Configuring VoxWare 3.0 (for Linux) with some most common soundcards
====================================================================
NOTE! This document may contain some error. Please inform me
if you find any mistakes.
Read this before trying to configure the driver
-----------------------------------------------
There are currently many cards that work with VoxWare. Some of the cards
have native support while the others work since they emulate some other
cards (usually SB, MSS/WSS and/or MPU401). The following cards have native
support in VoxWare. Detailed instructions for configuring these cards
will be given later in this document.
Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (PAS16) and compatibles:
Pro Audio Spectrum 16
Pro Audio Studio 16
Logitech Sound Man 16
NOTE! The original Pro Audio Spectrum as well as the PAS+ are not
and will not be supported by VoxWare.
Media Vision Jazz16 based cards
Pro Sonic 16
Logitech SoundMan Wave
(Other Jazz based cards should work but I don't have any reports
about them).
Sound Blasters
SB 1.0 to 2.0
SB Pro
SB 16
NOTE! The ASP chip and the EMU synth of the AWE32 is not supported
since their manufacturer doesn't release information about
the card. However both the AB16ASP and the AWE32 work with
VoxWare just like a SB16. Also see the comment about some
unsupported cards at the end of this file.
SB16 compatible cards by other manufacturers than Creative.
You have been fooled since there are no SB16 compatible
cards in the market (July95). It's likely that your card
is compatible just with SB Pro but there is also a non SB
compatible 16 bit mode. Usually it's MSS/WSS but could also
be a proprietary one like MV Jazz16.
Gravis Ultrasound (GUS)
GUS
GUS + the 16 bit option
GUS MAX
GUS ACE (No MIDI port and audio recording)
MPU-401 and compatibles
The driver works both with the full (intelligent mode) MPU-401
cards (such as MPU IPC-T and MQX-32M) and with the UART only
dumb MIDI ports. MPU-401 is currently the most common MIDI
interface. Most soundcards are compatible with it. However
don't enable MPU401 mode blindly. Many cards having native support
in VoxWare have their own MPU401 driver. Enabling the standard one
will cause a conflict with these cards. So look if your card is
in the list of supported cards before enabling MPU401.
Windows Sound System (MSS/WSS)
Even Microsoft has discontinued their own Sound System card, they
managed to make a standard. MSS compatible cards are based on a
codec chip which is easily available from at least two manufacturers
(AD1848 by Analog Devices and CS4231/CS4248 by Crystal Semiconductor).
Currently most soundcards are based on one of the MSS compatible codec
chip. The CS4231 is used in the high quality cards such as GUS MAX,
MediaTriX AudioTriX Pro and TB Tropez (GUS MAX is not MSS compatible).
Having a AD1848, CS4248 or CS4231 codec chip on the card is a good
sign. Even if the card is not MSS compatible, it could be easy to write
support for it to VoxWare. Note also that most MSS compatible cards
require special boot time initialization which may not be present
in VoxWare. Also some MSS compatible cards have native support in
VoxWare. Enabling the MSS support with these cards is likely to
cause a conflict. So check if your card is listed in this file before
enabling the MSS support.
6850 UART MIDI
This UART chip is used in the MIDI interface of some (rare)
soundcards. It's supported by VoxWare in case you need it.
Yamaha FM synthesizers (OPL2, OPL3 and OPL4)
Most soundcards have a FM synthesizer chip. The OPL2 is a 2
operator chip used in the original AdLib card. Currently it's used
only in the cheapest (8 bit mono) cards. The OPL3 is a 4 operator
FM chip which provides better sound quality and/or more available
voices than the OPL2. The OPL4 is a new chip which has a OPL3 and
a wave table synthesizer packed on the same chip. VoxWare supports
just the OPL3 mode directly. Most cards having a OPL4 (like
SM Wave and AudioTriX Pro) support the OPL4 mode using MPU401
emulation. Writing a native OPL4 support to VoxWare is difficult
since Yamaha doesn't give information about their sample ROM chip.
Enable the generic OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesizer support if your
card has a FM chip made by Yamaha. Don't enable it if your card
has a software (TRS) based FM emulator.
PSS based cards (AD1848 + ADSP-2115 + Echo ESC614 ASIC)
Analog Devices and Echo Speech have together defined a soundcard
architecture based on the above chips. The DSP chip is used
for emulation of SB Pro, FM and General MIDI/MT32.
There are several cards based on this architecture. The most known
ones are Orchid SW32 and Cardinal DSP16.
VoxWare supports downloading DSP algorithms to these cards.
