README.TXT Darim Vision Co., Ltd. 2002/10/18 MPEGator2 for Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000/XP Version 1.16.11 This file contains the most up to date information about the MPEGator2 and the supplied software (please see the WHATSNEW.TXT file for the list of changes in the software) Contents of this package: ------------------------- Low level device driver for Windows 2000/XP mtrIIpnp.inf (installed to %SystemRoot%\Inf\ with a system-generated name) mtrIIpnp.sys (installed to %SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\) Low level device driver for Windows NT4 (installed to %SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\) mtrII4.sys Low level device drivers for Windows 98 MPEGator2.inf (installed to Windows\Inf\) MTR2PNP.VXD (installed to Windows\System\) MTR2.VXD (installed to Windows\System\) Hardware setup support library for Windows NT4 and 2000/XP (installed to \Drivers\) darvhwdi.dll MPEGator2 DLL and TLB files (installed to Windows\System\ or %SystemRoot%\System32\) MTRA32 .DLL MPEG2MUX.DLL MPEGDMX .DLL NRZCTRL.TLB Redistributable files (installed to Windows\System\ or %SystemRoot%\System32\) MSVCRT.DLL OLEAUT32.DLL REGSVR32.EXE MPEGator2 Application files (installed to ) MPEGator2.EXE MUXONE .EXE DEMUXONE.EXE MTR2CL .DLL MTR2PP .DLL MTR2PS .DLL LazykaClassic.dll Files required for MPEG Editor (installed to ) NRZFILE.DLL NRZMPEG.DLL NRZMVC.DLL NRZPROX.DLL NRZSRV.EXE MPEG2DEC.DLL MPEGator2 SDK availability -------------------------- The most recent version of MPEGator2 Software Development Kit is available online from the MPEGator2 support page (see below) as self-extractable package named M2SDK.EXE. The package is password protected. The password is available to all registered MPEGator2 users upon request. Installation instructions ------------------------- Setup package is distributed as a single self-extracting executable module which contains installation wizard for all of the supported platforms. If any of the previous version of MPEGator2 software was installed in Windows 98 or Windows NT/2000/XP system, it is recommended to uninstall the one before installing the newer version. 1. In Windows 98: In most of the cases the older software can be automatically upgraded simply by running SETUP and specifying the same installation location and program group name. This is true for product versions since 1.16.0.1. However, if you're getting error messages and unable to run MPEGator2 software do the following actions to troubleshoot the problem. * Run Windows Control Panel from the 'Start' menu. * Select the 'System' icon * Click on the 'Device Manager' tab * Expand 'Other Devices' branch (marked with yellow '?') and double-click on the 'PCI Multimedia card' line. * Click on the 'Driver' tab * Click on 'Change Driver' or 'Update Driver' button * Press the 'Next >' button, then select the 'Search for the updated driver' option. When prompted to specify the location, make sure to check the 'Specify Location' checkbox. * Specify the location of the updated files and press 'OK' or 'Finish'. * The OS will automatically determine if the update is necessary and may prompt you to restart the system if important changes were made. Make sure to do this *before* proceeding to the next step. * Run SETUP to complete the installation. Make sure to specify the same location for the application software files program group name as it was done during previous installations. Doing otherwise will prevent MPEGator2 software from being upgraded properly and may result in operational problems and system instability 2. In Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP: * Plug in the hardware before you run the setup to achieve the best experience. * Login as 'Administrator' or equivalent user (must be a member of the 'Administrators' group) * Remove the previous installation if you have one, via Control Panel> Add/Remove Programs applet. Software settings will remain. Reboot if prompted. Normally, reboot is not necessary if you have had 1.16.X version previously installed. IMPORTANT: If you've removed pre-1.16.X installation on Windows NT 4, you must reboot the machine, or the device driver will not be able to start. * In Win2000/XP: if you have removed the previous installation without a reboot, either reboot or initiate the scan for hardware changes from Device Manager snap-in (it could be found through computer property page or Microsoft Management Console). * In Win2000/XP: if the device is plugged in, "Found New Hardware" wizard will appear. Cancel it. IMPORTANT: if you've plugged in the device after software installation, you should complete the wizard to configure the hardware. Being prompted for driver search options, choose "Look for device driver" but do not ask to search any particular place (CD-ROM, floppy, Windows update). The previously prepared device driver will be found automatically. * Run SETUP program to start the installation. You are not forced to specify the same location for the application software files and program group name as it was done during previous installations. * Reboot if prompted. Normally, system restart is not necessary and the device is now ready to work. Current limitations -------------------- * Mpegator2 application currently does not support multiple devices. Only one device will be visible to an application. Troubleshooting Issues ---------------------- * You may experience specific hardware compatibility problem with MPEGator2 device. The devices manufactured prior to year 2002 have no specific PCI identification codes (known as SUBSYSTEM-ID). To support that legacy devices, the device driver is enabled by default to treat all the devices based on Phillips SAA7146 PCI controller as MPEGator2 boards. This can cause problems with similar devices such as Darim Vision Telegeny (2, 3) and other devices (possibly by different vendors) if that ones do have incomplete PCI hardware IDs too. If you do have these problems you