OpenCores
URL https://opencores.org/ocsvn/or1k/or1k/trunk

Subversion Repositories or1k

[/] [or1k/] [trunk/] [rc203soc/] [sw/] [uClinux/] [drivers/] [sound/] [Readme.cards] - Blame information for rev 1765

Details | Compare with Previous | View Log

Line No. Rev Author Line
1 1626 jcastillo
Configuring version 3.5.4 (for Linux) with some most common soundcards
2
======================================================================
3
 
4
IMPORTANT!      This document covers only cards that were "known" when
5
                this driver version was released. Please look at
6
                http://www.4front-tech.com/ossfree for info about
7
                cards introduced recently.
8
 
9
                The following covers mainly the "old" configuration
10
                method (make config). Most of it is valid for the "new"
11
                configuration (make menuconfig/xconfig) too.
12
 
13
                Cards having some kind of loadable "microcode" such as
14
                PSS, SM Wave, AudioTrix Pro and Maui/Tropez must be
15
                configured using the old method. The new one will not
16
                work with them.
17
 
18
                When using make xconfig and/or make menuconfig, you should
19
                carefully check each sound configuration option (particularly
20
                "Support for /dev/dsp and /dev/audio").
21
 
22
Cards that are not (fully) supported by this driver
23
---------------------------------------------------
24
 
25
There are many soundcards which don't work with this driver
26
version (v3.5). Support for some of them is expected to be
27
available during/after summer 1996 (in version 3.6). Please check
28
http://www.4front-tech.com/ossfree for latest news. Please don't
29
mail me and ask about these cards. The unsupported cards are:
30
 
31
        - All PnP soundcards (SB PnP, GUS PnP, Soundscape PnP etc.)
32
                Schedule for availability of PnP soundcard support in
33
                OSS/Free depends on progress made by kernel PnP team
34
                (probably in Linux 2.1.xx versions). With Linux 2.0.x
35
                versions there are two ways to get PnP soundcards to work:
36
                - Use isapnptools, DOS, Win95 or PnP aware BIOS to wake up the
37
                card before starting the sound driver. See "Configuring PnP
38
                soundcards" below for some hints.
39
                - Support for SB PnP and GUS PnP is present in OSS/Linux (the
40
                commercial version of this driver).
41
        - Mwave soundcards and motherboards
42
                (Version 3.6 or 3.7. Depends on how fast I get
43
                suitable documents for Mwave).
44
        - Emu8k (SB 32/AWE)
45
                (Probably not _before_ summer 97. I know the unofficial
46
                AWE programmers guide so don't send me more copies of it).
47
        - Diamond Edge 3D
48
                (ASAP. In practice this may take relatively long time).
49
        - Compaq Deskpro
50
                (Version 3.5.4-beta6 (already released))
51
        - Sound Galaxy Washington/Waverider
52
                (Audio features already in OSS/Linux (OSS/Free soon).
53
                Can't promise the waverider synth since
54
                availability of chip specs is uncertain).
55
        - Yamaha OPL4 (on cards having _RAM_ for samples)
56
                (Late 96?. Works as OPL3 with current driver versions)
57
 
58
How to use sound without recompiling kernel and/or sound driver
59
---------------------------------------------------------------
60
 
61
There is commercial sound driver which should be released during Apr 96.
62
It comes in precompiled form and doesn't require recompiling of kernel. See
63
http://www.4Front-tech.com/uss.html for more info.
64
 
65
Configuring PnP cards
66
---------------------
67
 
68
New versions of most soundcards use so called ISA PnP protocol for
69
soft configuring their I/O, IRQ, DMA and shared memory resources.
70
Currently at least cards made by Creative Technology (SB32 and SB32AWE
71
PnP), Gravis (GUS PnP and GUS PnP Pro), Ensoniq (Soundscape PnP) and
72
Aztech (some Sound Galaxy models) use PnP technology. The CS4232 audio
73
chip by Crystal Semiconductor (Intel Atlantis, HP Pavilion and many other
74
motherboards) is also based on PnP technology but there is a "native" driver
75
available for it (see information about CS4232 later in this document).
76
 
77
PnP soundcards (as well as most other PnP ISA cards) are not supported
78
by version 3.5 of this driver (Linux 1.3.xx and Linux 2.0.x). Proper
79
support for them should be released during spring 96
80
(see http://www.4front-tech.com/ossfree for latest info).
81
 
82
There is a method to get most of the PnP cards to work. The basic method
83
is the following:
84
 
85
1) Boot DOS so that card's DOS drivers have chance to initialize the
86
card.
87
2) _Cold_ boot to Linux by using "loadlin.exe". Hitting ctrl-alt-del
88
works with older machines but causes hard reset of all cards on latest
89
(Pentium) machines.
90
3) If you have sound driver in Linux configured properly, the card should work
91
now. "Proper" means here that I/O, IRQ and DMA settings are the same than in
92
DOS. The hard part is to find which settings were used. See documentation of
93
your card for more info.
94
 
95
Windows 95 could work as well as DOS but running loadlin may be somehow
96
difficult. Probably you should "shut down" your machine to MS-DOS mode
97
before running it.
98
 
99
Some machines have BIOS utility for setting PnP resources. This is a good
100
way to configure some cards. In this case you don't need to boot DOS/Win95
101
prior starting Linux.
102
Another way to initialize PnP cards without DOS/Win95 is a Linux based
103
PnP isolation tool. When writing this there is a pre alpha test version
104
of such tool available from ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/unix/linux/utils. The
105
file is called isapnptools-*. Please note that this tool is just a temporary
106
solution which may be incompatible with future kernel versions having proper
107
support for PnP cards. There are bugs in setting DMA channels in earlier
108
versions of isapnptools so at least version 1.6 is required with soundcards.
109
You can find latest version of isapnptools from
110
ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/unix/linux/utils/
111
 
112
These two methods don't work with GUS PnP which requires some additional
113
initialization (cards DOS/Win95 driver does it).
114
 
115
Read this before trying to configure the driver
116
-----------------------------------------------
117
 
118
There are currently many cards that work with this driver. Some of the cards
119
have native support while others work since they emulate some other
120
card (usually SB, MSS/WSS and/or MPU401). The following cards have native
121
support in the driver. Detailed instructions for configuring these cards
122
will be given later in this document.
123
 
124
Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (PAS16) and compatibles:
125
        Pro Audio Spectrum 16
126
        Pro Audio Studio 16
127
        Logitech Sound Man 16
128
        NOTE! The original Pro Audio Spectrum as well as the PAS+ are not
129
              and will not be supported by the driver.
130
 
