'm currently using 3 1x8's in my Tropez, and things are fine. A friend
> is using 2 megs of the same in his Maui, and I've heard no complaints.

The Tropez package includes no RWM for Sample Store. SIMM's must be purchased
separately.

| FM Synthesizer
|
| Stereo FM Synthesizer (Yamaha OPL3)
| AdLib compatible
| 20 independent stereo voices of FM synthesized sounds
| 4 FM operators per voice

The OPL3 and the WaveFront synthesizers can play music simultaneously.

| Audio Performance
|
| Signal to noise ratio 89 dB (A weighted), 87 dB (unweighted)
(these values must be positive)
| Total Harmonic Distortion
| < 0.01 % (A weighted), < 0.02 % (unweighted)
| Phase response +/- 0.1 degrees
| Stereo Crosstalk -90 dBV at 100 Hz,
| -89 dBV at 1 KHz,
| -83 dBV at 10 KHz
| Intermodulation distortion < 0.1 %
| Frequency response 20 Hz - 22 KHz, +0/-1 dB

Note: these specifications for "audio performance" seem to be achievable
only under strictly-controlled laboratory environments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(III) Errata to the User's Guide

This chapter applies to the "User's Guide" (Manual) version 1.0, Copyright 1994
Turtle Beach Systems, Inc. You may want to note these errors in your manual
before starting installation.

P 14 What's in the box?
P 24

Turtle Beach currently ships FOUR 3+1/2 inch high-density floppy disks with
software and utilities.
The "Info Now" CD may have been substituted by a "Selectware System (tm)" CD.

P 17 Adjusting the jumper settings

All jumper sketches were printed upside down. I am providing the correct
ones below; my sketches are in the same order as they appear in the manual
but I have reordered the port numbers.

'c' means closed (a jumper connects the two pins at this position)
'o' means open (no connection between the two pins at this position)

o c o
o 330 c 230 c 300
o o c

c o c
o 290 o 338 c 210
o c c

o c
c 320 o 260
o c

P 30 DOS diagnostics

The "Sound Blaster music test" will play notes to the right audio channel
only.

P 32-34 WaveFront Diagnostics

"wfdiag.exe" is no longer included with any of the installation diskettes.
If "setupsnd.exe" executes without reporting any errors, then your
WaveFront synthesizer is most likely configured correctly. I have executed
"mauidiag.exe" on my Tropez and it passed all tests except the one which
requires a MIDI loop-back cable (which I did not have) and the WaveSample
memory test (I had not yet obtained any SIMM's when I did this). To obtain
"mauidiag.exe", see the FTP sites listed elsewhere in this
document.

By the way, "mauidiag.exe" is a diagnostics program for the Maui sound card,
which uses the same WaveFront synthesizer as the Tropez.

P 36 Tropez DOS utilities
P 43 Translation Utility

"tzsbmix.exe" is an utility for the (old) Monte Carlo sound card.

It was included by mistake with the Tropez package and it cannot work with
the Tropez. It will not add any more functionality because the Tropez is
already fully compatible with SB Pro.

P 50 setupsnd.exe utility

"oswfi.mot" is no longer included with the Tropez package. Just use
"oswf.mot" with "setupsnd.exe".

The parameter "/x" should be used only if you have an external synthesizer
connected to the Tropez's MIDI port.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(IV) Software for the Tropez developed by TBS

If you do not have the latest versions, refer to the FTP sites for updates.

(A) Utilities

"setupsnd.exe" v1.13

Configures the WaveFront synthesizer.
Loads operating system code to the firmware memory on the Tropez. This o.s.
code is executed by the Motorola 68000 processor to control the synthesizer.

"setupsnd.exe" takes about 20 seconds to load "oswf.mot" to the Tropez.
The duration of this process seems to be independent of system speed.

1) In most motherboards, if not all, you need to initialize the
synthesizer (i.e. upload its MIDI interpreter firmware), only once after
power up. No need to repeat this after warm boots.

2) Yes, it does take 20 seconds to initialize the synthesizer if you have
not entered Windows since power-up, but otherwise the latest Windows
driver will do the initialization (or check for initialization) in 6
seconds or less. The preceding paragraph applies here too.

"tzacmix.exe" v2.00

Command line utility to change all mixer volumes.