MediaTriX AudioTriX Pro
The ATP card is built around a CS4231 codec and a OPL4 synthesizer
chips. The OPL4 mode is supported by a microcontroller running a
General MIDI emulator. There is also a SB 1.5 compatible playback mode.
Ensoniq SoundScape and compatibles
Ensoniq has designed a soundcard architecture based on the
OTTO synthesizer chip used in their professional MIDI synthesizers.
Several companies (including Ensoniq, Reveal and Spea) are selling
cards based on this architecture.
MAD16 and Mozart based cards
The Mozart (OAK OTI-601) and MAD16 Pro (OPTi 82C929) interface
chips are used in many different soundcards, including some
cards by Reveal and Turtle Beach (Tropez). Purpose of these
chips is to connect other audio components to the PC bus. The
interface chip performs address decoding for the other chips.
Audio Excell DSP16
Support for this card is made by Riccardo Faccetti
(riccardo@cdc8g5.cdc.polimi.it). See aedsp16.c for more info.
Crystal CS4232 based cards such as AcerMagic S23
CS4232 is a PnP multimedia chip which contains a CS3231A codec,
SB and MPU401 emulations. There is support for OPL3 too.
(Unfortunately the MPU401 mode doesn't work).
Turtle Beach Maui and Tropez
VoxWare supports sample, parch and program loading commands
described in the Maui/Tropez User's manual. There is no initialization
code for Maui so it must be initialized using DOS. Audio side of Tropez
is based on the MAD16 chip (see above).
Jumpers and software configuration
----------------------------------
Some of the earliest soundcards were jumper configurable. You have to
configure VoxWare to configure VoxWare use I/O, IRQ and DMA settings
that match the jumpers. Just few 8 bit cards are fully jumper
configurable (SB 1.x/2.x, SB Pro and clones).
Some cards made by Aztech have an EEPROM which contains the
config info. These cards behave much like hardware jumpered cards.
Most cards have jumper for the base I/O address but other parameters
are software configurable. Sometimes there are few other jumpers too.
Latest cards are fully software configurable or they are PnP ISA
compatible. There are no jumpers on the board.
VoxWare handles software configurable cards automaticly. Just configure
the driver to use I/O, IRQ and DMA settings which are known to work.
You could usually use the same values than with DOS and/or Windows.
Using different settings is possible but not recommended since it may cause
some trouble (for example when warm booting from an OS to another or
when installing new hardware to the machine).
VoxWare sets the soft configurable parameters of the card automaticly
during boot. Usually you don't need to run any extra initialization
programs when booting Linux but there are some exceptions. See the
card specific instructions (below) for more info.
The drawback of software configuration is that the driver needs to know
how the card must be initialized. It cannot initialize unknown cards
even if they are otherwise compatible with some other cards (like SB,
MPU401 or Windows Sound System).
What if your card was not listed above?
---------------------------------------
The first thing to do is to look at the major IC chips on the card.
Many of the latest soundcards are based on some standard chips. If you
are lucky, all of them could be supported by VoxWare. The most common ones
are the OPTi MAD16, Mozart, SoundScape (Ensoniq) and the PSS architectures
listed above. Also look at the end of this file for list of unsupported
cards and the ones which could be supported later.
The last resort is to send _exact_ name and model information of the card
to me together with a list of the major IC chips (manufactured, model) to
me. I could then try to check if your card looks like something familiar.
There are much more cards in the word than listed above. The first thing to
do with these cards is to check if they emulate some other card/interface
such as SB, MSS and/or MPU401. In this case there is a chance to get the
card to work by booting DOS before starting Linux (boot DOS, hit ctrl-alt-del
and boot Linux without hard resetting the machine). In this method the
DOS based driver initializes the hardware to use a known I/O, IRQ and DMA
settings. If VoxWare is configured to use the same settings, everything should
work OK.
Configuring VoxWare (with Linux)
================================
VoxWare sound driver is currently a part of Linux kernel distribution. The
driver files are located in directory /usr/src/linux/drivers/sound.
