What is HSP?
HSP stands for Host Signal
Processing. This refers to using the host computers processor
(Pentium chip) in place of a dedicated chip on the modem (DSP) to
perform the Digital Signal Processing.
Can I use the HSP modem
on a motherboard using a Cyrix CPU instead of a Pentium?
This product was marketed
as a product for use in systems with a true Intel Pentium-100 or
faster CPU running Windows 95 only! Our initial tests using the
driver designed for the Pentium showed that the HSP modem would
not perform on a Cyrix 686 - 150. All of the system's resources
would be used just to establish and maintain the connection,
leaving no resources left over. The chipset maker has released a
driver that performs better when used with CPU's other than
Intel's Pentium. PCtel claims that the floating point processor
on the Cyrix CPU is much slower than Intel's or AMD's. Since the
Singnal processing done by the CPU uses the floating point
processor, the performance of your system depends upon the
performance of the floating point processor.
Can I use my modem with
Operating sytems other than Windows 95?
No! The HSP modem currently
only works in Win95. The chipset maker (PCtel) claims that they
may support other Operating Systems in the future. Currently they
claim they will support OS/2 and Windows NT soon. PCtel currently
has no plans to run on the DOS operating system.
Why does my system slow
down when I'm online?
The description of what HSP
stands for will give you the best clue. The Digital Signal
processing that is done by a chip (DSP) on most modems is being
done with the computers CPU. This will of course leave less CPU
cycles for other running programs. If you are running a
Pentium-166 or faster, the performance loss will not be noticable
to most users. But if you are a power user that is multi-tasking
on a regular basis while online, I strongly recommend that you
purchase a modem with a DSP.See comments page from HSP users for their own views.
Can I control the amount
of CPU cycles that the modem uses to speed up my system?
Yes. The PCtel chipset has
a AT command that will control this. Following are the settings:
%N0 Dynamic CPU loading disabled
%N1 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 10%
%N2 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 20%
%N3 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 30%
%N4 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 40%
%N5 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 50%
%N6 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 60%
%N7 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 70%
%N8 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 80%
%N9 Dynamic CPU loading not to exceed 90%
Note: Limiting the CPU loading may reduce your connection speed.
Why do I need a full
duplex sound card for the Speaker phone to work?
The modem does not have the
required hardware to perform this function without a Full duplex
sound card. No special connections are required between the sound
card and the modem. When the sound card and HSP modem are
installed properly with all the correct drivers, the sound cards
microphone and speakers will be used for the Speaker Phone
feature.
I added a Port to Win95,
but the PCTel modem will not use it, what's the problem?
The HSP modem uses a
virtual Port enabled by installing the PCTel Port driver. Do not
install a normal Com port. You must install the PCtel Port
driver. Refer to page 5 of the manual to install the Virtual port
driver. To change the port or the IRQ that the port uses, follow
the directions in the manual on pages 13-17.
Why won't Windows 95
auto-detect my modem?
The HSP modem cannot
respond to ATi commands until the Windows 95 driver is loaded.
Since Windows 95 uses the ATi responses to auto-detect modems,
auto-detection is not possible.
Possible causes of a
slow connect speed.
The modem you are
connecting to does not support the speed you expect.
The line conditions will not support it.
The Processor you are using is too slow. If you use a Pentium CPU
slower than 100 Mhz or use a non Intel CPU from Cyrix or AMD, the
connection speed may be limited due to system resources.
You could be using the wrong driver click here for the new updated Cyrix driver.
For information on controlling the connection speed (carrier
rate) with your HSP modem read the Online Manual.
Dropped connections?
It has been found that when
your video card driver is set above 256 colors (16 bit or 24
bit), the modem would drop the connection for no apparent reason.
Either set your video driver to 256 colors when using the modem
or try the solution below. If you are running your video card
driver at more than 256 colors, make sure the following lines are
in the
SYSTEM.INI:
[Display]
BusThrottle=1
If the section does not exist, create it and add the BusThrottle
statement.
If it does exist and the BusThrottle statement is there, but it
is not set to 1, change it to match the line above. This has been
tested by a end user and the PCtel engineers. It is known that
this solves the problem for graphic cards using the S3 VIRGE
chipset.
If that doesn’t fix the problem, or your video card
doesn’t use S3 chips, try going to the Control Panels ->
System -> Performance -> Graphics area and turning down the
Hardware Acceleration to “None.” If you still have
problems, contact your card manufacturer for technical
assistance. If that worked, then you may try turning the
acceleration back up a notch at a time to find the optimum
setting.
I noticed that the ATi3
response of my modem indicated it was for a Pentium when I have a
Cyrix computer. Do I need another modem?
No. The modem is the same.
The Item number FMHSP336i is the same. The only difference is the
software driver that the modem is using. If you have a Pentium
CPU, use the Pentium driver and if you have the Cyrix CPU, use
the Cyrix
driver.
What is the PTSNOOP.EXE
program for?
PTSNOOP is a token program
that waits for some program to request the COM port to be opened.
Then it makes sure that the drivers get loaded. The total memory
impact is less than one meg of RAM, for everything that the HSP
software does.