"tzhkmix.com" v2.00

TSR program to change mixer volumes with hot keys (hold down ALT and press
the gray keys Insert, Delete, End, Page Up, Page Down).

"tzmode.exe" v2.00

Initializes the CD drive interface on the Tropez, when executed as a device
driver within "config.sys".
Lets you select the digital audio mode of the Tropez under DOS.

"tzsetup.exe" v2.00

Lets you reconfigure all settings for the Tropez, except the primary
(external) MIDI port which requires jumper adjustment.

"tbcd.exe"

Audio-CD player. If you have problems using it, Mario Koeppen
<[email protected]> provided this tip:

> ...look into your "system.ini" file for a line containing "CDAudio" as the
> right value of an equation. If there is any number after this (ie.
> "CDAudio_1") cut it off, leaving only "CDAudio".

This number is used for operating more than one CD drive. TBS tools can
only handle one. Warning: this change may render certain setups unusable.
Back up your "system.ini" before modifying it.

(B) Drivers

"oswf.mot" v1.15

The firmware code that is loaded to the Tropez by "setupsnd.exe" under DOS
and by "tropmidi.drv" under Windows 3.x. This code makes the WaveFront
synthesizer understand MIDI commands used by most sequencing and game
software.

"tropez.drv" v1.10

Digital audio driver for using the Tropez under Windows 3.x
This includes code to control the mixer on the Tropez.

"tropmidi.drv" v1.30

MIDI synthesis driver for using the Tropez under Windows 3.x
"tropmidi.drv" takes 6 seconds to load "oswf.mot" to the Tropez.
In your "system.ini" file for Windows, under the "[tropmidi.drv]" section,
you may specify where is the OS code file. For example:
OSCodeFile=c:\tropez\dosapps\oswf.mot

(C) Other software

From Turtle Beach's literature:

WavePatch (TM) Patch editor for wavetable synthesizer, v1.2

On Thu, 27 Apr 1995, Jean-Luc Piolain wrote:
> WavePatch has a few features designed specifically for the professional
> sound developer. In order to keep the average user from accessing these,
> they are only available if the following line is added to the [Preferences]
> section of WFPATCH.INI.
>
> [Preferences]
> Pro Version = 1
>
> When this line is added, the File menu will have two new items:
>
> Replace Internal Sample
> Pack ROM Files
Latest version is 1.3 "Release", file name "waveph13.zip" at FTP sites.

Wave SE 1.23 (TM) .WAV audio and sample editing program with
Loop Editor

"Wave SE II" version 1.32 can be purchased from TBS. This software has
more features than "Wave SE".

MicroWave (TM) OLE compatible .WAV recorder/editor for
business applications
Stratos (TM) MIDI song writing software
Sierra (TM) Audio Rack Featuring stealth mode
MousePlayer MIDI controller

The "SelectWare System (TM)" CD contains dozens of demonstration programs for
commercial software, and five free products:

Corridor 7 (TM) by Capstone
MegaMaze (TM) by Axis Interactive and CapDisc
LINKS: The Challenge of Golf(TM) by Access Software
Darklands (TM) by MicroProse Software
Freakin' Funky Fuzzballs (TM) by Sir-Tech Software

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(V) Installation

(A) Tips

The following tips are applicable to the set of 4 installation diskettes (3.5"
high density) included in the Tropez package. This section should be most
useful if you read it along with the "User's Guide" (version 1.0) while you
install the Tropez.

Note:
All references to installation information, such as directory paths, are
exemplified using default settings.

BIOS settings

From: Roeder Sascha <[email protected]>
> If you use a Asus SP3G Motherboard with an Award bios, try to
> switch off the "ISA GAT MODE" in the bios setup. I dont know, what this
> mode is for but it interfered with my Tropez during recording.

The Tropez may not install correctly if "Plug and Play" is enabled.

If you are experiencing problems with the digital audio performance of the
Tropez, check that your bus speed is set to 8 or 8+1/3 MHz.

If your recordings to SCSI hard disks get mixed with disk noise, try shadowing
the ROM BIOS of your host adapter. Make sure you select the correct address
block corresponding to the adapter's BIOS.

