USB or sound?

cpu: 350mhz, 256mb ram, cd r/w, cd r
I recently replaced hdd, loaded win98 with cabs
(restore cd will not boot). With the help of this forum every thing is
working well with the exception of a sound problem.
I am using Microsoft System 80 digital speakers which connect to usb
port. In normal operation it will reproduce analog sound from sound adapter
and if digital sound is available it will use this.
My problem:
1. It does not reproduce analog sound. (speaker plugged into sound card
work). The System 80 digital speakers work ok on another pc.
2. When attempting to install software for same it does not see the speakers
on usb. While self diagnosing the software concludes that sound card must be
bad.
USB controller: USB Root HUB, VIA PCI to USB universal host controller.
I have checked status of all devices in device manager and all are
"working normally". I'm stumped, do I have a usb or sound problem?
Any help appreciated. Thanks, Bill

"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...

I recently replaced hdd, loaded win98 with cabs . . .
(restore cd will not boot). With the help of this forum every thing is
working well with the exception of a sound problem.
I am using Microsoft System 80 digital speakers which connect to usb
port. In normal operation it will reproduce analog sound from sound
adapter
and if digital sound is available it will use this.
My problem:
1. It does not reproduce analog sound. (speaker plugged into sound card
work). The System 80 digital speakers work ok on another pc.
2. When attempting to install software for same it does not see the
speakers
on usb. While self diagnosing the software concludes that sound card must
be
bad.
USB controller: USB Root HUB, VIA PCI to USB universal host
controller.

OS Win98 supplied only version 1 of USB protocol,
which was rapidly superseded by USB.2 (provided in
Win98SE.) If your OS is Win98 its USB.1 may be unable
to drive the speakers.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

I'm not at all familiar with the speakers, but this appears to be what you refer to:
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/har.../ms_dss80.html

Perhaps I am not reading it correctly, but it seems to state that bypassing the
sound card and using USB will produce digital sound, and that if you want analog
sound you must connect to the sound card. From your description, I cannot tell what
you are doing or trying to do, as you state that "speaker plugged into sound card
work".

quote
....the DSS 80 set can actually transmit digital audio via USB if your system can
handle it. Because the subwoofer has its own DSP, sound can bypass your sound card
altogether, leaving your machine as unfettered digital information. In all-digital
mode, CDs sound fabulous and games are crystal clear. A ten-band graphic equalizer
and Microsoft Surround Sound technology are both available strictly through USB as
well.

That said, there are plenty of compelling reasons to keep your sound card and use
the speakers in analog mode. Without a sound card, you'll probably lose your
joystick port and you'll definitely lose any 3D sound features in modern sound
cards. Some CD-ROMs (primarily SCSI and slow, cheap units) can't output CD audio as
digital data, so you'd need a sound card. DVDs, right now, can't be output as
digital audio without using SP/DIF, which the DSS 80 doesn't natively support. Even
in analog mode, the speakers sound fabulous, though audio nuts or technofreaks will
want to go all digital.

Because the DSS 80 DSP shares the burden of producing sound in an all-digital
scenario, there can be some performance issues as well. On a Pentium 233MMX, EA's
World Cup 98 showed some sound stuttering in all-digital mode, though a faster
machine would probably not have that problem. The speakers also didn't like digital
mode with a Umax Astra 1220U USB scanner attached to the same machine. A combination
of digital and analog mode seems to work best.
/quote
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
cpu: 350mhz, 256mb ram, cd r/w, cd r
I recently replaced hdd, loaded win98 with cabs
(restore cd will not boot). With the help of this forum every thing is
working well with the exception of a sound problem.
I am using Microsoft System 80 digital speakers which connect to usb
port. In normal operation it will reproduce analog sound from sound adapter
and if digital sound is available it will use this.
My problem:
1. It does not reproduce analog sound. (speaker plugged into sound card
work). The System 80 digital speakers work ok on another pc.
2. When attempting to install software for same it does not see the speakers
on usb. While self diagnosing the software concludes that sound card must be
bad.
USB controller: USB Root HUB, VIA PCI to USB universal host controller.
I have checked status of all devices in device manager and all are
"working normally". I'm stumped, do I have a usb or sound problem?
Any help appreciated. Thanks, Bill

glee,
I should have said "oem speaker plugged into sound card works". I got
the DSS working by deselecting in "device manager" and reinstalling
base5.cab. "connection wizzard" said the file you have selected is older
than the one installed, I chose to replace anyway and that fixed dss. I just
got lucky.
btw microsoft does not admit to any connection with dss. thanks for
your help. bill