****************************************************************************
* VoxWare MUST BE CONFIGURED AND COMPILED WITH THE KERNEL. TRYING *
* TO COMPILE IT ALONE WILL _NOT_ WORK. *
* *
* ALWAYS USE THE SOUND DRIVER VERSION WHICH IS DISTRIBUTED WITH *
* THE KERNEL SOURCE PACKAGE YOU ARE USING. SOME ALPHA AND BETA TEST *
* VERSIONS CAN BE INSTALLED FROM A SEPARATELY DISTRIBUTED PACKAGE *
* BUT CHECK THAT THE PACKAGE IS NOT MUCH OLDER (OR NEWER) THAN THE *
* KERNEL YOU ARE USING. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THE KERNEL/DRIVER *
* INTERFACE CHANGES BETWEEN KERNEL RELEASES WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME *
* INCOMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS. *
* *
* IN CASE YOU INSTALL A SEPARATELY DISTRIBUTED SOUND DRIVER VERSION, *
* BE SURE TO REMOVE OR RENAME THE OLD SOUND DRIVER DIRECTORY BEFORE *
* INSTALLING THE NEW ONE. LEAVING OLD FILES TO THE SOUND DRIVER *
* DIRECTORY _WILL_ CAUSE PROBLEMS WHEN THE DRIVER IS USED OR *
* COMPILED. *
****************************************************************************
To configure the driver, run "make config" in the kernel source directory
(/usr/src/linux). Answer y to the question about Sound card support (after
questions about mouse, CD-ROM, ftape, etc. supports). Sound config options
will then be asked after some additional questions.
After configuring the kernel and sound driver, run "make dep" and compile
the kernel following instructions in the kernel README.
The sound driver configuration dialog
-------------------------------------
All config information of the sound driver is written to file
linux/drivers/sound/local.h. You may save the old version is this file and
use it again in case you want to use the same config later. In this case
just answer n to each question made by the sound config program and put
the original local.h back before running "make dep".
Don't do this if the version number of the sound driver has changed. In this
case you have to enter the configuration information again.
If you already have the sound driver installed, consult printout of
"cat /dev/sndstat" when configuring the driver again. It gives the I/O,
IRQ and DMA settings you have used earlier.
The sound config program (linux/drivers/sound/configure) starts by making
some yes/no questions. Be careful when answering to these questions since
answering y to a question may prevent some later ones from being asked. For
example don't answer y to the first question (PAS16) if you don't really
have a PAS16. Don't enable more cards than you really need since they
just consume memory. Also some drivers (like MPU401) may conflict with your
SCSI controller and prevent kernel from booting. If you card was in the list
of supported cards (above), please look at the card specific config
instructions (later in this file) before starting to configure. Some cards
must be configured in way which is not obvious.
So here is the beginning of the config dialog. Answer 'y' or 'n' to these
questions. The default answer is shown so that (y/n) means 'y' by default and
(n/y) means 'n'. To use the default value, just hit ENTER. But be careful
since using the default _doesn't_ guarantee anything.
Note also that all questions may not be asked. The configuration program
may disable some questions dependig on the earlier choices. It may also
select some options automaticly as well.
"ProAudioSpectrum 16 support",
- Answer 'y'_ONLY_ if you have a Pro Audio Spectrum _16_,
ProAudio Studio 16 or Logitech SoundMan 16 (be sure that
you read the above list correctly). Don't answer 'y' if you
have some other card made by Media Vision or Logitech since they
are not PAS16 compatible.
"SoundBlaster support",
- Answer 'y' if you have an original SB card made by Creative Labs
or a full 100% hardware compatible clone (like Thunderboard or
SM Games). If your card was in the list of supported cards (above),
please look at the card specific instructions later in this file
before answering this question. For an unknown card you may answer
'y' if the card claims to be SB compatible.
Don't enable SB if you have a MAD16 or Mozart compatible card.
"Generic OPL2/OPL3 FM synthesizer support",
- Answer 'y' if your card has a FM chip made by Yamaha (OPL2/OPL3/OPL4).
Answering 'y' is usually a safe and recommended choice. However some
cards may have software (TSR) FM emulation. Enabling FM support
with these cards may cause trouble. However I don't currently know
such cards.
"Gravis Ultrasound support",
- Answer 'y' if you have GUS or GUS MAX. Answer 'n' if you don't
have GUS since the GUS driver consumes much memory.
Currently I don't have experiences with the GUS ACE so I don't
know what to answer with it.
"MPU-401 support (NOT for SB16)",
- Be careful with this question. The MPU401 interface is supported
by almost any soundcard today. However some natively supported cards
have their own driver for MPU401. Enabling the MPU401 option with
these cards wil cause a conflict. Also enabling MPU401 on a system
that doesn't really have a MPU401 could cause some trouble. If your
card was in the list of supported cards (above), please look at
the card specific instructions later in this file.
It's safe to answer 'y' if you have a true MPU401 MIDI interface
card.
"6850 UART Midi support",
- It's safe to answer 'n' to this question in all cases. The 6850
UART interface is so rarely used.
