Getting an ISA sound card to work.
 

still trying to figure out how to make my sound card work. it is an Asound ISA PNP sound card. When Slack boot into KDE I get a sound server error that says it can't find the sound device. Please Help!?!?!?!? Not a drastic emergency, but I would really like to have some sound when I get my other problems solved.

Try pnpdump and see post it says.


Cheers,
Tink

I'll do that once I get my booting problem fixed.

check if you see your card in /etc/rc.d/rc.modules
if its there uncoment the line (remove the # before your cards name), that should be it
I got a SB Awe 32 PNP working that way

ohh, if youre using slack 9.1 meke sure you use the OSS drivers, ALSA doesnt get along with this card, at least for me

I'll try that too. but I gotta get into the system first.

i had some of those asound cards awhile back, and they were fairly easy to set up.

you may need to check the chip numbers on them. that isapnpdump command should show you what it is.

isa card
 

-check to see if you can configure its settings in you bios, this comes in handy especially in older laptops if you can see the settings note them down.
-then boot into linux and try pnpdump to see if you can find it's default settings that way, this did not work for me!
-then cat /proc/ioports /proc/dma and /proc/interrupts these should give you the interrupt settings to pass to /etc/modules.conf
-edit your modules.conf my card was a soundblaster compatible:
alias sound-slot-0 sb
options sound dmabuf=1
options sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=0 dma16=3 mpu_io=0x330
(Most sb compatibles use dma 3 or 5 and 0x220 but yours may be different...)
Cheers

I never had any luck with ISA soundcards, or any ISA cards for that matter.... If I were you, I would check out OfficeMax's ads. I ended up picking up a PCI soundcard (MadDog Prowler 4.1) for free after rebates (It was $20 beforehand).

Okay, Here is what I get when I do a pnpdump.


# $Id: pnpdump_main.c,v 1.27 2001/04/30 21:54:53 fox Exp $
# Release isapnptools-1.26
#
# This is free software, see the sources for details.
# This software has NO WARRANTY, use at your OWN RISK
#
# For details of the output file format, see isapnp.conf(5)
#
# For latest information and FAQ on isapnp and pnpdump see:
# http://www.roestock.demon.co.uk/isapnptools/
#
# Compiler flags: -DREALTIME -DHAVE_PROC -DENABLE_PCI -DHAVE_SCHED_SETSCHEDULER -DHAVE_NANOSLEEP -DWANT_TO_VALIDATE
#
# Trying port address 0273
# Board 1 has serial identifier a3 ff ff ff ff 10 01 93 05

# (DEBUG)
(READPORT 0x0273)
(ISOLATE PRESERVE)
(IDENTIFY *)
(VERBOSITY 2)
(CONFLICT (IO FATAL)(IRQ FATAL)(DMA FATAL)(MEM FATAL)) # or WARNING

# Card 1: (serial identifier a3 ff ff ff ff 10 01 93 05)
# Vendor Id ALS0110, No Serial Number (-1), checksum 0xA3.
# Version 1.0, Vendor version 0.0
# ANSI string -->PnP Sound Chip<--
#
# Logical device id @@@1001
# Device supports I/O range check register
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x39
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3b
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3d
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3e
#
# Edit the entries below to uncomment out the configuration required.
# Note that only the first value of any range is given, this may be changed if required
# Don't forget to uncomment the activate (ACT Y) when happy

(CONFIGURE ALS0110/-1 (LD 0

# Multiple choice time, choose one only !

# Start dependent functions: priority preferred
# Logical device decodes 16 bit IO address lines
# Minimum IO base address 0x0220
# Maximum IO base address 0x0220
# IO base alignment 16 bytes
# Number of IO addresses required: 16
# (IO 0 (SIZE 16) (BASE 0x0220) (CHECK))
# IRQ 5.
# High true, edge sensitive interrupt (by default)
# (INT 0 (IRQ 5 (MODE +E)))
# First DMA channel 1.
# 8 bit DMA only
# Logical device is a bus master
# DMA may execute in count by byte mode
# DMA may not execute in count by word mode
# DMA channel speed type F
# (DMA 0 (CHANNEL 1))
# Next DMA channel 0 or 3.
# 8 bit DMA only
# Logical device is a bus master
# DMA may execute in count by byte mode
# DMA may not execute in count by word mode
# DMA channel speed type F
# (DMA 1 (CHANNEL 0))

# Start dependent functions: priority acceptable
# Logical device decodes 16 bit IO address lines
# Minimum IO base address 0x0220
# Maximum IO base address 0x0280
# IO base alignment 32 bytes
# Number of IO addresses required: 16
# (IO 0 (SIZE 16) (BASE 0x0220) (CHECK))
# IRQ 5, 7, 9, 10 or 11.
# High true, edge sensitive interrupt (by default)
# (INT 0 (IRQ 5 (MODE +E)))
# First DMA channel 0, 1 or 3.
# 8 bit DMA only
# Logical device is a bus master
# DMA may execute in count by byte mode
# DMA may not execute in count by word mode
# DMA channel speed type F
# (DMA 0 (CHANNEL 0))
# Next DMA channel 0, 1 or 3.
# 8 bit DMA only
# Logical device is a bus master
# DMA may execute in count by byte mode
# DMA may not execute in count by word mode
# DMA channel speed type F
# (DMA 1 (CHANNEL 0))

