Reference Guide

863
Improving Performance with Digital Audio
Improving Audio Performance
settings can reduce PCI bus contention problems. Be sure to check out www.cakewalk.com/
Support/Docs/VideocardTips.html for more information about these and other popular video
cards:
• If you have a Hercules Dynamite 128 card:
Open the System.ini file in Notepad (or any text editor). In the section called [Hercules],
check to ensure that this line is present:
Optimization=1
(The default is 0; if necessary, edit the value to 1 and save the file. Restart Windows.
• If you have a Matrox Millenium card:
Open the System.ini file in Notepad (or any text editor). In the section called [mga.drv],
add the following line:
Pcichipset=1
Edit the file as necessary, and save the file. Restart Windows.
If you have an early Matrox video card, Disable Use PowerGDI acceleration:
(Start > Settings > Control panel > Display > MGA Settings > Advanced > Performance)
If you have a later Matrox video card, enable Use Bus Mastering and Disable use Automatic
PCI Busd Retries:
(Start > Settings > Control panel > Display > Settings > PowerDesk button)
• If you have a card based on the S3 chipset (S3, Inc. provides graphics chips for other
manufacturers; consult your card manufacturer’s website to see if that card is S3-based):
Open the System.ini file in Notepad (or any text editor). In the section called [display],
make sure the following line is present:
BusThrottle=1
Edit as necessary, and save the file. Restart Windows.
• If problem(s) persist, continue with the next step.
Your sound card may have a conflict with another device in your
computer
Try resolving this device conflict as follows:
• Ensure that your sound card is not sharing IRQs with any other device. Although some sound
cards claim that they work properly on a shared IRQ, this is usually not the case and it is
advisable to avoid such sharing. To do this, right click on My Computer and select Properties
from the pop-up menu. In the System Properties dialog, click on the Device Manager tab, then
double-click on the Computer icon at the top of the list. This allows you to look at all the devices
on your system and which IRQs they are using. Scroll through the list until you see your sound
card. Check the IRQ setting to the left of the icon. If there are other devices (such as a video card)
that are assigned to the same IRQ, you should try moving your sound card to a different slot in
your computer. Note that entries which say something like "IRQ Holder for PCI Steering" do not
indicate conflicting devices, and can be ignored.