Файл: Eventide_H8000FW_UM.pdf

Buffer Size

This allows you to change the FireWire buffer size. See Setting the sample rate and buffer size for the system for more information.

Unique ID

This is the FireWire serial number for the Master H8000FW. Thanks to the magic of computers, the last 5 digits are the serial number in hexadecimal (base-16). It can be displayed by moving the mouse over the Master’s name.

Operation Mode

This allows you to select between Normal and various Safe modes. These modes allow you to trade latency for more reliable performance, ranging from Normal to Safe Mode 3. Normal will give the lowest added latency, while Safe Mode 3 will increase latency but be less prone to dropouts when the computer is overloaded. See DPC below for further information.

Global Settings - WDM Page

WDM stands for Windows Driver Model, and is a form of audio interface software found on Windows computers from Windows 98SE onwards. In most cases, use of the alternative Windows driver scheme ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) is to be preferred. Windows experts will know that WDM and ASIO are not directly comparable, but these subtleties will be unimportant to most users.

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Set WDM Channel Maps

WDM applications are often mainly inclined to think in terms of sound cards, and have trouble interfacing to a true multi-channel system such as the H8000FW.

As a result the H8000FW offers some options to produce “Channel Maps”, which disguise the H8000FW as the sort of configuration that the WDM application may be expecting.

Here we have an example of the

H8000FW masquerading as a set of

Surround Sound speakers.

Select input or output as appropriate, and

then click and drag from the WDM Channels list at the left to the Device channels table to connect the H8000FW channels to the WDM outputs or inputs. Selecting Reset connects all channels.

Global Settings - DPC Page

A Deferred Procedure Call (DPC) is a Windows driver mechanism that can consume a lot of CPU time at critical periods, which can reduce the performance and reliability of audio applications and drivers. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_Procedure_Call for technical information). WDM systems are particularly sensitive to such problems.

Problems caused may include drop-outs, or in serious cases, Locking and Unlocking of the system. This will often be accompanied by relay clicks from the H8000FW.

To analyze these problems, this page includes a DPC Latency checker which can help analyze the delays introduced by DPCs.

If you temporarily enable this and let it run for long enough for any problems to have occurred (a few minutes), then move the cursor over the Recommended Operation Mode field, you will be given a description of the computer’s performance.

If there are problems, you will be recommended to change the Operation Mode. Be aware that the safer (higher numbered) modes will add latency, so you should try and find the source of any problems first.

You should also check that your system has the latest Network drivers. In particular, the use of Microsoft Outlook with an Exchange server (but not POP3 or IMAP) has been reported to cause significant latency increase. It is desirable to keep all network activities to a minimum when doing critical sessions.

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Global Settings -System Page

There are a number of different FireWire hardware configurations that may be installed on your computer. Some of these work better than others. The system page allows you to identify the FireWire “chip set” and Operating System used on your computer and tells you what we know about them. Hit Scan now to bring up the page shown.

Global Settings -Info Page

PAL, Driver version

These are software version numbers for the driver and the Control Panel software. They will usually be the same.

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T r o u b l e s h o o t i n g W i n d o w s s y s t e m s

In most cases, the Windows drivers will install correctly, and everything will be fine. If the system does not operate as expected, here are a few things to try.

1)Manually uninstall any existing drivers. To uninstall a functioning driver, connect the H8000FW Firewire cable to your PC and power up the H8000FW. Look at Control Panel/System Properties/Device Manager under “Sound video and game controllers”. You should see an entry called either “Eventide Dice” or “H8000FW”.

Right-click on this entry and select “Uninstall”.

Then, hit the “Start” button at the bottom left of the screen and move the mouse over “All Programs”. If you see an entry called either “H8000 Drivers” or “Eventide Inc” move the mouse over this and click on “Uninstall …”. Answer “Yes” or “OK” where appropriate.

Then, disconnect the FireWire cable and re-install the drivers as described in Installing Drivers on Your PC.

2)Check your FireWire card. First, look at Control Panel/System Properties/Device Manager under “IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers”, or similar. You should see the name of the manufacturer of the chip set used on the card, which should be described as “OHCI compliant”. Further information may be available on the card manufacturer’s Web Site (hard to find for “no-name” cards).

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Eventide recommends cards using a Texas Instrument chip set. In particular, the following chip sets are not recommended for use with H8000FW:

If you suspect that the FireWire card may be causing problems - consider replacing it – they are cheap and widely available. Symptoms may include erratic behavior or problems when using a lot of channels, or when using other devices on the same FireWire bus.

3)If you are using WDM drivers (low-cost applications on Windows), make sure that the sample (clock) rate of the H8000FW is the same value as that of your project. This will usually be one of the “internal” values.

4)Perform the DPC Latency Test described on page 171, and change the Operation Mode if recommended.

5)If possible, disconnect all network cables from your computer. Otherwise, try to prevent any network activity during important playback.

6)These drivers allow 64 bit operation on either Windows XP or Vista, but this is not commonly used and is not supported by Eventide.

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I n s t a l l i n g D r i v e r s o n Yo u r M a c i n t o s h

This section describes how to install the software drivers required to operate the H8000FW Multi-Channel Effects System with your Macintosh. Note that the current HW8000FW drivers are compatible only with OSX 10.5.2 (Leopard) or higher. See the release notes (later) for up to date support information.

The driver is contained in a file called Eventide.dmg. This may be either on a CD or downloaded from the Eventide Web Site. The latest drivers are always available from the Support section of the Web Site.

The version numbers displayed (i.e. 3.2.0 etc) may differ from those you see during the installation. Depending on the driver version, the H8000FW may be known to the computer as either H8000 or Eventide Dice.

Make sure that the H8000FW is either powered down or its FireWire cable is disconnected.

Once you have located the dmg file, double-click it to view the contents.

A loading notification window briefly displays, then the following two files,

Eventide_*.pkg and EventideUninstaller, display:

Double-click Eventide _*.pkg to proceed.

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The first installation screen now displays:

The Release Notes show information about the current release – this is often rather technical. Click Continue to proceed.

The next installation screen (below) prompts you for the destination drive for the H8000FW drivers:

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Note that if your Macintosh has more than one hard drive, the H8000FW drivers must be installed to your boot drive.

Click Install to proceed.

Next, a window displays to inform you that a restart is required after the installation process is concluded:

Click Continue Installation.

The installation process now begins. A status bar displays the progress of the installation. After the install completes, a prompt displays to restart your computer (next page):

Click Restart to restart your computer and conclude the installation.

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