P 17 Adjusting the jumper settings

Most games require that the MPU-401 interface be at port 330h. To have this
setting, you may leave JP4 at the default setting (none of the pairs of pins
should be shorted by a jumper).

P 26 Running the DOS setup

Your "autoexec.bat" file should have at least one trailing blank line.
Otherwise, the last character of your "autoexec.bat" will be overwritten by
"install.exe" if you let it make automatic modifications for you.
You may want to remove the execution of "setupsnd.exe" from your
"autoexec.bat" file if you tend to do warm reboots often.

Each time you choose one of two the installation options in "install.exe",
this program will overwrite any Tropez files that were previously installed
in "?:\tropez\dosapps\"

P 27

If you are connecting a CD drive to the enhanced IDE interface of the Tropez,
make sure that the line

DEVICE=?:\tropez\dosapps\tzmode.exe

in your "config.sys" file precedes the line that loads the device driver for
your CD drive. This is because "tzmode.exe" must be executed first to
initialize the Tropez so that the other device driver can detect the CD
drive interfaced with the Tropez.

If you still have problems using the Tropez's CD drive interface, try
executing ("loading") "tzmode.exe" in the very first line of your
"config.sys". Note: this execution must take place before loading QEMM, if
you use this memory manager.

From Rob Geraghty <[email protected]>:
The internal audio connector has the following configuration:
--o left signal
--o left earth
--o right signal
--o right earth

P 27 (Windows setup)

The command "win.com" to start up Windows must reside in a directory included
in the "PATH" environment variable. "install.exe" will try to execute the
command
win.com setup.exe
before installing any Windows applications. If "install.exe" does not
find "win.com", it will prompt erratically for you to insert a diskette. In
this situation, you may press 'Esc' to exit the program. Include the Windows
directory in the 'PATH' variable and rerun "install.exe".

Side note: as "setup.exe" prepares to install the Windows applications for
the Tropez, it will probe all available logical drives for the presence of
the installation diskettes. If for example you have the installation
diskettes in drive "b:", "setup.exe" may get stuck when probing an empty disk
drive "a:". In this case, simply insert any irrelevant (but formatted)
diskette in drive "a:" and let "setup.exe" move on to drive "b:"

P 28 Windows setup

Paraphrasing Rob Geraghty <[email protected]>:
>Hidden in a confirmation screen during the install process (in windoze) the
>Tropez defaults to using IRQ15 for OS download. This can be changed - I used
>IRQ9, the same IRQ I used for Tropez MIDI.
Forgetting to make this change may let the Tropez take up two IRQs: one
which you specified in DOS using "setupsnd.exe", and this other one
allocated by Windows. Needless to say, this is a common source of conflicts.

(Discussed in the TBS mailing list)
If you have problems operating the Tropez in full-duplex mode, edit your
"system.ini" file: under the section "[sndsys.drv]" there may be the
setting "SingleModeDMA=1". Change the right hand value to "2".

On Tue, 11 Jul 1995, Miro Wikgren wrote:
> FYI, the Windows installation of the Tropez card programs can be run
> separately from the DOS istallation. The trick is to start the setup
> program by starting Windows (from DOS, of course) with the command:
> win a:~dutf.exe
...or you can run "~dutf.exe" from your Windows shell. Be warned however,
that incremental installations of the Tropez software for Windows may cause
useful settings and files to be overwritten. It is safest to install all
the software at once and then delete the unwanted applets with the
information in the "tropez.log" file.

Note: you should definitely install the Tropez mixer at least.

Message from David Gasior <[email protected]>:
> The Mixer for Windows can have its settings
> saved when you close it by adding the line
> SaveSettingsOnExit=ON
> under the heading [DRIVER] at the top of the TROPEZ.INI file found in the
> Windows directory.

"setup.exe" only maps MIDI channels 1 through 10 to the "Tropez Sample
Player" initially; you may want to map the remaining 6 channels to it or to
the OPL3 driver using "MIDI Mapper".

P 36 Hot key sound mixer utility

The "tzhkmix.com" TSR might not work with games that run in Intel protected-
mode. For instance, it has no effect within "Doom" (TM).

P 41 Using the command line sound mixer

If you omit the optional channel selector ( [L|R] ), the volume setting will
apply to both audio channels.

