jmail
08-31-2007, 10:07 PM
First off, I realize that most posters don't ask this, so this "technically" isn't a FAQ...
OK, here goes = First of all, make sure your computer has what it takes. Make sure that if you're getting a PCI sound card, that you have an available PCI slot in the computer. My nForce3 board has 5 PCI slots, but it's "ancient" by today's standards. Some of the older "new" boards have 3 PCI slots, with a few PCIe slots. Some of the newer boards only have 2 or even just one PCI slot, but more PCIe ones. There's already some on the market that have no PCI slots, which could present a slight problem for a PCI card install. Make sure. Open the computer and look. Clean the innards while you're there...
Then, start Windows up and open the Device Manager ("Start", "Control Panel", "System", "Hardware" tab, "Device Manager" button) and click on "View" then "Resources by type". Then click on the "+" plus sign by "Interrupt request IRQ". (Commit this technique to memory, you will be tested on it later... Besides, you'll use it quite often.) (Another way to do it is to "Start", "Run", "msinfo32" and go from there.) Either do a <print scr> and print that out, or get yourself a notebook (you'll want one later) and write down the IRQ assignments. Also, big thing... check the manufacturer's web site of your intended purchase for "minimal" system specs. If they say "1.4gHz P4 or equivalent, don't expect a Celeron to do the job. If they say "256mb RAM minimum, 512mb recommended", believe them. There's a reason for that. Also, it's always a good idea to have a 2nd hard drive in the computer (or outside it) that is dedicated to recording your audio to. (As always, a 7200 rpm drive is better than a 5400. That kind of stuff...) That alleviates the bottleneck of the hard drive interface trying to do "system" work and audio work at the same time.
If you know the computer's motherboard model, you might be able to find some appropriate information from the manufacturer's web site, or maybe you have the owner's manual and can consult it. You're looking for any info on PCI slots and IRQ assignments. But it's not necessary to have this info, as you can do it yourself by trial and error. Now get the sound card's instructions out. READ them. Do it again. If there's a tutorial pdf (print it) or a print-out, read over it. Get acquanted with the instructions. Go to the manufacturer's web site and read-up on stuff there (hopefully, you did some preliminary investigatin' kind of stuff, and you know where to go). When you go to do the install, follow the instructions to the letter.
Most times, the sound card manufacturers will just "politely" mention that AV scanners and other programs of that ilk "might interfere" with your audio... I'm here to tell that they will, without a doubt, interfere. Period. Go to musicxp.net for Windows XP tweaks, or just check-out this link for XP (http://www.audioforums.com/windows-xp-optimization.php) and this link for Vista (http://www.audioforums.com/windows-vista-optimization.php) tweaking tips. Now, Get yourself that notebook you had earlier. For old fahrts like me, get some reading glasses. Ya might even need a flashlight, or some other "up close" kind of light. A phillips screw driver is usually helpful, also. You might even consider "stripping" the computer of any other cards (besides the video, of course), if you want to ensure a "clean" install. (Don't forget to un-install the software and drivers associated with them first...)
Open that case and pick your pre-picked slot. Remove the "blank" if necessary. Insert the card and boot into Windows. Install the driver as per the manufacturer's instructions. Pay attention here... Some manufacturer's will tell you to cancel the "New Hardware Found..." wizard and install from the disk. Do that if they say to, else your card will be mis-identified by Windows, and the install is trashed before you started... If they say to do the wizard, follow the instructions and do it that way. Do not deviate from the manufacturer's instructions. If you lost the install instructions, contact the manufacaturer for another copy (or see if they have them available for download on their site). Do not shoot from the hip. You'll have nothing but aggravation and grief if you don't.
Generally, you'll have to re-boot. After you do, but before you install anything else, go to the IRQ table again and check what you have. Write it down in that notebook you have (you do have the notebook, don't your?). Be sure and notate the slot you're in. If you see the sound card on an IRQ all by itself, you should be good to go with the rest of the install. *Do not*, I repeat: DO NOT trust Windows to tell you "No Conflicts" by just looking at the Device Manager "default" view. Look at the IRQs themselves. They are numbered for easy reference. If you have something like "PCI 17 ATI X1550 Graphics" on one line, and below it is something like "PCI 17 M-Audio 192 Audio" (or whatever your sound card is), you have a "conflict", and no amount of "sharing" will eliminate the grief that awaits you. If you have a conflict, then un-install the driver for the sound card. Shut-down the computer. Cold-start into Windows again, but without the card. This helps clean the registry of most installs. Move the card to a different slot. Try the driver install again. Re-check the IRQ table, and write down the information. You may end up trying all five slots (if you have that many), and not finding a "free" IRQ for your card. Now, sure, some cards can work like this. To a point. But most cannot do a high simultaneous track record count when there's a conflict. I'd prefer to "fix" it...
