GunKneeNeon wrote on 2023-05-22, 18:52:

Sorry for the late replay, I was busy dealing with other problems with this pc. You replay is very informative, after searching […]
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RaVeNsClaw wrote on 2023-05-17, 19:41:

I've found the Manufacturer of your card via the FCC ID: https://fccid.io/IPL AESL Technology Inc […]
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I've found the Manufacturer of your card via the FCC ID: https://fccid.io/IPL
AESL Technology Inc

It seems that AESL is directly connected to Acer. At least they are listed as secondary contact to AESL on FCC sites.
Acer had Soundcards, like the "Magic S23", so the V in "Magic V1" probably stands for "Video".

I've created a thread in the Acer forum:
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/6852 … ecoder/p1?new=1

Sorry for the late replay, I was busy dealing with other problems with this pc.
You replay is very informative, after searching for Acer Magic V1, I found another MPEG card manufactured by Acer that is more popular than this one, the Magic V18. I think this is the most relevant one comparing to other cards posted in this topic. They should be belong to the same series. There is an old article about the usage tips of v18 card in Chinese.
I've tried all the drivers posted here include this v18, none worked. The problem is that it never shows in Windows Device Manager. So there is no way to drive it successfully. All the drivers have their own player installed, but I cannot play video through them. They also installed some Devices in Windows Media Player, again none worked.
Here I upload this driver, you could also give it a try.
magicv18.zip

It looks like Win 3.x driver NOT Win95

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-22, 19:49:

It looks like Win 3.x driver NOT Win95

It's both for DOS and Win9x. The DOS player is the one this guy using. Below is the Windows one. Either as devices in Media Player or as a standalone Vidistation player.

GunKneeNeon wrote on 2023-05-23, 03:55:

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-22, 19:49:

It looks like Win 3.x driver NOT Win95

It's both for DOS and Win9x. The DOS player is the one this guy using. Below is the Windows one. Either as devices in Media Player or as a standalone Vidistation player.
2.jpg1.jpg

I see only DOS-based dosv18 files and Win 3.x 386,DRV, DLL files in archive. Sorry no INF,VXD files for Win 95.

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 05:44:

I see only DOS-based dosv18 files and Win 3.x 386,DRV, DLL files in archive. Sorry no INF,VXD files for Win 95.

That would be why it's invisible to Windows Device Manager. The card can only be used with sort of MSDOS compatible mode in Windows. I've edited the previous post to upload a new file which basically the same as the last one but with some .txt file.

Here is the passage in the README.txt file about Win95:

. In Windows 95 Environment Installation procedures in Windows 95 are the same as in Windows 31. However, please follow […]
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. In Windows 95 Environment
Installation procedures in Windows 95 are the same as in
Windows 31. However, please follow three steps below to tune
Your environment:

• . Make sure that your CD-ROM and your Hard Disk do not
  share the same IDE cable. Otherwise, you may meet poor
  performance problem while playing VCD/CD-I. A separate IDE
  cable for your CD-ROM is highly recommended.

• . Make sure that the CD-ROM drivers are installed in
  the "real" mode. For example, if your CD-ROM's model
  is ACER CD-743E, check if AUTOEXEC.BAT contains

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX /D:ACER

and if CONFIG.SYS contains

DEVICE=C:\ACERCD.SYS /D:ACER

If not, please do it immediately. Otherwise, Magic V18
may fail to play CD-I.

• . Disable 32-bit protected mode's disk drive in Win 95
  After users enter Win 95, please go to Control Panel/System
  /Performace/File System/Troubleshooting and then check on
  the box of Diable all 32-bit protected mode disk drive to
  disable 32-bit disk drive I/O.

After all, I cannot make the card working, every time when I click the Play button in Windows, it hangs. While in DOS mode, the CDROM seems to be reading the disc, but no image whatsoever.

GunKneeNeon wrote on 2023-05-23, 08:38:

That would be why it's invisible to Windows Device Manager. The card can only be used with sort of MSDOS compatible mode in Wind […]
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Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 05:44:

I see only DOS-based dosv18 files and Win 3.x 386,DRV, DLL files in archive. Sorry no INF,VXD files for Win 95.

That would be why it's invisible to Windows Device Manager. The card can only be used with sort of MSDOS compatible mode in Windows. I've edited the previous post to upload a new file which basically the same as the last one but with some .txt file.