"PSS (ECHO-ADI2111) support",
- Answer 'y' only if you have Orchid SW32, Cardinal DSP16 or some
other card based on the PSS chipset (AD1848 codec + ADSP-2115
DSP chip + Echo ESC614 ASIC CHIP).
"16 bit sampling option of GUS (_NOT_ GUS MAX)",
- Answer 'y' if you have installed the 16 bit sampling daughtercard
to your GUS. Answer 'n' if you have GUS MAX. Enabling this option
disables GUS MAX support.
"GUS MAX support",
- Answer 'y' only if you have a GUS MAX.
"Microsoft Sound System support",
- Again think carefully before answering 'y' to this question. It's
safe to answer 'y' in case you have the original Windows Sound
System card made by Microsoft or Aztech SG 16 Pro (or NX16 Pro).
Also you may answer 'y' in case your card was not listed earlier
in this file. For cards having native support in VoxWare, consult
the card specific instructions later in this file. Some drivers
have their own MSS support and enabling this option wil cause a
conflict.
"Ensoniq Soundscape support",
- Answer 'y' if you have a soundcard based on the Ensoniq SoundScape
chipset. Suach cards are being manufactured at least by Ensoniq,
Spea and Reveal (note that Reveal makes other cards also).
"MediaTriX AudioTriX Pro support",
- Answer 'y' if you have the AudioTriX Pro.
"Support for MAD16 and/or Mozart based cards",
- Answer y if your card has a Mozart (OAK OTI-601) or MAD16
(OPTi 82C928 or 82C929) audio interface chip. These chips are
currently quite common so it's possible that many no-name cards
have one of them. In addition the MAD16 chip is used in some
cards made by known manufacturers such as Turtle Beach (Tropez),
Reveal (some models) and Diamond (latest ones).
"SoundBlaster Pro support",
- Enable this option if your card is SB Pro or SB16. Enable it
also with any SB Pro clones. Answering 'n' saves some amount of
memory but 'y' is the safe alterative.
"SoundBlaster 16 support",
- Enable if you have a SB16 (including the AWE32).
"Audio Excel DSP 16 initialization support",
- Don't know much about this card. Look at aedsp16.c for more info.
Then the configuration program asks some y/n questions about the higher
level services. It's recommended to answer 'y' to each of these questions.
Answer 'n' only if you know you will not need the option.
"/dev/dsp and /dev/audio supports (usually required)",
- Answering 'n' disables /dev/dsp and /dev/audio. Answer 'y'.
"MIDI interface support",
- Answering 'n' disables /dev/midi## devices and access to any
MIDI ports using /dev/sequencer and /dev/music. This option
also affects any MPU401 and/or General MIDI compatible devices.
"FM synthesizer (YM3812/OPL-3) support",
- Answer 'y' here.
"/dev/sequencer support",
- Answering 'n' disables /dev/sequencer and /dev/music.
Entering the I/O, IRQ and DMA config parameters
-----------------------------------------------
After the above questions the configuration program prompts for the
card specific configuration information. Usually just a set of
I/O address, IRQ and DMA numbers are asked. With some cards the program
asks for some files to be used during initialization of the card. For example
many cards have a DSP chip or microprocessor which must be initialized by
downloading a program (microcode) file to the card. In some cases this file
is written to a .h file by the config program and then included to the driver
during compile.
Instructions for answering these questions are given in the next section.
Card specific information
=========================
This section gives additional instructions about configuring some cards.
Please refer manual of your card for valid I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers. Using
the same settings with DOS/Windows and VoxWare is recommended. Using
different values could cause some problems when switching between
different operating systems.
SoundBlasters (the original ones by Creative)
---------------------------------------------
It's possible to configure these cards to use different I/O, IRQ and
DMA settings. Since the available settings have changed between various
models, you have to consult manual of your card for the proper ones. It's
a good idea to use the same values than with DOS/Windows. With SB and SB Pro
it's the only choice. SB16 has software selectable IRQ and DMA channels but
using different values with DOS and Linux is likely to cause troubles. The
DOS driver is not able to reset the card properly after warm boot from Linux
if Linux has used different IRQ or DMA values.
The original (steam) Sound Blaster (versions 1.x and 2.x) use always
DMA1. There is no way to change it.
The SB16 needs two DMA channels. A 8 bit one (1 or 3) is required for
8 bit operation and a 16 bit one (5, 6 or 7) for the 16 bit mode. In theory
it's possible to use just one (8 bit) DMA channel by answering the 8 bit
one when the configuration program asks for the 16 bit one. This may work
in some systems but is likely to cause terrible noise on some other systems.
