4 This file is a collection of all the old Readme files distributed with
5 OSS/Lite by Hannu Savolainen. Since the new Linux sound driver is founded
6 on it I think these information may still be interesting for users that
7 have to configure their sound system.
9 Be warned: Alan Cox is the current maintainer of the Linux sound driver so if
10 you have problems with it, please contact him or the current device-specific
11 driver maintainer (e.g. for aedsp16 specific problems contact me). If you have
12 patches, contributions or suggestions send them to Alan: I'm sure they are
15 In this document you will find a lot of references about OSS/Lite or ossfree:
16 they are gone forever. Keeping this in mind and with a grain of salt this
17 document can be still interesting and very helpful.
19 [ File edited 17.01.1999 - Riccardo Facchetti ]
20 [ Edited miroSOUND section 19.04.2001 - Robert Siemer ]
22 OSS/Free version 3.8 release notes
23 ----------------------------------
25 Please read the SOUND-HOWTO (available from sunsite.unc.edu and other Linux FTP
26 sites). It gives instructions about using sound with Linux. It's bit out of
27 date but still very useful. Information about bug fixes and such things
28 is available from the web page (see above).
30 Please check http://www.opensound.com/pguide for more info about programming
33 ====================================================
34 - THIS VERSION ____REQUIRES____ Linux 2.1.57 OR LATER.
35 ====================================================
37 Packages "snd-util-3.8.tar.gz" and "snd-data-0.1.tar.Z"
38 contain useful utilities to be used with this driver.
39 See http://www.opensound.com/ossfree/getting.html for
40 download instructions.
42 If you are looking for the installation instructions, please
43 look forward into this document.
53 This driver contains code by several contributors. In addition several other
54 persons have given useful suggestions. The following is a list of major
55 contributors. (I could have forgotten some names.)
57 Craig Metz 1/2 of the PAS16 Mixer and PCM support
58 Rob Hooft Volume computation algorithm for the FM synth.
59 Mika Liljeberg uLaw encoding and decoding routines
60 Jeff Tranter Linux SOUND HOWTO document
61 Greg Lee Volume computation algorithm for the GUS and
62 lots of valuable suggestions.
65 Amancio Hasty Jr FreeBSD/NetBSD port
66 Anders Baekgaard Bug hunting and valuable suggestions.
67 Joerg Schubert SB16 DSP support (initial version).
68 Andrew Robinson Improvements to the GUS driver
69 Megens SA MIDI recording for SB and SB Pro (initial version).
70 Mikael Nordqvist Linear volume support for GUS and
71 nonblocking /dev/sequencer.
72 Ian Hartas SVR4.2 port
74 Risto Kankkunen Major contributions to the mixer support
76 Hunyue Yau Mixer support for SG NX Pro.
77 Marc Hoffman PSS support (initial version).
78 Rainer Vranken Initialization for Jazz16 (initial version).
79 Peter Trattler Initial version of loadable module support for Linux.
80 JRA Gibson 16 bit mode for Jazz16 (initial version)
81 Davor Jadrijevic MAD16 support (initial version)
82 Gregor Hoffleit Mozart support (initial version)
83 Riccardo Facchetti Audio Excel DSP 16 (aedsp16) support
84 James Hightower Spotting a tiny but important bug in CS423x support.
85 Denis Sablic OPTi 82C924 specific enhancements (non PnP mode)
86 Tim MacKenzie Full duplex support for OPTi 82C930.
88 Please look at lowlevel/README for more contributors.
90 There are probably many other names missing. If you have sent me some
91 patches and your name is not in the above list, please inform me.
93 Sending your contributions or patches
94 -------------------------------------
96 First of all it's highly recommended to contact me before sending anything
97 or before even starting to do any work. Tell me what you suggest to be
98 changed or what you have planned to do. Also ensure you are using the
99 very latest (development) version of OSS/Free since the change may already be
100 implemented there. In general it's a major waste of time to try to improve a
101 several months old version. Information about the latest version can be found
102 from http://www.opensound.com/ossfree. In general there is no point in
103 sending me patches relative to production kernels.
108 The following companies have greatly helped development of this driver
109 in form of a free copy of their product:
111 Novell, Inc. UnixWare personal edition + SDK
112 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. A SCO OpenServer + SDK
113 Ensoniq Corp, a SoundScape card and extensive amount of assistance
114 MediaTrix Peripherals Inc, a AudioTrix Pro card + SDK
115 Acer, Inc. a pair of AcerMagic S23 cards.
117 In addition the following companies have provided me sufficient amount
118 of technical information at least some of their products (free or $$$):
120 Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd.
125 Crystal Semiconductor Corporation,
126 Integrated Circuit Systems Inc.
132 Music Quest Inc. ($$)
135 If you have some problems
136 =========================
138 Read the sound HOWTO (sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/...?).
139 Also look at the home page (http://www.opensound.com/ossfree). It may
140 contain info about some recent bug fixes.
142 It's likely that you have some problems when trying to use the sound driver
143 first time. Sound cards don't have standard configuration so there are no
144 good default configuration to use. Please try to use same I/O, DMA and IRQ
145 values for the sound card than with DOS.
147 If you get an error message when trying to use the driver, please look
148 at /var/adm/messages for more verbose error message.
151 The following errors are likely with /dev/dsp and /dev/audio.
153 - "No such device or address".
154 This error indicates that there are no suitable hardware for the
155 device file or the sound driver has been compiled without support for
156 this particular device. For example /dev/audio and /dev/dsp will not
157 work if "digitized voice support" was not enabled during "make config".
159 - "Device or resource busy". Probably the IRQ (or DMA) channel
160 required by the sound card is in use by some other device/driver.
162 - "I/O error". Almost certainly (99%) it's an IRQ or DMA conflict.
163 Look at the kernel messages in /var/adm/notice for more info.
165 - "Invalid argument". The application is calling ioctl()
166 with impossible parameters. Check that the application is
167 for sound driver version 2.X or later.
172 IMPORTANT! Read this if you are installing a separately
173 distributed version of this driver.
175 Check that your kernel version works with this
176 release of the driver (see Readme). Also verify
177 that your current kernel version doesn't have more
178 recent sound driver version than this one. IT'S HIGHLY
179 RECOMMENDED THAT YOU USE THE SOUND DRIVER VERSION THAT
180 IS DISTRIBUTED WITH KERNEL SOURCES.
182 - When installing separately distributed sound driver you should first
183 read the above notice. Then try to find proper directory where and how
184 to install the driver sources. You should not try to install a separately
185 distributed driver version if you are not able to find the proper way
186 yourself (in this case use the version that is distributed with kernel
187 sources). Remove old version of linux/drivers/sound directory before
188 installing new files.
190 - To build the device files you need to run the enclosed shell script
191 (see below). You need to do this only when installing sound driver
192 first time or when upgrading to much recent version than the earlier
195 - Configure and compile Linux as normally (remember to include the
196 sound support during "make config"). Please refer to kernel documentation
197 for instructions about configuring and compiling kernel. File Readme.cards
198 contains card specific instructions for configuring this driver for
199 use with various sound cards.
201 Boot time configuration (using lilo and insmod)
202 -----------------------------------------------
204 This information has been removed. Too many users didn't believe
205 that it's really not necessary to use this method. Please look at
206 Readme of sound driver version 3.0.1 if you still want to use this method.
211 Common error messages:
213 - /dev/???????: No such file or directory.
214 Run the script at the end of this file.
216 - /dev/???????: No such device.
217 You are not running kernel which contains the sound driver. When using
218 modularized sound driver this error means that the sound driver is not
221 - /dev/????: No such device or address.
222 Sound driver didn't detect suitable card when initializing. Please look at
223 Readme.cards for info about configuring the driver with your card. Also
224 check for possible boot (insmod) time error messages in /var/adm/messages.
226 - Other messages or problems
227 Please check http://www.opensound.com/ossfree for more info.
229 Configuring version 3.8 (for Linux) with some common sound cards
230 ================================================================
232 This document describes configuring sound cards with the freeware version of
233 Open Sound Systems (OSS/Free). Information about the commercial version
234 (OSS/Linux) and its configuration is available from
235 http://www.opensound.com/linux.html. Information presented here is
236 not valid for OSS/Linux.