P 50 "setupsnd.exe" utility

"setupsnd.exe" always tries to access one IRQ line and one I/O address
(actually one block of I/O addresses). If either one (or both) was set up
incorrectly, the program will report that you have an "IRQ conflict".

Additional documentation

Do not forget to read the "*.wri" files that were installed to "?:\tropez\".
They contain updated information that was not available when the User's Guide
was printed. You can read them using the "Write" word processor included with
Windows.

"tzsetup.exe" utility (not documented in manual)

The "MPU-401 MIDI" option in "MIDI Setup" refers to the second MIDI port on
the Tropez (the one that is next to the CD drive interface). Unless you
purchased an adapter cable to use this second port, you should leave it as
disabled.

(B) Hardware checks

As should be the case whenever you purchase computer hardware, you are
advised to test all the features of your merchandise as soon as possible
after you receive it. For the Tropez in particular, you should test the
following:

1) Microphone recording: plug in an UNbiased microphone, UN-mute the
microphone input and set its level high enough. You should be able to get
from the output of the Tropez the sounds that are being picked up by the
microphone.
This check is advised because some boards "escaped" from the factory
without the microphone pre-amplifier. TBS disclosed that boards with this
problem can be identified as follows:
"Look on the face of the card just below the CD Audio connector (J1).
There will be a set of capacitors running down the side by the jacks.
At the top, there are two marked C10 and C6. If they have a capacitor
on them (most likely beige, black, or pale green in color) then you
have a pre amp. If not - if it is just bare metal - then..."

2) Plug SIMM's into all the memory slots on the Tropez and test its Sample
Store capabilities using Wave Patch. Also, "setupsnd.exe" should
report the correct amount of memory installed on the Tropez.
If you cannot afford memory, you would do just fine by borrowing one
SIMM and performing this test three times, with the SIMM plugged into
a different slot each time.

Tip from <[email protected]> and Allan Lester
<[email protected]>, 13 Nov. 1995:
If you plug an external mixer into the Tropez, you may want to power the
mixer from the same wall outlet that powers your computer in order to avoid
a ground loop (which causes noise).

(C) Installation tips for 3-diskette set

TBS is also distributing a new set of 3 compressed archives which expand out as
3 replacement installation diskettes, available at their company FTP site
(listed elsewhere in this document). The filenames for this set of installation
files are "tropmk2?.zip". If you choose to install from this set, you MUST
expand the ".zip" files to floppy disks.

On Thu, 25 Jan 1996, Pierre Meindre wrote:
> There's a file named DISK.ID on the third disk that seems to be incorrect :
> Tropez
> 1.1
> Disk #3
> I edit the file to change "1.1" to "1.2" and I've been able to install the
> three disks without problem.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(VI) Other questions

Q. [AIL] Where can I get AIL and MIDPAK drivers for the Tropez?

A. You will probably want the WSS AIL drivers. Refer to section VII.B .
The file "t7gfix3.zip" (a patch for "The 7th Guest") has the MIDPAK
drivers. The latter is available from ftp.cdrom.com .

Q. [business] Is Turtle Beach going out of business?

A. This rumor, rampant during late 1995, turns out to be untrue. Marko Otto,
"Quad" project manager at TBS, posted a statement containing the
following fragment:

Date: Wed, 06 Dec 95 13:13:54
From: marko <[email protected]>
> FACT: Turtle Beach and Value Media will be merging to form one company
> called Turtle Beach Systems. The intent of the new TBS is to form a
> company based around the Diamond or Creative business model. This
> means that you'll see CD-ROM kits, modem/faxernet/Internet kits, and
> of course sound cards.

Q. [buy] Where can I buy the Tropez?

A. Sometime in the spring of 1996 TBS officially discontinued production of the
Tropez. It is being replaced with the "Tropez Plus" board. By the time this
document is published, finding the Tropez in stores will be nearly
impossible; if you really need one, try to contact TBS.

Q. [effects]
Is there a processor for effects such as reverb and chorus on the Tropez?

A. No.

Q. [Hurricane] Does the Tropez feature Hurricane Architecture?

A. No. It requires at least one DMA channel for digital audio functionality.

Q. [MT-32] Can the Tropez emulate a Roland MT-32 or LAPC1 for games?

A. Partially. You can load a MT-32 patch bank to the memory of the Tropez and
have it play music correctly under games that DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PRODUCE
SOUND EFFECTS (i.e. that do not attempt to alter the patches).
Check file "mauimt32.zip", created by Jimmy Wan <[email protected]>, at
FTP sites. You will also need the DOS bank loader "Set Maui".