131
Media Vision Jazz16 based cards
132
        Pro Sonic 16
133
        Logitech SoundMan Wave
134
        (Other Jazz based cards should work but I don't have any reports
135
        about them).
136
 
137
Sound Blasters
138
        SB 1.0 to 2.0
139
        SB Pro
140
        SB 16
141
        NOTE!   The ASP chip and the EMU synth of AWE32 are not supported
142
                since their manufacturer doesn't release information about
143
                the card. However, both SB16ASP and AWE32 work with
144
                the driver just like a SB16. Also see the comment about some
145
                unsupported cards at the end of this file.
146
                (The OPL3 FM chip of SB32/AWE works but you cannot hear it).
147
        SB16 compatible cards by other manufacturers than Creative.
148
                You have been fooled since there are no SB16 compatible
149
                cards on the market (Feb 96). It's likely that your card
150
                is compatible just with SB Pro but there is also a non-SB-
151
                compatible 16 bit mode. Usually it's MSS/WSS but it could also
152
                be a proprietary one like MV Jazz16 or ESS ES688.
153
 
154
Gravis Ultrasound (GUS)
155
        GUS
156
        GUS + the 16 bit option
157
        GUS MAX
158
        GUS ACE (No MIDI port and audio recording)
159
        GUS PnP (Partially supported)
160
 
161
MPU-401 and compatibles
162
        The driver works both with the full (intelligent mode) MPU-401
163
        cards (such as MPU IPC-T and MQX-32M) and with the UART only
164
        dumb MIDI ports. MPU-401 is currently the most common MIDI
165
        interface. Most soundcards are compatible with it. However,
166
        don't enable MPU401 mode blindly. Many cards with native support
167
        in the driver have their own MPU401 driver. Enabling the standard one
168
        will cause a conflict with these cards. So check if your card is
169
        in the list of supported cards before enabling MPU401.
170
 
171
Windows Sound System (MSS/WSS)
172
        Even when Microsoft has discontinued their own Sound System card
173
        they managed to make it a standard. MSS compatible cards are based on
174
        a codec chip which is easily available from at least two manufacturers
175
        (AD1848 by Analog Devices and CS4231/CS4248 by Crystal Semiconductor).
176
        Currently most soundcards are based on one of the MSS compatible codec
177
        chips. The CS4231 is used in the high quality cards such as GUS MAX,
178
        MediaTrix AudioTrix Pro and TB Tropez (GUS MAX is not MSS compatible).
179
 
180
        Having a AD1848, CS4248 or CS4231 codec chip on the card is a good
181
        sign. Even if the card is not MSS compatible, it could be easy to write
182
        support for it. Note also that most MSS compatible cards
183
        require special boot time initialization which may not be present
184
        in the driver. Also, some MSS compatible cards have native support.
185
        Enabling the MSS support with these cards is likely to
186
        cause a conflict. So check if your card is listed in this file before
187
        enabling the MSS support.
188
 
189
6850 UART MIDI
190
        This UART chip is used in the MIDI interface of some (rare)
191
        soundcards. It's supported by the driver in case you need it.
192
 
193
Yamaha FM synthesizers (OPL2, OPL3 and OPL4)
194
        Most soundcards have a FM synthesizer chip. The OPL2 is a 2
195
        operator chip used in the original AdLib card. Currently it's used
196
        only in the cheapest (8 bit mono) cards. The OPL3 is a 4 operator
197
        FM chip which provides better sound quality and/or more available
198
        voices than the OPL2. The OPL4 is a new chip that has an OPL3 and
199
        a wave table synthesizer packed onto the same chip. The driver supports
200
        just the OPL3 mode directly. Most cards with an OPL4 (like
201
        SM Wave and AudioTrix Pro) support the OPL4 mode using MPU401
202
        emulation. Writing a native OPL4 support is difficult
203
        since Yamaha doesn't give information about their sample ROM chip.
204
 
205
        Enable the generic OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesizer support if your
206
        card has a FM chip made by Yamaha. Don't enable it if your card
207
        has a software (TRS) based FM emulator.
208
 
209
PSS based cards (AD1848 + ADSP-2115 + Echo ESC614 ASIC)
210
        Analog Devices and Echo Speech have together defined a soundcard
211
        architecture based on the above chips. The DSP chip is used
212
        for emulation of SB Pro, FM and General MIDI/MT32.
213
 
214
        There are several cards based on this architecture. The most known
215
        ones are Orchid SW32 and Cardinal DSP16.
216
 
217
        The driver supports downloading DSP algorithms to these cards.
218
 
219
MediaTrix AudioTrix Pro
220
        The ATP card is built around a CS4231 codec and an OPL4 synthesizer
221
        chips. The OPL4 mode is supported by a microcontroller running a
222
        General MIDI emulator. There is also a SB 1.5 compatible playback mode.
223
 
224
Ensoniq SoundScape and compatibles
225
        Ensoniq has designed a soundcard architecture based on the
226
        OTTO synthesizer chip used in their professional MIDI synthesizers.
227
        Several companies (including Ensoniq, Reveal and Spea) are selling
228
        cards based on this architecture.
229
 
230
        NOTE! The new PnP SoundScape is not supported yet.
231
 
232
MAD16 and Mozart based cards
233
        The Mozart (OAK OTI-601), MAD16 (OPTi 82C928), MAD16 Pro (OPTi 82C929)
234
        and OPTi 82C930 interface
235
        chips are used in many different soundcards, including some
236
        cards by Reveal miro and Turtle Beach (Tropez). The purpose of these
237
        chips is to connect other audio components to the PC bus. The
238
        interface chip performs address decoding for the other chips.
239
        NOTE! Tropez Plus is not MAD16 but CS4232 based.
240
 
241
Audio Excel DSP16
242
        Support for this card was written by Riccardo Faccetti
243
        (riccardo@cdc8g5.cdc.polimi.it). See aedsp16.c for more info.
244
        (This driver is not functional in version 3.5 of this driver. A
245
        patch should be made available during April 96 (sunsite.unc.edu)).
246
 
247
Crystal CS4232 based cards such as AcerMagic S23, TB Tropez _Plus_ and
248
        many PC motherboards (Compaq, HP, Intel, ...)
249
        CS4232 is a PnP multimedia chip which contains a CS3231A codec,
250
        SB and MPU401 emulations. There is support for OPL3 too.
251
        This is a temporary driver which uses the chip in non PnP mode
252
        (The final driver should be included in version 3.6 of the driver).
253
        Unfortunately the MPU401 mode doesn't work (I don't know how to
254
        initialize it).
255
 