Here is the passage in the README.txt file about Win95:

. In Windows 95 Environment Installation procedures in Windows 95 are the same as in Windows 31. However, please follow […]
Show full quote

. In Windows 95 Environment
Installation procedures in Windows 95 are the same as in
Windows 31. However, please follow three steps below to tune
Your environment:

• . Make sure that your CD-ROM and your Hard Disk do not
  share the same IDE cable. Otherwise, you may meet poor
  performance problem while playing VCD/CD-I. A separate IDE
  cable for your CD-ROM is highly recommended.

• . Make sure that the CD-ROM drivers are installed in
  the "real" mode. For example, if your CD-ROM's model
  is ACER CD-743E, check if AUTOEXEC.BAT contains

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX /D:ACER

and if CONFIG.SYS contains

DEVICE=C:\ACERCD.SYS /D:ACER

If not, please do it immediately. Otherwise, Magic V18
may fail to play CD-I.

• . Disable 32-bit protected mode's disk drive in Win 95
  After users enter Win 95, please go to Control Panel/System
  /Performace/File System/Troubleshooting and then check on
  the box of Diable all 32-bit protected mode disk drive to
  disable 32-bit disk drive I/O.

After all, I cannot make the card working, every time when I click the Play button in Windows, it hangs. While in DOS mode, the CDROM seems to be reading the disc, but no image whatsoever.

Yeap... Its a Win3.X driver.
They try to install it under Win95 in Win3.X style.
All I can say - try it in pure DOS-mode or in Win3.1 (there .INI configuration file maybe it needs to configure it with other then default setting).
Many years ago I install OTHER MPEG card that way - DOS part works perfectly while Win part don work (or give me just color artifacts).

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 13:54:

All I can say - try it in pure DOS-mode or in Win3.1 (there .INI configuration file maybe it needs to configure it with other then default setting).
Many years ago I install OTHER MPEG card that way - DOS part works perfectly while Win part don work (or give me just color artifacts).

I've tried that in different situations, the result is basically the same. When launched through command prompt inside Windows, it read the disc and seemed to be playing the video, but no image showing up. I had System Monitor run at the same time, just to check if the card is working. The CPU usage kept at 100% all the time, that is to say the decoding was doing by the CPU alone, not the card. I also configured the settings very carefully according to the README.txt file and the information provided by QAPlus Win program which showed me all the useful info about the allocation of Memory Addresses, IRQs and DMAs. I also tried this in Command Prompt Only mode outside Windows, the result had no difference.

Beside the driver issue, the card is really annoying! Its presence makes all my PCI slots unusable except for a PCI graphic card. I'm gonna post that issue as a different topic later.

GunKneeNeon wrote on 2023-05-23, 14:30:

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 13:54:

All I can say - try it in pure DOS-mode or in Win3.1 (there .INI configuration file maybe it needs to configure it with other then default setting).
Many years ago I install OTHER MPEG card that way - DOS part works perfectly while Win part don work (or give me just color artifacts).

I've tried that in different situations, the result is basically the same. When launched through command prompt inside Windows, it read the disc and seemed to be playing the video, but no image showing up. I had System Monitor run at the same time, just to check if the card is working. The CPU usage kept at 100% all the time, that is to say the decoding was doing by the CPU alone, not the card. I also configured the settings very carefully according to the README.txt file and the information provided by QAPlus Win program which showed me all the useful info about the allocation of Memory Addresses, IRQs and DMAs. I also tried this in Command Prompt Only mode outside Windows, the result had no difference.

Beside the driver issue, the card is really annoying! Its presence makes all my PCI slots unusable except for a PCI graphic card. I'm gonna post that issue as a different topic later.

No-no-no!

NO command prompt INSIDE Windows!

Only pure DOS-mode. Press F8 before the Windows starts and launch system in COMMAND PROMPT ONLY!
Maybe there some drivers/memory managers installation needed.

GunKneeNeon wrote on 2023-05-23, 14:30:

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 13:54:

All I can say - try it in pure DOS-mode or in Win3.1 (there .INI configuration file maybe it needs to configure it with other then default setting).
Many years ago I install OTHER MPEG card that way - DOS part works perfectly while Win part don work (or give me just color artifacts).

I've tried that in different situations, the result is basically the same. When launched through command prompt inside Windows, it read the disc and seemed to be playing the video, but no image showing up. I had System Monitor run at the same time, just to check if the card is working. The CPU usage kept at 100% all the time, that is to say the decoding was doing by the CPU alone, not the card. I also configured the settings very carefully according to the README.txt file and the information provided by QAPlus Win program which showed me all the useful info about the allocation of Memory Addresses, IRQs and DMAs. I also tried this in Command Prompt Only mode outside Windows, the result had no difference.