This is where the writing-stuff-down comes in handy. Go back through your list, and see which "conflict" is the lesser of two evils, and dis-able and/or remove the other device. Don't forget to un-install any software or driver associated with said device first. In my case, the 2nd sound card install I did on one particular motherboard I had, the 3rd PCI slot conflicted with the onboard audio. Since I had a new sound card, why would I *need* the onboard audio? Un-install, dis-able it in the BIOS, and I had a "free" IRQ for the new sound card. You may have 6 USB ports, residing on 3 different IRQs. How many of those are you *really* going to use? Dis-able a port in the BIOS (don't "kill" your USB2, if you have one - you'll have to experiment). Or perhaps, your sound card has a firewire port, and you have multiple firewire ports on the computer. Maybe you don't need all those ports. Onboard modem? Do you *really* need that if you've got a 100mb NIC and DSL or cable? Speaking of NICs, wireless network cards can *really* wreak havoc on audio cards. How important is it for you to have wireless in your DAW? I mean, think realistically here. With my old 1.4g Athlon, I had to give up on a lot of "pipe dreams" of being able to do "everything" with that particular computer, and finally just "dedicated" it to DAW work. Things went oh-so-much smoother once I did that. With my 3400+, it's not near as important, and with the newer multi-cores, probably less so, still... If you have troubles, go back to the basics. Build from there.
Once you have the sound card IRQ free and clear, you can finish the software install. Myself, I like to "ghost" the drive right after that. I've never had to use an image for a restore since I've been doing it, but an old restore "from scratch" a few years ago larnt me my lesson well. The only "help" I had for that one was my trusty notebook... 'Nother thing or two: A firewire card install can be quite similar to this, especially if you're using an add-in firewire card. Again, you want that firewire card on its own IRQ. Sharing is not allowed. In fact, it ought to be a dirty word in the DAW world. Thing is with firewire cards, the chipset can make or break. Texas Instruments (TI) are time and time again mentioned as the most compatible. They cost more, but there's a reason for that, and it's called "throughput". Same way with USB sound cards. If the port you "install" on conflicts with something else, it can possibly cause troubles. Try a different port. Some folks find satisfaction with an after-market add-in USB card (again, it must be "IRQ free").
I hope I didn't bore you to tears with this, and that you may have actually enjoyed the read. Have fun, and remember: computers cannot feel pain. They are inanimate objects, and have no feelings. They cannot be embarrassed. They do not burn. But they sure do make a neat "crash" when dropped from the 4th floor of the school's computer lab...
If you happen to find any fault(s) with this, be sure and point it(them) out... And if you do still have problems, be sure and post back with your current IRQ table, system specs (make/model number of computer/motherboard, ram, hard drives, etc.) and sound card. Be sure and ask for help from someone like sabianq or itsplayed...
OK, here goes = First of all, make sure your computer has what it takes. Make sure that if you're getting a PCI sound card, that you have an available PCI slot in the computer. My nForce3 board has 5 PCI slots, but it's "ancient" by today's standards. Some of the older "new" boards have 3 PCI slots, with a few PCIe slots. Some of the newer boards only have 2 or even just one PCI slot, but more PCIe ones. There's already some on the market that have no PCI slots, which could present a slight problem for a PCI card install. Make sure. Open the computer and look. Clean the innards while you're there...
Then, start Windows up and open the Device Manager ("Start", "Control Panel", "System", "Hardware" tab, "Device Manager" button) and click on "View" then "Resources by type". Then click on the "+" plus sign by "Interrupt request IRQ". (Commit this technique to memory, you will be tested on it later... Besides, you'll use it quite often.) (Another way to do it is to "Start", "Run", "msinfo32" and go from there.) Either do a <print scr> and print that out, or get yourself a notebook (you'll want one later) and write down the IRQ assignments. Also, big thing... check the manufacturer's web site of your intended purchase for "minimal" system specs. If they say "1.4gHz P4 or equivalent, don't expect a Celeron to do the job. If they say "256mb RAM minimum, 512mb recommended", believe them. There's a reason for that. Also, it's always a good idea to have a 2nd hard drive in the computer (or outside it) that is dedicated to recording your audio to. (As always, a 7200 rpm drive is better than a 5400. That kind of stuff...) That alleviates the bottleneck of the hard drive interface trying to do "system" work and audio work at the same time.
If you know the computer's motherboard model, you might be able to find some appropriate information from the manufacturer's web site, or maybe you have the owner's manual and can consult it. You're looking for any info on PCI slots and IRQ assignments. But it's not necessary to have this info, as you can do it yourself by trial and error. Now get the sound card's instructions out. READ them. Do it again. If there's a tutorial pdf (print it) or a print-out, read over it. Get acquanted with the instructions. Go to the manufacturer's web site and read-up on stuff there (hopefully, you did some preliminary investigatin' kind of stuff, and you know where to go). When you go to do the install, follow the instructions to the letter.
