Article ID: 242937
Article Last Modified on 1/25/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
This article was previously published under Q242937
If this article does not describe the error message that you are receiving, view the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to view more articles that describe error messages:
315854 Windows 98 and Windows Me Error Message Resource Center
SYMPTOMS
The update described in this article implements significant modifications to the internal workings of Windows Driver Model (WDM) audio. If you are experiencing one or more of the following problems, you should obtain and install the update described in this article. If you are experiencing problems with WDM audio that are not documented below, it is possible that they may be alleviated by the update.
- When you are using a multiple-channel Universal Serial Bus (USB) audio microphone, Sound Recorder (Sndrec32.exe), or other recording program, record only static or distorted sound. This problem does not occur for mono devices, or those that support no greater than 16-bit audio.
- After an apparently successful installation, (USB) Microsoft Digital Sound System is not listed as a preferred device in the Playback section of the Audio tab in the Multimedia tool in Control Panel. A reboot is required to fix the problem.
- When you double-click a MIDI sequencer (.mid or .rmi) file, the volume level control in Windows Media Player (Mplayer2.exe) is disabled and no sound is played, but no error message appears. This problem can occur after you insert a PC Card, and is a consequence of internal Wdmaudio device cleanup during Plug and Play enumeration. Rebooting the computer clears the problem. Note that this, as well as the next two items, are different manifestations of this common cause.
- If you try to open a MIDI sequencer (.mid or .rmi) file in Media Player (Mplayer.exe), the following error message is displayed:
- Program developers who are working with the Multimedia MCI control may encounter an "MCIERR_SEQ_PORT_INUSE" error message ("The specified MIDI device is already in use. Wait until it is free, and then try again"). The Multimedia MCI control manages the recording and playback of multimedia files on Media Control Interface (MCI) devices. Conceptually, this control is a set of buttons that issues MCI commands to devices such as audio boards, MIDI sequencers, CD-ROM drives, audio CD players, videodisc players, and videotape recorders and players. The MCI control also supports the playback of Video for Windows (*.avi) files.
- After you insert a PC card, the Volume Control (Sndvol32.exe) volume slider controls are all disabled and set to maximum. Additionally, some names may be corrupted in the mixer devices listed on the Devices tab in the Multimedia tool in Control Panel. A reboot is required to fix the problem.
- An audio chip may stop working after your computer has been in a power-saving mode. Some audio chip driver installations may place a Power Management tab in the Power Management tool in Control Panel. For example, this tab may allow you to configure the device for 'D2' (low power; the context may be lost by the hardware, depending on the device class). If the system is left idle, enters a power-saving mode higher than the audio device, and is then woken up, subsequent attempts to play sounds may not work because the device might not be placed back in the 'D0' (fully on) state.
- If you remove a set of USB speakers while a MIDI file is being played, and then reinstall them, they may no longer work. Additionally, the "Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth" device may be missing from the MIDI for WDM-based Device list under MIDI Devices and Instruments on the Devices tab in the Multimedia tool in Control Panel.
- Disabling and enabling a PCI audio device may result in the following error message:
- USB audio devices that do not support sampling frequency control may not play sound (.wav) files. Additionally, attempts to record from such a device may result in one of the following error messages: Calling the Multimedia API waveInOpen function returns WAVERR_BADFORMAT; calling waveOutOpen may generate the exception.
- Calling the Multimedia API Programs that use PCI Audio Wave devices in full-duplex mode may elicit a system memory leak of 64 bytes each time an audio stream is created, or its properties are programmatically examined.
- Calling the Multimedia API Programs that use devices that support rendering of multiple streams or hardware acceleration may occasion system memory leaks of 8 bytes each time the device is de-initialized.
- Calling the Multimedia API Windows 98 Second Edition does not support 24-bit and 32-bit PCM waveform audio. See the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) entry for the Windows Multimedia WAVEFORMAT structure, where nBlockAlign can be set to 6 or 8, respectively. For PCM data, the block alignment is the number of bytes used by a single sample, including data for both channels if the data is stereo.
- Calling the Multimedia API You may experience problems with AC-3 Passthrough on computers running Windows 98 SE.
RESOLUTION
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.
To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.
The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:
Date Time Version Size File name ------------------------------------------------------ 3/21/2000 8:34:03pm 4.10.2223 137,312 Kmixer.sys 3/21/2000 8:34:03pm 4.10.2223 169,376 Portcls.sys 3/21/2000 8:34:04pm 4.10.2224 41,568 Usbaudio.sys 3/21/2000 8:34:04pm 4.10.2225 69,120 Wdmaud.sys
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
MORE INFORMATION
In addition to the items noted in the "Symptoms" section, additional internal enhancements have been made to WDM audio support. For example, device power management has been improved to minimize hardware interrupts during the transition to Sleep mode. Internal data buffering for Direct Music has been improved to prevent input starvation.
For additional information about Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition hotfixes, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
206071 General Information About Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition Hotfixes
Additional query words: Philips YAMAHA SanDisk Flash Digital Sound WaveTable Power Management sndrec32 dll
Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbfatalexerr0e kbprb kbsound win98se KB242937
