1. Before you install the new hardware Make up a fresh Win95 boot disk, and back up all your files.
2. Install any editing software first.
   By this we mean Premiere, Media Studio Pro, VideoWave etc. Many of our cards look for the NLE software and automatically install presets. These presets will not only make your video look better, but they will also help you avoid any overlooked required settings.
3. Turn the power on your PC off and unplug the monitor. Do not unplug the AC power cord. Leaving it plugged in will let you properly ground your system. Once you have removed the cover of your PC, gently grab onto the metal frame to ground yourself before you remove, add or touch any of the components.
4. When you go to install the new board, you may find that it doesn't want to go in. Gently rock the board back and forth, and front to back along the slot (apply even pressure). When the board does go in, make sure that both ends are completely in the slot.

This may sound like a lot of work, but doing this entire check will take only about 15 minutes if everything is OK. Win95 plug & play is only as good as the foundation it starts on. If everything is configured correctly, new hardware can be added with ease. Unfortunately plug & play is still pretty dumb, so you can have a system that appears to be running great with loads of hidden conflicts. Only when you try to add and use a video capture card will you run into trouble. Investing just 15 minutes in system checking can save you hours of frustration later.

Making IRQs available & resolving conflicts

1. Try installing the capture card.
   On many systems today you can share an IRQ. If you can't get the capture card to function correctly in your system because it won't share an IRQ, you will have to try some of next the steps.

2. Install the capture card in a different slot.
   Just moving the card can fix IRQ problems. This tip works for Win95, Win98 and NT. Putting the capture card in the PCI slot next to the AGP slot often results in both cards sharing an IRQ. We've also found that the last PCI slot (often a shared PCI/ISA slot) is also a bad choice for the video capture card. So our best advice is to put the capture card in a middle PCI slot.

3. Move the mouse.
   Most new systems ship with a PS2 mouse installed using IRQ12. By switching this mouse for either a serial or USB mouse, you will gain a very valuable IRQ. Note: This tip may not work in your machine. Unfortunatley some motherboards/ BIOS will still reserve IRQ 12 for a PS2 mouse.

4. Take control of your sound card.
   Some systems come with a sound card that is on multiple IRQs. This can be very frustrating, but I have found a fix for this that works on most systems. In a proper Win95/98 plug & play the sound card should be in IRQ 5. This is usually the primary resourses of the card. I have discovered that you can go into device manager and disable the secondary IRQ and still have a fully functional sound card. Here is what you do. Go back into device manager and check out the IRQ listing. Right down the name of the Sound Card device that is in an upper IRQ (not the one in IRQ 5). Now go back into device manager and look under Sound, Video & Game controllers. You will see several entries for your sound card. Look for the entry that matches the one using the secondary IRQ. Highlight it and select properties. Now check the box that says "Disbale in this hardware profile". Reboot your computer. You should still be able to get sound from your sound card. You can test this by playing any .wav file. Now if you go back into device manager, under Sound, Video & Gane controllers you will see the extra device for the sound card listed with a big red "X" on it. Go into the IRQ listing and the IRQ it was on should now be available!! Now re-install your capture card and everything should work great! Note: If you disbled your sound card when you did this, go back into the properties for it and uncheck the do not use box. Reboot and it will start working again.

5. If you keep getting errors that the capture device can't be found or isn't installed, it may be that Win98 has assigned it's own resources to the DV Card.
   This causes an inconsistency between what the card drivers detect and what Win98 wants to assign. To correct this, disable the PCI steering in Win98. Option is in Device Manager, System Bus, PCI Bus, select Properties, IRQ Steering Tab. Remove the check mark for "Use IRQ steering". Upon re-boot this may correct the problem. If it does not, remove the DV card and all software. Reboot Win98 twice. Check that the DV is not installed and you have an open IRQ. Check that PCI steering is still not checked. Now install the DV card.

6. Create a new hardware profile
   This is a bit tricky, but it does work. First go into System Properties and go into the Hardware Profiles Tab. Copy the current Profile. Name the copy "DTV". Now when you reboot the computer you will be asked what profile you wish to use. Select "DTV". Go into device manager and disable all the extra devices that are using IRQs that you do not need to edit video. These include your modem, network card, extra sound card IRQs etc. Now reboot the computer. Select "DTV" profile and once go into device manager. Look at the IRQ list. You should now have the resources you need to install your video capture card. Power down, install the card and select the "DTV" profile. Install the device drivers and software per the cards manual. All should now work great. When you reboot into Windows using the "Original Configuration" it may detect the new PCI device. Install the hardware again. Then go into device manager and disable it. Now when you boot into the "Original Configuration" you will see all your original hardware. The capture card will have a Rex "X" in it. Note: It is VERY important that you make a complete back up of your system before you set up multiple profiles. That way if something goes wrong, and lets face it, stuff happens, you can restore your original settings.