256
Turtle Beach Maui and Tropez
257
        This driver version supports sample, patch and program loading commands
258
        described in the Maui/Tropez User's manual.
259
        There is now full initialization support too. The audio side of
260
        the Tropez is based on the MAD16 chip (see above).
261
 
262
Jumpers and software configuration
263
----------------------------------
264
 
265
Some of the earliest soundcards were jumper configurable. You have to
266
configure the driver use I/O, IRQ and DMA settings
267
that match the jumpers. Just few 8 bit cards are fully jumper
268
configurable (SB 1.x/2.x, SB Pro and clones).
269
Some cards made by Aztech have an EEPROM which contains the
270
config info. These cards behave much like hardware jumpered cards.
271
 
272
Most cards have jumper for the base I/O address but other parameters
273
are software configurable. Sometimes there are few other jumpers too.
274
 
275
Latest cards are fully software configurable or they are PnP ISA
276
compatible. There are no jumpers on the board.
277
 
278
The driver handles software configurable cards automatically. Just configure
279
the driver to use I/O, IRQ and DMA settings which are known to work.
280
You could usually use the same values than with DOS and/or Windows.
281
Using different settings is possible but not recommended since it may cause
282
some trouble (for example when warm booting from an OS to another or
283
when installing new hardware to the machine).
284
 
285
Sound driver sets the soft configurable parameters of the card automatically
286
during boot. Usually you don't need to run any extra initialization
287
programs when booting Linux but there are some exceptions. See the
288
card specific instructions (below) for more info.
289
 
290
The drawback of software configuration is that the driver needs to know
291
how the card must be initialized. It cannot initialize unknown cards
292
even if they are otherwise compatible with some other cards (like SB,
293
MPU401 or Windows Sound System).
294
 
295
What if your card was not listed above?
296
---------------------------------------
297
 
298
The first thing to do is to look at the major IC chips on the card.
299
Many of the latest soundcards are based on some standard chips. If you
300
are lucky, all of them could be supported by the driver. The most common ones
301
are the OPTi MAD16, Mozart, SoundScape (Ensoniq) and the PSS architectures
302
listed above. Also look at the end of this file for list of unsupported
303
cards and the ones which could be supported later.
304
 
305
The last resort is to send _exact_ name and model information of the card
306
to me together with a list of the major IC chips (manufactured, model) to
307
me. I could then try to check if your card looks like something familiar.
308
 
309
There are much more cards in the word than listed above. The first thing to
310
do with these cards is to check if they emulate some other card/interface
311
such as SB, MSS and/or MPU401. In this case there is a chance to get the
312
card to work by booting DOS before starting Linux (boot DOS, hit ctrl-alt-del
313
and boot Linux without hard resetting the machine). In this method the
314
DOS based driver initializes the hardware to use a known I/O, IRQ and DMA
315
settings. If sound driver is configured to use the same settings, everything should
316
work OK.
317
 
318
 
319
Configuring sound driver (with Linux)
320
=====================================
321
 
322
Sound driver is currently a part of Linux kernel distribution. The
323
driver files are located in directory /usr/src/linux/drivers/sound.
324
 
325
****************************************************************************
326
*       ALWAYS USE THE SOUND DRIVER VERSION WHICH IS DISTRIBUTED WITH      *
327
*       THE KERNEL SOURCE PACKAGE YOU ARE USING. SOME ALPHA AND BETA TEST  *
328
*       VERSIONS CAN BE INSTALLED FROM A SEPARATELY DISTRIBUTED PACKAGE    *
329
*       BUT CHECK THAT THE PACKAGE IS NOT MUCH OLDER (OR NEWER) THAN THE   *
330
*       KERNEL YOU ARE USING. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THE KERNEL/DRIVER         *
331
*       INTERFACE CHANGES BETWEEN KERNEL RELEASES WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME     *
332
*       INCOMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS.                                          *
333
*                                                                          *
334
*       IN CASE YOU INSTALL A SEPARATELY DISTRIBUTED SOUND DRIVER VERSION, *
335
*       BE SURE TO REMOVE OR RENAME THE OLD SOUND DRIVER DIRECTORY BEFORE  *
336
*       INSTALLING THE NEW ONE. LEAVING OLD FILES TO THE SOUND DRIVER      *
337
*       DIRECTORY _WILL_ CAUSE PROBLEMS WHEN THE DRIVER IS USED OR         *
338
*       COMPILED.                                                          *
339
****************************************************************************
340
 
341
To configure the driver, run "make config" in the kernel source directory
342
(/usr/src/linux). Answer y to the question about Sound card support (after
343
questions about mouse, CD-ROM, ftape, etc. supports). Sound config options
344
will then be asked after some additional questions.
345
 
346
After configuring the kernel and sound driver, run "make dep" and compile
347
the kernel following instructions in the kernel README.
348
 
349
The sound driver configuration dialog
350
-------------------------------------
351
 
352
All config information of the sound driver is written to file
353
linux/drivers/sound/local.h. You may save the old version is this file and
354
use it again in case you want to use the same config later. In this case
355
just answer n to each question made by the sound config program and put
356
the original local.h back before running "make dep".
357
Don't do this if the version number of the sound driver has changed. In this
358
case you have to enter the configuration information again.
359
 
360
If you already have the sound driver installed, consult printout of
361
"cat /dev/sndstat" when configuring the driver again. It gives the I/O,
362
IRQ and DMA settings you have used earlier.
363
 
364
 
365
The sound config program (linux/drivers/sound/configure) starts by making
366
some yes/no questions. Be careful when answering to these questions since
367
answering y to a question may prevent some later ones from being asked. For
368
example don't answer y to the first question (PAS16) if you don't really
369
have a PAS16. Don't enable more cards than you really need since they
370
just consume memory. Also some drivers (like MPU401) may conflict with your
371
SCSI controller and prevent kernel from booting. If you card was in the list
372
of supported cards (above), please look at the card specific config
373
instructions (later in this file) before starting to configure. Some cards
374
must be configured in way which is not obvious.
375
 
376
So here is the beginning of the config dialog. Answer 'y' or 'n' to these
377
questions. The default answer is shown so that (y/n) means 'y' by default and
378
(n/y) means 'n'. To use the default value, just hit ENTER. But be careful
379
since using the default _doesn't_ guarantee anything.
380
 