NOTE! Don't enable the SM Games option (asked by the configuration program)
if you are not 101% sure that your card is a Logitech Soundman Games
(not a SM Wave or SM16).
SB Clones
---------
First of all: There are no SB16 clones. There are SB Pro clones with a
16 bit mode which is not SB16 compatible. The most likely alternative is that
the 16 bit mode means MSS/WSS.
There are just few fully 100% hardware SB or SB Pro compatible cards.
I know just Thunderboard and SM Games. Other cards require some kind of
hardware initialization before they become SB compatible. Check if your card
was listed in the beginning of this file. In this case you should follow
instructions for your card later in this file.
For other not fully SB clones yoy may try initialization using DOS in
the following way:
- Boot DOS so that the card specific driver gets run.
- Hit ctrl-alt-del (or use loadlin) to boot Linux. Don't
switch off power or press the reset button.
- If you use the same I/O, IRQ and DMA settings in Linux, the
card should work.
If your card is both SB and MSS compatible, I recommend using the MSS mode.
Most cards of this kind are not able to work in the SB and the MSS mode
simultaneously. Using the MSS mode provides 16 bit recording and playback.
ProAudioSpectrum 16 and compatibles
-----------------------------------
There are nothing special with these cards. Just don't enable any
other cards in case you don't have them also. The PAS16 has
a SB mode so the driver config program will prompt for the SB settings
do. Use I/O 0x220 and DMA1 for the SB mode. Ensure that you assign different
IRQ numbers for the SB and PAS16 modes.
With PAS16 you can use two audio device files at the same time. /dev/dsp (and
/dev/audio) is connected to the 8/16 bit native codec and the /dev/dsp1 (and
/dev/audio1) is connected to the SB emulation (8 bit mono only).
Gravis Ultrasound
-----------------
There are many different revisions of the Ultrasound card (GUS). The
earliest ones (pre 3.7) don't have a hardware mixer. With these cards
the driver uses a software emulation for synth and pcm playbacks. It's
also possible to switch some of the inputs (line in, mic) off by setting
mixer volume of the channel level below 10%. For recording you have
to select the channel as a recording source and to use volume above 10%.
GUS 3.7 has a hardware mixer.
GUS MAX and the 16 bit sampling daughtercard have a CS4231 codec chip which
also contains a mixer.
Configuring GUS is simple. Just enable the GUS support and GUS MAX or
the 16 bit daughtercard if you have them. Note that enabling the daughter
card disables GUS MAX driver.
With just the standard GUS enabled the configuration program prompts
for the I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers for the card. Use the same values than
with DOS.
With the daughter card option enabled you will be prompted for the I/O,
IRQ and DMA numbers for the daughter card. You have to use different I/O
and DMA values than for the standard GUS. The daughter card permits
simultaneous recording and playback. Use /dev/dsp (the daughtercard) for
recording and /dev/dsp1 (GUS GF1) for playback.
GUS MAX uses the same I/O address and IRQ settings than the original GUS
(GUS MAX = GUS + a CS4231 codec). In addition an extra DMA channel may be used.
Using two DMA channels permits simultaneous playback using two devices
(dev/dsp0 and /dev/dsp1). The second DMA channel is required for
full duplex audio.
To enable the second DMA channels, give a valid DMA channel when the config
program asks for the GUS MAX DMA (entering -1 disables the second DMA).
Using 16 bit DMA channels (5,6 or 7) is recommended.
If you have problems in recording with GUS MAX, you could try to use
just one 8 bit DMA channel. Recording will not work with one DMA
channel if it's a 16 bit one.
MPU401 and Windows Sound System
-------------------------------
Again. Don't enable these options in case your card is listed
somewhere else in this file.
Configuring these cards is obvious (or it should be). With MSS
you should propably enable the OPL3 synth also since
most MSS compatible cards have it. However check that this is true
before enabling OPL3.
VoxWare supports more than one MPU401 compatible cards at the same time
but the config program asks config info for just the first of them.
Adding the second or third MPU interfaces must be done manually by
editing sound/local.h (after running the config program). Add defines for
MPU2_BASE & MPU2_IRQ (and MPU3_BASE & MPU3_IRQ) to the file.
CAUTION!
The default I/O base of Adaptec AHA-1542 SCSI controller is 0x330 which
is also the default of the MPU401 driver. Don't configure the sound driver to
use 0x330 as the MPU401 base if you have a AHA1542. The kernel will not boot
if you make this mistake.
