The Electronic Mailbox - Bravado 2000 w/ Ulead Media Studio Pro tech tips page The Bravado 2000 w/ Media Studio Pro is an excellent bundle, but we have run into a few tech support issues. This page is the result of lots of hard work from Jon in our tech support area, Truevision support and our customers. We feel if you read and follow the tips on this page, you should get really great results with this card, which is a FANTASTIC value!! As with all our support pages, we suggest you read this entire document first, before you follow the step by step instructions. For more help you can email our Tech Support Team: techguy@videoguys.com For Additional support call (516) 759-1611 or (800) 522-TRUE(8783)

The most important thing you need to know about the Bravado 2000 (or B2K) BEFORE you install it is that it does not like to share an IRQ and it will try to use IRQ 10, 11 or 12. Unlike most PCI devices, the B2K will install over existing hardware and try to steal all its resources. This can result in lockups, freezes, GPF errors and other crashes. If you are getting any of these major problems REMOVE THE B2K and all its software. Follow this link to Truevision's step by step instructions on removing the drivers. Now follow these steps:

1. Start > Settings > Control Panels > System > Device Manager
2. Check to see that none of the devices in your machine have a yellow or red circle next to them. This means you have a device conflict. This must be corrected before you install the B2K. If you already installed the B2K, at this point you need to remove both its hardware and software. Follow this link to Truevision's step by step instructions on removing the drivers.
3. If you do not have any conflicts, you next need to view the IRQs used by your system. Stay in device manager and highlight the top selection computer . Hit the properties button. This will give you a list of your IRQs, in order.
4. Ideally, we would like to see IRQ 10, 11 or 12 available. NOTE: If you see the words "PCI holder for IRQ steering" and nothing else listed on an IRQ, that means it is available and that Windows is ready to use it for a plug & play device. This is very good!!
5. If you do not have any IRQs available, then we are going to have to free one up. This usually means removing some hardware. By this we mean physically removing the hardware and uninstalling the software drivers. Once you have done this, reboot into Win95/98 and get back into the device manager. If you now see the IRQ available, try re-installing the B2K.
6. One of the most frustrating tech support issues is a device that is installed and running but does not have an IRQ. Every piece of hardware in your system must either have it's own IRQ, or be hooked into a controller that has an IRQ (i.e. SCSI). Many AGP graphics cards can run perfectly in your system but not show an IRQ in the IRQ list in device manager. If this is the case, you must reinstall the drivers for this card manually. Make sure you are using the latest driver downloaded from the graphics card vendor's website. Here is how we recommend installing the new graphics card driver:
   • Start > Settings > Control Panels > Display > Settings > Advanced Properties > Adapter > Change
   • Check the show all devices button
   • Select the first entry (standard display devices)
   • Select Standard VGA
   • OK out.
   • At this time you will be asked to reboot your computer. Say yes.
   • When the computer reboots it will detect your graphics card. This is GOOD! Make sure you hit the "have Disk" button. Now direct Windows to the new drivers you have just downloaded.
   • Reboot the computer.
   • Go back into device manager. Now the graphics card should show up in the IRQ list. If it is sharing an IRQ with another device, do not panic! This may not turn out to be a problem at all.
7. One of our favorite tricks for stealing back an IRQ is to replace your PS2 mouse (on IRQ 12) with a standard serial mouse. This works on most systems. A few motherboards (most notably the Dell Dimensions PII 450) will not free up this IRQ, even with the PS2 mouse removed.
8. Another IRQ that you may be able to steal is the USB Universal Host Controller. If the B2K installs on the same IRQ as the USB, this may not be a problem, as long as you don't have any USB devices. If you do not have any USB devices, you can highlight it in device manager, select remove and reboot.
9. Plug & Play sound cards are supposed to use IRQ 5 first. If you have IRQ 5 open and your sound card is on a different IRQ, try removing the sound card and its drivers. Reboot Windows. Check to see that IRQ 5 is still available. Now install the B2K. It will take the IRQ the sound card had. Test to see that the B2k is working. Now re-install the sound card. It will go into IRQ 5 like it belongs.

Thanx to Tracy Pounders for these great tips. He worked with Truevision support for a couple of hours, and was kind enough to share the fruits of his labors with all of us!!

1. Everyone installing the B2KUlead should install the driver on the Truevision web site, rather than the CD, though both are numbered 1.03 - the CD version has an installation problem. Non Pentium II owners may want to install the drivers with the Pentium II setting marked, even if they don't have a PII. Download driver here.

2. The following item in the /Windows/System.ini file should have a value of either 256 or 512 (mine defaulted to 128 and caused problems) - I have a 440TX chipset MB w/ AMDK6/166 and the 256 setting worked best - this corrects some PCI set problems, such as conflicts with sound cards. On a Pentium II system with the BX chipset Truevision has found that 512 is generally the best setting for the number of pages. [VDMAMemD] NumberOfPages=512

3. In Media Studio Pro, the Preview feature WILL NOT WORK unless you have a separate sound card. This is generally seen in systems running under Windows 98 but may occur under Windows 95 OSR2 if DirectX 6 and the new Microsoft Media Player are installed. - the "Best" setting works smoother than "Optimal". The B2K/MSP has problems playing back 352x240 in Preview Setting.

Other potential Conflicts/Problems

Truevision is working on a new driver that will improve compatibility, add NT support and support for Premiere 5.x. These drivers are expected to be released in the next few months.