381
Note also that all questions may not be asked. The configuration program
382
may disable some questions depending on the earlier choices. It may also
383
select some options automatically as well.
384
 
385
  "ProAudioSpectrum 16 support",
386
        - Answer 'y'_ONLY_ if you have a Pro Audio Spectrum _16_,
387
          Pro Audio Studio 16 or Logitech SoundMan 16 (be sure that
388
          you read the above list correctly). Don't answer 'y' if you
389
          have some other card made by Media Vision or Logitech since they
390
          are not PAS16 compatible.
391
          NOTE! Since 3.5-beta10 you need to enable SB support (next question)
392
          if you want to use the SB emulation of PAS16. It's also possible to
393
          the emulation if you want to use a true SB card together with PAS16
394
          (there is another question about this that is asked later).
395
  "Sound Blaster support",
396
        - Answer 'y' if you have an original SB card made by Creative Labs
397
          or a full 100% hardware compatible clone (like Thunderboard or
398
          SM Games). If your card was in the list of supported cards (above),
399
          please look at the card specific instructions later in this file
400
          before answering this question. For an unknown card you may answer
401
          'y' if the card claims to be SB compatible.
402
         Enable this option also with PAS16 (changed since v3.5-beta9).
403
 
404
         Don't enable SB if you have a MAD16 or Mozart compatible card.
405
 
406
  "Generic OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesizer support",
407
        - Answer 'y' if your card has a FM chip made by Yamaha (OPL2/OPL3/OPL4).
408
          Answering 'y' is usually a safe and recommended choice. However some
409
          cards may have software (TSR) FM emulation. Enabling FM support
410
          with these cards may cause trouble. However I don't currently know
411
          such cards.
412
  "Gravis Ultrasound support",
413
        - Answer 'y' if you have GUS or GUS MAX. Answer 'n' if you don't
414
          have GUS since the GUS driver consumes much memory.
415
          Currently I don't have experiences with the GUS ACE so I don't
416
          know what to answer with it.
417
  "MPU-401 support (NOT for SB16)",
418
        - Be careful with this question. The MPU401 interface is supported
419
          by almost any soundcard today. However some natively supported cards
420
          have their own driver for MPU401. Enabling the MPU401 option with
421
          these cards will cause a conflict. Also enabling MPU401 on a system
422
          that doesn't really have a MPU401 could cause some trouble. If your
423
          card was in the list of supported cards (above), please look at
424
          the card specific instructions later in this file.
425
          It's safe to answer 'y' if you have a true MPU401 MIDI interface
426
          card.
427
  "6850 UART Midi support",
428
        - It's safe to answer 'n' to this question in all cases. The 6850
429
          UART interface is so rarely used.
430
  "PSS (ECHO-ADI2111) support",
431
        - Answer 'y' only if you have Orchid SW32, Cardinal DSP16 or some
432
          other card based on the PSS chipset (AD1848 codec + ADSP-2115
433
          DSP chip + Echo ESC614 ASIC CHIP).
434
  "16 bit sampling option of GUS (_NOT_ GUS MAX)",
435
        - Answer 'y' if you have installed the 16 bit sampling daughtercard
436
          to your GUS. Answer 'n' if you have GUS MAX. Enabling this option
437
          disables GUS MAX support.
438
  "GUS MAX support",
439
        - Answer 'y' only if you have a GUS MAX.
440
  "Microsoft Sound System support",
441
        - Again think carefully before answering 'y' to this question. It's
442
          safe to answer 'y' in case you have the original Windows Sound
443
          System card made by Microsoft or Aztech SG 16 Pro (or NX16 Pro).
444
          Also you may answer 'y' in case your card was not listed earlier
445
          in this file. For cards having native support in the driver, consult
446
          the card specific instructions later in this file. Some drivers
447
          have their own MSS support and enabling this option will cause a
448
          conflict.
449
  "Ensoniq Soundscape support",
450
        - Answer 'y' if you have a soundcard based on the Ensoniq SoundScape
451
          chipset. Such cards are being manufactured at least by Ensoniq,
452
          Spea and Reveal (note that Reveal makes other cards also).
453
  "MediaTrix AudioTrix Pro support",
454
        - Answer 'y' if you have the AudioTrix Pro.
455
  "Support for MAD16 and/or Mozart based cards",
456
        - Answer y if your card has a Mozart (OAK OTI-601) or MAD16
457
          (OPTi 82C928, 82C929 or 82C930) audio interface chip. These chips are
458
          currently quite common so it's possible that many no-name cards
459
          have one of them. In addition the MAD16 chip is used in some
460
          cards made by known manufacturers such as Turtle Beach (Tropez),
461
          Reveal (some models) and Diamond (some recent models).
462
  "Support for TB Maui"
463
        - This enables TB Maui specific initialization. Works with TB Maui
464
        and TB Tropez (may not work with Tropez Plus).
465
 
466
  "Audio Excel DSP 16 initialization support",
467
        - Don't know much about this card. Look at aedsp16.c for more info.
468
 
469
Then the configuration program asks some y/n questions about the higher
470
level services. It's recommended to answer 'y' to each of these questions.
471
Answer 'n' only if you know you will not need the option.
472
 
473
  "/dev/dsp and /dev/audio supports (usually required)",
474
        - Answering 'n' disables /dev/dsp and /dev/audio. Answer 'y'.
475
  "MIDI interface support",
476
        - Answering 'n' disables /dev/midi## devices and access to any
477
          MIDI ports using /dev/sequencer and /dev/music. This option
478
          also affects any MPU401 and/or General MIDI compatible devices.
479
  "FM synthesizer (YM3812/OPL-3) support",
480
        - Answer 'y' here.
481
  "/dev/sequencer support",
482
        - Answering 'n' disables /dev/sequencer and /dev/music.
483
 
484
Entering the I/O, IRQ and DMA config parameters
485
-----------------------------------------------
486
 
487
After the above questions the configuration program prompts for the
488
card specific configuration information. Usually just a set of
489
I/O address, IRQ and DMA numbers are asked. With some cards the program
490
asks for some files to be used during initialization of the card. For example
491
many cards have a DSP chip or microprocessor which must be initialized by
492
downloading a program (microcode) file to the card. In some cases this file
493
is written to a .h file by the config program and then included to the driver
494
during compile.
495
 
496
Instructions for answering these questions are given in the next section.
497
 
498
 
499
Card specific information
500
=========================
501
 
502
This section gives additional instructions about configuring some cards.
503
Please refer manual of your card for valid I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers. Using
504
the same settings with DOS/Windows and Linux is recommended. Using
505
different values could cause some problems when switching between
506
different operating systems.
507
 