The Tropez does not support MT-32 system-exclusive messages; lock-ups are
possible if your game tries to send such messages to the Tropez.

Q. [operating systems]
What operating systems are supported by the Tropez package?

A. DOS and Windows support is included in the package. Refer to chapter
VIII for support for other OSs.

Q. [Plus] What is the Tropez Plus?

A. Read about it from the web page "www.tbeach.com/products/tropplus.htm".
I am also going to publish a FAQ file for the Tropez Plus. Look for it in
the same distribution sites that carry this document (but if it is not there
then I have not finished it).

Q. [Quad] Can I use the TBS "Quad" software with the Tropez?

A. No.

Q. [revisions]
What differences are there between the various revisions of the Tropez?

A. On 5 Apr 1995 [email protected] wrote:

> Version 1.3 has the channels reversed. This has been my experience with
> more than one board. (I note that the WaveFront chip is also much
> thinner on this board.) Version 2.0 has the channels wired correctly,
> but makes a nasty pop on the left channel when starting & stopping the
> playing of .wav files.

I own a rev. 2.0 board and have tested it on a few motherboards; the
following suggests that the 'pop' is a rare defect in some Tropez boards:

AIR 486UL No audible pop at end of .wav playback.
486 UMC Inconclusive: a faint click which may have been caused by
external noise.
Dell OptiPlex XM590
No audible pop at end of .wav playback.
Opti 486WB No audible pop at end of .wav playback, even with bus at 11 MHz.

Q. [Sound Blaster 16] Is the Tropez compatible with the Sound Blaster 16?

A. No, and the Tropez does not have a WaveBlaster connector.

Q. [TBS] How do I contact TBS?

A. Address: Turtle Beach Systems
5690 Stewart Avenue
Fremont, California 94538
Telephone: 510 624 6200 (business)
510 624 6265 (technical support)
Fax: 510 624 6291 (business)
510 624 6292 (technical support)
BBS: 510 624 6279
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]

Q. [time] How much time does it take to load samples to the Tropez?

A. There is an overhead of about 30 seconds to let the Wave Patch program
initialize, but I loaded about 400 KB of a drum kit in 5 seconds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(VII) Software and firmware upgrades

(A) Not included but distributed

If I do not indicate where to find any file, you can get it from the FTP sites
listed in the next section of this document.

"Awave" (formerly known as "2PAT") v3.1
Converts instrument patches from many file formats.
On Fri, 7 Jun 1996, Markus Jonsson wrote:
> Awave is available for download on the internet at:
> "http://www.nada.kth.se/~f93-maj/fmjsoft.html"
> If you can't get it from the above location, try:
> ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/incoming/music/programs/awave31.zip
> and as a last resort, if nothing else works, I can email it to you.

"SetWF" (formerly known as "Set Maui") v1.40
File="setwf140.zip"
Loads bank files to the WaveFront synthesizer's RWM under DOS.

"Patchman"
On Sat, 24 Jun 1995, Cafarella, John <[email protected]> wrote:
> Patchman is a utility that is designed to avoid having HUGE Wavefront Bank
> files (.WFB's) on your harddisk.

(B) FTP sites

(1) TBS-related

ftp.hawaii.edu (University of Hawaii, USA)
/outgoing/Maui/ (Software and firmware for Turtle Beach products)
patches/
(Instrument samples and patches)

ftp.tbeach.com (Official company site at Pennsylvania, USA)
/tbeach/ (Drivers for various OS's under this hierarchy)
tropez/ (Tropez-specific files)

ftp.uwp.edu
/pub/msdos/soundcards/turtle.beach/
(Sort of a mirror for Hawaii)

ftp.wi.leidenuniv.nl (University of Leiden, The Netherlands)
I am personally submitting files to this site.
/pub/audio/
players/ (MOD players)
programming/ (AIL, DIGPAK and MIDPAK drivers/programming kits)
tropez/ (Tropez-related files under this hierarchy)

(2) Instrument samples

Following is a list of InterNet sites distributing instrument samples.

