ллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллл VOICE BLASTER 2.0 Copyright (c) 1989-1993 Mark E Cowan for Dos by MILLENNIUM SOFTWARE PRODUCTS Author: MARK E. COWAN Mailing address: PO Box 163, West Alexandria, OH 45381 Voice Phone: (513) 839-4674 Compuserve ID: 70303,2050 README.TXT (12/13/93) ллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллл PROGRAM DESCRIPTION =================== Voice Blaster Version 2.0 is a Dos program which allows you to queue up any combination of digitized audio (.VOC) and FM music (.CMF) files. Then you can begin listening to hundreds of music and voice files without having to select a file each time! Record (.VOC) files with unlimited file lengths, and select the input channel and filter settings for SB Pro and SB 16 cards! You can pause, continue, and queue up all audio files in multiple drives and directories and listen to hours of voice audio and FM music from your computer while you work! This version fully supports the Sound Blaster Pro and Sound Blaster 16 compatible cards. Volume controls for all settings are provided for SB Pro and SB 16 series cards! Complete with On- Line Help for playing files and instructions for how to register this product. Options for playing now include: Loop mode - Continuously play selected files until you stop the playing! Random mode - Play selected files at random! *********************************************************** Read about ** Voice Blaster Sr and Voice Blaster Jr ** for Windows 3.1 in the file 'REGISTER.TXT', which provides playing .MID and .WAV files and .WAV recording in Windows!. You get these programs and more free when you register this program! *********************************************************** ллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллл CALL NOW (513) 839-4674 AND REGISTER WITH YOUR VISA OR MASTERCARD FOR IMMEDIATE SHIPMENT! ллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллллл - 2 - SHAREWARE ========= Please try this program out and see for yourself how easy it is to use. Voice Blaster is a shareware program. If you decide to use this program after evaluating it, please send in your registration. You will receive more programs and a manual (see the REGISTER.TXT file, or read the 'REGISTERING' section of Voice Blaster by selecting the 'HELP' button after running VBLASTER. If you decide to use VBLASTER, you must register to receive your license to use the program. Your registration will go towards development of future versions, and you will receive update notices. Please feel free to distribute Voice Blaster to your friends or upload it to your favorite BBS as long as you distribute all the files named below under FILE DESCRIPTIONS. VERSION DESCRIPTION =================== VERSION 2.0 (This version) This version uses the loaded Sound Blaster or Sound Blaster Pro drivers shipped with your sound card. This insures that whatever features are in the Sound Card you may have will be supported with the VBLASTER program including stereo, and any data compression Creative Labs is using for playing .VOC files. This program will search for the .VOC driver in the directory specified by the SOUND environment variable (this should be set up by the SB Card installation software), and if not found, will use one of the drivers supplied with this program depending on you card type. VBLASTER uses the double buffering disk voice driver. The voice driver searched for is called CTVDSK.DRV. The FM Music driver SBFMDRV.COM will be run by the VBLAST.BAT file at startup. Loop mode, and random mode options were added Added SB Pro input mixing controls for selecting stereo or mono mode recording, and input channels (Mic, line in, or CD in) Added SB Pro volume controls for all channels VERSION 1.1 Various bug fixes, used embedded voice and music drivers, did not support stereo files. - 3 - SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS =================== * IBM PC/XT or compatible * Min of 384 KB Ram * Dos 3.3 or Higher * Color Monitor * Mouse recommended but not required * Sound Blaster compatible series card (SB, SB Pro, SB 16) FILES DESCRIPTION ================= VBLASTER.EXE Voice Blaster Dos program file (VBLASTER) VBLASTER.D20 Sound Blaster 2.0 CTVDSK.DRV voice driver VBLASTER.DPR Sound Blaster Pro CTVDSK.DRV voice driver VBLASTER.D15 Sound Blaster 1.5 CTVDSK.DRV voice driver VBLASTER.D16 Sound Blaster 16 CTVDSK.DRV voice driver * VBLASTER.MXR Sound Blaster Pro AUXDRV.DRV mixer driver VBLASTM.HLP Help file for Main program help BLASTP.HLP Help file for Play Dialog BLASTR.HLP Help file for Record Dialog VBLASTER.PCX PCX Graphics file of VBLASTER screen README.TXT Description of VBLASTER and installation VENDOR.DOC Text file for Shareware Vendors for VBLASTER DESCRIBE.DOC Description of VBLASTER program FILE_ID.DIZ VBLASTER description file for BBS BBS.DOC VBLASTER info for BBS operators REGISTER.TXT Text file describing how to register VBLASTER and warranty statement INVOICE.DOC An invoice form which may be printed to make it easy to register * NOTE: A bug was found in the CTVDSK.DRV driver that was shipped with SB 16 cards. The included driver VBLASTER.D16 has this bug fixed. Generally, you may assume that your CTVDSK.DRV driver is OK if it has a later date than 10/25/93. ============================================================ To get a hard copy printout of the Text files above, type: copy readme.txt prn (At the Dos