508
Sound Blasters (the original ones by Creative)
509
---------------------------------------------
510
 
511
It's possible to configure these cards to use different I/O, IRQ and
512
DMA settings. Since the available settings have changed between various
513
models, you have to consult manual of your card for the proper ones. It's
514
a good idea to use the same values than with DOS/Windows. With SB and SB Pro
515
it's the only choice. SB16 has software selectable IRQ and DMA channels but
516
using different values with DOS and Linux is likely to cause troubles. The
517
DOS driver is not able to reset the card properly after warm boot from Linux
518
if Linux has used different IRQ or DMA values.
519
 
520
The original (steam) Sound Blaster (versions 1.x and 2.x) use always
521
DMA1. There is no way to change it.
522
 
523
The SB16 needs two DMA channels. A 8 bit one (1 or 3) is required for
524
8 bit operation and a 16 bit one (5, 6 or 7) for the 16 bit mode. In theory
525
it's possible to use just one (8 bit) DMA channel by answering the 8 bit
526
one when the configuration program asks for the 16 bit one. This may work
527
in some systems but is likely to cause terrible noise on some other systems.
528
 
529
NOTE!   Don't enable the SM Games option (asked by the configuration program)
530
        if you are not 101% sure that your card is a Logitech Soundman Games
531
        (not a SM Wave or SM16).
532
 
533
SB Clones
534
---------
535
 
536
First of all: There are no SB16 clones. There are SB Pro clones with a
537
16 bit mode which is not SB16 compatible. The most likely alternative is that
538
the 16 bit mode means MSS/WSS.
539
 
540
There are just few fully 100% hardware SB or SB Pro compatible cards.
541
I know just Thunderboard and SM Games. Other cards require some kind of
542
hardware initialization before they become SB compatible. Check if your card
543
was listed in the beginning of this file. In this case you should follow
544
instructions for your card later in this file.
545
 
546
For other not fully SB clones you may try initialization using DOS in
547
the following way:
548
 
549
        - Boot DOS so that the card specific driver gets run.
550
        - Hit ctrl-alt-del (or use loadlin) to boot Linux. Don't
551
          switch off power or press the reset button.
552
        - If you use the same I/O, IRQ and DMA settings in Linux, the
553
          card should work.
554
 
555
If your card is both SB and MSS compatible, I recommend using the MSS mode.
556
Most cards of this kind are not able to work in the SB and the MSS mode
557
simultaneously. Using the MSS mode provides 16 bit recording and playback.
558
 
559
ProAudioSpectrum 16 and compatibles
560
-----------------------------------
561
 
562
PAS16 has a SB emulation chip which can be used together with the native
563
(16 bit) mode of the card. To enable this emulation you should configure
564
the driver to have SB support too (this has been changed since version
565
3.5-beta9 of this driver).
566
 
567
With current driver versions it's also possible to use PAS16 together with
568
another SB compatible card. In this case you should configure SB support
569
for the other card and to disable the SB emulation of PAS16 (there is a
570
separate questions about this).
571
 
572
With PAS16 you can use two audio device files at the same time. /dev/dsp (and
573
/dev/audio) is connected to the 8/16 bit native codec and the /dev/dsp1 (and
574
/dev/audio1) is connected to the SB emulation (8 bit mono only).
575
 
576
Gravis Ultrasound
577
-----------------
578
 
579
There are many different revisions of the Ultrasound card (GUS). The
580
earliest ones (pre 3.7) don't have a hardware mixer. With these cards
581
the driver uses a software emulation for synth and pcm playbacks. It's
582
also possible to switch some of the inputs (line in, mic) off by setting
583
mixer volume of the channel level below 10%. For recording you have
584
to select the channel as a recording source and to use volume above 10%.
585
 
586
GUS 3.7 has a hardware mixer.
587
 
588
GUS MAX and the 16 bit sampling daughtercard have a CS4231 codec chip which
589
also contains a mixer.
590
 
591
Configuring GUS is simple. Just enable the GUS support and GUS MAX or
592
the 16 bit daughtercard if you have them. Note that enabling the daughter
593
card disables GUS MAX driver.
594
 
595
NOTE for owners of the 16 bit daughtercard: By default the daughtercard
596
uses /dev/dsp (and /dev/audio). Command "ln -sf /dev/dsp1 /dev/dsp"
597
selects the daughter card as the default device.
598
 
599
With just the standard GUS enabled the configuration program prompts
600
for the I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers for the card. Use the same values than
601
with DOS.
602
 
603
With the daughter card option enabled you will be prompted for the I/O,
604
IRQ and DMA numbers for the daughter card. You have to use different I/O
605
and DMA values than for the standard GUS. The daughter card permits
606
simultaneous recording and playback. Use /dev/dsp (the daughtercard) for
607
recording and /dev/dsp1 (GUS GF1) for playback.
608
 
609
GUS MAX uses the same I/O address and IRQ settings than the original GUS
610
(GUS MAX = GUS + a CS4231 codec). In addition an extra DMA channel may be used.
611
Using two DMA channels permits simultaneous playback using two devices
612
(dev/dsp0 and /dev/dsp1). The second DMA channel is required for
613
full duplex audio.
614
To enable the second DMA channels, give a valid DMA channel when the config
615
program asks for the GUS MAX DMA (entering -1 disables the second DMA).
616
Using 16 bit DMA channels (5,6 or 7) is recommended.
617
 
618
If you have problems in recording with GUS MAX, you could try to use
619
just one 8 bit DMA channel. Recording will not work with one DMA
620
channel if it's a 16 bit one.
621
 
622
Microphone input of GUS MAX is connected to mixer in little bit nonstandard
623
way. There is actually two microphone volume controls. Normal "mic" controls
624
only recording level. Mixer control "speaker" is used to control volume of
625
microphone signal connected directly to line/speaker out. So just decrease
626
volume of "speaker" if you have problems with microphone feedback.
627
 
628
GUS ACE works too but any attempt to record or to use the MIDI port
629
will fail.
630
 
631
GUS PnP (with RAM) is partially supported but it needs to be initialized using
632
DOS or isapnptools before starting the driver.
633
 
634
MPU401 and Windows Sound System
635
-------------------------------
636
 
637
Again. Don't enable these options in case your card is listed
638
somewhere else in this file.
639
 
640
Configuring these cards is obvious (or it should be). With MSS
641
you should probably enable the OPL3 synth also since
642
most MSS compatible cards have it. However check that this is true
643
before enabling OPL3.
644
 