On Thu, 23 Feb 1995, David Churcher <[email protected]> wrote:
ftp.mfi.com
/pub/keyboard/AKAI (Akai)
On Tue, 28 Feb 1995, Steve Parker <[email protected]> wrote:
atlantis.informatik.uni-freiburg.de
cs.uwp.edu (Kurzweil)
lotus.UWaterloo.ca
pub/sgroup/samples/Roland/S550 (Roland)
On Thu, 14 Sep 1995, Edwin van Ouwerkerk <[email protected]> wrote:
sweaty.palm.cri.nz (EMAX)
> ... Check there for a utility called EMX this will allow you to
> read EMAX I & II floppy's on a PC.

(C) Module (".mod" file) players

"Dual MOD Player" v4.00
Supports WSS using a DSMI driver.

"Morgul" v1.49
Supports WSS using a DSMI driver.

"WaveFront Extended Module Player" v0.96
File="wemp96.zip"
Sends samples to the sound board RWM and offloads mixing tasks from the CPU.

(D) MIDI (".mid" file) players

"MPlay" v1.8
Simple command-line program, supports karaoke files (displays lyrics)
Get it from: www.teleport.com/~labrat/karaoke.htm

"Delta Midi Station" v1.0
klingon.epas.utoronto.ca /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit/dms-shw1.zip

(E) World-wide web sites

Most of these sites contain instrument samples, utilities and drivers.

On Thu, 23 Feb 1995, David Churcher <[email protected]> wrote:
whiz.mfi.com:80/keyboard/
On Sat, 9 Sep 1995, <[email protected]> wrote:
hyperreal.com
www.wpi.edu/~hades (drivers)
On Sun, 12 Nov 1995, i.s.o.r magazine wrote:
www.infomaniak.ch/~trz/TB-303/tb303.htm (transistor bass 303)
On Tue, 12 Dec 1995, Martin Fay <[email protected]> wrote:
a26.cc.umist.ac.uk/~martin/ (instrument samples)
On Fri, 12 Jul 1996, Brandon S Higa <[email protected]> wrote:
www.lfo.com (iMEDIA site)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(VIII) Operating system support

Some of the operating systems below do not have drivers for the WaveFront
synthesizer, but they do have drivers for MPU-401 devices (which is emulated
by the WaveFront). If you choose to install such generic MPU-401 drivers, you
must somehow manage to first send the WaveFront firmware code to the Tropez
and then load the generic MPU-401 driver. Two ways to do this are:

- Boot DOS, run "setupsnd.exe" and then boot your other OS. This last step can
be a warm reboot, or you can run the "int19h.com" utility described below.
"int19h.com" can reload an OS faster than a warm reboot.

(Paraphrasing John Meyers <[email protected]>)
When you run "int19h.com", you MUST be running with no TSRs, no interrupts
redirected, and in real mode. This means not loading EMM386, QEMM, whatever.

To generate the file "int19h.com" yourself, follow these instructions:
1) At the DOS command prompt, enter the command "copy con int19h.com".
2) Hold down 'Alt'. On the numeric pad hit '2', '0', '5'. Release 'Alt'.
3) Hold down 'Alt'. On the numeric pad hit '2', '5'. Release 'Alt'.
4) Hold down 'Ctrl', hit 'Z', then release 'Ctrl'.
Note: to "hit" a key means to press and release it.

- If your OS emulates DOS, then launch your DOS emulation program (such as a
"DOS window") after making sure that you are allowing DOS applications to
have the priviledge level to issue I/O reads/writes. Once inside this
emulation program, run "setupsnd.exe". At this point, all your DOS
applications THAT CAN EXECUTE PROPERLY UNDER DOS EMULATION should be able
to detect the WaveFront as a MPU-401 device.
However, if you need to run native applications of this "other" OS that use
MPU-401 devices, then you must somehow reinitialize the MPU-401 driver of
this other OS. The most obvious solution is to reboot this "other" OS.

(A) OS/2 (TM)

Drivers for digital audio and FM music are available from the TBS company
FTP site.