should -- ensure that you are using the device manufactured in year 2001 or later. If you have the older device, this clear solution will likely not be available, so see below. -- ensure that device has complete PCI identification code (i.e., is not reported as "MPEGator2 legacy hardware"). If it is detected as a legacy hardware, you have to burn the extended identification code by a special software (this could be accomplished either by yourself or by our tech support teams. Please contact our technical support for details.) -- change the default setting for device driver to enforce strict hardware compatibility. To do this, run "enforce-strict-hwid.5.reg" (Win2000/XP) or "enforce-strict-hwid.4.reg" (WinNT 4) registry script from MPEGator2 software "Drivers" folder. When you do so and have the driver restarted, the false MPEGator2 devices will cease functioning. Then "remove" them by Device Manager and install the proper device driver (do not choose MPEGator2 driver for them again). If you have an older hardware and therefore it is not possible to burn the proper PCI IDs, the only solution remains. Uninstall MPEGator2 and all of the offending devices completely. Shut down the machine and remove all these hardware except 1 board (say, MPEGator2). Install the proper device driver for it. Shut down and plug in the next device. You will know which device driver to choose. And so on. Be aware that if you hardware configuration will change severely some time later, you may be forced to perform the procedure again. Unfortunately, even this workaround is not feasible for Windows NT 4 if you have the legacy hardware. * Some Pentium II motherboards not providing 3.3V power to PCI slots/devices. MPEGator2 hardware CAN'T operate in these computer. The symptoms include one or more of following: * When the PC configuration summary screen is shown (by some BIOS implementations) at the boot time, MPEGator2 is NOT listed among the installed PCI/AGP devices. [Normally MPEGator2 is shown as 'Multimedia Device' with Vendor ID = 0x1131 and Device ID = 0x7146] * When Windows 98 OS is loaded following the *very first* MPEGator2 hardware installation, the 'New Hardware Found' message does NOT appear. * Support for Windows 95 is discontinued. * It is recommended to run MPEGator2 on NT-based operating system - Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or higher. This helps to achieve the best stability and performance. * On NT technology based operating systems (including Windows 2000 and Windows XP) it is recommended to run the program under user account with administrative or "Power User" rights to achieve the best performance possible (this allows to increase a priority and to extend the amount of minimal guaranteed memory available when needed). * There is a number of performance settings made available for device driver on NT-based platforms. WARNING! This information is intended for advanced users. Setting the improper parameters may severely decrease the performance. The settings are written under the driver's parameters registry key "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\mtrIIpnp\Parameters" (or "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\mtrII4\Parameters" under Windows NT 4): ReservePreviewBuffer: REG_DWORD: 1 (ON) or 0 (OFF) -- GDI and DirectDraw System Memory preview modes require special memory buffer (some 1.3 Mb) to be allocated by the device driver. This is pretty resource consuming option and these modes of preview typically are not used with modern video hardware (DirectDraw Overlay surface mode is recommended). So, that buffer allocation may be turned off if video card supports overlays or offscreen video memory surfaces. Remember that GDI and DirectDraw system memory preview modes will not be functional with that buffer disabled. 1 by default. PreallocVectroBuffer: REG_DWORD: 1 (ON) or 0 (OFF) -- whether or not the driver allocates the buffer for vectroscope function during its startup. If you use the vectroscope rarely, you may chose to switch it off. This will save some memory (165 Kb). The vectroscope will remain functional (but your experience might become notably worse). 1 by default. PremapStrmBuffers: REG_DWORD: 0..100 (percent of buffer size) -- the amount of internal kernel capture buffers to be made immediately available when capture starts. Note that the buffer is rarely used for more than 50% of its size, only under a heavy system overload. And even in that circumstances additional mapping may usually be performed if needed. Extensive premapping consumes the scarce system resource. So if your computer is powerful enough you may want to try to decrease the value to release the system resources. But if you want the maximum stability ever possible, increase it up to 100%. 50 by default. MpegVidBufferSizeK: REG_DWORD: 2048..10240 in kilobytes -- the amount of kernel memory allocated for MPEG video capture queue. The bigger buffer may help to solve the stability problems. Though very large buffer not only consumes kernel memory but also leads to increased stream latency. 3000 by default. AudBufferSizeK: REG_DWORD: 280..1400 in kilobytes -- the same for audio stream queue. 400 by default. New values apply with driver restart. Obtaining help and the software updates --------------------------------------- The latest software releases are available at the following locations: http://www.darvision.com/product/mpegator2.html http://www.darvision.com/support/mpegator2.html or ftp://ftp.darvision.com/pub/mpegator2/ Please send all questions, problems, suggestions or comments to our Technical Support team support@darim.com usasupport@darim.com eusupport@darim.com When reporting the problem, please describe your computer configuration, display card model and current mode as well as any other relevant information (HDD operation mode, etc.) Let us know if you wish to receive notifications about future software updates by e-mail. Thank you for purchasing MPEGator2!