645
Sound driver supports more than one MPU401 compatible cards at the same time
646
but the config program asks config info for just the first of them.
647
Adding the second or third MPU interfaces must be done manually by
648
editing sound/local.h (after running the config program). Add defines for
649
MPU2_BASE & MPU2_IRQ (and MPU3_BASE & MPU3_IRQ) to the file.
650
 
651
CAUTION!
652
 
653
The default I/O base of Adaptec AHA-1542 SCSI controller is 0x330 which
654
is also the default of the MPU401 driver. Don't configure the sound driver to
655
use 0x330 as the MPU401 base if you have a AHA1542. The kernel will not boot
656
if you make this mistake.
657
 
658
PSS
659
---
660
 
661
Even the PSS cards are compatible with SB, MSS and MPU401, you must not
662
enable these options when configuring the driver. The configuration
663
program handles these options itself. (You may use the SB, MPU and MSS options
664
together with PSS if you have another card on the system).
665
 
666
The PSS driver enables MSS and MPU401 modes of the card. SB is not enabled
667
since it doesn't work concurrently with MSS. The driver loads also a
668
DSP algorithm which is used to for the general MIDI emulation. The
669
algorithm file (.ld) is read by the config program and written to a
670
file included when the pss.c is compiled. For this reason the config
671
program asks if you want to download the file. Use the genmidi.ld file
672
distributed with the DOS/Windows drivers of the card (don't use the mt32.ld).
673
With some cards the file is called 'synth.ld'. You must have access to
674
the file when configuring the driver. The easiest way is to mount the DOS
675
partition containing the file with Linux.
676
 
677
It's possible to load your own DSP algorithms and run them with the card.
678
Look at the directory pss_test of snd-util-3.0.tar.gz for more info.
679
 
680
AudioTrix Pro
681
-------------
682
 
683
You have to enable the OPL3 and SB (not SB Pro or SB16) drivers in addition
684
to the native AudioTrix driver. Don't enable MSS or MPU drivers.
685
 
686
Configuring ATP is little bit tricky since it uses so many I/O, IRQ and
687
DMA numbers. Using the same values than with DOS/Win is a good idea. Don't
688
attempt to use the same IRQ or DMA channels twice.
689
 
690
The SB mode of ATP is implemented so the ATP driver just enables SB
691
in the proper address. The SB driver handles the rest. You have to configure
692
both the SB driver and the SB mode of ATP to use the same IRQ, DMA and I/O
693
settings.
694
 
695
Also the ATP has a microcontroller for the General MIDI emulation (OPL4).
696
For this reason the driver asks for the name of a file containing the
697
microcode (TRXPRO.HEX). This file is usually located in the directory
698
where the DOS drivers were installed. You must have access to this file
699
when configuring the driver.
700
 
701
If you have the effects daughtercard, it must be initialized by running
702
the setfx program of snd-util-3.0.tar.gz package. This step is not required
703
when using the (future) binary distribution version of the driver.
704
 
705
Ensoniq SoundScape
706
------------------
707
 
708
NOTE!   The new PnP SoundScape is not supported yet.
709
 
710
The SoundScape driver handles initialization of MSS and MPU supports
711
itself so you don't need to enable other drivers than SoundScape
712
(enable also the /dev/dsp, /dev/sequencer and MIDI supports).
713
 
714
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
715
!!!!!                                                                   !!!!
716
!!!!! NOTE! Before version 3.5-beta6 there WERE two sets of audio       !!!!
717
!!!!!       device files (/dev/dsp0 and /dev/dsp1). The first one WAS   !!!!
718
!!!!!       used only for card initialization and the second for audio  !!!!
719
!!!!!       purposes. It WAS required to change /dev/dsp (a symlink) to !!!!
720
!!!!!       point to /dev/dsp1.                                         !!!!
721
!!!!!                                                                   !!!!
722
!!!!!       This is not required with OSS versions 3.5-beta6 and later  !!!!
723
!!!!!       since there is now just one audio device file. Please       !!!!
724
!!!!!       change /dev/dsp to point back to /dev/dsp0 if you are       !!!!
725
!!!!!       upgrading from an earlier driver version using              !!!!
726
!!!!!       (cd /dev;rm dsp;ln -s dsp0 dsp).                            !!!!
727
!!!!!                                                                   !!!!
728
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
729
 
730
The configuration program asks one DMA channel and two interrupts. One IRQ
731
and one DMA is used by the MSS codec. The second IRQ is required for the
732
MPU401 mode (you have to use different IRQs for both purposes).
733
There were earlier two DMA channels for SoundScape but the current driver
734
version requires just one.
735
 
736
The SoundScape card has a Motorola microcontroller which must initialized
737
_after_ boot (the driver doesn't initialize it during boot).
738
The initialization is done by running the 'ssinit' program which is
739
distributed in the snd-util-3.0.tar.gz package. You have to edit two
740
defines in the ssinit.c and then compile the program. You may run ssinit
741
manually (after each boot) or add it to /etc/rc.d/rc.local.
742
 
743
The ssinit program needs the microcode file that comes with the DOS/Windows
744
driver of the card. You will need to use version 1.30.00 or later
745
of the microcode file (sndscape.co0 or sndscape.co1 depending on
746
your card model). THE OLD sndscape.cod WILL NOT WORK. IT WILL HANG YOUR
747
MACHINE. The only way to get the new microcode file is to download
748
and install the DOS/Windows driver from ftp://ftp.ensoniq.com/pub.
749
 
750
Then you have to select the proper microcode file to use: soundscape.co0
751
is the right one for most cards and sndscape.co1 is for few (older) cards
752
made by Reveal and/or Spea. The driver has capability to detect the card
753
version during boot. Look at the boot log messages in /var/adm/messages
754
and locate the sound driver initialization message for the SoundScape
755
card. If the driver displays string , you have
756
an old card and you will need to use sndscape.co1. For other cards use
757
soundscape.co0. New Soundscape revisions such as Elite and PnP use
758
code files with higher numbers (.co2, .co3, etc.).
759
 
760
Check /var/adm/messages after running ssinit. The driver prints
761
the board version after downloading the microcode file. That version
762
number must match the number in the name of the microcode file (extension).
763
 
764
Running ssinit with a wrong version of the sndscape.co? file is not
765
dangerous as long as you don't try to use a file called sndscape.cod.
766
If you have initialized the card using a wrong microcode file (sounds
767
are terrible), just modify ssinit.c to use another microcode file and try
768
again. It's possible to use an earlier version of sndscape.co[01] but it
769
may sound weird.
770
 
