Okay here goes:

1. I installed SuSe 8.0 on my box as a dual boot with Win98. My sound card is a Philips Acoustic Edge. It is not supported by Linux-- but I do have integrated audio, AC97(Via8233). So I enabled it in BIOS, and just disabled it in Windows.

2. The AC97 installed correctly, but I was having issues all week with using XMMS as an mp3 player. MP3s mounted on a Windows partition were able to be played by a "Sidebar player" at /root and /user. But XMMS would only play in /root and /user sporadically. Also my file permissions weren't exactly how I wanted them setup. So, after a week of futzing around, I just reinstalled it.

3. I deleted the Linux partition, reformatted the partition and re-installed Linux. Things are great, my file permissions work now, my Konsole does not give errors looking for sound modules... Upon boot-up Linux knows the Via8233 is there.

4. When I try to configure the sound card with the YaST2 configurator, it says the card is there and gives me three choices of installation, quick, normal and advanced. I have tried the first two-- each time I try to configure the card, YaST2 can play a test sound- this is great, and then it asks me to click finish to finish configuring.. I do, and...

5. The computer hangs. Just sits there. In my first installation, last week, the card worked but some programs did not, now, the card will work- but it hangs trying to complete installation.

What's up? Do you know? Can anyone help?

I'd prefer not having to buy a sound card to used by Linux (and Windows), because I like my Philips card in Windows--I wish it was supported in Linux; and my integrated sound is supported by Linux. I mean would not mind buying an Audigy (if they are supported by Linux)- but I don't need one.

Please help.
A

Just to make certain, are you certain the Phillips card is not supported under linux? Check the output of lspci and run the information on the phillips card through www.google.com/linuc to make certain. I don't trust anything the boxes have to say.

Second, as for the AC97 codec card, Yast2 is a cool toy. I used it to configure my printer once because I was lazy. Everything else I've put it to doing has tanked. Go figure, Germans, great cars, good distro, kwerky configurator. I'll wait for Yast5. If the modules are loaded, sound should be ready to go, ignore the yasties.

SuSe probably handed you alsa modules, so just check under the sound mixer as the "muted by default" snags most people. Or... slap a few mp3s on the machine, ignore the GUI, and ctrl+F2+Alt to the command line and try mgp123 so at least sound problems can be blamed on KDE (or Gnome, but I guess KDE with SuSe).

Cheers,

Finegan

Thanks finegan-

Yah, Philips does not plan on supporting Linux and the ALSA program can't because Philips will not release the internal papers about it.

The YaST2 configurator hangs... When I try to finish the installation. I have not tried to see if files play before that. Because when Linux boots up it tells that the modules have bene loaded.

But I do not know how manually configure a sound card (or practically anything) in Linux yet.

hand configuring sound is usually no big deal... depending. Try to get through the install without letting Yast2 hang. Easy enough if you just cancel past whatever is making it go kazoo.

If this thing does analog sound in any way there is a good deal of hope.

"lspci" will give you the chipset of the card. Feed that into www.google.com/linux and it should mention whatever exists on the card in the way of support.

Just because Phillips has kept a closed book doesn't necessarily mean there's no support on the card. Remember the Mac and Sparc ports of Linux occured entirely without any help from Apple or Sun.

Luck,

Finegan

How exactly would you hand configure sound?

And about the Philips card-- no I've Googled it before-- no dice.

Symptom

An SMP kernel -- a kernel with multiprocessor support (SMP means Symmetric Multiprocessor) -- has been installed during installation although you are using a single processor motherboard. This is confirmed by the output of uname -a, which shows the kernel 2.4.18-64GB-SMP. You have a Pentium 4 processor.

Cause

New Pentium 4 processors are equipped with "Hyper-Threading Technology". This technology can be detected in Linux by examining the output of cat /proc/cpuinfo. A technical explanation of ths subject is available at http://developer.intel.com/technology/hyperthread. As it says, "two programs or threads can execute simultaneously. Thus one physical processor looks like two logical processors to the OS and applications."

Solution

If the computer BIOS supports SMP (or an analogous option is activated in BIOS), the machine can be used as an SMP system
in Linux. When the SMP kernel is installed, it will seem as if two processors are available and /proc/cpuinfo will show two CPUs. In this case, everything is (more than) fine. CPU power will be better exploited thanks to the installed SMP kernel.

If your BIOS does NOT support SMP (which can be noticed through a single CPU entry in /proc/cpuinfo in spite of an available ht processor flag), you can use the SuSE standard kernel for single-processor systems instead of the installed SMP kernel. Proceed as follows for the installation:

Start YaST2 and change to the dialog Software -> Install/Remove software. Now you can uninstall the package k_smp, group System/Kernel, and select the package k_dflt for installation. The boot configuration will be automatically updated and the new kernel will be used after the system is rebooted.


Let me know if it works

Interesting, but I have an Athlon 1.4GHz Thunderbird.

Could this be afftecting it in the same way...?

give it a try...couldn't hurt

This is true.

I also have that sound card (phillips) and I'm trying the same thing. Here is what my lspci comes up with. Almost everything is unknow. Is that a problem? Here is the lspci information, would I search google/linux with this VLSI Technology Inc: Unknown devi
ce 0307 (rev 06)

Frankly,

What I did eventually, was just buy a Soundblaster Audigy.

<sniff!>

No problems now. Just an extra Phillips card.