Reference Guide

1692 Beginner’s guide to Cakewalk software
Audio hardware (sound cards) and drivers
IRQ conflicts
Newer motherboards often use something called ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power
Interface) which controls IRQ settings, in effect overriding the motherboard IRQ settings. ACPI, just
like Plug and Play, can sometimes lead to shared IRQs and problems with your sound card.
Checking for ACPI on Your System:
1. Look at your IRQ settings.
2. Look for an entry that says ACPI.
Resolving IRQ conflicts on a Non-ACPI system
The easiest way to resolve a conflict may be to remove the piece of hardware that is conflicting with
your sound card. Of course, this is not always possible, but if you have a modem, network card, or
some other hardware device that you do not use, removing it (and its driver) may free up an IRQ for
your sound card.
Sometimes you can change a sound card’s IRQ setting by physically moving the card to another
PCI/ISA slot, or by moving several hardware devices to new slots. To do this, uninstall the hardware
you want to move, along with its driver, put the hardware devices in their new slots and reinstall their
drivers. Once you have completed this, check the IRQ settings again.
If moving or removing hardware did not help, you may be able to use the system BIOS to change an
IRQ setting. To see if your BIOS allows you to make changes to your systems IRQ settings, consult
your motherboard’s documentation.
Resolving IRQ conflicts on an ACPI system
If you are experiencing an IRQ conflict on an ACPI system, you may want to turn off ACPI. This
varies depending on your OS, BIOS and motherboard. Consult your computer manufacturer’s
documentation or technical support for instructions on how to do this.
SONAR and audio hardware
The following tips will help you get the most out of your sound card and Cakewalk software:
• Use SONAR’s Wave Profiler anytime your install a new sound card. Wave Profiler
determines the correct settings for your sound card.
• Read the documentation for your sound card. You can save yourself a lot of time by learning
about your hardware before you try to use it. Many sound cards have their own control panels
which allow you to customize the card’s settings.