Most times, the sound card manufacturers will just "politely" mention that AV scanners and other programs of that ilk "might interfere" with your audio... I'm here to tell that they will, without a doubt, interfere. Period. Go to musicxp.net for Windows XP tweaks, or just check-out this link for XP (http://www.audioforums.com/windows-xp-optimization.php) and this link for Vista (http://www.audioforums.com/windows-vista-optimization.php) tweaking tips. Now, Get yourself that notebook you had earlier. For old fahrts like me, get some reading glasses. Ya might even need a flashlight, or some other "up close" kind of light. A phillips screw driver is usually helpful, also. You might even consider "stripping" the computer of any other cards (besides the video, of course), if you want to ensure a "clean" install. (Don't forget to un-install the software and drivers associated with them first...)
Open that case and pick your pre-picked slot. Remove the "blank" if necessary. Insert the card and boot into Windows. Install the driver as per the manufacturer's instructions. Pay attention here... Some manufacturer's will tell you to cancel the "New Hardware Found..." wizard and install from the disk. Do that if they say to, else your card will be mis-identified by Windows, and the install is trashed before you started... If they say to do the wizard, follow the instructions and do it that way. Do not deviate from the manufacturer's instructions. If you lost the install instructions, contact the manufacaturer for another copy (or see if they have them available for download on their site). Do not shoot from the hip. You'll have nothing but aggravation and grief if you don't.
Generally, you'll have to re-boot. After you do, but before you install anything else, go to the IRQ table again and check what you have. Write it down in that notebook you have (you do have the notebook, don't your?). Be sure and notate the slot you're in. If you see the sound card on an IRQ all by itself, you should be good to go with the rest of the install. *Do not*, I repeat: DO NOT trust Windows to tell you "No Conflicts" by just looking at the Device Manager "default" view. Look at the IRQs themselves. They are numbered for easy reference. If you have something like "PCI 17 ATI X1550 Graphics" on one line, and below it is something like "PCI 17 M-Audio 192 Audio" (or whatever your sound card is), you have a "conflict", and no amount of "sharing" will eliminate the grief that awaits you. If you have a conflict, then un-install the driver for the sound card. Shut-down the computer. Cold-start into Windows again, but without the card. This helps clean the registry of most installs. Move the card to a different slot. Try the driver install again. Re-check the IRQ table, and write down the information. You may end up trying all five slots (if you have that many), and not finding a "free" IRQ for your card. Now, sure, some cards can work like this. To a point. But most cannot do a high simultaneous track record count when there's a conflict. I'd prefer to "fix" it...
This is where the writing-stuff-down comes in handy. Go back through your list, and see which "conflict" is the lesser of two evils, and dis-able and/or remove the other device. Don't forget to un-install any software or driver associated with said device first. In my case, the 2nd sound card install I did on one particular motherboard I had, the 3rd PCI slot conflicted with the onboard audio. Since I had a new sound card, why would I *need* the onboard audio? Un-install, dis-able it in the BIOS, and I had a "free" IRQ for the new sound card. You may have 6 USB ports, residing on 3 different IRQs. How many of those are you *really* going to use? Dis-able a port in the BIOS (don't "kill" your USB2, if you have one - you'll have to experiment). Or perhaps, your sound card has a firewire port, and you have multiple firewire ports on the computer. Maybe you don't need all those ports. Onboard modem? Do you *really* need that if you've got a 100mb NIC and DSL or cable? Speaking of NICs, wireless network cards can *really* wreak havoc on audio cards. How important is it for you to have wireless in your DAW? I mean, think realistically here. With my old 1.4g Athlon, I had to give up on a lot of "pipe dreams" of being able to do "everything" with that particular computer, and finally just "dedicated" it to DAW work. Things went oh-so-much smoother once I did that. With my 3400+, it's not near as important, and with the newer multi-cores, probably less so, still... If you have troubles, go back to the basics. Build from there.
Once you have the sound card IRQ free and clear, you can finish the software install. Myself, I like to "ghost" the drive right after that. I've never had to use an image for a restore since I've been doing it, but an old restore "from scratch" a few years ago larnt me my lesson well. The only "help" I had for that one was my trusty notebook... 'Nother thing or two: A firewire card install can be quite similar to this, especially if you're using an add-in firewire card. Again, you want that firewire card on its own IRQ. Sharing is not allowed. In fact, it ought to be a dirty word in the DAW world. Thing is with firewire cards, the chipset can make or break. Texas Instruments (TI) are time and time again mentioned as the most compatible. They cost more, but there's a reason for that, and it's called "throughput". Same way with USB sound cards. If the port you "install" on conflicts with something else, it can possibly cause troubles. Try a different port. Some folks find satisfaction with an after-market add-in USB card (again, it must be "IRQ free").
I hope I didn't bore you to tears with this, and that you may have actually enjoyed the read. Have fun, and remember: computers cannot feel pain. They are inanimate objects, and have no feelings. They cannot be embarrassed. They do not burn. But they sure do make a neat "crash" when dropped from the 4th floor of the school's computer lab...
If you happen to find any fault(s) with this, be sure and point it(them) out... And if you do still have problems, be sure and post back with your current IRQ table, system specs (make/model number of computer/motherboard, ram, hard drives, etc.) and sound card. Be sure and ask for help from someone like sabianq or itsplayed...