linux and soundcards

linux and soundcards

[Alex Snow]

Hi All,

I'm trying to build alsa.  I built the drivers with isapnp support.  When I
try to load the module for my sb16 I get an error that no such device
/lib/modules/2.4.18/misc/snd-sb16.o or something.
My question is is a soundblaster 16 isa supported by linux?
--
A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
yours!"

Re: linux and soundcards

[Gregory Nowak]

I found that I couldn't get my sb16 to work with alsa as modules. My solution was to build the kernel driver into the kernel, and I haven't looked back since.

Greg


On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 04:51:47PM -0500, Alex Snow wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I'm trying to build alsa.  I built the drivers with isapnp support.  When I
> try to load the module for my sb16 I get an error that no such device
> /lib/modules/2.4.18/misc/snd-sb16.o or something.
> My question is is a soundblaster 16 isa supported by linux?
> --
> A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
> yours!"
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: linux and soundcards

[Alex Snow]

Ok I may try that.  I have heard that the kernel driver is not as good as
alsa, especially when getting speakfreely to work.  Is this true?
--
A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
yours!"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregory Nowak" <greg@romuald.net.eu.org>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2003 6:03 PM
Subject: Re: linux and soundcards


> I found that I couldn't get my sb16 to work with alsa as modules. My
solution was to build the kernel driver into the kernel, and I haven't
looked back since.
>
> Greg
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 04:51:47PM -0500, Alex Snow wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I'm trying to build alsa.  I built the drivers with isapnp support.
When I
> > try to load the module for my sb16 I get an error that no such device
> > /lib/modules/2.4.18/misc/snd-sb16.o or something.
> > My question is is a soundblaster 16 isa supported by linux?
> > --
> > A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
> > yours!"
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: linux and soundcards

[Gregory Nowak]

Yes. If you plan to use sound heavily, the kernel drivers are not the way to go. However, the machine that I have my sb16 card in is not used very much.
I especially don't do a lot on it with sound, just because I use my newer boxes for that.

Greg


On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 06:38:34PM -0500, Alex Snow wrote:
> Ok I may try that.  I have heard that the kernel driver is not as good as
> alsa, especially when getting speakfreely to work.  Is this true?
> --
> A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
> yours!"

Re: linux and soundcards

[Adam Myrow]

It's true that the kernel driver doesn't support full duplex which
translates to a lot of trouble with Speak Freely.  I've had good luck with
the older Alsa 0.5.12A with my SB AWE64.  This is basically an SB16 with
enhanced MIDI capabilities.  I had no end of trouble with the newer
releases and the developer who I finally got in touch with claimed that
there was a hardware bug in the SB16 cards.  If that were the case, no
driver would work with them.  So, if you are going to use Alsa on an old
card, stick with the old version.  That's my advice.

Re: linux and soundcards

[Alex Snow]

Ok I'll grab that version and see if I can get it to work.
--
A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
yours!"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Myrow" <amyrow@midsouth.rr.com>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2003 6:58 PM
Subject: Re: linux and soundcards


> It's true that the kernel driver doesn't support full duplex which
> translates to a lot of trouble with Speak Freely.  I've had good luck with
> the older Alsa 0.5.12A with my SB AWE64.  This is basically an SB16 with
> enhanced MIDI capabilities.  I had no end of trouble with the newer
> releases and the developer who I finally got in touch with claimed that
> there was a hardware bug in the SB16 cards.  If that were the case, no
> driver would work with them.  So, if you are going to use Alsa on an old
> card, stick with the old version.  That's my advice.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: linux and soundcards

[Kerry Hoath]

On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 05:58:22PM -0600, Adam Myrow wrote:
> releases and the developer who I finally got in touch with claimed that
> there was a hardware bug in the SB16 cards.  If that were the case, no
> driver would work with them.  So, if you are going to use Alsa on an old
There are indeed bugs in the sound blaster cards; bugs that drivers work around.
Also; sound blaster cards also need dma bounce buffers below the 16-meg limit that don't cross a
64k boundary for 8-bit and 128k boundary for 16-bit dma.
Certain revisions of the sb dsp chips had various quirks. you'd be horrified to
see the filthy hacks that allow them to work under Windows.
I believe there are coding problems in the later alsa drivers. It is a sad
reality that the ISA slot may soon be a thing of the past.
the latency problems; the bandwidth limitations and the legacy interfaces
have basically discouraged most programmers from keeping the evil code up to 
date with modern pci cards that just work so much better.
I won't be surprised if the next version of windows drops support for isa sound blaster cards
or in fact most isa cards except for the
fact that creative would have a rather large complain.
Frankly there are newer and better cards to write drivers for; and I
have about 5 sb cards here with 3 eeing awe32 cards
with 8megs on them.
Certain via boards also have bugs in the ISA dma logic that sound cards use which
don't occurr ont he pci bus.
I also have gravis cards so in my isa only machines I tend to
install gravis because they have better wavetable,
are quieter rf wise when sampling and have better
aliasing filters.
One of the better cards was the pas16 but there is no alsa driver for it
and if the oss drivers go from the kernel the cards will be unusable.
I also have a Turble beach Tropez with 12megs on it; and a pile of other
isa cards. They all gather dust because
I either don't have isa slots to put them in;
or the pci sound works better on the boards even
if it is sometimes onboard.
Even my pentium 100 machines have pci sound in them since the slots
are shared isa/pci for 2 of the 3 slots and it makes sense to run
pci sound and isa network (these machines don't require 100megabit so I run 
3c509 Etherlink III cards in them).

