PCI Bus Mastering
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PCI Bus Mastering
The 1212 I/O operates as a PCI bus master. This simply means that it can take control of the bus, in order to transfer audio data to and from the computer's RAM. Multiple bus masters can coexist in a single system, as long as they leave enough time for one another to operate; this is why it is sometimes necessary to scale back video or SCSI acceleration. For more information, see PCI SCSI Cards, and Excessive PCI Message (Windows 95/98).
A frequently-asked 1212 I/O question is, "will the 1212 I/O work better in a bus master slot?" The quick answer is that it will *only* work in a bus master slot; fortunately, most recent computers, both MacOS and Windows 95/98, support bus masters in all slots.
On some early Windows-compatible motherboards, not all PCI slots supported PCI bus mastering. On these motherboards, it is necessary to make sure that the 1212 I/O is in a bus master slot; if the slot does not support bus mastering, the 1212 I/O will not work at all.
Modern Windows-compatible motherboards generally support bus masters in all PCI slots, so you should be able to place the 1212 I/O in any slot.
All Apple and PowerComputing MacOS computers tested by Korg support the 1212 I/O in all PCI slots. There are, however, some PCI slot issues with clones from Umax, Motorola, and APS, as detailed in Motorola StarMax & APS Clones and Umax S900, S910, & J700.
Copyright 1998-2000 Korg Inc. FAQ Version: 11/29/00