238 If you are unsure about how to configure OSS/Free
239 you can download the free evaluation version of OSS/Linux from the above
240 address. There is a chance that it can autodetect your sound card. In this case
241 you can use the information included in soundon.log when configuring OSS/Free.
244 IMPORTANT! This document covers only cards that were "known" when
245 this driver version was released. Please look at
246 http://www.opensound.com/ossfree for info about
247 cards introduced recently.
249 When configuring the sound driver, you should carefully
250 check each sound configuration option (particularly
251 "Support for /dev/dsp and /dev/audio"). The default values
252 offered by these programs are not necessarily valid.
255 THE BIGGEST MISTAKES YOU CAN MAKE
256 =================================
258 1. Assuming that the card is Sound Blaster compatible when it's not.
259 --------------------------------------------------------------------
261 The number one mistake is to assume that your card is compatible with
262 Sound Blaster. Only the cards made by Creative Technology or which have
263 one or more chips labeled by Creative are SB compatible. In addition there
264 are few sound chipsets which are SB compatible in Linux such as ESS1688 or
265 Jazz16. Note that SB compatibility in DOS/Windows does _NOT_ mean anything
268 IF YOU REALLY ARE 150% SURE YOU HAVE A SOUND BLASTER YOU CAN SKIP THE REST OF
271 For most other "supposed to be SB compatible" cards you have to use other
272 than SB drivers (see below). It is possible to get most sound cards to work
273 in SB mode but in general it's a complete waste of time. There are several
274 problems which you will encounter by using SB mode with cards that are not
277 - The SB emulation is at most SB Pro (DSP version 3.x) which means that
278 you get only 8 bit audio (there is always an another ("native") mode which
279 gives the 16 bit capability). The 8 bit only operation is the reason why
280 many users claim that sound quality in Linux is much worse than in DOS.
281 In addition some applications require 16 bit mode and they produce just
282 noise with a 8 bit only device.
283 - The card may work only in some cases but refuse to work most of the
284 time. The SB compatible mode always requires special initialization which is
285 done by the DOS/Windows drivers. This kind of cards work in Linux after
286 you have warm booted it after DOS but they don't work after cold boot
288 - You get the famous "DMA timed out" messages. Usually all SB clones have
289 software selectable IRQ and DMA settings. If the (power on default) values
290 currently used by the card don't match configuration of the driver you will
291 get the above error message whenever you try to record or play. There are
292 few other reasons to the DMA timeout message but using the SB mode seems
293 to be the most common cause.
295 2. Trying to use a PnP (Plug & Play) card just like an ordinary sound card
296 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
298 Plug & Play is a protocol defined by Intel and Microsoft. It lets operating
299 systems to easily identify and reconfigure I/O ports, IRQs and DMAs of ISA
300 cards. The problem with PnP cards is that the standard Linux doesn't currently
301 (versions 2.1.x and earlier) don't support PnP. This means that you will have
302 to use some special tricks (see later) to get a PnP card alive. Many PnP cards
303 work after they have been initialized but this is not always the case.
305 There are sometimes both PnP and non-PnP versions of the same sound card.
306 The non-PnP version is the original model which usually has been discontinued
307 more than an year ago. The PnP version has the same name but with "PnP"
308 appended to it (sometimes not). This causes major confusion since the non-PnP
309 model works with Linux but the PnP one doesn't.
311 You should carefully check if "Plug & Play" or "PnP" is mentioned in the name
312 of the card or in the documentation or package that came with the card.
313 Everything described in the rest of this document is not necessarily valid for
314 PnP models of sound cards even you have managed to wake up the card properly.
315 Many PnP cards are simply too different from their non-PnP ancestors which are
316 covered by this document.
319 Cards that are not (fully) supported by this driver
320 ===================================================
322 See http://www.opensound.com/ossfree for information about sound cards
323 to be supported in future.
326 How to use sound without recompiling kernel and/or sound driver
327 ===============================================================
329 There is a commercial sound driver which comes in precompiled form and doesn't
330 require recompiling of the kernel. See http://www.4Front-tech.com/oss.html for
334 Configuring PnP cards
335 =====================
337 New versions of most sound cards use the so-called ISA PnP protocol for
338 soft configuring their I/O, IRQ, DMA and shared memory resources.
339 Currently at least cards made by Creative Technology (SB32 and SB32AWE
340 PnP), Gravis (GUS PnP and GUS PnP Pro), Ensoniq (Soundscape PnP) and
341 Aztech (some Sound Galaxy models) use PnP technology. The CS4232/4236 audio
342 chip by Crystal Semiconductor (Intel Atlantis, HP Pavilion and many other
343 motherboards) is also based on PnP technology but there is a "native" driver
344 available for it (see information about CS4232 later in this document).
346 PnP sound cards (as well as most other PnP ISA cards) are not supported
347 by this version of the driver . Proper
348 support for them should be released during 97 once the kernel level
349 PnP support is available.
351 There is a method to get most of the PnP cards to work. The basic method
354 1) Boot DOS so the card's DOS drivers have a chance to initialize it.
355 2) _Cold_ boot to Linux by using "loadlin.exe". Hitting ctrl-alt-del
356 works with older machines but causes a hard reset of all cards on recent
358 3) If you have the sound driver in Linux configured properly, the card should
359 work now. "Proper" means that I/O, IRQ and DMA settings are the same as in
360 DOS. The hard part is to find which settings were used. See the documentation of
361 your card for more info.
363 Windows 95 could work as well as DOS but running loadlin may be difficult.
364 Probably you should "shut down" your machine to MS-DOS mode before running it.
366 Some machines have a BIOS utility for setting PnP resources. This is a good
367 way to configure some cards. In this case you don't need to boot DOS/Win95
368 before starting Linux.
370 Another way to initialize PnP cards without DOS/Win95 is a Linux based
371 PnP isolation tool. When writing this there is a pre alpha test version
372 of such a tool available from ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/unix/linux/utils. The
373 file is called isapnptools-*. Please note that this tool is just a temporary
374 solution which may be incompatible with future kernel versions having proper
375 support for PnP cards. There are bugs in setting DMA channels in earlier
376 versions of isapnptools so at least version 1.6 is required with sound cards.
378 Yet another way to use PnP cards is to use (commercial) OSS/Linux drivers. See
379 http://www.opensound.com/linux.html for more info. This is probably the way you
380 should do it if you don't want to spend time recompiling the kernel and
384 Read this before trying to configure the driver
385 ===============================================
387 There are currently many cards that work with this driver. Some of the cards
388 have native support while others work since they emulate some other
389 card (usually SB, MSS/WSS and/or MPU401). The following cards have native
390 support in the driver. Detailed instructions for configuring these cards
391 will be given later in this document.
393 Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (PAS16) and compatibles:
394 Pro Audio Spectrum 16
396 Logitech Sound Man 16
397 NOTE! The original Pro Audio Spectrum as well as the PAS+ are not
398 and will not be supported by the driver.
400 Media Vision Jazz16 based cards
402 Logitech SoundMan Wave
403 (Other Jazz based cards should work but I don't have any reports
411 Configure SB32/64/AWE just like SB16. See lowlevel/README.awe
412 for information about using the wave table synth.
413 NOTE! AWE63/Gold and 16/32/AWE "PnP" cards need to be activated
414 using isapnptools before they work with OSS/Free.
415 SB16 compatible cards by other manufacturers than Creative.
416 You have been fooled since there are _no_ SB16 compatible
417 cards on the market (as of May 1997). It's likely that your card
418 is compatible just with SB Pro but there is also a non-SB-
419 compatible 16 bit mode. Usually it's MSS/WSS but it could also
420 be a proprietary one like MV Jazz16 or ESS ES688. OPTi
421 MAD16 chips are very common in so called "SB 16 bit cards"
422 (try with the MAD16 driver).
424 ======================================================================
425 "Supposed to be SB compatible" cards.
