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================================================================

        AWE32 Sound Driver for Linux / FreeBSD

                version 0.4.3; Nov. 1, 1998

        Takashi Iwai 

================================================================

* GENERAL NOTES

This is a sound driver extension for SoundBlaster AWE32 and other

compatible cards (AWE32-PnP, SB32, SB32-PnP, AWE64 & etc) to enable

the wave synth operations.  The driver is provided for Linux 1.2.x

and 2.[012].x kernels, as well as FreeBSD, on Intel x86 and DEC

Alpha systems.

This driver was written by Takashi Iwai ,

and provided "as is".  The original source (awedrv-0.4.3.tar.gz) and

binary packages are available on the following URL:

        http://bahamut.mm.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~iwai/awedrv/

Note that since the author is apart from this web site, the update is

not frequent now.

* NOTE TO LINUX USERS

To enable this driver on linux-2.[01].x kernels, you need turn on

"AWE32 synth" options in sound menu when configure your linux kernel

and modules.  The precise installation procedure is described in the

AWE64-Mini-HOWTO and linux-kernel/Documetation/sound/AWE32.

If you're using PnP cards, the card must be initialized before loading

the sound driver.  There're several options to do this:

    - Initialize the card via ISA PnP tools, and load the sound module.

    - Initialize the card on DOS, and load linux by loadlin.exe

    - Use PnP kernel driver (for Linux-2.x.x)

The detailed instruction for the solution using isapnp tools is found

in many documents like above.  A brief instruction is also included in

the installation document of this package.

For PnP driver project, please refer to the following URL:

        http://www-jcr.lmh.ox.ac.uk/~pnp/

* USING THE DRIVER

The awedrv has several different playing modes to realize easy channel

allocation for MIDI songs.  To hear the exact sound quality, you need

to obtain the extended sequencer program, drvmidi or playmidi-2.5.

For playing MIDI files, you *MUST* load the soundfont file on the

driver previously by sfxload utility.  Otherwise you'll here no sounds

at all!  All the utilities and driver source packages are found in the

above URL.  The sfxload program is included in the package

awesfx-0.4.3.tgz.  Binary packages are available there, too.  See the

instruction in each package for installation.

Loading a soundfont file is very simple.  Just execute the command

        % sfxload synthgm.sbk

Then, sfxload transfers the file "synthgm.sbk" to the driver.

Both SF1 and SF2 formats are accepted.

Now you can hear midi musics by a midi player.

        % drvmidi foo.mid

If you run MIDI player after MOD player, you need to load soundfont

files again, since MOD player programs clear the previous loaded

samples by their own data.

If you have only 512kb on the sound card, I recommend to use dynamic

sample loading via -L option of drvmidi.  2MB GM/GS soundfont file is

available in most midi files.

        % sfxload synthgm

        % drvmidi -L 2mbgmgs foo.mid

This makes a big difference (believe me)!  For more details, please

refer to the FAQ list which is available on the URL above.

The current chorus, reverb and equalizer status can be changed by

aweset utility program (included in awesfx package).  Note that

some awedrv-native programs (like drvmidi and xmp) will change the

current settings by themselves.  The aweset program is effective

only for other programs like playmidi.

Enjoy.

* COMPILE FLAGS

Compile conditions are defined in awe_config.h.

[Compatibility Conditions]

The following flags are defined automatically when using installation

shell script.

- AWE_MODULE_SUPPORT

    indicates your Linux kernel supports module for each sound card

    (in recent 2.1 or 2.2 kernels and unofficial patched 2.0 kernels

    as distributed in the RH5.0 package).

    This flag is automatically set when you're using 2.1.x kernels.

    You can pass the base address and memory size via the following

    module options,

        io = base I/O port address (eg. 0x620)

        memsize = DRAM size in kilobytes (eg. 512)

    As default, AWE driver probes these values automatically.

[Hardware Conditions]

You DON'T have to define the following two values.

Define them only when the driver couldn't detect the card properly.

- AWE_DEFAULT_BASE_ADDR         (default: not defined)

    specifies the base port address of your AWE32 card.

- AWE_DEFAULT_MEM_SIZE          (default: not defined)

    specifies the memory size of your AWE32 card in kilobytes.

    -1 means to autodetect its size.

[Sample Table Size]

From ver.0.4.0, sample tables are allocated dynamically (except

Linux-1.2.x system), so you need NOT to touch these parameters.

Linux-1.2.x users may need to increase these values to appropriate size

if the sound card is equipped with more DRAM.

- AWE_MAX_SF_LISTS, AWE_MAX_SAMPLES, AWE_MAX_INFOS

[Other Conditions]

- AWE_ALWAYS_INIT_FM            (default: not defined)

    indicates the AWE driver always initialize FM passthrough even

    without DRAM on board.  Emu8000 chip has a restriction for playing

    samples on DRAM that at least two channels must be occupied as

    passthrough channels.

- AWE_DEBUG_ON                  (default: defined)

    turns on debugging messages if defined.

- AWE_HAS_GUS_COMPATIBILITY     (default: defined)

    Enables GUS compatibility mode if defined, reading GUS patches and

    GUS control commands.  Define this option to use GMOD or other

    GUS module players.

- CONFIG_AWE32_MIDIEMU          (default: defined)

    Adds a MIDI emulation device by Emu8000 wavetable.  The emulation

    device can be accessed as an external MIDI, and sends the MIDI

    control codes directly.  XG and GS sysex/NRPN are accepted.

    No MIDI input is supported.

- CONFIG_AWE32_MIXER            (default: not defined)

    Adds a mixer device for AWE32 bass/treble equalizer control.

    You can access this device using /dev/mixer?? (usually mixer01).

- AWE_USE_NEW_VOLUME_CALC       (default: defined)

    Use the new method to calculate the volume change as compatible

    with DOS/Win drivers.  This option can be toggled via aweset

    program, or drvmidi player.

- AWE_CHECK_VTARGET             (default: defined)

    Check the current volume target value when searching for an

    empty channel to allocate a new voice.  This is experimentally

    implemented in this version.  (probably, this option doesn't

    affect the sound quality severely...)

- AWE_ALLOW_SAMPLE_SHARING      (default: defined)

   Allow sample sharing for differently loaded patches.

   This function is available only together with awesfx-0.4.3p3.

   Note that this is still an experimental option.

- DEF_FM_CHORUS_DEPTH           (default: 0x10)

    The default strength to be sent to the chorus effect engine.

    From 0 to 0xff.  Larger numbers may often cause weird sounds.

- DEF_FM_REVERB_DEPTH           (default: 0x10)

    The default strength to be sent to the reverb effect engine.

    From 0 to 0xff.  Larger numbers may often cause weird sounds.

* ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Witold Jachimczyk (witek@xfactor.wpi.edu) for much advice

on programming of AWE32.  Much code is brought from his AWE32-native

MOD player, ALMP.

The port of awedrv to FreeBSD is done by Randall Hopper

(rhh@ct.picker.com).

The new volume calculation routine was derived from Mark Weaver's

ADIP compatible routines.

I also thank linux-awe-ml members for their efforts

to reboot their system many times :-)

* TODO'S

- Complete DOS/Win compatibility

- DSP-like output

* COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 1996-1998 Takashi Iwai

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify

it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or

(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the

GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software

Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.