771
MAD16 (Pro) and Mozart
772
----------------------
773
 
774
You need to enable just the MAD16 /Mozart support when configuring
775
the driver. _Don't_ enable SB, MPU401 or MSS. However you will need the
776
/dev/audio, /dev/sequencer and MIDI supports.
777
 
778
Mozart and OPTi 82C928 (the original MAD16) chips don't support
779
MPU401 mode so enter just 0 when the configuration program asks the
780
MPU/MIDI I/O base. The MAD16 Pro (OPTi 82C929) and 82C930 chips have MPU401
781
mode.
782
 
783
TB Tropez is based on the 82C929 chip. It has two MIDI ports.
784
The one connected to the MAD16 chip is the second one (there is a second
785
MIDI connector/pins somewhere??). If you have not connected the second MIDI
786
port, just disable the MIDI port of MAD16. The 'Maui' compatible synth of
787
Tropez is jumper configurable and not connected to the MAD16 chip.
788
It can be used by enabling the stand alone MPU401 support but you have
789
to initialize it by using the MS-DOS SNDSETUP program.
790
 
791
Some MAD16 based cards may cause feedback, whistle or terrible noise if the
792
line3 mixer channel is turned too high. This happens at least with Shuttle
793
Sound System. Current driver versions set volume of line3 low enough so
794
this should not be a problem.
795
 
796
If you have a MAD16 card which have an OPL4 (FM + Wave table) synthesizer
797
chip (_not_ an OPL3), you have to append a line containing #define MAD16_OPL4
798
to the file linux/drivers/sound/local.h (after running make config).
799
 
800
MAD16 cards having a CS4231 codec support full duplex mode. This mode
801
can be enabled by configuring the card to use two DMA channels. Possible
802
DMA channel pairs are: 0&1, 1&0 and 3&0.
803
 
804
MV Jazz (ProSonic)
805
------------------
806
 
807
The Jazz16 driver is just a hack made to the SB Pro driver. However it works
808
fairly well. You have to enable SB, SB Pro (_not_ SB16) and MPU401 supports
809
when configuring the driver. The configuration program asks later if you
810
want support for MV Jazz16 based cards (after asking SB base address). Answer
811
'y' here and the driver asks the second (16 bit) DMA channel.
812
 
813
The Jazz16 driver uses the MPU401 driver in a way which will cause
814
problems if you have another MPU401 compatible card. In this case you must
815
give address of the Jazz16 based MPU401 interface when the config
816
program prompts for the MPU401 information. Then look at the MPU401
817
specific section for instructions about configuring more than one MPU401 cards.
818
 
819
Logitech Soundman Wave
820
----------------------
821
 
822
Read the above MV Jazz specific instructions first.
823
 
824
The Logitech SoundMan Wave (don't confuse with the SM16 or SM Games) is
825
a MV Jazz based card which has an additional OPL4 based wave table
826
synthesizer. The OPL4 chip is handled by an on board microcontroller
827
which must be initialized during boot. The config program asks if
828
you have a SM Wave immediately after asking the second DMA channel of jazz16.
829
If you answer 'y', the config program will ask name of the file containing
830
code to be loaded to the microcontroller. The file is usually called
831
MIDI0001.BIN and it's located in the DOS/Windows driver directory. The file
832
may also be called as TSUNAMI.BIN or something else (older cards?).
833
 
834
The OPL4 synth will be inaccessible without loading the microcontroller code.
835
 
836
Also remember to enable SB MPU401 support if you want to use the OPL4 mode.
837
(Don't enable the 'normal' MPU401 device as with some earlier driver
838
versions (pre 3.5-alpha8)).
839
 
840
NOTE!   Don't answer 'y' when the driver asks about SM Games support
841
        (the next question after the MIDI0001.BIN name). However
842
        answering 'y' doesn't cause damage your computer so don't panic.
843
 
844
Sound Galaxies
845
--------------
846
 
847
There are many different Sound Galaxy cards made by Aztech. The 8 bit
848
ones are fully SB or SB Pro compatible and there should be no problems
849
with them.
850
 
851
The older 16 bit cards (SG Pro16, SG NX Pro16, Nova and Lyra) have
852
an EEPROM chip for storing the configuration data. There is a microcontroller
853
which initializes the card to match the EEPROM settings when the machine
854
is powered on. These cards actually behave just like they have jumpers
855
for all of the settings. Configure driver for MSS, MPU, SB/SB Pro  and OPL3
856
supports with these cards.
857
 
858
The config program asks if you want support for the mixer of
859
SG NX Pro. Answer 'y' to these questions if you have one of the above 8 or
860
16 bit Aztech cards.
861
 
862
There are some new Sound Galaxies in the market. I have no experience with
863
them so read the card's manual carefully.
864
 
865
ESS ES1688 and ES688 'AudioDrive' based cards
866
---------------------------------------------
867
 
868
Support for these two ESS chips is embedded in the SB driver.
869
Configure these cards just like SB. Enable the 'SB MPU401 MIDI port'
870
if you want to use MIDI features of ES1688. ES688 doesn't have MPU mode
871
so you don't need to enable it (the driver uses normal SB MIDI automatically
872
with ES688).
873
 
874
NOTE! ESS cards are not compatible with MSS/WSS.
875
 
876
Reveal cards
877
------------
878
 
879
There are several different cards made/marketed by Reveal. Some of them
880
are compatible with SoundScape and some use the MAD16 chip. You may have
881
to look at the card and try to identify origin of the card.
882
 
883
Diamond
884
-------
885
 
886
The oldest (Sierra Aria based) soundcards made by Diamond are not supported
887
(they may work if the card is initialized using DOS). The recent (LX?)
888
models are based on the MAD16 chip which is supported by the driver.
889
 
890
Audio Excel DSP16
891
-----------------
892
 
893
Support for this card is currently not functional. A new driver for it
894
should be available later this year.
895
 
896
PCMCIA cards
897
------------
898
 
899
Sorry, can't help. Some cards may work and some don't.
900
 
901
TI TM4000M notebooks
902
--------------------
903
 
904
These computers have a built in sound support based on the Jazz chipset.
905
Look at the instructions for MV Jazz (above). It's also important to note
906
that there is something wrong with the mouse port and sound at least on
907
some TM models. Don't enable the "C&T 82C710 mouse port support" when
908
configuring Linux. Having it enabled is likely to cause mysterious problems
909
and kernel failures when sound is used.
910
 