Regards, Kerry.

-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au

Re: linux and soundcards

[Glenn Ervin]

I think "Tiger Direct" still have some motherboards with I S A slots.
I still like my internal speech card, which is I S A.
I plan to get the best motherboard with an I S A slot, which may have an
inferior bus speed to the best motherboard available.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kerry Hoath" <kerry@gotss.net>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Cc: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2003 11:55 PM
Subject: Re: linux and soundcards


On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 05:58:22PM -0600, Adam Myrow wrote:
> releases and the developer who I finally got in touch with claimed that
> there was a hardware bug in the SB16 cards.  If that were the case, no
> driver would work with them.  So, if you are going to use Alsa on an old
There are indeed bugs in the sound blaster cards; bugs that drivers work
around.
Also; sound blaster cards also need dma bounce buffers below the 16-meg
limit that don't cross a
64k boundary for 8-bit and 128k boundary for 16-bit dma.
Certain revisions of the sb dsp chips had various quirks. you'd be horrified
to
see the filthy hacks that allow them to work under Windows.
I believe there are coding problems in the later alsa drivers. It is a sad
reality that the ISA slot may soon be a thing of the past.
the latency problems; the bandwidth limitations and the legacy interfaces
have basically discouraged most programmers from keeping the evil code up to
date with modern pci cards that just work so much better.
I won't be surprised if the next version of windows drops support for isa
sound blaster cards
or in fact most isa cards except for the
fact that creative would have a rather large complain.
Frankly there are newer and better cards to write drivers for; and I
have about 5 sb cards here with 3 eeing awe32 cards
with 8megs on them.
Certain via boards also have bugs in the ISA dma logic that sound cards use
which
don't occurr ont he pci bus.
I also have gravis cards so in my isa only machines I tend to
install gravis because they have better wavetable,
are quieter rf wise when sampling and have better
aliasing filters.
One of the better cards was the pas16 but there is no alsa driver for it
and if the oss drivers go from the kernel the cards will be unusable.
I also have a Turble beach Tropez with 12megs on it; and a pile of other
isa cards. They all gather dust because
I either don't have isa slots to put them in;
or the pci sound works better on the boards even
if it is sometimes onboard.
Even my pentium 100 machines have pci sound in them since the slots
are shared isa/pci for 2 of the 3 slots and it makes sense to run
pci sound and isa network (these machines don't require 100megabit so I run
3c509 Etherlink III cards in them).

Regards, Kerry.

--
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or
kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au


_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: linux and soundcards

[Kerry Hoath]

It is indeed true. Getting full duplex speak freely working
can be problematic.
I have managed to get plug 'n' play cards to work under alsa;
but regardless they need to be activated first.
Kernel drivers are simler so try them first and if they work migrate to alsa.
Many use isapnp to activate the card then load the module.
Kernel 2.4.x also has plug 'n' play support although I have never tried it.
alsa has its own pnp activate code; but you must tell it
what resources it can't use; see the docs.

Regards, Kerry.
On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 06:38:34PM -0500, Alex Snow wrote:
> Ok I may try that.  I have heard that the kernel driver is not as good as
> alsa, especially when getting speakfreely to work.  Is this true?
> --
> A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
> yours!"
-- 
Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or  kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au

Re: linux and soundcards

[Alex Snow]

Hi.

How do I install the kernel sound drivers?
--
A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
yours!"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kerry Hoath" <kerry@gotss.net>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2003 12:36 AM
Subject: Re: linux and soundcards


> It is indeed true. Getting full duplex speak freely working
> can be problematic.
> I have managed to get plug 'n' play cards to work under alsa;
> but regardless they need to be activated first.
> Kernel drivers are simler so try them first and if they work migrate to
alsa.
> Many use isapnp to activate the card then load the module.
> Kernel 2.4.x also has plug 'n' play support although I have never tried
it.
> alsa has its own pnp activate code; but you must tell it
> what resources it can't use; see the docs.
>
> Regards, Kerry.
> On Sat, Jan 18, 2003 at 06:38:34PM -0500, Alex Snow wrote:
> > Ok I may try that.  I have heard that the kernel driver is not as good
as
> > alsa, especially when getting speakfreely to work.  Is this true?
> > --
> > A message from the system administrator: "I've upped my priority, now up
> > yours!"
> --
> Kerry Hoath:  kerry@gotss.net kerry@gotss.eu.org or
kerry@gotss.spice.net.au
> ICQ: 8226547 msn: kerry@gotss.net Yahoo: kerryhoath@yahoo.com.au
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>