426 Forget the SB compatibility and check for other alternatives
427 first. The only cards that work with the SB driver in
428 Linux have been made by Creative Technology (there is at least
429 one chip on the card with "CREATIVE" printed on it). The
430 only other SB compatible chips are ESS and Jazz16 chips
431 (maybe ALSxxx chips too but they probably don't work).
432 Most other "16 bit SB compatible" cards such as "OPTi/MAD16" or
433 "Crystal" are _NOT_ SB compatible in Linux.
435 Practically all sound cards have some kind of SB emulation mode
436 in addition to their native (16 bit) mode. In most cases this
437 (8 bit only) SB compatible mode doesn't work with Linux. If
438 you get it working it may cause problems with games and
439 applications which require 16 bit audio. Some 16 bit only
440 applications don't check if the card actually supports 16 bits.
441 They just dump 16 bit data to a 8 bit card which produces just
444 In most cases the 16 bit native mode is supported by Linux.
445 Use the SB mode with "clones" only if you don't find anything
446 better from the rest of this doc.
447 ======================================================================
449 Gravis Ultrasound (GUS)
451 GUS + the 16 bit option
453 GUS ACE (No MIDI port and audio recording)
456 MPU-401 and compatibles
457 The driver works both with the full (intelligent mode) MPU-401
458 cards (such as MPU IPC-T and MQX-32M) and with the UART only
459 dumb MIDI ports. MPU-401 is currently the most common MIDI
460 interface. Most sound cards are compatible with it. However,
461 don't enable MPU401 mode blindly. Many cards with native support
462 in the driver have their own MPU401 driver. Enabling the standard one
463 will cause a conflict with these cards. So check if your card is
464 in the list of supported cards before enabling MPU401.
466 Windows Sound System (MSS/WSS)
467 Even when Microsoft has discontinued their own Sound System card
468 they managed to make it a standard. MSS compatible cards are based on
469 a codec chip which is easily available from at least two manufacturers
470 (AD1848 by Analog Devices and CS4231/CS4248 by Crystal Semiconductor).
471 Currently most sound cards are based on one of the MSS compatible codec
472 chips. The CS4231 is used in the high quality cards such as GUS MAX,
473 MediaTrix AudioTrix Pro and TB Tropez (GUS MAX is not MSS compatible).
475 Having a AD1848, CS4248 or CS4231 codec chip on the card is a good
476 sign. Even if the card is not MSS compatible, it could be easy to write
477 support for it. Note also that most MSS compatible cards
478 require special boot time initialization which may not be present
479 in the driver. Also, some MSS compatible cards have native support.
480 Enabling the MSS support with these cards is likely to
481 cause a conflict. So check if your card is listed in this file before
482 enabling the MSS support.
484 Yamaha FM synthesizers (OPL2, OPL3 (not OPL3-SA) and OPL4)
485 Most sound cards have a FM synthesizer chip. The OPL2 is a 2
486 operator chip used in the original AdLib card. Currently it's used
487 only in the cheapest (8 bit mono) cards. The OPL3 is a 4 operator
488 FM chip which provides better sound quality and/or more available
489 voices than the OPL2. The OPL4 is a new chip that has an OPL3 and
490 a wave table synthesizer packed onto the same chip. The driver supports
491 just the OPL3 mode directly. Most cards with an OPL4 (like
492 SM Wave and AudioTrix Pro) support the OPL4 mode using MPU401
493 emulation. Writing a native OPL4 support is difficult
494 since Yamaha doesn't give information about their sample ROM chip.
496 Enable the generic OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesizer support if your
497 card has a FM chip made by Yamaha. Don't enable it if your card
498 has a software (TRS) based FM emulator.
500 ----------------------------------------------------------------
501 NOTE! OPL3-SA is different chip than the ordinary OPL3. In addition
502 to the FM synth this chip has also digital audio (WSS) and
503 MIDI (MPU401) capabilities. Support for OPL3-SA is described below.
504 ----------------------------------------------------------------
508 Yamaha OPL3-SA1 (YMF701) is an audio controller chip used on some
509 (Intel) motherboards and on cheap sound cards. It should not be
510 confused with the original OPL3 chip (YMF278) which is entirely
511 different chip. OPL3-SA1 has support for MSS, MPU401 and SB Pro
512 (not used in OSS/Free) in addition to the OPL3 FM synth.
514 There are also chips called OPL3-SA2, OPL3-SA3, ..., OPL3SA-N. They
515 are PnP chips and will not work with the OPL3-SA1 driver. You should
516 use the standard MSS, MPU401 and OPL3 options with these chips and to
517 activate the card using isapnptools.
519 4Front Technologies SoftOSS
521 SoftOSS is a software based wave table emulation which works with
522 any 16 bit stereo sound card. Due to its nature a fast CPU is
523 required (P133 is minimum). Although SoftOSS does _not_ use MMX
524 instructions it has proven out that recent processors (which appear
525 to have MMX) perform significantly better with SoftOSS than earlier
526 ones. For example a P166MMX beats a PPro200. SoftOSS should not be used
527 on 486 or 386 machines.
529 The amount of CPU load caused by SoftOSS can be controlled by
530 selecting the CONFIG_SOFTOSS_RATE and CONFIG_SOFTOSS_VOICES
531 parameters properly (they will be prompted by make config). It's
532 recommended to set CONFIG_SOFTOSS_VOICES to 32. If you have a
533 P166MMX or faster (PPro200 is not faster) you can set
534 CONFIG_SOFTOSS_RATE to 44100 (kHz). However with slower systems it
535 recommended to use sampling rates around 22050 or even 16000 kHz.
536 Selecting too high values for these parameters may hang your
537 system when playing MIDI files with hight degree of polyphony
538 (number of concurrently playing notes). It's also possible to
539 decrease CONFIG_SOFTOSS_VOICES. This makes it possible to use
540 higher sampling rates. However using fewer voices decreases
541 playback quality more than decreasing the sampling rate.
543 SoftOSS keeps the samples loaded on the system's RAM so much RAM is
544 required. SoftOSS should never be used on machines with less than 16 MB
545 of RAM since this is potentially dangerous (you may accidentally run out
546 of memory which probably crashes the machine).
548 SoftOSS implements the wave table API originally designed for GUS. For
549 this reason all applications designed for GUS should work (at least
550 after minor modifications). For example gmod/xgmod and playmidi -g are
553 To work SoftOSS will require GUS compatible
554 patch files to be installed on the system (in /dos/ultrasnd/midi). You
555 can use the public domain MIDIA patchset available from several ftp
558 *********************************************************************
559 IMPORTANT NOTICE! The original patch set distributed with the Gravis
560 Ultrasound card is not in public domain (even though it's available from
561 some FTP sites). You should contact Voice Crystal (www.voicecrystal.com)
562 if you like to use these patches with SoftOSS included in OSS/Free.
563 *********************************************************************
565 PSS based cards (AD1848 + ADSP-2115 + Echo ESC614 ASIC)
566 Analog Devices and Echo Speech have together defined a sound card
567 architecture based on the above chips. The DSP chip is used
568 for emulation of SB Pro, FM and General MIDI/MT32.
570 There are several cards based on this architecture. The most known
571 ones are Orchid SW32 and Cardinal DSP16.
573 The driver supports downloading DSP algorithms to these cards.
575 NOTE! You will have to use the "old" config script when configuring
578 MediaTrix AudioTrix Pro
579 The ATP card is built around a CS4231 codec and an OPL4 synthesizer
580 chips. The OPL4 mode is supported by a microcontroller running a
581 General MIDI emulator. There is also a SB 1.5 compatible playback mode.
583 Ensoniq SoundScape and compatibles
584 Ensoniq has designed a sound card architecture based on the
585 OTTO synthesizer chip used in their professional MIDI synthesizers.
586 Several companies (including Ensoniq, Reveal and Spea) are selling
587 cards based on this architecture.