"glee" wrote in message
...
I'm not at all familiar with the speakers, but this appears to be what you
refer to:
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/har.../ms_dss80.html

Perhaps I am not reading it correctly, but it seems to state that
bypassing the
sound card and using USB will produce digital sound, and that if you want
analog
sound you must connect to the sound card. From your description, I cannot
tell what
you are doing or trying to do, as you state that "speaker plugged into
sound card
work".

quote
...the DSS 80 set can actually transmit digital audio via USB if your
system can
handle it. Because the subwoofer has its own DSP, sound can bypass your
sound card
altogether, leaving your machine as unfettered digital information. In
all-digital
mode, CDs sound fabulous and games are crystal clear. A ten-band graphic
equalizer
and Microsoft Surround Sound technology are both available strictly
through USB as
well.

That said, there are plenty of compelling reasons to keep your sound card
and use
the speakers in analog mode. Without a sound card, you'll probably lose
your
joystick port and you'll definitely lose any 3D sound features in modern
sound
cards. Some CD-ROMs (primarily SCSI and slow, cheap units) can't output CD
audio as
digital data, so you'd need a sound card. DVDs, right now, can't be output
as
digital audio without using SP/DIF, which the DSS 80 doesn't natively
support. Even
in analog mode, the speakers sound fabulous, though audio nuts or
technofreaks will
want to go all digital.

Because the DSS 80 DSP shares the burden of producing sound in an
all-digital
scenario, there can be some performance issues as well. On a Pentium
233MMX, EA's
World Cup 98 showed some sound stuttering in all-digital mode, though a
faster
machine would probably not have that problem. The speakers also didn't
like digital
mode with a Umax Astra 1220U USB scanner attached to the same machine. A
combination
of digital and analog mode seems to work best.
/quote
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
cpu: 350mhz, 256mb ram, cd r/w, cd r
I recently replaced hdd, loaded win98 with cabs
(restore cd will not boot). With the help of this forum every thing is
working well with the exception of a sound problem.
I am using Microsoft System 80 digital speakers which connect to usb
port. In normal operation it will reproduce analog sound from sound
adapter
and if digital sound is available it will use this.
My problem:
1. It does not reproduce analog sound. (speaker plugged into sound card
work). The System 80 digital speakers work ok on another pc.
2. When attempting to install software for same it does not see the
speakers
on usb. While self diagnosing the software concludes that sound card
must be
bad.
USB controller: USB Root HUB, VIA PCI to USB universal host
controller.
I have checked status of all devices in device manager and all are
"working normally". I'm stumped, do I have a usb or sound problem?
Any help appreciated. Thanks, Bill

Reinstalling *what* from Base5.cab??? Base5.cab, as all the .cab files, contains
compressed copies of all the files needed for installation. You don't just "install
base5.cab". Please tell us what you did exactly.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
glee,
I should have said "oem speaker plugged into sound card works". I got
the DSS working by deselecting in "device manager" and reinstalling
base5.cab. "connection wizzard" said the file you have selected is older
than the one installed, I chose to replace anyway and that fixed dss. I just
got lucky.
btw microsoft does not admit to any connection with dss. thanks for
your help. bill

"glee" wrote in message
...
I'm not at all familiar with the speakers, but this appears to be what you
refer to:
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/har.../ms_dss80.html

Perhaps I am not reading it correctly, but it seems to state that
bypassing the
sound card and using USB will produce digital sound, and that if you want
analog
sound you must connect to the sound card. From your description, I cannot
tell what
you are doing or trying to do, as you state that "speaker plugged into
sound card
work".

quote
...the DSS 80 set can actually transmit digital audio via USB if your
system can
handle it. Because the subwoofer has its own DSP, sound can bypass your
sound card
altogether, leaving your machine as unfettered digital information. In
all-digital
mode, CDs sound fabulous and games are crystal clear. A ten-band graphic
equalizer
and Microsoft Surround Sound technology are both available strictly
through USB as
well.

