I don't know if you fixed your sound problem or not but here goes.

When I install Slack I get this error message
Couldn't open mixer device /dev/sound/mixer

This is my sound card.
lspci
intel corp. 82801db ac' 97 Audio (rev 02)

I have tried a lot of things to get this working but after a lot of effort my problem was easily solved by compiling a 2.6.x kernel.
ALSA might be the way to go for you.

This thread does offer lots of help and info on how you might get this working without compiling a new kernel if your interested

http://www.dropline.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1248

Hope this helps

Ok all my sound card says on it is Philips

How exactly would I compile a 2.6x kernel?


Ash

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=49035

Another good guide
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=443

This Osnews was made a while ago so some steps will not be required with 2.6.x ( make dep ) but it's really easy to follow.

You don't need to compile a 2.6 kernel. You could however, recompile your current (2.4.20) or go to the newest stable kernel- 2.4.22.

Though that might be what happens in the end, none of that will do you any good until you know exactly what hadrware you have -system wide-. You would have to compile the kernel support and modules that run all of your hardware so knowing it specifically, is crucial. There is a perfect how-to in this forum- Slackware (at the top).

2.6 is still in development, and would only really be useful if you had total bleeding edge hardware, or enjoyed staying in the very front of kernel devel and/or debugging.

There is no model # or any serial # on your card you could google on? "Phillips" just wont get it

I have got to crash. I'll check in, in the morn.

well ya know when I go into xmms and go to cdrom, it acts as if it's playing, I just can't hear it. No errors pop up.. What does that mean?

ok first of all.. here are the numbers that I found on the card
392661V14
94v-0
ATC 6631

But as I was searching I came across the dmesg command and used it.. this is what I found as far as sound goes...
isapnp: Scanning for PnP cards...
isapnp: Card 'OPL3-SA3 Sound Board'
isapnp: Card 'U.S. Robotics x2 Winmodem Fax'
isapnp: 2 Plug & Play cards detected total


Does that help any? Is the sound board one my sound card?

Ash

"You don't need to compile a 2.6 kernel. You could however, recompile your current (2.4.20) or go to the newest stable kernel- 2.4.22. "

In my case after searching on the Intel website I found this for my sound card
"AC'97 audio for Intel motherboards using ICH4 (82801DB) requires kernel 2.5.11 or later."

So I had to go with another kernel..instead of going with the 2.5.x serie I just figured I'd go to the 2.6.x testx goodness right away...I've been enjoying perfect sound since then. I have yet to experience anything bad with any of the 2.6.x testx kernels I've compiled.

If you do go with a new kernel Scruff is right and you might want to go with the lastest stable in the 2.4 series first and then go from there....

Now were getting somewhere. The reason cat /proc/pci didn't show some of your hardware is you have some of the older ISA stuff in there. Modern sound cards are PCI, even when integrated in the mobo they are on the PCI bus.

No worries though. Linux is supposed to work just fine on older hardware I am googling around right now for some info. They keywords "OPL3-SA3 Sound Board" are getting relevant results.

I think the default Slack kernel is already configured for ISA...

You might also like to know, that it is a Yamaha OPL3-SA3 card

Here's a link http://www.topology.org/linux/sound.html with some info on your card. It looks as if it might be very troublesome to get working...

Try right clicking xmms, choosing preferences, and changing the ouput plugin to OSS. You might need to restart xmms for it to take effect. It will change on the fly, but not very reliably. The OSS drivers look like what some people are having success with on that particular card.

Alternatively, if you want an easy fix you could drop $30 or so on a SoundBlaster card that will work just fine. IF, you have an open PCI slot that is.

ok at least we're getting SOMEWHERE, but it was already on that particular plugin. I did the modprobe and when I used lsmod again, it's now showing up there
Module Size Used by Not tainted
opl3sa2 7952 0 (unused)
ad1848 22412 0 [opl3sa2]
mpu401 19876 0 [opl3sa2]
sound 55668 0 [opl3sa2 ad1848 mpu401]
isa-pnp 30724 0 [opl3sa2 ad1848]
soundcore 3332 6 (autoclean) [sound]
microcode 3484 0 (unused)
appletalk 21508 1 (autoclean)
ipx 17316 1 (autoclean)
parport_pc 14724 1 (autoclean)
lp 6752 1 (autoclean)
parport 23264 1 (autoclean) [parport_pc lp]
pcmcia_core 38112 0
ide-scsi 8048 0
3c59x 26736 1
It still isn't working. I'll buy a soundcard eventually but I really can't afford it right now b/c all my extra money goes to my friend b/c I bought his computer. I mean if there's no way it'll work without a new one, I'll go get one but I'll have to wait a few weeks. Do you think I can get it working without a new one?


Ash

There is definitely a way to get it to work. Others are using that card. Its just a question of how complex it might be. I wouldn't let it scare you, it will just take some work. If you keep hacking away at it, you will get it working.

Try googling around a little on that soundcard and linux, and see what driver seems to be the most prominently used (and/or easily installed), then look for some how-to's on installing them. Let me know what driver you decide you need and I'll try to help. I'm headed out for the night, but I'll check back in the morn.

ok my sound works, because I was just on gaim and it went BEEP I was like woah wtf lol. I don't understand why it doesn't work though when I open xmms and try to play a cd. I'm wondering if it has t o do w/ the fact that it's always saying it can't find the mixer and the dsp devices... any ideas?


Ash

Ok I talked to someone last night about this. They informed me that xmms uses analog, therefore you need a cable going from the cdrom to the soundcard... I'm missing the cable though. I downloaded an mp3 and it worked in xmms. So I guess it's my cdrom drive....