For wavetable music, there is a generic MPU-401 driver available from:
hobbes.nmsu.edu /os2/drivers/mmpm_mpu.zip
nic.switch.ch /mirror/os2/drivers/mmpm_mpu.zip
nctuccca.edu.tw /OS/OS2/Vendors/IBM-Europe/os2drivers/latest/mmpm_mpu.zip
You must first download the WaveFront firmware code to the Tropez as
described earlier in this chapter in order to use the WaveFront as a
MPU-401 device.

(B) Windows (TM) 3.x

See the section IV.B .

(C) Windows (TM) 4.x (aka "Windows 95")

Drivers are distributed as files "TROP95_?.ZIP" in the TBS company FTP site.

For extensive information on setting up Tropez support under this OS,
please refer to the document "The Tropez Tattler". Instructions on how to
obtain a copy of it are in section I.D .

On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, Frank Erdman <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Do not use the Maui drivers that came with Win95!"
They cause problems.

(Warning: I have had no first hand experience with Windows 4.x; the
information in the following sub-section was contributed by readers with such
experience.)

Installing Tropez support

Date: Fri, 29 Sep 95 00:27 EST
From: Blair Rideout <[email protected]>
and
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 95 16:47:00 EDT
From: "Cafarella, John" <[email protected]>
If you install Windows 4.x over 3.x, you might not need to upgrade the
drivers or re-configure them. If you do encounter problems, overwrite
your old drivers in "?:\windows\system" with the ones you find in the
3-disk installation set distributed by the TBS company FTP site.

Date: Wed, 27 Sep 95 22:24 PDT
From: The Hosehead <[email protected]>
If you install Windows 4.x and all drivers from scratch, you will need
the 3-disk installation set distributed by the TBS company FTP site.
See section V.C .

Date: Mon, 2 Oct 1995 14:01:43 +0000
From: Chand Malik <[email protected]>
> By the way, if you are installing in WIN95, also download the
> Tropez95.zip file, and run it as advised in the readme file after the
> TROPMK21..23 files are installed and working properly.

(D) Windows NT (TM)

Drivers for digital audio and FM music are available from the TBS company
FTP site.

For wavetable music, there is a generic MPU-401 driver available from:
ftp.ccu.edu.tw /pub/winnt/drivers/other/mpu_nt.zip
ftp.monash.edu.au /pub/winnt/drivers/other/mpu_nt.zip
ftp.winsite.com /pub/pc/winnt/drivers/other/mpu_nt.zip
(Thanks to Marko Heiskanen <[email protected]> for the hint,
Sat, 10 Feb 1996)

You must first download the WaveFront firmware code to the Tropez as described
earlier in this chapter in order to use the WaveFront as a MPU-401 device.

(E) Linux

On Fri, 24 May 1996, Sander.Verbruggen <[email protected]> reported that
starting somewhere near kernel 1.3.60, support had been added for the
WaveFront synthesizer, including uploading firmware to the WaveFront's memory,
and for CS4231A full duplex operation. Check out the "VoxWare" package.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(IX) Programming information

(A) Software Development Kit

TBS has given me permission to distribute copies of the SDK for the Maui
and Tropez boards. This SDK is being converted to electronic format, but for
the time being I can only provide photocopies. Because of this, there will be
a copying fee (variable but no more than 5 US cents per page) and a shipping
charge (whatever USPS charges to mail the SDK to your address). I will accept
checks and money orders in US currency only. You may request my mailing address
at my e-mail address listed in chapter XI.

The SDK is about 140 pages, but some of its chapters are "redundant",
because you can obtain the information elsewhere for free. Here is a
compacted index of the SDK book; barring unusual circumstances, I will only be
distributing the chapters marked with a 'y':

Send? Chapter
----- -------
Preface (survey of TBS products, available at www.tbeach.com)
Introduction to WaveFront I/O ports
(covered in the "User's Guide" of your sound board)
GateKeeper API (available at ftp.wi.leidenuniv.nl)
How to contact TBS (see chapter X)
Maui I/O interface
(exact copy of a chapter in the "User's Guide" of the Tropez)
Patch and program format (available at ftp.wi.leidenuniv.nl)
y WaveFront bus and OS interface details
y Opti 82C929 manual
Crystal CS4231 manual (See section IX.D on how to get this)
y Yamaha OPL3 manual

(B) Sound Blaster modes

For information on programming the Sound Blaster family of cards, check out:
ftp.eng.ufl.edu /pub/msdos/demos/incoming/SBLAST09.ZIP
Oak.Oakland.Edu /SimTel/msdos/sound/sblast09.zip
x2ftp.oulu.fi /pub/msdos/programming/mxinfo/sblast09.zip
/pub/msdos/programming/gpe/pcgpe10.zip

(C) Windows Sound System mode

No official information available at this time. You may want to program for
the AIL or DIGPAK driver for WSS; the location of the programming kit is
listed in section VII.B . The alternative is to program the codec chip
directly, but its interface is a superset of WSS.

