Installation Steps

Step 1: Prepare your computer

Turn off the main power supply and disconnect your computer’s power cord. Systems using an ATX power supply unit with soft power off may still be powering the PCI slot. This can damage your audio card when it is inserted into the slot.

Remove any existing audio card or disable the onboard audio chipset. For more information, see “Problems with Multiple Audio Devices” on page B-9.

1.Turn off your computer and all peripheral devices.

2.Touch a metal plate on your computer to ground yourself and to discharge any static electricity, and then unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.

3.Remove the computer cover.

4.Remove the metal brackets from two adjacent unused PCI slots as shown in Figure 1-3. Put the screws aside for use later.

A

B

A: metal bracket

 

B: PCI slot

 

C: ISA slot (may not

 

be present on

 

your computer)

C

 

Figure 1-3: Removing metal plates

Installing Hardware 1-6