• Everyone’s PC is a little different, and the set up for your machine may require some extra steps, or different commands to get going. If you feel you have followed all the steps in the manual correctly and the system is not working, we recommend starting over from scratch one more time.

  Follow these 10 steps for re-installing a board in Win95/98

  1. Use the uninstall icon and remove the software
  2. Go into >Control Panel>System>Device Manager>select the video capture card>Remove
  3. Go into >Control Panel>Multimedia>Advanced>Video Capture Devices>Select Capture Card>Properties>Remove
  4. Shut down computer
  5. Remove hardware
  6. Boot Up
  7. Repeat steps 2 & 3 making sure video capture device is not listed
  8. Make sure computer is performing correctly
  9. Shut Down Computer again
  10. Re-Install Hardware and Software
  
  Note: The reboot cycle (steps 6-9) is very important in Win95. By running thru a complete boot cycle with no changes, Win95 resets itself and remembers a stable system. NEVER install two cards at the same time. Always perform a complete boot cycle before adding a second card.

• If, after two tries, you are still unsuccessful, call Gary, Phil or Rich our Desk Top Video experts on our FREE DTV support hotline (516) 759-1615. If they can’t get you up and going, they will help you get the right person at the manufacturer’s help desk. Here is a list of some tech support phone numbers.

EIDE RAID Controllers

1. go in to your Bios
2. Advanced
3. PCI Configuration
4. PCI Latency Timer
5. CHANGE IT FROM 32 TO 64

We are seeing issues with Promise Fast Track (either a stand alone card or built into the mobo) and our real-time cards. Here are two excellent tips right from Promises FAQs.
Cause: PCI BUS Latentcy issue between FastTrak100 & Video Capture Card.
Solution: The main problem is that most video capture cards do not have a buffer, relying completely on the speed of the PCI bus. The problem with that is when you get HDDs that are transferring large quantities of data, they also need a large portion of the PCI bandwidth. This, of course, prohibits the video capture card from getting enough PCI bandwidth to stream video without flaw. There are only two things you can do that would affect this.

1. One is to adjust the PCI Utilization slider bar in the FastCheck utility. This will, however, slow the transfer rate of the FastTrak100.
2. The other will only work if you have an array consisting of two HDDs. If you reconfigure the HDDs into a master/slave setup, this will also reduce the PCI utilization of the card. Changing BLOCK SIZE (upon setup of array) can help in these situations. We are currently looking into issues between our card and the Pinnacle DV300/500 Series of Capture Cards.

Solution: Benchmark the array/s to determine if the problem is a resource issue between the two controllers or a performance problem with the array on the FastTrak Controller. Go this Url for info on Benchmarking, http://support.promise.com/techsupport/benchmark/benchmarking_drives_FastTrak33_66_100.htm If you benchmark results are good, then the problem is Resource issue between the two controllers.

1. Be sure that the FastTrak Controller and the Video Capture Card are not on the same IRQ. The should have their own IRQ if possible. Using a Motherboard that allows you to specify the IRQ for specific slots is recommended.
2. Try slot swapping. Placing the cards in different slots can resolve some BUS Master contention conflicts.
3. Obtain the latest BIOS from your motherboard manufacture.

1. Try configuring the Striped Array on the same channel in a Master Slave Configuration. Some latency issue appear from time to time and the Master/Slave Setup provides a workaround.
2. Backup all data on the Array then try different block sizes by deleting the array and then recreating the array. Then change the block from the default (of 64kb) to 128kb or 256kb. In many cases especially with large arrays a large block size can improve sustained data rates.
3. If needed install Chipset drivers for the System Chipset. Such as those needed for VIA´s Chipsets.
4. If the array has been partitioned or formatted with 3rd party utilities, try partitioning and formatting the array with Fdisk and Format in DOS.
5. Try reducing the PCI BUS usage of the FastTrak controller by installing the FastCheck Utility. Once the Utility is installed, launch it, then click on the ´´options´´ tab. Slide the PCI BUS Utilization slider towards ´´less´´.

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