Sound Card Drivers

narose · 08-20-2004, 12:38 PM

My sound card, Sound Blaster 16 I believe, isn't Linux supported. Where can I find a generic sound card driver for Linux?

Thanx!

foo_bar_foo · 08-20-2004, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by narose
My sound card, Sound Blaster 16 I believe, isn't Linux supported. Where can I find a generic sound card driver for Linux?

Thanx!

(note some of this stuff is wrapped where it shold be one line)
This card has been supported with the oss sb module for -- im gona guess about 15 years
modprobe soundcore;modprobe soundlow;modprobe sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=1 dma16=5 mpu_io=0x330 pnplegacy=1
you can try it with just the sb line and leave out the pnp if it's not pnp.
/etc/modules.conf for oss sb would be at minnimum
alias char-major-14 sb
alias sound-slot-0 sb
options modprobe sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=1 dma16=5 mpu_io=0x330 pnplegacy=1
might need some more stuff can't remember
the alsa module also a part of the kernel is snd-sb16
the entire shpiel to load them might be
modprobe snd-sb16;modprobe snd-pcm-oss;modprobe snd-mixer-oss;modprobe snd-seq-oss

then unmute the apropriate channels using
alsamixer

the apropriate /etc/modules.conf (might need translating to more modern kernel ?) for snd-sb16
# ALSA portion
alias char-major-116 snd
alias snd-card-0 snd-sb16
# module options should go here
#If the card does not support isapnp, you MUST set isapnp=0 in the options, otherwise the module will not load.
options snd-sb16 index=0 id="SB-16" port=0x220 mpu_port=0x330 irq=5 dma8=1 dma16=5 isapnp=0
#If the card has default configuration, I think you can simplify this to
options snd-sb16 index=0 id="SB-16" isapnp=0

# OSS/Free portion
alias char-major-14 soundcore
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0

# card #1
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss

native devices portion
# ALSA portion
alias snd-card-0 snd-interwave
alias snd-card-1 snd-cmipci
options snd-cmipci id="first" enable_midi="1"

# OSS/Free portion
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1

for oss emulation
# OSS/Free portion - card #1
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss

# OSS/Free portion - card #2 (cmipci)
alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1
alias sound-service-1-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-1-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-1-12 snd-pcm-oss

also for more fine grained controll
~/.asoundrc

Code:

 pcm.sb16 {
           type hw
           card 0
        }

        ctl.sb16 {
           type hw
           card 0
        }

narose · 08-21-2004, 05:25 PM

Yikes! I think I'm way in over my head here. LOL I guess I should have mentioned that I'm a newbie to Linux. VERY NEWBIE! I really appreciate your taking the time to help me out. Is there any way you can explain what you mean in less technical terms? Like as in 'Linux for Dummies'?

Or 'Fedora for Dummies' since I'm using the Fedora distribution.

Thanks bunches!

darkleaf · 08-22-2004, 03:04 AM

You might want to check this page: http://alsa.opensrc.org/

narose · 08-22-2004, 02:13 PM

Thanks for the link! I got the drivers and installed them but I'm still not getting any sound. Being so new to Linux I'm sure there's something I've overlooked or didn't understand but I'm at a loss as to what.

Maybe my sound card is just too old and needs to be replaced. Any ideas?

darkleaf · 08-22-2004, 03:39 PM

Have you tried to unmute and increase the volume with alsamixer? In the command line run "alsamixer" and then use m to unmute and arrows to increase volume. I've got the following increased: master, pcm, cd, video, aux

narose · 08-22-2004, 04:50 PM

I tried to run "alsamixer" in the command line and it comes up with "command not found".

I installed the alsa-ulilities and tried to run "alsamixer" in the command line again and got this message, "alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device".

darkleaf · 08-23-2004, 03:49 AM

You have to moprobe your mdules into the kernel. The first one is
"modprobe soundcore"
The second one is a bit tricky as it's the name of the module for your audio card. So you have to find out how it's called for you. If you run the ./configure --help in the alsa-driver library you get a list of possible drivers. Then choose the one you have. Now I think the name of the module is snd-"name of your card in ./configure --help"
"modprobe snd-"name""

for example in ./configure --help my card is called via82xx so I do "modprobe snd-via82xx"

narose · 08-25-2004, 07:17 PM

I really appreciate your help with this. I'm afraid this is all Greek to me. When I try to to the modprobe it also comes up with the message, "command not found". Of course it doesn't help that I haven't a clue as to what I'm doing.

J.W. · 08-26-2004, 01:21 AM

You need to be root in order to run modprobe -- J.W.

narose · 08-26-2004, 07:14 PM

Even in root it still comes up with the message, "command not found".

J.W. · 08-26-2004, 07:17 PM

Grrrr -- try: /sbin/lspci

Sorry - this is actually a trivial thing and I'm not doing a good job explaining it. -- J.W.

narose · 08-26-2004, 07:38 PM

You're doing a great job explaining it. Thanks, J.W.!