Dell Optiples GX1 sound and Xandros 3.0.2
 

I just installed Xandros 3.0.2 on my old Dell Optiplex GX1. Everything runs fine, but it doesn't detect the on-board sound card. I searched for a solution and ran the lspci cmd and got the following:

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
0000:00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
0000:00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
0000:00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
0000:00:0f.0 PCI bridge: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21152 (rev 03)
0000:00:11.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 24)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc 3D Rage Pro AGP 1X/2X (rev 5c)

Nothing about multimedia or sound. Can somone please let me know what driver I can use for this machine? According to the Dell site, the shipset is a Crystal Semiconductor CS4236. Here is some more info if it would be of any help.

support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/d_gx1p/Specs.htm
(can't post the url since I have less than 5 posts)

I've also tried installing Ubuntu, RedHat, and Linspire, and none of them seem to be able to detect this sound chipset. HELP!!!:confused:

I used to have that computer and, therefore, the same issue with the sound card. It's an ISA PnP chip and there is no alsa driver.
What you need is RedHat's sndconfig. Since you're running a RH based system, you should already have sndconfig. If not, it's easy enough to get from rpmfind.net or the like. And, it's a stand-alone program so there shouldn't be any dependency issues.
Make sure you have it, or get it and install it. Open a console, get a root prompt and run sndconfig. Then, just follow along answering the questions.

Thanks for the tip. I'm a total newbie and don't know what an alsa driver is. So I can do the sndconfg with Redhat, but what about Xandros? Is it just not supported? Thanks in advance.

I was mistaken in my initial post to you. I was under the impression, for some reason, that Xandros was rpm(RedHat) based. It is actually Debian(.deb) based. Forgive my confusion.

Here's a bit on sndconfig for Debian:
http://wiki.debian.net/?sndconfig

Depending on how Xandros built your kernel, you may need to recompile. For more informed help, you might try at http://www.xandros.com/support/forums.html .

Hoy hoy,

CS4236 is an onboard audio card. It's so old, it uses the ISA bus. If you're using Xandros, you most likely didn't build your own kernel.

If you did build your own kernel, you have to go to 'device drivers' -> 'sound' -> sound card support -> alsa (or Advanced linux sound architecture) -> 'ISA devices' -> and check off "generic cirrus logic cs4236+ driver". I'm looking at my 2.6.9 kernel config, but the logic's the same.

If you did not build your own kernel, and/or you have no idea what i was talking about... open a terminal window with a prompt and execute the following.

modprobe snd-cs4236

This should find insert the module, if not, return an error stating your machine does not have the device. You can check if it inserted correctly by executing the following:

lsmod

A list of modules will appear, the one you want to see there is snd-cs4236. If it's there, boom, you got a working soundcard, but with the volume set to zero. Open 'aumix' or your favorite volume controls and set it. Play some tunes and rock on!

Depending on which distrobution you're using, you may have to do some changes for it to start upon boot.