589 NOTE! The SoundScape PnP is not supported by OSS/Free. Ensoniq VIVO and
590 VIVO90 cards are not compatible with Soundscapes so the Soundscape
591 driver will not work with them. You may want to use OSS/Linux with these
594 OPTi MAD16 and Mozart based cards
595 The Mozart (OAK OTI-601), MAD16 (OPTi 82C928), MAD16 Pro (OPTi 82C929),
596 OPTi 82C924/82C925 (in _non_ PnP mode) and OPTi 82C930 interface
597 chips are used in many different sound cards, including some
598 cards by Reveal miro and Turtle Beach (Tropez). The purpose of these
599 chips is to connect other audio components to the PC bus. The
600 interface chip performs address decoding for the other chips.
601 NOTE! Tropez Plus is not MAD16 but CS4232 based.
602 NOTE! MAD16 PnP cards (82C924, 82C925, 82C931) are not MAD16 compatible
603 in the PnP mode. You will have to use them in MSS mode after having
604 initialized them using isapnptools or DOS. 82C931 probably requires
605 initialization using DOS/Windows (running isapnptools is not enough).
606 It's possible to use 82C931 with OSS/Free by jumpering it to non-PnP
607 mode (provided that the card has a jumper for this). In non-PnP mode
608 82C931 is compatible with 82C930 and should work with the MAD16 driver
609 (without need to use isapnptools or DOS to initialize it). All OPTi
610 chips are supported by OSS/Linux (both in PnP and non-PnP modes).
613 Support for this card was written by Riccardo Faccetti
614 (riccardo@cdc8g5.cdc.polimi.it). The AEDSP16 driver included in
615 the lowlevel/ directory. To use it you should enable the
616 "Additional low level drivers" option.
618 Crystal CS4232 and CS4236 based cards such as AcerMagic S23, TB Tropez _Plus_ and
619 many PC motherboards (Compaq, HP, Intel, ...)
620 CS4232 is a PnP multimedia chip which contains a CS3231A codec,
621 SB and MPU401 emulations. There is support for OPL3 too.
622 Unfortunately the MPU401 mode doesn't work (I don't know how to
623 initialize it). CS4236 is an enhanced (compatible) version of CS4232.
624 NOTE! Don't ever try to use isapnptools with CS4232 since this will just
625 freeze your machine (due to chip bugs). If you have problems in getting
626 CS4232 working you could try initializing it with DOS (CS4232C.EXE) and
627 then booting Linux using loadlin. CS4232C.EXE loads a secret firmware
628 patch which is not documented by Crystal.
630 Turtle Beach Maui and Tropez "classic"
631 This driver version supports sample, patch and program loading commands
632 described in the Maui/Tropez User's manual.
633 There is now full initialization support too. The audio side of
634 the Tropez is based on the MAD16 chip (see above).
635 NOTE! Tropez Plus is different card than Tropez "classic" and will not
636 work fully in Linux. You can get audio features working by configuring
637 the card as a CS4232 based card (above).
640 Jumpers and software configuration
641 ==================================
643 Some of the earliest sound cards were jumper configurable. You have to
644 configure the driver use I/O, IRQ and DMA settings
645 that match the jumpers. Just few 8 bit cards are fully jumper
646 configurable (SB 1.x/2.x, SB Pro and clones).
647 Some cards made by Aztech have an EEPROM which contains the
648 config info. These cards behave much like hardware jumpered cards.
650 Most cards have jumper for the base I/O address but other parameters
651 are software configurable. Sometimes there are few other jumpers too.
653 Latest cards are fully software configurable or they are PnP ISA
654 compatible. There are no jumpers on the board.
656 The driver handles software configurable cards automatically. Just configure
657 the driver to use I/O, IRQ and DMA settings which are known to work.
658 You could usually use the same values than with DOS and/or Windows.
659 Using different settings is possible but not recommended since it may cause
660 some trouble (for example when warm booting from an OS to another or
661 when installing new hardware to the machine).
663 Sound driver sets the soft configurable parameters of the card automatically
664 during boot. Usually you don't need to run any extra initialization
665 programs when booting Linux but there are some exceptions. See the
666 card-specific instructions below for more info.
668 The drawback of software configuration is that the driver needs to know
669 how the card must be initialized. It cannot initialize unknown cards
670 even if they are otherwise compatible with some other cards (like SB,
671 MPU401 or Windows Sound System).
674 What if your card was not listed above?
675 =======================================
677 The first thing to do is to look at the major IC chips on the card.
678 Many of the latest sound cards are based on some standard chips. If you
679 are lucky, all of them could be supported by the driver. The most common ones
680 are the OPTi MAD16, Mozart, SoundScape (Ensoniq) and the PSS architectures
681 listed above. Also look at the end of this file for list of unsupported
682 cards and the ones which could be supported later.
684 The last resort is to send _exact_ name and model information of the card
685 to me together with a list of the major IC chips (manufactured, model) to
686 me. I could then try to check if your card looks like something familiar.
688 There are many more cards in the world than listed above. The first thing to
689 do with these cards is to check if they emulate some other card or interface
690 such as SB, MSS and/or MPU401. In this case there is a chance to get the
691 card to work by booting DOS before starting Linux (boot DOS, hit ctrl-alt-del
692 and boot Linux without hard resetting the machine). In this method the
693 DOS based driver initializes the hardware to use known I/O, IRQ and DMA
694 settings. If sound driver is configured to use the same settings, everything
698 Configuring sound driver (with Linux)
699 =====================================
701 The sound driver is currently distributed as part of the Linux kernel. The
702 files are in /usr/src/linux/drivers/sound/.
704 ****************************************************************************
705 * ALWAYS USE THE SOUND DRIVER VERSION WHICH IS DISTRIBUTED WITH *
706 * THE KERNEL SOURCE PACKAGE YOU ARE USING. SOME ALPHA AND BETA TEST *
707 * VERSIONS CAN BE INSTALLED FROM A SEPARATELY DISTRIBUTED PACKAGE *
708 * BUT CHECK THAT THE PACKAGE IS NOT MUCH OLDER (OR NEWER) THAN THE *
709 * KERNEL YOU ARE USING. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THE KERNEL/DRIVER *
710 * INTERFACE CHANGES BETWEEN KERNEL RELEASES WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME *
711 * INCOMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS. *
713 * IN CASE YOU INSTALL A SEPARATELY DISTRIBUTED SOUND DRIVER VERSION, *
714 * BE SURE TO REMOVE OR RENAME THE OLD SOUND DRIVER DIRECTORY BEFORE *
715 * INSTALLING THE NEW ONE. LEAVING OLD FILES TO THE SOUND DRIVER *
716 * DIRECTORY _WILL_ CAUSE PROBLEMS WHEN THE DRIVER IS USED OR *
718 ****************************************************************************
720 To configure the driver, run "make config" in the kernel source directory
721 (/usr/src/linux). Answer "y" or "m" to the question about Sound card support
722 (after the questions about mouse, CD-ROM, ftape, etc. support). Questions
723 about options for sound will then be asked.
725 After configuring the kernel and sound driver and compile the kernel
726 following instructions in the kernel README.
728 The sound driver configuration dialog
729 -------------------------------------
731 Sound configuration starts by making some yes/no questions. Be careful
732 when answering to these questions since answering y to a question may
733 prevent some later ones from being asked. For example don't answer y to
734 the first question (PAS16) if you don't really have a PAS16. Don't enable
735 more cards than you really need since they just consume memory. Also
736 some drivers (like MPU401) may conflict with your SCSI controller and
737 prevent kernel from booting. If you card was in the list of supported
738 cards (above), please look at the card specific config instructions
739 (later in this file) before starting to configure. Some cards must be
740 configured in way which is not obvious.
742 So here is the beginning of the config dialog. Answer 'y' or 'n' to these
743 questions. The default answer is shown so that (y/n) means 'y' by default and
744 (n/y) means 'n'. To use the default value, just hit ENTER. But be careful
745 since using the default _doesn't_ guarantee anything.
747 Note also that all questions may not be asked. The configuration program
748 may disable some questions depending on the earlier choices. It may also
749 select some options automatically as well.
751 "ProAudioSpectrum 16 support",
752 - Answer 'y'_ONLY_ if you have a Pro Audio Spectrum _16_,
753 Pro Audio Studio 16 or Logitech SoundMan 16 (be sure that
754 you read the above list correctly). Don't answer 'y' if you
755 have some other card made by Media Vision or Logitech since they
756 are not PAS16 compatible.