PSS
---
Even the PSS cards are compatible with SB, MSS and MPU401, you must not
enable these options when configuring the driver. The configuration
program handles these options itself. (You may use the SB, MPU and MSS options
together with PSS if you have another card on the system).
The PSS driver enables MSS and MPU401 modes of the card. SB is not enabled
since it doesn't work concurrently with MSS. The driver loads also a
DSP algorithm which is used to for the general MIDI emulation. The
algorithm file (.ld) is read by the config program and written to a
file included when the pss.c is compiled. For this reason the config
program asks if you want to download the file. Use the genmidi.ld file
distributed with the DOS/Windows drivers of the card (don't use the mt32.ld).
With some cards the file is called 'synth.ld'. You must have access to
the file when configuring the driver. The easiest way is to mount the DOS
partition containing the file with Linux.
It's possible to load your own DSP algorithms and run them with the card.
Look at the directory sound/pss_test for more info (in the VoxWare-3.0.tar.gz)
package.
AudioTriX Pro
-------------
You have to enable the OPL3 and SB (not SB Pro or SB16) drivers in addition
to the native AudioTriX driver. Don't enable MSS or MPU drivers.
Configuring ATP is little bit tricky since it uses so many I/O, IRQ and
DMA numbers. Using the same values than with DOS/Win is a good idea. Don't
attemp to use the same IRQ or DMA channels twice.
The SB mode of ATP is implemented so the the ATP driver just enables SB
in the proper address. The SB driver handles the rest. Yoy have to configure
both the SB driver and the SB mode of ATP to use the same IRQ, DMA and I/O
settings.
Also the ATP has a microcontroller for the General MIDI emulation (OPL4).
For this reason the driver asks for the name of a file containing the
microcode (TRXPRO.HEX). This file is usually located in the directory
where the DOS drivers were installed. You must have access to this file
when configuring the driver.
If you have the effects daughtercard, it must be initialized by running
the setfx program of snd-util-3.0.tar.gz package. This step is not required
when using the (future) binary distribution version of the driver.
Ensoniq SoundScape
------------------
The SoundScape driver handles initialization of MSS and MPU supports
itself so you don't need to enable other drivers than SoundScape
(enable also the /dev/dsp, /dev/sequencer and MIDI supports).
SoundScape driver uses the MSS compatible codec of the card. It's important
to note that /dev/dsp0 (/dev/dsp is linked to /dev/dsp0 by default)
doesn't work with SoundScape (yet). The 'ssinit' program needs /dev/dsp0 so
that's the reason why it's there. It's possible that 'primary' pcm channel
becomes supported later. Currently the card's firmware doesn't contain
support for it.
With 3.0 of VoxWare you have to change your system to use /dev/dsp1 by default
so execute: cd /dev;rm dsp;ln -s dsp1 dsp after you have installed VoxWare
3.0 (first time).
The configuration program asks two DMA channels and two interrupts. One IRQ
and one DMA is used by the MSS codec. The second IRQ is required for the
MPU401 mode (you have to use different IRQs for both purposes).
The second DMA channel is required for initialization of the microcontroller.
You have to use separate DMA channels.
The SoundScape card has a Motorola microcontroller which must initialized
_after_ boot (the driver doesn't initialize it during boot).
The initialization is done by running the 'ssinit' program which is
distributed in the snd-util-3.0.tar.gz package. You have to edit two
defines in the ssinit.c and then compile the program. You may run ssinit
manually (after each boot) or add it to /etc/rc.d/rc.local.
The ssinit program needs the microcode file that comes with the DOS/Windows
driver of the card. You will need to use version 1.30.00 or later
of the microcode file (sndscape.co0 or sndscape.co1 depending on
your card model). THE OLD sndscape.cod WILL NOT WORK. IT WILL HANG YOUR
MACHINE. The only way to get the new microcode file is to download
and install the DOS/Windows driver from ftp://ftp.ensoniq.com/pub.
Then you have to select the proper microcode file to use: soundscape.co0
is the right one for most cards and sndscape.co1 is for few (older) cards
made by Reveal and/or Spea. The driver has capability to detect the card
version during boot. Look at the boot log messages in /var/adm/messages
and locate the sound driver initialization message for the SoundScape
card. If the driver displays string <Ensoniq Soundscape (old)>, you have
an old card and you will need to use sndscape.co1. For other cards use
soundscape.co0.