That said, there are plenty of compelling reasons to keep your sound card
and use
the speakers in analog mode. Without a sound card, you'll probably lose
your
joystick port and you'll definitely lose any 3D sound features in modern
sound
cards. Some CD-ROMs (primarily SCSI and slow, cheap units) can't output CD
audio as
digital data, so you'd need a sound card. DVDs, right now, can't be output
as
digital audio without using SP/DIF, which the DSS 80 doesn't natively
support. Even
in analog mode, the speakers sound fabulous, though audio nuts or
technofreaks will
want to go all digital.

Because the DSS 80 DSP shares the burden of producing sound in an
all-digital
scenario, there can be some performance issues as well. On a Pentium
233MMX, EA's
World Cup 98 showed some sound stuttering in all-digital mode, though a
faster
machine would probably not have that problem. The speakers also didn't
like digital
mode with a Umax Astra 1220U USB scanner attached to the same machine. A
combination
of digital and analog mode seems to work best.
/quote
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
cpu: 350mhz, 256mb ram, cd r/w, cd r
I recently replaced hdd, loaded win98 with cabs
(restore cd will not boot). With the help of this forum every thing is
working well with the exception of a sound problem.
I am using Microsoft System 80 digital speakers which connect to usb
port. In normal operation it will reproduce analog sound from sound
adapter
and if digital sound is available it will use this.
My problem:
1. It does not reproduce analog sound. (speaker plugged into sound card
work). The System 80 digital speakers work ok on another pc.
2. When attempting to install software for same it does not see the
speakers
on usb. While self diagnosing the software concludes that sound card
must be
bad.
USB controller: USB Root HUB, VIA PCI to USB universal host
controller.
I have checked status of all devices in device manager and all are
"working normally". I'm stumped, do I have a usb or sound problem?
Any help appreciated. Thanks, Bill

glee, I should have said I deselected dss in "device manager" and
pointed to base5cab when
"connection wizzard" asked where to install driver from. Is that more clear?
thanks again, bill

"glee" wrote in message
...
Reinstalling *what* from Base5.cab??? Base5.cab, as all the .cab files,
contains
compressed copies of all the files needed for installation. You don't
just "install
base5.cab". Please tell us what you did exactly.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
glee,
I should have said "oem speaker plugged into sound card works". I
got
the DSS working by deselecting in "device manager" and reinstalling
base5.cab. "connection wizzard" said the file you have selected is older
than the one installed, I chose to replace anyway and that fixed dss. I
just
got lucky.
btw microsoft does not admit to any connection with dss. thanks
for
your help. bill

"glee" wrote in message
...
I'm not at all familiar with the speakers, but this appears to be what
you
refer to:
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/har.../ms_dss80.html

Perhaps I am not reading it correctly, but it seems to state that
bypassing the
sound card and using USB will produce digital sound, and that if you
want
analog
sound you must connect to the sound card. From your description, I
cannot
tell what
you are doing or trying to do, as you state that "speaker plugged into
sound card
work".

quote
...the DSS 80 set can actually transmit digital audio via USB if your
system can
handle it. Because the subwoofer has its own DSP, sound can bypass
your
sound card
altogether, leaving your machine as unfettered digital information. In
all-digital
mode, CDs sound fabulous and games are crystal clear. A ten-band
graphic
equalizer
and Microsoft Surround Sound technology are both available strictly
through USB as
well.

That said, there are plenty of compelling reasons to keep your sound
card
and use
the speakers in analog mode. Without a sound card, you'll probably
lose
your
joystick port and you'll definitely lose any 3D sound features in
modern
sound
cards. Some CD-ROMs (primarily SCSI and slow, cheap units) can't
output CD
audio as
digital data, so you'd need a sound card. DVDs, right now, can't be
output
as
digital audio without using SP/DIF, which the DSS 80 doesn't natively
support. Even
in analog mode, the speakers sound fabulous, though audio nuts or
technofreaks will
want to go all digital.