757 NOTE! Since 3.5-beta10 you need to enable SB support (next question)
758 if you want to use the SB emulation of PAS16. It's also possible to
759 the emulation if you want to use a true SB card together with PAS16
760 (there is another question about this that is asked later).
761 "Sound Blaster support",
762 - Answer 'y' if you have an original SB card made by Creative Labs
763 or a full 100% hardware compatible clone (like Thunderboard or
764 SM Games). If your card was in the list of supported cards (above),
765 please look at the card specific instructions later in this file
766 before answering this question. For an unknown card you may answer
767 'y' if the card claims to be SB compatible.
768 Enable this option also with PAS16 (changed since v3.5-beta9).
770 Don't enable SB if you have a MAD16 or Mozart compatible card.
772 "Generic OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesizer support",
773 - Answer 'y' if your card has a FM chip made by Yamaha (OPL2/OPL3/OPL4).
774 Answering 'y' is usually a safe and recommended choice. However some
775 cards may have software (TSR) FM emulation. Enabling FM support
776 with these cards may cause trouble. However I don't currently know
778 "Gravis Ultrasound support",
779 - Answer 'y' if you have GUS or GUS MAX. Answer 'n' if you don't
780 have GUS since the GUS driver consumes much memory.
781 Currently I don't have experiences with the GUS ACE so I don't
782 know what to answer with it.
783 "MPU-401 support (NOT for SB16)",
784 - Be careful with this question. The MPU401 interface is supported
785 by almost any sound card today. However some natively supported cards
786 have their own driver for MPU401. Enabling the MPU401 option with
787 these cards will cause a conflict. Also enabling MPU401 on a system
788 that doesn't really have a MPU401 could cause some trouble. If your
789 card was in the list of supported cards (above), please look at
790 the card specific instructions later in this file.
792 In MOST cases this MPU401 driver should only be used with "true"
793 MIDI-only MPU401 professional cards. In most other cases there
794 is another way to get the MPU401 compatible interface of a
796 Support for the MPU401 compatible MIDI port of SB16, ESS1688
797 and MV Jazz16 cards is included in the SB driver. Use it instead
798 of this separate MPU401 driver with these cards. As well
799 Soundscape, PSS and Maui drivers include their own MPU401
802 It's safe to answer 'y' if you have a true MPU401 MIDI interface
804 "6850 UART Midi support",
805 - It's safe to answer 'n' to this question in all cases. The 6850
806 UART interface is so rarely used.
807 "PSS (ECHO-ADI2111) support",
808 - Answer 'y' only if you have Orchid SW32, Cardinal DSP16 or some
809 other card based on the PSS chipset (AD1848 codec + ADSP-2115
810 DSP chip + Echo ESC614 ASIC CHIP).
811 "16 bit sampling option of GUS (_NOT_ GUS MAX)",
812 - Answer 'y' if you have installed the 16 bit sampling daughtercard
813 to your GUS. Answer 'n' if you have GUS MAX. Enabling this option
814 disables GUS MAX support.
816 - Answer 'y' only if you have a GUS MAX.
817 "Microsoft Sound System support",
818 - Again think carefully before answering 'y' to this question. It's
819 safe to answer 'y' in case you have the original Windows Sound
820 System card made by Microsoft or Aztech SG 16 Pro (or NX16 Pro).
821 Also you may answer 'y' in case your card was not listed earlier
822 in this file. For cards having native support in the driver, consult
823 the card specific instructions later in this file. Some drivers
824 have their own MSS support and enabling this option will cause a
826 Note! The MSS driver permits configuring two DMA channels. This is a
827 "nonstandard" feature and works only with very few cards (if any).
828 In most cases the second DMA channel should be disabled or set to
829 the same channel than the first one. Trying to configure two separate
830 channels with cards that don't support this feature will prevent
831 audio (at least recording) from working.
832 "Ensoniq Soundscape support",
833 - Answer 'y' if you have a sound card based on the Ensoniq SoundScape
834 chipset. Such cards are being manufactured at least by Ensoniq,
835 Spea and Reveal (note that Reveal makes other cards also). The oldest
836 cards made by Spea don't work properly with Linux.
837 Soundscape PnP as well as Ensoniq VIVO work only with the commercial
839 "MediaTrix AudioTrix Pro support",
840 - Answer 'y' if you have the AudioTrix Pro.
841 "Support for MAD16 and/or Mozart based cards",
842 - Answer y if your card has a Mozart (OAK OTI-601) or MAD16
843 (OPTi 82C928, 82C929, 82C924/82C925 or 82C930) audio interface chip.
845 currently quite common so it's possible that many no-name cards
846 have one of them. In addition the MAD16 chip is used in some
847 cards made by known manufacturers such as Turtle Beach (Tropez),
848 Reveal (some models) and Diamond (some recent models).
849 Note OPTi 82C924 and 82C925 are MAD16 compatible only in non PnP
850 mode (jumper selectable on many cards).
851 "Support for TB Maui"
852 - This enables TB Maui specific initialization. Works with TB Maui
853 and TB Tropez (may not work with Tropez Plus).
856 Then the configuration program asks some y/n questions about the higher
857 level services. It's recommended to answer 'y' to each of these questions.
858 Answer 'n' only if you know you will not need the option.
860 "MIDI interface support",
861 - Answering 'n' disables /dev/midi## devices and access to any
862 MIDI ports using /dev/sequencer and /dev/music. This option
863 also affects any MPU401 and/or General MIDI compatible devices.
864 "FM synthesizer (YM3812/OPL-3) support",
866 "/dev/sequencer support",
867 - Answering 'n' disables /dev/sequencer and /dev/music.
869 Entering the I/O, IRQ and DMA config parameters
870 -----------------------------------------------
872 After the above questions the configuration program prompts for the
873 card specific configuration information. Usually just a set of
874 I/O address, IRQ and DMA numbers are asked. With some cards the program
875 asks for some files to be used during initialization of the card. For example
876 many cards have a DSP chip or microprocessor which must be initialized by
877 downloading a program (microcode) file to the card.
879 Instructions for answering these questions are given in the next section.
882 Card specific information
883 =========================
885 This section gives additional instructions about configuring some cards.
886 Please refer manual of your card for valid I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers. Using
887 the same settings with DOS/Windows and Linux is recommended. Using
888 different values could cause some problems when switching between
889 different operating systems.
891 Sound Blasters (the original ones by Creative)
892 ---------------------------------------------
894 NOTE! Check if you have a PnP Sound Blaster (cards sold after summer 1995
895 are almost certainly PnP ones). With PnP cards you should use isapnptools
896 to activate them (see above).
898 It's possible to configure these cards to use different I/O, IRQ and
899 DMA settings. Since the possible/default settings have changed between various
900 models, you have to consult manual of your card for the proper ones. It's
901 a good idea to use the same values than with DOS/Windows. With SB and SB Pro
902 it's the only choice. SB16 has software selectable IRQ and DMA channels but
903 using different values with DOS and Linux is likely to cause troubles. The
904 DOS driver is not able to reset the card properly after warm boot from Linux
905 if Linux has used different IRQ or DMA values.
907 The original (steam) Sound Blaster (versions 1.x and 2.x) use always
908 DMA1. There is no way to change it.
910 The SB16 needs two DMA channels. A 8 bit one (1 or 3) is required for
911 8 bit operation and a 16 bit one (5, 6 or 7) for the 16 bit mode. In theory
912 it's possible to use just one (8 bit) DMA channel by answering the 8 bit
913 one when the configuration program asks for the 16 bit one. This may work
914 in some systems but is likely to cause terrible noise on some other systems.
916 It's possible to use two SB16/32/64 at the same time. To do this you should
917 first configure OSS/Free for one card. Then edit local.h manually and define
918 SB2_BASE, SB2_IRQ, SB2_DMA and SB2_DMA2 for the second one. You can't get
919 the OPL3, MIDI and EMU8000 devices of the second card to work. If you are
920 going to use two PnP Sound Blasters, ensure that they are of different model
921 and have different PnP IDs. There is no way to get two cards with the same
922 card ID and serial number to work. The easiest way to check this is trying
923 if isapnptools can see both cards or just one.