911
miroSOUND
912
---------
913
 
914
The miroSOUND PCM12 has been used successfully. This card is based on
915
the MAD16, OPL4, and CS4231A chips and everything said in the section
916
about MAD16 cards applies here, too. The only major difference between
917
the PCM12 and other MAD16 cards is that instead of the mixer in the
918
CS4231 codec a separate mixer controlled by an on-board 80C32
919
microcontroller is used. Control of the mixer takes place via the ACI
920
(miro's audio control interface) protocol that is implemented in a
921
separate lowlevel driver. Make sure you compile this ACI driver
922
together with the normal MAD16 support when you use a miroSOUND PCM12
923
card. The ACI mixer is controlled by /dev/mixer and the CS4231 mixer
924
by /dev/mixer2. You usually don't want to change anything on the
925
CS4231 mixer.
926
 
927
The miroSOUND PCM12 is capable of full duplex operation (simultaneous
928
PCM replay and recording), which allows you to implement nice
929
real-time signal processing audio effect software and network
930
telephones. The ACI mixer has to be configured into a special "solo"
931
mode for duplex operation in order to avoid feedback caused by the
932
mixer (input hears output signal). See lowlevel/aci.c for details on
933
the ioctl() for activating the "solo" mode.
934
 
935
The following configuration parameters have worked fine for the PCM12
936
in Markus Kuhn's system, many other configurations might work, too:
937
MAD16_BASE=0x530, MAD16_IRQ=11, MAD16_DMA=3, MAD16_DMA2=0,
938
MAD16_MPU_BASE=0x330, MAD16_MPU_IRQ=10, DSP_BUFFSIZE=65536,
939
SELECTED_SOUND_OPTIONS=0x00281000.
940
 
941
The miroSOUND PCM1 pro and the PCM20 are very similar to the PCM12.
942
Perhaps the same ACI driver also works for these cards, however this
943
has never actually been tested. The PCM20 contains a radio tuner,
944
which is also controlled by ACI. This radio tuner is currently not
945
supported by the ACI driver, but documentation for it was provided by
946
miro and ACI tuner support could easily be added if someone is really
947
interested.
948
 
949
Compaq Deskpro XL
950
-----------------
951
 
952
The builtin sound hardware of Compaq Deskpro XL is now supported.
953
You need to configure the driver with MSS and OPL3 supports enabled.
954
In addition you need to manually edit linux/drivers/sound/local.h and
955
to add a line containing "#define DESKPROXL" if you used
956
make menuconfig/xconfig.
957
 
958
Others?
959
-------
960
 
961
Since there are so many different soundcards, it's likely that I have
962
forgotten to mention many of them. Please inform me if you know yet another
963
card which works with Linux, please inform me (or is anybody else
964
willing to maintain a database of supported cards (just like in XF86)?).
965
 
966
Cards not supported yet
967
=======================
968
 
969
Please check which version of sound driver you are using before
970
complaining that your card is not supported. It's possible that you are
971
using a driver version which was released months before your card was
972
introduced. Driver's release date is listed after its version number
973
in "cat /dev/sndstat" printout and in file linux/drivers/sound/soundvers.h.
974
 
975
First of all. There is an easy way to make most soundcards to work
976
with Linux. Just use the DOS based driver to initialize the card
977
to a _known_ state. Then use loadlin.exe to boot Linux. If Linux is configured
978
to use the same I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers than DOS, the card could work.
979
(ctrl-alt-del can be used in place of loadlin.exe but it doesn't work with
980
new motherboards). This method works also with all/most PnP soundcards.
981
 
982
Don't get fooled with SB compatibility. Most cards are compatible with
983
SB but that may require a TSR which is not possible with Linux. If
984
the card is compatible with MSS, it's a better choice. Some cards
985
don't work in the SB and MSS modes at the same time.
986
 
987
Then there are cards which are no longer manufactured and/or which
988
are relatively rarely used (such as the 8 bit ProAudioSpectrum
989
models). It's extremely unlikely that such cards never get supported.
990
Adding support for a new card requires much work and increases time
991
required in maintaining the driver (some changes need to be done
992
to all low level drivers and be tested too, maybe with multiple
993
operating systems). For this reason I have made a decision to not support
994
obsolete cards. It's possible that someone else makes a separately
995
distributed driver (diffs) for the card. Version v3.6 will be much more
996
modular so making separately distributed drivers will be easier with it.
997
(The bad news is that v3.6 will not be available before summer -96).
998
 
999
Writing a driver for a new card is not possible if there are no
1000
programming information available about the card. If you don't
1001
find your new card from this file, look from the home page
1002
(http://www.4front-tech.com/ossfree). Then please contact
1003
manufacturer of the card and ask if they have (or are willing to)
1004
released technical details of the card. Do this before contacting me. I
1005
can only answer 'no' if there are no programming information available.
1006
 
1007
I have made decision to not accept code based on reverse engineering
1008
to the driver. There are three main reasons: First I don't want to break
1009
relationships to sound card manufacturers. The second reason is that
1010
maintaining and supporting a driver without any specs will be a pain.
1011
The third reason is that companies have freedom to refuse selling their
1012
products to other than Windows users.
1013
 
1014
Some companies don't give low level technical information about their
1015
products to public or at least their require signing a NDA. It's not
1016
possible to implement a freeware driver for them. However it's possible
1017
that support for such cards become available in the commercial version
1018
of this driver (see http://www.4Front-tech.com/uss.html for more info).
1019
 
1020
There are some common audio chipsets that are not supported yet. For example
1021
Sierra Aria and IBM Mwave. It's possible that these architectures
1022
get some support in future but I can't make any promises. Just look
1023
at the home page (http://www.4front-tech.com/ossfree/new_cards.html)
1024
for latest info.
1025
 
1026
Information about unsupported soundcards and chipsets is welcome as well
1027
as free copies of soundcards, SDKs and operating systems.
1028
 
1029
If you have any corrections and/or comments, please contact me.
1030
 
1031
Hannu Savolainen
1032
hannu@4front-tech.com
1033
 
1034
Personal home page:        http://www.4front-tech.com/hannu.html
1035
www home page of OSS/Free: http://www.4front-tech.com/ossfree
1036
 
1037
www home page of commercial
1038
Open Sound System drivers: http://www.4front-tech.com/oss.html
1039
 

powered by: WebSVN 2.1.0

© copyright 1999-2024 OpenCores.org, equivalent to Oliscience, all rights reserved. OpenCores®, registered trademark.