prompt) or: copy readme.txt com1 (if printer is connected to com1) ============================================================ - 4 - INSTALLATION ============ VBLASTER will run from a floppy drive, but it is recommended to install it onto your hard drive. Installation of VBLASTER to a hard drive is easy. Here is what you do: First, if you received VBLASTER on a disk from a Shareware Vendor, then following their installation instructions. If you have received VBLASTER from a BBS, or if their are no installation programs that came with this program, then follow the instructions below: 1) Make a directory for VBLASTER 2) Copy all the above files to the new directory, Here is an example where C:\VBLASTER is the desired directory [PATH] = C:\PCPLUS\DWN ([PATH] is the directory where the VBLASTER files reside). If the files were on the "B:" drive, then substitute "B:" where you see [PATH]. PROMPT YOU TYPE THIS C:\ MD C:\VBLASTER C:\ CD C:\VBLASTER C:\VBJR\ COPY [PATH]\*.* Since VBLASTER is shareware, all the above files must be kept together. Of course, it would be better to use a file copy utility to copy the VBLASTER files, but the above example was given for clarity. If you have received this package from a BBS, then it would be better to unzip all the files directly into the new directory. Here is an example of unarchiving the files into the new directory: PROMPT YOU TYPE THIS C:\PCPLUS\DWN MD C:\VBLASTER C:\PCPLUS\DWN PKUNZIP VBLAST20.ZIP C:\VBLASTER - 5 - ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES ===================== Before running VBLASTER.EXE, make sure your environment variables are setup. There are two variables, one points to the directory of your main Sound Blaster programs, the other sets up the port address, interrupt, DMA number, and the Sound Blaster card type. VBLASTER uses the card type to determine which voice driver to load if it cannot find the driver in the directory specified by SOUND. Here is a description: SOUND=C:\SBPRO This specifies C:\SBPRO as main directory, then the directory search for the CTVDSK.DRV is C:\SBPRO\DRV as dictated by Creative Labs. Make sure this is set by your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You can type: SET at the Dos prompt to see all environment variables. The second environment variable specifies the I/O configuration and card type. Here is an example: BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T2 where: A - specifies the base I/O port used I - specifies the interrupt request line D - specifies the DMA channel T - specifies the card type: 1 for SB 1.5 2 for SB Pro 3 for SB 2.0 4 for SB Pro 2.0 6 for SB 16 Make sure this is setup correctly for your card. It probably is if you have a SB Pro or higher. If you have a SB 1.5 or SB 2.0, you will need to set this up in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that you will not get the warning message at the beginning of the VBLASTER screen every time. Use the above BLASTER=... example, changine only the 220 for port address, 7 for the interrupt, 1 for the DMA channel, and 2 for your card type. Refer to your SB card manual to find out which card type you have. You probably can use the above example changing only the 2 for the correct card type for your card. Here are some examples, exactly as they should appear in AUTOEXEC.BAT EXAMPLE CODE DESCRIPTION (do not include) ===================== ============================ BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T2 (for SB Pro) BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T1 (for SB 1.5) BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T3 (for SB 2.0) - 6 - RUNNING THE PROGRAM =================== To run this program, you must first change to the directory that you installed VBLASTER, such as the example above by typing: PROMPT YOU TYPE THIS C:\ CD C:\VBLASTER C:\VBLASTER\ VBLAST The VBLASTER batch file will first load the FM Music driver SBFMDRV.COM, and then run VBLASTER.EXE. After exiting VBLASTER, the SBFMDRV.COM driver will be removed. You should change VBLAST.BAT batch file to load the SBFMDRV.COM that is shipped with your card. It should be located in the directory specified by the environment variable SOUND. For example, if your SOUND=C:\SB then change the two lines in the VBLAST.BAT file to this: C:\SB\SBFMDRV VBLASTER (no change) C:\SB\SBFMDRV /u Also, if you so desire, you can manually run the SBFMDRV.COM program first, and then run the VBLASTER.EXE program. By running the VBLAST.BAT batch file, the SBFMDRV.COM driver is automatically removed from memory after exiting the VBLASTER program. MILLENNIUM SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AND THE AUTHOR =========================================== Millennium Software Products is a company dedicated to quality and superior Multimedia and Educational software. We hope you enjoy our products, and hope you will register so that we can tell you about our new and exciting products. The author of the Voice Blaster Products is Mark E Cowan. He has been developing software for over 10 years, and has managed an electronic/software development teem for over 8 years. Mark E Cowan is the owner of Millennium Software Products and can be easily contacted via E-mail or phone: Voice Phone: (513) 839-4674 Compuserve ID: 70303,2050 Or send your comments, suggestions, and registrations to: MILLENNIUM SOFTWARE PRODUCTS PO BOX 163 WEST ALEXANDRIA, OH 45381 (12/13/93) readme.txt