925 NOTE! Don't enable the SM Games option (asked by the configuration program)
926 if you are not 101% sure that your card is a Logitech Soundman Games
927 (not a SM Wave or SM16).
932 First of all: There are no SB16 clones. There are SB Pro clones with a
933 16 bit mode which is not SB16 compatible. The most likely alternative is that
934 the 16 bit mode means MSS/WSS.
936 There are just a few fully 100% hardware SB or SB Pro compatible cards.
937 I know just Thunderboard and SM Games. Other cards require some kind of
938 hardware initialization before they become SB compatible. Check if your card
939 was listed in the beginning of this file. In this case you should follow
940 instructions for your card later in this file.
942 For other not fully SB clones you may try initialization using DOS in
945 - Boot DOS so that the card specific driver gets run.
946 - Hit ctrl-alt-del (or use loadlin) to boot Linux. Don't
947 switch off power or press the reset button.
948 - If you use the same I/O, IRQ and DMA settings in Linux, the
951 If your card is both SB and MSS compatible, I recommend using the MSS mode.
952 Most cards of this kind are not able to work in the SB and the MSS mode
953 simultaneously. Using the MSS mode provides 16 bit recording and playback.
955 ProAudioSpectrum 16 and compatibles
956 -----------------------------------
958 PAS16 has a SB emulation chip which can be used together with the native
959 (16 bit) mode of the card. To enable this emulation you should configure
960 the driver to have SB support too (this has been changed since version
961 3.5-beta9 of this driver).
963 With current driver versions it's also possible to use PAS16 together with
964 another SB compatible card. In this case you should configure SB support
965 for the other card and to disable the SB emulation of PAS16 (there is a
966 separate questions about this).
968 With PAS16 you can use two audio device files at the same time. /dev/dsp (and
969 /dev/audio) is connected to the 8/16 bit native codec and the /dev/dsp1 (and
970 /dev/audio1) is connected to the SB emulation (8 bit mono only).
975 There are many different revisions of the Ultrasound card (GUS). The
976 earliest ones (pre 3.7) don't have a hardware mixer. With these cards
977 the driver uses a software emulation for synth and pcm playbacks. It's
978 also possible to switch some of the inputs (line in, mic) off by setting
979 mixer volume of the channel level below 10%. For recording you have
980 to select the channel as a recording source and to use volume above 10%.
982 GUS 3.7 has a hardware mixer.
984 GUS MAX and the 16 bit sampling daughtercard have a CS4231 codec chip which
985 also contains a mixer.
987 Configuring GUS is simple. Just enable the GUS support and GUS MAX or
988 the 16 bit daughtercard if you have them. Note that enabling the daughter
989 card disables GUS MAX driver.
991 NOTE for owners of the 16 bit daughtercard: By default the daughtercard
992 uses /dev/dsp (and /dev/audio). Command "ln -sf /dev/dsp1 /dev/dsp"
993 selects the daughter card as the default device.
995 With just the standard GUS enabled the configuration program prompts
996 for the I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers for the card. Use the same values than
999 With the daughter card option enabled you will be prompted for the I/O,
1000 IRQ and DMA numbers for the daughter card. You have to use different I/O
1001 and DMA values than for the standard GUS. The daughter card permits
1002 simultaneous recording and playback. Use /dev/dsp (the daughtercard) for
1003 recording and /dev/dsp1 (GUS GF1) for playback.
1005 GUS MAX uses the same I/O address and IRQ settings than the original GUS
1006 (GUS MAX = GUS + a CS4231 codec). In addition an extra DMA channel may be used.
1007 Using two DMA channels permits simultaneous playback using two devices
1008 (dev/dsp0 and /dev/dsp1). The second DMA channel is required for
1010 To enable the second DMA channels, give a valid DMA channel when the config
1011 program asks for the GUS MAX DMA (entering -1 disables the second DMA).
1012 Using 16 bit DMA channels (5,6 or 7) is recommended.
1014 If you have problems in recording with GUS MAX, you could try to use
1015 just one 8 bit DMA channel. Recording will not work with one DMA
1016 channel if it's a 16 bit one.
1018 Microphone input of GUS MAX is connected to mixer in little bit nonstandard
1019 way. There is actually two microphone volume controls. Normal "mic" controls
1020 only recording level. Mixer control "speaker" is used to control volume of
1021 microphone signal connected directly to line/speaker out. So just decrease
1022 volume of "speaker" if you have problems with microphone feedback.
1024 GUS ACE works too but any attempt to record or to use the MIDI port
1027 GUS PnP (with RAM) is partially supported but it needs to be initialized using
1028 DOS or isapnptools before starting the driver.
1030 MPU401 and Windows Sound System
1031 -------------------------------
1033 Again. Don't enable these options in case your card is listed
1034 somewhere else in this file.
1036 Configuring these cards is obvious (or it should be). With MSS
1037 you should probably enable the OPL3 synth also since
1038 most MSS compatible cards have it. However check that this is true
1039 before enabling OPL3.
1041 Sound driver supports more than one MPU401 compatible cards at the same time
1042 but the config program asks config info for just the first of them.
1043 Adding the second or third MPU interfaces must be done manually by
1044 editing sound/local.h (after running the config program). Add defines for
1045 MPU2_BASE & MPU2_IRQ (and MPU3_BASE & MPU3_IRQ) to the file.
1049 The default I/O base of Adaptec AHA-1542 SCSI controller is 0x330 which
1050 is also the default of the MPU401 driver. Don't configure the sound driver to
1051 use 0x330 as the MPU401 base if you have a AHA1542. The kernel will not boot
1052 if you make this mistake.
1057 Even the PSS cards are compatible with SB, MSS and MPU401, you must not
1058 enable these options when configuring the driver. The configuration
1059 program handles these options itself. (You may use the SB, MPU and MSS options
1060 together with PSS if you have another card on the system).
1062 The PSS driver enables MSS and MPU401 modes of the card. SB is not enabled
1063 since it doesn't work concurrently with MSS. The driver loads also a
1064 DSP algorithm which is used to for the general MIDI emulation. The
1065 algorithm file (.ld) is read by the config program and written to a
1066 file included when the pss.c is compiled. For this reason the config
1067 program asks if you want to download the file. Use the genmidi.ld file
1068 distributed with the DOS/Windows drivers of the card (don't use the mt32.ld).
1069 With some cards the file is called 'synth.ld'. You must have access to
1070 the file when configuring the driver. The easiest way is to mount the DOS
1071 partition containing the file with Linux.
1073 It's possible to load your own DSP algorithms and run them with the card.
1074 Look at the directory pss_test of snd-util-3.0.tar.gz for more info.
1079 You have to enable the OPL3 and SB (not SB Pro or SB16) drivers in addition
1080 to the native AudioTrix driver. Don't enable MSS or MPU drivers.
1082 Configuring ATP is little bit tricky since it uses so many I/O, IRQ and
1083 DMA numbers. Using the same values than with DOS/Win is a good idea. Don't
1084 attempt to use the same IRQ or DMA channels twice.
1086 The SB mode of ATP is implemented so the ATP driver just enables SB
1087 in the proper address. The SB driver handles the rest. You have to configure
1088 both the SB driver and the SB mode of ATP to use the same IRQ, DMA and I/O
1091 Also the ATP has a microcontroller for the General MIDI emulation (OPL4).
1092 For this reason the driver asks for the name of a file containing the
1093 microcode (TRXPRO.HEX). This file is usually located in the directory
1094 where the DOS drivers were installed. You must have access to this file
1095 when configuring the driver.
1097 If you have the effects daughtercard, it must be initialized by running
1098 the setfx program of snd-util-3.0.tar.gz package. This step is not required
1099 when using the (future) binary distribution version of the driver.
1104 NOTE! The new PnP SoundScape is not supported yet. Soundscape compatible
1105 cards made by Reveal don't work with Linux. They use older revision
1106 of the Soundscape chipset which is not fully compatible with
1107 newer cards made by Ensoniq.