(D) CS4231A codec chip

You may obtain the manual/data sheet for this chip from any of the following:

Crystal Semiconductor Corporation
P.O. Box 17847
Austin, Texas 78760 USA
Telephone=512 445 7222, Fax=512 445 7581

Norcomp Manufacturers Representative
1267 Oakmead Parkway
Sunnyvale, California 94086 USA
Telephone=408 733 7707

Ref.: Tue, 31 Jan 1995, Andrew Daviel <[email protected]>:
A block diagram and sample source code for this chip is available by FTP from:
andrew.triumf.ca /pub

(E) Components made by Integrated Circuit Systems

ICS owns TBS, and it provided several components found on the Tropez board. You
can find data sheets and schematics of these components at the URL:
www.icsinc.com/products/products.htm

(F) FM synthesizer

On Mon, 10 Jun 1996, KAWASHIMA Takemasa <[email protected]> reported:
The maintainer of this web page distributes a FM bank loader and editor:
www.channel1.com/users/jamieo/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(X) Questions that remain unanswered

If you have information about the following and would like to contribute it
to this document, please contact me at my address in chapter XI.

**********
How do you extract manually the applets from the "*.z" archives of the
software diskettes? (They cannot be extracted with the "compress.exe"
utility.)
Steve Frank <[email protected]> mentioned that this is a proprietary
compression format, but there must be a way to get into it!

What was the intended use of the file "oswfi.mot"? I do not understand the
description in the User's Guide.

How can we obtain a software development kit for Windows Sound System?

I acknowledge that the line-output voltage of certain CD players is so
high that you cannot feed it into the Tropez without causing some
clipping during recording. I am searching for a convenient solution
(short of inserting resistors).
**********

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(XI) Credits

I want to thank all the parties who contributed information; their contributions
are acknowledged throughout this document. In addition, the following parties
have helped with the maintenance or distribution of this document: (Names are
listed in alphabetical order.)

Rich Heimlich <[email protected]>, for information and goodies.

Brandon Higa <[email protected]>, for FTP site support, and for
the Maui FAQ file and Maui Software FAQ file.

Eric Hsiao <[email protected]>, for GFX News and WWW site support.

Lord Jonin <[email protected]>, for technical spec's.

Janne Juntunen <[email protected]>, for FTP site support.

Sean McCreary <[email protected]>, for maintaining the TBS Mailing
List.

Daniel R. Tauritz <[email protected]>, for FTP+WWW site support.

Turtle Beach Systems, for technical information and support.

With the kind collaboration of the mentioned contributors, this document
was written and is maintained by yours truly, Tow Wang. I can be reached
on the InterNet by electronic mail as: [email protected]

Please note: I am not affiliated with Turtle Beach Systems. I am under no
obligation to provide technical support for the Tropez or any other related
products.

All trademarks mentioned are registered by their respective companies.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(XII) Disclaimer and permission to distribute

This document is distributed at no charge to the general public. No guarantee
whatsoever is provided for the accuracy and/or fitness of the information
contained herein with respect to any purpose or task.

Readers may re-distribute this document provided that the following conditions
are met:

1) No fee whatsoever is charged to the recipient(s) in order to receive this
document. This requirement implies (but is not limited to):
-no fee for downloading or copying this particular document.
-no bundling this document with something for sale or lease, including any
medium used to store this document.
2) Recipient(s) must get this entire document without any modifications.

If you are ALREADY distributing this document in compliance with the above two
conditions, you may request to be added to my mailing list and receive future
updates to this document as soon as they become available.

Distribution of this document by other parties (such as commercial
establishments), and waivers to the preceding conditions, require the written
permission of the author.