Because the DSS 80 DSP shares the burden of producing sound in an
all-digital
scenario, there can be some performance issues as well. On a Pentium
233MMX, EA's
World Cup 98 showed some sound stuttering in all-digital mode, though
a
faster
machine would probably not have that problem. The speakers also didn't
like digital
mode with a Umax Astra 1220U USB scanner attached to the same machine.
A
combination
of digital and analog mode seems to work best.
/quote
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
cpu: 350mhz, 256mb ram, cd r/w, cd r
I recently replaced hdd, loaded win98 with cabs
(restore cd will not boot). With the help of this forum every thing
is
working well with the exception of a sound problem.
I am using Microsoft System 80 digital speakers which connect to
usb
port. In normal operation it will reproduce analog sound from sound
adapter
and if digital sound is available it will use this.
My problem:
1. It does not reproduce analog sound. (speaker plugged into sound
card
work). The System 80 digital speakers work ok on another pc.
2. When attempting to install software for same it does not see the
speakers
on usb. While self diagnosing the software concludes that sound card
must be
bad.
USB controller: USB Root HUB, VIA PCI to USB universal host
controller.
I have checked status of all devices in device manager and all
are
"working normally". I'm stumped, do I have a usb or sound problem?
Any help appreciated. Thanks, Bill

Sure....but how did you know what .cab file to point it to? Did you already know
what files it needed ahead of time, and where they were?
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
glee, I should have said I deselected dss in "device manager" and
pointed to base5cab when
"connection wizzard" asked where to install driver from. Is that more clear?
thanks again, bill

"glee" wrote in message
...
Reinstalling *what* from Base5.cab??? Base5.cab, as all the .cab files,
contains
compressed copies of all the files needed for installation. You don't
just "install
base5.cab". Please tell us what you did exactly.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
glee,
I should have said "oem speaker plugged into sound card works". I
got
the DSS working by deselecting in "device manager" and reinstalling
base5.cab. "connection wizzard" said the file you have selected is older
than the one installed, I chose to replace anyway and that fixed dss. I
just
got lucky.
btw microsoft does not admit to any connection with dss. thanks
for
your help. bill

"glee" wrote in message
...
I'm not at all familiar with the speakers, but this appears to be what
you
refer to:
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/har.../ms_dss80.html

Perhaps I am not reading it correctly, but it seems to state that
bypassing the
sound card and using USB will produce digital sound, and that if you
want
analog
sound you must connect to the sound card. From your description, I
cannot
tell what
you are doing or trying to do, as you state that "speaker plugged into
sound card
work".

quote
...the DSS 80 set can actually transmit digital audio via USB if your
system can
handle it. Because the subwoofer has its own DSP, sound can bypass
your
sound card
altogether, leaving your machine as unfettered digital information. In
all-digital
mode, CDs sound fabulous and games are crystal clear. A ten-band
graphic
equalizer
and Microsoft Surround Sound technology are both available strictly
through USB as
well.

That said, there are plenty of compelling reasons to keep your sound
card
and use
the speakers in analog mode. Without a sound card, you'll probably
lose
your
joystick port and you'll definitely lose any 3D sound features in
modern
sound
cards. Some CD-ROMs (primarily SCSI and slow, cheap units) can't
output CD
audio as
digital data, so you'd need a sound card. DVDs, right now, can't be
output
as
digital audio without using SP/DIF, which the DSS 80 doesn't natively
support. Even
in analog mode, the speakers sound fabulous, though audio nuts or
technofreaks will
want to go all digital.

Because the DSS 80 DSP shares the burden of producing sound in an
all-digital
scenario, there can be some performance issues as well. On a Pentium
233MMX, EA's
World Cup 98 showed some sound stuttering in all-digital mode, though
a
faster
machine would probably not have that problem. The speakers also didn't
like digital
mode with a Umax Astra 1220U USB scanner attached to the same machine.
A
combination
of digital and analog mode seems to work best.
/quote
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill Cole" wrote in message
...
cpu: 350mhz, 256mb ram, cd r/w, cd r
I recently replaced hdd, loaded win98 with cabs
(restore cd will not boot). With the help of this forum every thing
is
working well with the exception of a sound problem.
I am using Microsoft System 80 digital speakers which connect to
usb
port. In normal operation it will reproduce analog sound from sound
adapter
and if digital sound is available it will use this.
My problem:
1. It does not reproduce analog sound. (speaker plugged into sound
card
work). The System 80 digital speakers work ok on another pc.
2. When attempting to install software for same it does not see the
speakers
on usb. While self diagnosing the software concludes that sound card
must be
bad.
USB controller: USB Root HUB, VIA PCI to USB universal host
controller.
I have checked status of all devices in device manager and all
are
"working normally". I'm stumped, do I have a usb or sound problem?
Any help appreciated. Thanks, Bill