Beside the driver issue, the card is really annoying! Its presence makes all my PCI slots unusable except for a PCI graphic card. I'm gonna post that issue as a different topic later.

One more - it looks like this card is software configurable thru Win3.1 utility (defaults stored in WINMPEG.INI but who knows how to change it or what parameters store currently in your card).

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 14:48:

NO command prompt INSIDE Windows!

Only pure DOS-mode. Press F8 before the Windows starts and launch system in COMMAND PROMPT ONLY!
Maybe there some drivers/memory managers installation needed.

Testing it inside Windows is just for monitoring the CPU usage easily. I've mentioned in the previous post I had tested it through pure Command Prompt mode OUTSIDE Windows and the result is the same. A quote from the README.txt:

Magic V18 does not support installation programs in DOS environment, although it provides DOS playback programs.

I believe I've done every thing the README file told me to do. I have no idea what to do next and I simply think this isn't the right driver for the card.

GunKneeNeon wrote on 2023-05-23, 15:02:

Testing it inside Windows is just for monitoring the CPU usage easily. I've mentioned in the previous post I had tested it throu […]
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Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 14:48:

NO command prompt INSIDE Windows!

Only pure DOS-mode. Press F8 before the Windows starts and launch system in COMMAND PROMPT ONLY!
Maybe there some drivers/memory managers installation needed.

Testing it inside Windows is just for monitoring the CPU usage easily. I've mentioned in the previous post I had tested it through pure Command Prompt mode OUTSIDE Windows and the result is the same. A quote from the README.txt:

Magic V18 does not support installation programs in DOS environment, although it provides DOS playback programs.

I believe I've done every thing the README file told me to do. I have no idea what to do next and I simply think this isn't the right driver for the card.

Just try my driver (attached) I include HWSET.EXE (Hardware setup utility)?

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 15:18:

Just try my driver (attached) I include HWSET.EXE (Hardware setup utility)?

I cannot install your driver, it throws an I/O Port Error no matter what I/O address I choose. I literally tried all of the options without success.

Do you try hwset.exe? Is it DOS or Win app?

Babasha wrote on 2023-05-23, 17:42:

Do you try hwset.exe? Is it DOS or Win app?

Changed I/O port in hwset.exe, restarted and run Windemo.exe directly from your install folder, then the error "WINVDMAD.386 not installed!" appeared. I think it should be installed via Setup.exe. Oh, it's a Win app by the way.

This is from the readme file:

1- Run Windows. 2- Run File Manager (Main group). 3- Insert floppy disc in Drive A/B. 4- Select Drive A/B in File Manager […]
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1- Run Windows.
2- Run File Manager (Main group).
3- Insert floppy disc in Drive A/B.
4- Select Drive A/B in File Manager and Run Setup Program.
5- Follow Instruction in Setup Program.

Totally running in Windows.

Anyway we on the right way. Sad i in Ukraine and dont have this mpeg board. I like such interesting quests)))

Hi i have de same card with 3 floppy disks

RaVeNsClaw wrote on 2023-04-25, 20:34:

I found the driver by searching for the WinBond W9920A-1 chip. It is from one of the rather dodgy driver sites:
https://www.solvusoft.com/en/update/drivers/g … a-1/sub-models/

RaVeNsClaw wrote on 2023-04-30, 20:28:

I've searched around for the ADSP-2105 audio dsp chip. It's the same DSP as on the "Reelmagic" MPEG decoder cards.

After having tried all the drivers I could get I finally give up. However there is still a possibility. The Winbond w9920a-1 driver you found is the right one for the video chip and the Reelmagic driver has the right one for the ADSP-2105 audio chip. I'm wondering if someone can combine these two driver for our cards.

Reelmagic driver:
(I've tried to install the v1.0 one, it tested the hardware before actually installed the driver. But my card cannot pass the test so I cannot install it. I haven't tried other versions though. Maybe someone could just extract the audio driver.)
https://archive.org/details/sigma-design-drivers

Beside the driver issue, I found that the card seemed to be using IRQ10 by default.

Techni-support wrote on 2023-05-24, 15:09:

Hi i have de same card with 3 floppy disks

Any chance you could make an image of these three floppy disks?

Techni-support wrote on 2023-05-24, 15:09:

Hi i have de same card with 3 floppy disks

Please share the contents of the disks. We really need them. Thanks!