1109 The SoundScape driver handles initialization of MSS and MPU supports
1110 itself so you don't need to enable other drivers than SoundScape
1111 (enable also the /dev/dsp, /dev/sequencer and MIDI supports).
1113 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1115 !!!!! NOTE! Before version 3.5-beta6 there WERE two sets of audio !!!!
1116 !!!!! device files (/dev/dsp0 and /dev/dsp1). The first one WAS !!!!
1117 !!!!! used only for card initialization and the second for audio !!!!
1118 !!!!! purposes. It WAS required to change /dev/dsp (a symlink) to !!!!
1119 !!!!! point to /dev/dsp1. !!!!
1121 !!!!! This is not required with OSS versions 3.5-beta6 and later !!!!
1122 !!!!! since there is now just one audio device file. Please !!!!
1123 !!!!! change /dev/dsp to point back to /dev/dsp0 if you are !!!!
1124 !!!!! upgrading from an earlier driver version using !!!!
1125 !!!!! (cd /dev;rm dsp;ln -s dsp0 dsp). !!!!
1127 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1129 The configuration program asks one DMA channel and two interrupts. One IRQ
1130 and one DMA is used by the MSS codec. The second IRQ is required for the
1131 MPU401 mode (you have to use different IRQs for both purposes).
1132 There were earlier two DMA channels for SoundScape but the current driver
1133 version requires just one.
1135 The SoundScape card has a Motorola microcontroller which must initialized
1136 _after_ boot (the driver doesn't initialize it during boot).
1137 The initialization is done by running the 'ssinit' program which is
1138 distributed in the snd-util-3.0.tar.gz package. You have to edit two
1139 defines in the ssinit.c and then compile the program. You may run ssinit
1140 manually (after each boot) or add it to /etc/rc.d/rc.local.
1142 The ssinit program needs the microcode file that comes with the DOS/Windows
1143 driver of the card. You will need to use version 1.30.00 or later
1144 of the microcode file (sndscape.co0 or sndscape.co1 depending on
1145 your card model). THE OLD sndscape.cod WILL NOT WORK. IT WILL HANG YOUR
1146 MACHINE. The only way to get the new microcode file is to download
1147 and install the DOS/Windows driver from ftp://ftp.ensoniq.com/pub.
1149 Then you have to select the proper microcode file to use: soundscape.co0
1150 is the right one for most cards and sndscape.co1 is for few (older) cards
1151 made by Reveal and/or Spea. The driver has capability to detect the card
1152 version during boot. Look at the boot log messages in /var/adm/messages
1153 and locate the sound driver initialization message for the SoundScape
1154 card. If the driver displays string <Ensoniq Soundscape (old)>, you have
1155 an old card and you will need to use sndscape.co1. For other cards use
1156 soundscape.co0. New Soundscape revisions such as Elite and PnP use
1157 code files with higher numbers (.co2, .co3, etc.).
1159 NOTE! Ensoniq Soundscape VIVO is not compatible with other Soundscape cards.
1160 Currently it's possible to use it in Linux only with OSS/Linux
1163 Check /var/adm/messages after running ssinit. The driver prints
1164 the board version after downloading the microcode file. That version
1165 number must match the number in the name of the microcode file (extension).
1167 Running ssinit with a wrong version of the sndscape.co? file is not
1168 dangerous as long as you don't try to use a file called sndscape.cod.
1169 If you have initialized the card using a wrong microcode file (sounds
1170 are terrible), just modify ssinit.c to use another microcode file and try
1171 again. It's possible to use an earlier version of sndscape.co[01] but it
1174 MAD16 (Pro) and Mozart
1175 ----------------------
1177 You need to enable just the MAD16 /Mozart support when configuring
1178 the driver. _Don't_ enable SB, MPU401 or MSS. However you will need the
1179 /dev/audio, /dev/sequencer and MIDI supports.
1181 Mozart and OPTi 82C928 (the original MAD16) chips don't support
1182 MPU401 mode so enter just 0 when the configuration program asks the
1183 MPU/MIDI I/O base. The MAD16 Pro (OPTi 82C929) and 82C930 chips have MPU401
1186 TB Tropez is based on the 82C929 chip. It has two MIDI ports.
1187 The one connected to the MAD16 chip is the second one (there is a second
1188 MIDI connector/pins somewhere??). If you have not connected the second MIDI
1189 port, just disable the MIDI port of MAD16. The 'Maui' compatible synth of
1190 Tropez is jumper configurable and not connected to the MAD16 chip (the
1191 Maui driver can be used with it).
1193 Some MAD16 based cards may cause feedback, whistle or terrible noise if the
1194 line3 mixer channel is turned too high. This happens at least with Shuttle
1195 Sound System. Current driver versions set volume of line3 low enough so
1196 this should not be a problem.
1198 If you have a MAD16 card which have an OPL4 (FM + Wave table) synthesizer
1199 chip (_not_ an OPL3), you have to append a line containing #define MAD16_OPL4
1200 to the file linux/drivers/sound/local.h (after running make config).
1202 MAD16 cards having a CS4231 codec support full duplex mode. This mode
1203 can be enabled by configuring the card to use two DMA channels. Possible
1204 DMA channel pairs are: 0&1, 1&0 and 3&0.
1206 NOTE! Cards having an OPTi 82C924/82C925 chip work with OSS/Free only in
1207 non-PnP mode (usually jumper selectable). The PnP mode is supported only
1213 The Jazz16 driver is just a hack made to the SB Pro driver. However it works
1214 fairly well. You have to enable SB, SB Pro (_not_ SB16) and MPU401 supports
1215 when configuring the driver. The configuration program asks later if you
1216 want support for MV Jazz16 based cards (after asking SB base address). Answer
1217 'y' here and the driver asks the second (16 bit) DMA channel.
1219 The Jazz16 driver uses the MPU401 driver in a way which will cause
1220 problems if you have another MPU401 compatible card. In this case you must
1221 give address of the Jazz16 based MPU401 interface when the config
1222 program prompts for the MPU401 information. Then look at the MPU401
1223 specific section for instructions about configuring more than one MPU401 cards.
1225 Logitech Soundman Wave
1226 ----------------------
1228 Read the above MV Jazz specific instructions first.
1230 The Logitech SoundMan Wave (don't confuse this with the SM16 or SM Games) is
1231 a MV Jazz based card which has an additional OPL4 based wave table
1232 synthesizer. The OPL4 chip is handled by an on board microcontroller
1233 which must be initialized during boot. The config program asks if
1234 you have a SM Wave immediately after asking the second DMA channel of jazz16.
1235 If you answer 'y', the config program will ask name of the file containing
1236 code to be loaded to the microcontroller. The file is usually called
1237 MIDI0001.BIN and it's located in the DOS/Windows driver directory. The file
1238 may also be called as TSUNAMI.BIN or something else (older cards?).
1240 The OPL4 synth will be inaccessible without loading the microcontroller code.
1242 Also remember to enable SB MPU401 support if you want to use the OPL4 mode.
1243 (Don't enable the 'normal' MPU401 device as with some earlier driver
1244 versions (pre 3.5-alpha8)).
1246 NOTE! Don't answer 'y' when the driver asks about SM Games support
1247 (the next question after the MIDI0001.BIN name). However
1248 answering 'y' doesn't cause damage your computer so don't panic.
1253 There are many different Sound Galaxy cards made by Aztech. The 8 bit
1254 ones are fully SB or SB Pro compatible and there should be no problems
1257 The older 16 bit cards (SG Pro16, SG NX Pro16, Nova and Lyra) have
1258 an EEPROM chip for storing the configuration data. There is a microcontroller
1259 which initializes the card to match the EEPROM settings when the machine
1260 is powered on. These cards actually behave just like they have jumpers
1261 for all of the settings. Configure driver for MSS, MPU, SB/SB Pro and OPL3
1262 supports with these cards.
1264 There are some new Sound Galaxies in the market. I have no experience with
1265 them so read the card's manual carefully.
