[Openal] Distribution of OpenAL

[Garin Hiebert]

For maximum safety, give your users the following instructions:

"Install the lastest Creative or NVIDIA nForce drivers before running 
my installer."

Since the beginning, NVIDIA has always put their actual OpenAL 
implementation in a file "nvopenal.dll", which had to be picked up by a 
router DLL.  Creative is going over to the same kind of system -- right 
now we're switching over to "ct_oal.dll" as our actual hardware 
implementation so that the router can enumerate it.

For example, I have a machine at work with an nForce 2 and an Audigy 2. 
  Running the driver installers and then the Creative OpenAL installer, 
I end up with the following OpenAL-related DLLs in my system directory:

OpenAL32.dll <-- the router DLL
wrap_oal.dll <-- the wrapper code, providing the MMSYSTEM, DS, and DS3D 
devices
nvopenal.dll <-- the nForce 2 audio device
ct_oal.dll <-- the Audigy 2 audio device

Your app looks for OpenAL32.dll, and that DLL in turn exposes all the 
other backends through enumeration.  If you don't use enumeration and 
ask for the default device, the nForce 2 hardware DLL will be used if 
the nForce is selected as the preferred output device, and the Audigy 2 
hardware DLL will be used if the Audigy is selected as the preferred 
output device -- the router has that logic built-in.

Garin


On Mar 26, 2004, at 9:00 AM, Brian Matzon wrote:

> Garin Hiebert wrote:
>
>>> How am I supposed to distribute OpenAL?
>>> I can't really ask the user to run off and find the correct dll. And 
>>> I
>>> don't know whether to install an audigy, nvidia or std. creative one 
>>> -
>>> and thats just for win32!
>> Windows -- Use the Creative installer at developer.creative.com:
> Well, what about Audigy and nVidias - how do I handle the case making 
> sure I install an Audigy OpenAL for owners of Audigy cards, nVidias 
> for nForce owners and the normal creative for the rest?
> apart from having to include N win32 distributions.
>
> /matzon
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