# Start dependent functions: priority functional
# Logical device decodes 16 bit IO address lines
# Minimum IO base address 0x0100
# Maximum IO base address 0x03f0
# IO base alignment 16 bytes
# Number of IO addresses required: 16
# (IO 0 (SIZE 16) (BASE 0x0100) (CHECK))
# IRQ 5, 7, 9, 10 or 11.
# High true, edge sensitive interrupt (by default)
# (INT 0 (IRQ 5 (MODE +E)))
# First DMA channel 0, 1 or 3.
# 8 bit DMA only
# Logical device is a bus master
# DMA may execute in count by byte mode
# DMA may not execute in count by word mode
# DMA channel speed type F
# (DMA 0 (CHANNEL 0))

# End dependent functions
(NAME "ALS0110/-1[0]{PnP Sound Chip }")
# (ACT Y)
))
#
# Logical device id @H@1001
# Device supports I/O range check register
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x39
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3b
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3d
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3e
#
# Edit the entries below to uncomment out the configuration required.
# Note that only the first value of any range is given, this may be changed if required
# Don't forget to uncomment the activate (ACT Y) when happy

(CONFIGURE ALS0110/-1 (LD 1
# Logical device decodes 16 bit IO address lines
# Minimum IO base address 0x0388
# Maximum IO base address 0x0388
# IO base alignment 8 bytes
# Number of IO addresses required: 8
# (IO 0 (SIZE 8) (BASE 0x0388) (CHECK))
(NAME "ALS0110/-1[1]{PnP Sound Chip }")
# (ACT Y)
))
#
# Logical device id @P@1001
# Device supports I/O range check register
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x38
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3b
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3d
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3e
#
# Edit the entries below to uncomment out the configuration required.
# Note that only the first value of any range is given, this may be changed if required
# Don't forget to uncomment the activate (ACT Y) when happy

(CONFIGURE ALS0110/-1 (LD 2
# Logical device decodes 16 bit IO address lines
# Minimum IO base address 0x0200
# Maximum IO base address 0x0200
# IO base alignment 8 bytes
# Number of IO addresses required: 8
# (IO 0 (SIZE 8) (BASE 0x0200) (CHECK))
(NAME "ALS0110/-1[2]{PnP Sound Chip }")
# (ACT Y)
))
#
# Logical device id @X@1001
# Device supports I/O range check register
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x38
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3b
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3d
# Device supports vendor reserved register @ 0x3e
#
# Edit the entries below to uncomment out the configuration required.
# Note that only the first value of any range is given, this may be changed if required
# Don't forget to uncomment the activate (ACT Y) when happy

(CONFIGURE ALS0110/-1 (LD 3

# Multiple choice time, choose one only !

# Start dependent functions: priority preferred
# Logical device decodes 16 bit IO address lines
# Minimum IO base address 0x0330
# Maximum IO base address 0x0330
# IO base alignment 2 bytes
# Number of IO addresses required: 2
# (IO 0 (SIZE 2) (BASE 0x0330) (CHECK))
# IRQ 9.
# High true, edge sensitive interrupt (by default)
# (INT 0 (IRQ 9 (MODE +E)))

# Start dependent functions: priority acceptable
# Logical device decodes 16 bit IO address lines
# Minimum IO base address 0x0100
# Maximum IO base address 0x03f0
# IO base alignment 16 bytes
# Number of IO addresses required: 2
# (IO 0 (SIZE 2) (BASE 0x0100) (CHECK))
# IRQ 5, 7, 9, 10 or 11.
# High true, edge sensitive interrupt (by default)
# (INT 0 (IRQ 5 (MODE +E)))

# End dependent functions
(NAME "ALS0110/-1[3]{PnP Sound Chip }")
# (ACT Y)
))
# End tag... Checksum 0x00 (OK)

# Returns all cards to the "Wait for Key" state
(WAITFORKEY)



It is really long!!!! I output it to a txt file and opened it in MS Word on this computer in the living room and it was 4 pages long.

I haven't checked the rc.modules yet, I'll do that in a few minutes after I finish this post and come back and let you all know if it changed anything.

if anyone can help, please do. I woul just really like to have some sound.

thanks All! for the help you have already given!!

those are sets of settings for the card. you uncomment one set of settings and run the isapnp tool using the file you edited. then the isa card is set to those settings and initialized. it's been too long since i had to do it to tell you much more.
you sort of need to look in your proc interrupts to see what is free, and then you pick free resources for the card.
or you can go wild, and just keep trying different settings.

Check out this thread, its basically the same steps to get your ISA card working in Slackware and or Linux. Your card may differ but it should get you started.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=62538

I think I'm gonna need a little more help than just that. I read through the thread that was linked to and the sample config file and i still don't know which lines to uncomment in order to chose the settings i want/need.

also, I checked my rc.modules file and my card is NOT listed.

any more help that I could get would be greatly appreciated!!

I would really like to have sound with my system.

Thanks for all the help I have already gotten I really appreciate it!!!