1267 ESS ES1688 and ES688 'AudioDrive' based cards
1268 ---------------------------------------------
1270 Support for these two ESS chips is embedded in the SB driver.
1271 Configure these cards just like SB. Enable the 'SB MPU401 MIDI port'
1272 if you want to use MIDI features of ES1688. ES688 doesn't have MPU mode
1273 so you don't need to enable it (the driver uses normal SB MIDI automatically
1276 NOTE! ESS cards are not compatible with MSS/WSS so don't worry if MSS support
1277 of OSS doesn't work with it.
1279 There are some ES1688/688 based sound cards and (particularly) motherboards
1280 which use software configurable I/O port relocation feature of the chip.
1281 This ESS proprietary feature is supported only by OSS/Linux.
1283 There are ES1688 based cards which use different interrupt pin assignment than
1284 recommended by ESS (5, 7, 9/2 and 10). In this case all IRQs don't work.
1285 At least a card called (Pearl?) Hypersound 16 supports IRQ 15 but it doesn't
1288 ES1868 is a PnP chip which is (supposed to be) compatible with ESS1688
1289 probably works with OSS/Free after initialization using isapnptools.
1294 There are several different cards made/marketed by Reveal. Some of them
1295 are compatible with SoundScape and some use the MAD16 chip. You may have
1296 to look at the card and try to identify its origin.
1301 The oldest (Sierra Aria based) sound cards made by Diamond are not supported
1302 (they may work if the card is initialized using DOS). The recent (LX?)
1303 models are based on the MAD16 chip which is supported by the driver.
1308 Support for this card is currently not functional. A new driver for it
1309 should be available later this year.
1314 Sorry, can't help. Some cards may work and some don't.
1316 TI TM4000M notebooks
1317 --------------------
1319 These computers have a built in sound support based on the Jazz chipset.
1320 Look at the instructions for MV Jazz (above). It's also important to note
1321 that there is something wrong with the mouse port and sound at least on
1322 some TM models. Don't enable the "C&T 82C710 mouse port support" when
1323 configuring Linux. Having it enabled is likely to cause mysterious problems
1324 and kernel failures when sound is used.
1329 The miroSOUND PCM1-pro, PCM12 and PCM20 radio has been used
1330 successfully. These cards are based on the MAD16, OPL4, and CS4231A chips
1331 and everything said in the section about MAD16 cards applies here,
1332 too. The only major difference between the PCMxx and other MAD16 cards
1333 is that instead of the mixer in the CS4231 codec a separate mixer
1334 controlled by an on-board 80C32 microcontroller is used. Control of
1335 the mixer takes place via the ACI (miro's audio control interface)
1336 protocol that is implemented in a separate lowlevel driver. Make sure
1337 you compile this ACI driver together with the normal MAD16 support
1338 when you use a miroSOUND PCMxx card. The ACI mixer is controlled by
1339 /dev/mixer and the CS4231 mixer by /dev/mixer1 (depends on load
1340 time). Only in special cases you want to change something regularly on
1343 The miroSOUND PCM12 and PCM20 radio is capable of full duplex
1344 operation (simultaneous PCM replay and recording), which allows you to
1345 implement nice real-time signal processing audio effect software and
1346 network telephones. The ACI mixer has to be switched into the "solo"
1347 mode for duplex operation in order to avoid feedback caused by the
1348 mixer (input hears output signal). You can de-/activate this mode
1349 through toggleing the record button for the wave controller with an
1352 The PCM20 contains a radio tuner, which is also controlled by
1353 ACI. This radio tuner is supported by the ACI driver together with the
1354 miropcm20.o module. Also the 7-band equalizer is integrated
1355 (limited by the OSS-design). Developement has started and maybe
1356 finished for the RDS decoder on this card, too. You will be able to
1357 read RadioText, the Programme Service name, Programme TYpe and
1358 others. Even the v4l radio module benefits from it with a refined
1359 strength value. See aci.[ch] and miropcm20*.[ch] for more details.
1361 The following configuration parameters have worked fine for the PCM12
1362 in Markus Kuhn's system, many other configurations might work, too:
1363 CONFIG_MAD16_BASE=0x530, CONFIG_MAD16_IRQ=11, CONFIG_MAD16_DMA=3,
1364 CONFIG_MAD16_DMA2=0, CONFIG_MAD16_MPU_BASE=0x330, CONFIG_MAD16_MPU_IRQ=10,
1365 DSP_BUFFSIZE=65536, SELECTED_SOUND_OPTIONS=0x00281000.
1367 Bas van der Linden is using his PCM1-pro with a configuration that
1368 differs in: CONFIG_MAD16_IRQ=7, CONFIG_MAD16_DMA=1, CONFIG_MAD16_MPU_IRQ=9
1373 The builtin sound hardware of Compaq Deskpro XL is now supported.
1374 You need to configure the driver with MSS and OPL3 supports enabled.
1375 In addition you need to manually edit linux/drivers/sound/local.h and
1376 to add a line containing "#define DESKPROXL" if you used
1377 make menuconfig/xconfig.
1382 Since there are so many different sound cards, it's likely that I have
1383 forgotten to mention many of them. Please inform me if you know yet another
1384 card which works with Linux, please inform me (or is anybody else
1385 willing to maintain a database of supported cards (just like in XF86)?).
1387 Cards not supported yet
1388 =======================
1390 Please check the version of sound driver you are using before
1391 complaining that your card is not supported. It's possible you are
1392 using a driver version which was released months before your card was
1395 First of all, there is an easy way to make most sound cards work with Linux.
1396 Just use the DOS based driver to initialize the card to a known state, then use
1397 loadlin.exe to boot Linux. If Linux is configured to use the same I/O, IRQ and
1398 DMA numbers as DOS, the card could work.
1399 (ctrl-alt-del can be used in place of loadlin.exe but it doesn't work with
1400 new motherboards). This method works also with all/most PnP sound cards.
1402 Don't get fooled with SB compatibility. Most cards are compatible with
1403 SB but that may require a TSR which is not possible with Linux. If
1404 the card is compatible with MSS, it's a better choice. Some cards
1405 don't work in the SB and MSS modes at the same time.
1407 Then there are cards which are no longer manufactured and/or which
1408 are relatively rarely used (such as the 8 bit ProAudioSpectrum
1409 models). It's extremely unlikely that such cards ever get supported.
1410 Adding support for a new card requires much work and increases time
1411 required in maintaining the driver (some changes need to be done
1412 to all low level drivers and be tested too, maybe with multiple
1413 operating systems). For this reason I have made a decision to not support
1414 obsolete cards. It's possible that someone else makes a separately
1415 distributed driver (diffs) for the card.
1417 Writing a driver for a new card is not possible if there are no
1418 programming information available about the card. If you don't
1419 find your new card from this file, look from the home page
1420 (http://www.opensound.com/ossfree). Then please contact
1421 manufacturer of the card and ask if they have (or are willing to)
1422 released technical details of the card. Do this before contacting me. I
1423 can only answer 'no' if there are no programming information available.
1425 I have made decision to not accept code based on reverse engineering
1426 to the driver. There are three main reasons: First I don't want to break
1427 relationships to sound card manufacturers. The second reason is that
1428 maintaining and supporting a driver without any specs will be a pain.
1429 The third reason is that companies have freedom to refuse selling their
1430 products to other than Windows users.
1432 Some companies don't give low level technical information about their
1433 products to public or at least their require signing a NDA. It's not
1434 possible to implement a freeware driver for them. However it's possible
1435 that support for such cards become available in the commercial version
1436 of this driver (see http://www.4Front-tech.com/oss.html for more info).
1438 There are some common audio chipsets that are not supported yet. For example
1439 Sierra Aria and IBM Mwave. It's possible that these architectures
1440 get some support in future but I can't make any promises. Just look
1441 at the home page (http://www.opensound.com/ossfree/new_cards.html)
1444 Information about unsupported sound cards and chipsets is welcome as well
1445 as free copies of sound cards, SDKs and operating systems.
1447 If you have any corrections and/or comments, please contact me.
1452 Personal home page: http://www.compusonic.fi/~hannu
1453 home page of OSS/Free: http://www.opensound.com/ossfree
1455 home page of commercial OSS
1456 (Open Sound System) drivers: http://www.opensound.com/oss.html
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