IBM MWave (sound card/modem) It is often necessary to add &K3 to the modem init string to ensure proper operation. It is often necessary to reduce the baud rate to insure a reliable connection in rural areas. -
No audible sound can be solved by (1) turn up the speakers (2) add L3 to the init string.

Many of these modems experience problems connecting to Internet Providers with particular types of modems. There is a fix for this problem that is related to updating the v34.dsp driver. For more information, see the IBM MicroElectronics site or go to IBM Technical support to select your Aptiva model.

Received 10/06/96
---The information in this note is dated. The fix worked at the time, but the download is no longer available.---

* I had a number of problems with IBM MWaves connecting to our modems. IBM confirmed a problem with their V.34 DSP driver. It had a lot of trouble making a connection to modems with Rockwell-based chipsets. The solution was to get the APMWDIAG.EXE file from their FTP site, find the V34.DSP file in that package, and copy it to the MWD\MODEM\ and MWW\MODEM\ directories. The instructions in the APMWDIAG.EXE file were a little different than what tech support told me so your milage may vary.

IBM MWave (sound card/modem) It is often necessary to add &K3 to the modem init string to ensure proper operation. It is often necessary to reduce the baud rate to insure a reliable connection in rural areas. -
No audible sound can be solved by (1) turn up the speakers (2) add L3 to the init string. See also Watson, developers of Mwave modem technology.

Many of these modems experience problems connecting to Internet Providers with particular types of modems. There is a fix for this problem that is related to updating the v34.dsp driver. For more information, see the Watson site for the v.34 fix.

Many of the links below are no longer available, so they were removed.

This is a note that I received from an internet user 6/10/96...

* I had a number of problems with IBM MWaves connecting to our modems. IBM confirmed a problem with their V.34 DSP driver. It had a lot of trouble making a connection to modems with Rockwell-based chipsets. The solution was to get the APMWDIAG.EXE file from their FTP site, find the V34.DSP file in that package, and copy it to the MWD\MODEM\ and MWW\MODEM\ directories. The instructions in the APMWDIAG.EXE file were a little different than what tech support told me so your milage may vary.

Download APMWDIAG.EXE

And another note dated 6/10/96...

I'm in UK so don't know how much of this is useful across the pond but here goes.
I connect to Demon (demon.co.uk) who mainly use USR-don't know which model. Connect at 28.8 ECLC 98 times out of 100.
Iniat. String _AT&F&D3\N5\Q3_
Win95: Port Speed 115k
Fifo Enabled, Receive Buffer 3rd peg toward High (10-11?)
Transmit Buffer 4th peg toward High (16)
In advanced connect settings: Use error control/compress data
Use flow control/hardware(RTS/CTS)
I use Standard Modulation but determining Bell/HST could matter.
Modem highest speed 57.9k with Connect Only At... unselected.

This is a note that I received 3/11/97...

I found my way to your MWave page
as I am an owner of one that is in my IBM Aptiva 2168-M53. I found your
note on the v34/us robotic issue interesting as I have had problems
connecting to certain providers which were unable to help find a
solution. I would like to share with you a solution to another MWave
problem that I had. When using the MWave on line the Aptiva
occasionally would pause for two or three seconds (switching windows or
scrooling was not possible). I came accross a solution from Russ Norris
which was to overclock the MWave by simply editing the
MWAVE.INI file. Here are his note's on the matter:

> Presumably out of interest in providing customers with a stable product, IBM shipped the Aptiva with the
> Mwave resources set at a very safe (and low) level. Unfortunately, the number is so low that the card has
> difficulty playing sounds and running the modem at 28800 connections without system slowdown. To remedy
> this situation, it is possible to tell the Mwave card that is has a higher number of resources available. This
> enables smoother online sessions, quicker wav file response, and clearer MIDI while online. It also allows for
> better use of Internet products that use streaming audio, such as RealAudio. Unfortunately, as I mentioned
> before, if the resources are set too high the system may crash. It will not permanently damage the computer,
> but you will have to re-start.
>
> To overclock your Mwave card, follow these steps
> carefully:
>
> #Find all instances of the file MWAVE.INI on your hard disk.
> #Use Notepad or another text editor to open these files.
> #Find the line reading: IPS=24900000. This is the line that tells the card how many resources are
available.
> #Change 24900000 to something between 25000000 and 30000000
> #In my experience, the most stable number is 27000000. Anything closer to 30000000 and the system
may crash.
> #Save the files and restart your system. Your Mwave is now overclocked.

This is a note that I received 3/17/97...

was going through and trying various init strings on an mwave 28.8 and
this one got her connected @ max bps -- ATS28=18

This is a note that I received 10/17/96...


The IBM MWave isn't like most modems. As I understand it, it is a
rather generic card that software will turn into a modem, sound card, or
whatever. This has the advantage of making the card very upgradable. For
example, I once had a IBM laptop with a 14.4 MWave. After getting the
updated MWave software, it was a 28.8 MWave. But it also means that the
MWave is very software dependant.

At the ISP where I work, we have U.S. Robotics modems. MWaves seem to
have a difficult time connecting to them. According to IBM tech support,
modems based off of the Rockwell chipset (and U.S. Robotics in particular)
are difficult for the MWave to connect to.

Updated software seems to greatly improve the MWave's ability to
connect. I have updated the MWave drivers on many machines and seen the
connection problems go away.

The latest full version of the MWave drivers is v60AE7 and it's dated
7/26/96. There are both a two disk set for DOS and a three disk set for
Windows 3.1/95. There is also a one disk update for V34 dated 10/7/96.

The best way to get the latest version of this software is to go to
http://www.us.pc.ibm.com/searchfiles.html
and search with the keyword MWave.
The files you are looking for will be listed in the Corrective
Service Software file area.

As of 10/17/96, these are the direct links to the files:

Aptiva MWAVE DOS v60AE7 Disk 1 of 2
ftp://204.146.167.81/pub/pccbbs/corrective_service/mwdos01.exe

Aptiva MWAVE DOS v60AE7 Disk 2 of 2
ftp://204.146.167.81/pub/pccbbs/corrective_service/mwdos02.exe

Aptiva MWAVE Win3.1/95 v60AE7 Disk 1of3
ftp://204.146.167.81/pub/pccbbs/corrective_service/mwwin01.exe

Aptiva MWAVE Win3.1/95 v60AE7 Disk 2of3
ftp://204.146.167.81/pub/pccbbs/corrective_service/mwwin02.exe

Aptiva MWAVE Win3.1/95 v60AE7 Disk 3of3
ftp://204.146.167.81/pub/pccbbs/corrective_service/mwwin03.exe

Updated Aptiva MWave V34 driver
ftp://204.146.167.81/pub/pccbbs/corrective_service/mwv34.exe

This is a note that Ireceived from an Internet user 7/16/97 concerning connecting an MWave modem to a Livingston PortMaster 3...


Try:

AT"H%C\N*TH8 or AT"H%C\NS28=18

One or the other should work OK.