Check /var/adm/messages after running ssinit. The driver prints
the board version after downloading the microcode file. That version
number must match the number in the name of the microcode file (extension).
Running ssinit with a wrong version of the sndscape.co? file is not
dangerous as long as you don't try to use a file called sndscape.cod.
If you have initialized the card using a wrong microcode file (sounds
are terrible), just modify ssinit.c to use another microcode file and try
again. It's possible to use an earlier version of sndscape.co[01] but it
may sound wierd.
Btw, The driver may complain something about "sscapeintr()" after
running ssinit. You should just ignore these messages.
MAD16 (Pro) and Mozart
----------------------
You need to enable just the MAD16 /Mozart support when configuring
the driver. _Don't_ enable SB, MPU401 or MSS. However you will need the
/dev/audio, /dev/sequencer and MIDI supports.
Mozart and OPTi 82C928 (the original MAD16) chips don't support
MPU401 mode so enter just 0 when the configuration program asks the
MPU/MIDI I/O base. The MAD16 Pro (OPTi 82C929) has MPU401 mode.
TB Tropez is based on the 82C929 chip. It has two MIDI ports.
The one connected to the MAD16 chip is the second one (there is a second
MIDI connector/pins somewhere??). If you have not connected the second MIDI
port, just disable the MIDI port of MAD16. The 'Maui' compatible synth of
Tropez is jumper configurable and not connected to the MAD16 chip.
It can be used by enabling the stand alone MPU401 support but you have
to initialize it by using the MS-DOS SNDSETUP program.
There are some other OPTi chips which may be used in soundcards such as
82C930 and MAC32. These chips are not supported by VoxWare yet. Please
contact me if you have a soundcard which uses these chips.
Some MAD16 based cards may cause feedback, whistle or terrible noise if the
line3 mixer channel is turned too high.
If you have a MAD16 card which have an OPL4 (FM + Wave table) synthesizer
chip (_not_ an OPL3), you have to apped line containing #define MAD16_OPL4
to the file linux/dirvers/sound/local.h (after running make config).
MV Jazz (ProSonic)
------------------
The Jazz16 driver is just a hack made to the SB Pro driver. However it works
fairly well. You have to enable SB, SB Pro (_not_ SB16) and MPU401 supports
when configuring the driver. The configuration program asks later if you
want support for MV Jazz16 based cards (after asking SB base address). Answer
'y' here and the driver asks the second (16 bit) DMA channel.
The Jazz16 driver uses the MPU401 driver in a way which will cause
problems if you have another MPU401 compatible card. In this case you must
give address of the Jazz16 based MPU401 interface when the config
program prompts for the MPU401 information. Then look at the MPU401
spesific section for instructions about configuring more than one MPU401 cards.
Logitech Soundman Wave
----------------------
Read the above MV Jazz spesific instructions first.
The Logitech SoundMan Wave (don't confuse with the SM16 or SM Games) is
a MV Jazz based card which has an additional OPL4 based wave table
synthesizer. The OPL4 chip is handled by an on board microcontroller
which must be initialized during boot. The config program asks if
you have a SM Wave immediately after asking the second DMA channel of jazz16.
If you answer 'y', the config program will ask name of the file containing
code to be loaded to the microcontroller. The file is usually called
MIDI0001.BIN and it's located in the DOS/Windows driver directory. The file
may also be called as TSUNAMI.BIN or something else (older cards?).
The OPL4 synth will be inaccessible without loading the microcontroller code.
Also remember to enable MPU401 support if you want to use the OPL4 mode.
NOTE! Don't answer 'y' when the driver asks about SM Games support
(the next question after the MIDI0001.BIN name). However
aneswering 'y' is not dangerous.
Sound Galaxies
--------------
There are many different Sound Galaxy cards made by Aztech. The 8 bit
ones are fully SB or SB Pro compatible and there should be no problems
with them.
The older 16 bit cards (SG Pro16, SG NX Pro16, Nova and Lyra) have
an EEPROM chip for storing the configuration data. There is a microcontroller
which initializes the card to match the EEPROM settigs when the machine
is powered on. These cards actually behave just like they have jumpers
for all of the settings. Configure VoxWare for MSS, MPU, SB/SB Pro and OPL3
supports with these cards.
The config program asks if you want support for the mixer of
SG NX Pro. Answer 'y' to these questions if you have one of the above 8 or
16 bit Aztech cards.
There are some new Sound Galaxies in the market. I have no experience with
them so read the card's manual carefully.
