»Mac OS Overview

• Installation  
• Hardware compatibility  
• Software compatibility  
• Known problems

1. Installation (Top)

Please first decompress the driver archive using Aladdin Stuffit Expander.

If you already installed an older version of the driver first make sure to remove all old files. To do so open the Extensions folder which is inside your System folder. Remove the file Hammerfall DSP Driver. Also remove Hammerfall DSP Settings from the directory where it was copied to. Remove the Hammerfall DSP ASIO driver file from any ASIO Drivers folder.

After unstuffing the archive the driver files are found in folders. The name of the folders tell where to copy the files! The driver installation is done manually in 5 steps:

1. Drag the file Hammerfall DSP Driver from 'into System folder' to the System folder. It will be installed automatically into the Extension folder. Confirm the system's message to complete the installation. Now the driver file should be found in the Extension folder, see example to the right.  

2.Copy the files Hammerfall DSP Settings, Hammerfall DSP ASIO and Hammerfall DSP ASIO 96 kHz from 'into ASIO Drivers folder' into all ASIO Drivers folders found on your computer. As every ASIO software has its own ASIO Drivers folder the files have to be copied several times.

Configuration of the Hammerfall DSP is done through the Settings dialog, which can be called from within any ASIO compatible software (for example Audio/System/ASIO Control Panel.) To be able to call up the Settings dialog at any time we recommend to create an Alias on the desktop. To create an Alias select Hammerfall DSP Settings with the mouse cursor, press and hold the Apple and Alt keys on your keyboard, and drag Hammerfall DSP Settings to the desired location.

3. Copy the complete sub-folder Hammerfall DSP, found in the folder 'into Preferences folder', to the system folder Preferences. This way the files related to the HDSP system reside in their own folder, without cluttering the Preferences folder. Additionally deleting those files is much easier in case of a driver update. 'Hammerfall DSP' contains 10 files:

default.mix: Default settings for TotalMix
default.vol: Default settings for Digiface/Multiface, as long as TotalMix isn't started
preset1.mix to preset8.mix: Presets for the HDSP mixer

4. The file Hammerfall DSP TotalMix can be copied to any place. When started the HDSP mixer comes up and allows you to configure the digital real-time mixer of the Digiface.
 

5. Using the MIDI ports of the HDSP system requires an installed OMS (Open Music System) from Opcode. The latest version 2.3.8 can be downloaded for free at

http://www.opcode.com

After the installation of OMS, copy the file HDSP_OMSDriver, found in the folder 'into OMS Folder folder', into the system folder 'OMS Folder'.

To finish installation reboot the computer.

After re-boot the MIDI driver is installed, but not yet activated. To activate it create a new OMS Studio setup. Using 'Search' the MIDI driver of the Digiface should be found and added to the list. Now it can be activated.

2. Hardware compatibility (Top)

An activation of OMS on the Titanium Powerbooks G4 550 MHz and 667 MHZ (256K level 2 cache, 1152 x 768 screen) will cause crackling in the played back audio. According to our tests, the highest number of interrupts that can occur when receiving MIDI from the HDSP, will sometimes cause the Powerbook's DMA controller to fail - causing dropouts while transferring data to the HDSP. Owners of these notebooks who need MIDI I/O functionality should consider to buy a third party MIDI interface, or to change to the compatible 400/500 MHz models.

General PCI related problems

The following symptoms are typical for PCI related problems:

• When booting the control panels are displayed too big, or spread across the whole screen
• Software or OS crash as soon as the card is used

These problems may occur with older computers (prior to G3.) They can be solved in most cases by simply using a different slot, or by exchanging slots with other PCI cards (like SCSI controllers or graphics cards.)

3. Software compatibility (Top)

The Hammerfall series is compatible to all major ASIO applications, like Cubase VST, emagic Logic, Opcode Studio Vision PRO, Prosoniq Sonic WORX, TC SPARK, Peak from Bias, Motu Digital Performer, Max/MSP from Cycling '74 and Super Collider.

4. Known problems (Top)

Peak crashes in ASIO mode as soon as latency is changed

This only happens while running. Stop playback and record. Under Audio/Sound Out/ASIO de-activate 'Active in background'. Now latency can be changed without problems.

The function 'Reset Devices' of Cubase seems to do nothing

This was a bug in Cubase. 'Reset Devices' currently only resets MIDI devices, but neither audio devices nor its internal audio engine.