Reveal cards
------------
There are several different cards made/marketed by Reveal. Some of them
are compatible with SoundScape and some use the MAD16 chip. You may have
to look at the card and try to identify origin of the card.
Diamond
-------
The oldest (Sierra Aria based) soundcards made by Diamond are not supported
(they may work if the card is initialized using DOS). The recent (LX?)
models are based on the MAD16 chip which is supported by VoxWare.
Audio Excel DSP16
-----------------
See comments in aedsp16.c.
PCMCIA cards
------------
Sorry, can't help. Some cards may work and some don't.
TI TM4000M notebooks
--------------------
These computers have a built in sound support based on the Jazz chipset.
Look at the instructions for MV Jazz (above). It's also important to note
that there is something wrong with the mouse port and sound at least on
some TM models. Don't enable the "C&T 82C710 mouse port support" when
configuring Linux. Having it enabled is likely to cause mysterious problems
and kernel failures when sound is used.
Others?
-------
Since there are so many different soundcards, it's likely that I have
forgotten to mention many of them. Please inform me if you know yet another
card which works with Linux, please inform me (or is anybody else
willing to maintain a database of supported cards (just like in XF86)?).
Cards not supported yet
=======================
First of all. There is an easy way to make most soundcards to work
with Linux. Just use the DOS based driver to initialize the card
to a _known_ state. Then ctrl-alt-del to Linux. If Linux is configured
to use the sama I/O, IRQ and DMA numbers than DOS, the card could work.
Don't get fooled with SB compatibility. Most cards are compatible with
SB but that may require a TSR which is not possible with Linux. If
the card is compatible with MSS, it's a better choise. Some cards
don't work in the SB and MSS modes at the same time.
There are some cards which will be supported by VoxWare sooner or later
(currently at least cards based on the ESS chipset). Such cards are
so common that there is some idea in writing the driver. Check the
VoxWare home page (http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/voxware) for latest
information.
Then there are cards which are no longer manufactured and/or which
are relatively rarely used (such as the 8 bit ProAudioSpectrum
models). It's extremely unlikely that such cards never get supported.
Adding support for a new card requires much work and increases time
required in maintaining the driver (some changes need to be done
to all low level drivers and be tested too, maybe with multiple
operating systems). For this reason I have made a desicion to not support
obsolete cards. It's possible that someone else makes a separately
distributed driver (diffs) for the card. Version v4.0 will be much more
modular so making separately distributed drivers will be easier with it.
(The bad news is that v4.0 will not be available before late -96).
Writing a driver for a new card is not possible if there are no
programming information available about the card. If you don't
find your new card from this file, look from the home page
(http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/voxware). Then please contact
manufacturer of the card and ask if they have (or are willing to)
released technical details of the card. Do this before contacting me. I
can only answer 'no' if there are no programming information available.
Some companies don't give low level technical information about their
products to public or at least their require signing a NDA.
I have also made decicion to not accept code based on reverse engineering
to VoxWare. There are three main reasons: First I don't want to break
relationships to sound card manufacturers. The second reason is that
maintaining and supporting a driver withoun any specs will be a pain. The
third reason is that why shoud we help such companies in selling their
products to Linux users when they don't want to sell to Linux users
at all?
Unfortunately many of the leading soundcard manufacturers are not willing
to co-operate with Linux/Unix community. For example: Creative Technology
doesn't give information about the ASP chip and the Emu synth chip of AWE32
and SB32. Turtle Beach don't give information about any of their
products. MediaVision requires NDA before they are willing to
give information about the Jazz16 chip (fortunately Logitech gave
the info about SM Wave).
So at least the above three companies are out until they are willing to
release documentation about their products (the situation is the
same with many DOS based freeware/shareware games and utilities). If
you want to use Linux/Unix with their cards, please don't try to push
me. It's a better idea to contact the manufacturer and explain that
you want to use your card with Linux/Unix. You could also try to sell
your card to somebody else and then buy a card that is supported by VoxWare.
However it's possible that things change and a driver gets written
for some of the banned cards. Please, don't send me messages asking if
there is any plans to write a driver for the cards mentioned above. I
will put any news to the VoxWare www home page (see below).
There are some common audio chipsets that are supported yet. For example
the ESS chips and Sierra Aria. It's likely that these architectures
get some support in future but I can't make any promises. Just look
at the home page for latest info.
Information about unsupported soundcards and chipsets is welcome as well
as free copies of soundcards, SDKs and operating systems.
If you have any corrections and/or comments, please contact me.
Hannu Savolainen
hannu@voxware.pp.fi
VoxWare www home page: http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/voxware
