<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>Alsa-sound-mini-HOWTO: Loading the driver</TITLE> <LINK HREF="Alsa-sound-6.html" REL=next> <LINK HREF="Alsa-sound-4.html" REL=previous> <LINK HREF="Alsa-sound.html#toc5" REL=contents> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="Alsa-sound-6.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Alsa-sound-4.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Alsa-sound.html#toc5">Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="s5">5. Loading the driver</A></H2> <P>There are two ways to use the ALSA-sound-modules. I personally prefer using the manual method, meaning that I insert the driver at startup. The ALSA-drivers were designed as loadable/unloadable modules - for instance they do not reset the mixer after loading - so you can easily use the kerneld approach. <P>Please do read the section <A HREF="#backw-compat">Backwards Compatibility</A>. You need it to have sound support ``the old way''. <H2><A NAME="ss5.1">5.1 Inserting with modprobe</A> </H2> <P>Note: If you have a PnP audio-card, you first need to set it to the right (or at least some known) IO/IRQ/DMA. See the Plug-and-Play-HOWTO. Did you configure your Plug-and-Play-soundcard? Ok, then read on please. The main part is: do a "modprobe snd-card-<soundcard>". This should do the trick. Please note that not all distributions do include /sbin in your path. If you get a "bash: modprobe: command not found", this will most likely mean that modprobe is not in your path. Try ``/sbin/modprobe snd-card-sb16'', or try to find the modprobe utility elsewhere. <P>The most important difficulty is with the Crystal chipsets, for these the ALSA-drivers are not auto probing. More recent information may be acquired from the INSTALL file in the driver-directory. Two examples, then a list: Gravis UltraSound (GUS) and compatibles: <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> /sbin/modprobe snd-card-gusclassic </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> For all 16-bit Soundblaster-cards (SoundBlaster 16 (PnP), SoundBlaster AWE 32 (PnP), SoundBlaster AWE 64 (PnP): <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> /sbin/modprobe snd-card-sb16 </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> However, if you have a 0.3.0-pre4 package, the GUS Classic driver is called ``snd-gusclassic'' and the SoundBlaster 16 module is called ``snd-sb16'' (so, without the ``card'' part). <P> <H2><A NAME="which-modul"></A> <A NAME="ss5.2">5.2 Which module for which card?</A> </H2> <P>Please note that ALSA versions before 0.4.x sometimes had different names. You need to leave out the ``card'' part for those drivers. This is indicated by an asterisk (*). <P> <H3>Gravis UltraSound Extreme <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P> <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-gusextreme</CODE> <H3>Gravis UltraSound MAX <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P> <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-gusmax</CODE> <P> <H3>ESS AudioDrive <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>ESS AudioDrive ES-1688 and ES-688 soundcards <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-audiodrive1688</CODE> <P> <H3>ESS AudioDrive 18xx <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>ESS AudioDrive ES-18xx based soundcards <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-audiodrive18xx</CODE> <P> <H3>Gravis UltraSound PnP <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>Gravis UltraSound PnP, Dynasonic 3-D/Pro, STB Sound Rage 32, ExpertColor MED3201 and other soundcards based on AMD InterWave™ chip. <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-interwave</CODE> <H3>UltraSound 32-Pro <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>UltraSound 32-Pro (soundcard from STB used by Compaq) and other soundcards based on AMD InterWave (tm) chip with TEA6330T circuit for extended control of bass, treble and master volume <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-interwave-stb</CODE> <H3>Soundblaster <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>8-bit Soundblaster cards (SoundBlaster 1.0, SoundBlaster 2.0, SoundBlaster Pro) <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-sb8</CODE> <H3>Soundblaster 16 <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>16-bit SoundBlaster cards (SoundBlaster 16 (PnP), SoundBlaster AWE 32 (PnP), SoundBlaster AWE 64 (PnP). Please note: this module does not support the SoundBlaster VibraX16 soundcard. <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-sb16</CODE> <H3>OAK Mozart <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P> <P><CODE>modprobe snd-mozart</CODE> <H3>OPTi 82C9xx <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>Various sound cards that use the OPTi 82C9xx chipset, like Audio 16 Pro EPC-SOUN9301 (82C930 based), ExpertColor MED-3931 v2.0 (82C931 based), ExpertMedia Sound 16 MED-1600 (82C928 based - AD1848), Mozart S601206-G (OPTI601 based - CS4231) and Sound Player S-928 <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-opti9xx</CODE> <H3>AD1847/48 and CS4248</H3> <P> <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-ad1848</CODE> <H3>Yamaha OPL3-SA2/SA3 soundcards <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>Just "modprobe snd-opl3sa" will not work, this driver does not do autoprobing. See below. <H3>S3 SonicVibes <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>S3 SonicVibes PCI soundcards. (PINE Schubert 32 PCI) <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-sonicvibes</CODE> <P> <H3>Ensoniq/Soundblaster PCI64 <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>Ensoniq AudioPCI ES1370/1371 PCI soundcards. (SoundBlaster PCI 64) <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-audiopci</CODE> <H3>CS4231</H3> <P>Just ``modprobe snd-card-cs4231'' will not work, no auto-probing. See below. <H3>CS4232/4232A</H3> <P>All soundcards based on CS4232/CS4232A chips. Just "modprobe snd-card-cs4232" will not work, no auto-probing. See below. <P> <H3>4235 and higher</H3> <P>All soundcards based on CS4235/CS4236/CS4236B/CS4237B/CS4238B/CS4239 chips. Just "modprobe snd-card-cs4236" will not work, no auto-probing. See below. <P> <H3>4610/4612/4615 and 4680</H3> <P> <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-cs461x</CODE> <H3>ESS Solo 1 <A HREF="#no-card">(*)</A></H3> <P>ESS Solo-1, 128iPCI card (es1938, ESS-SOLO-1). Jonas Lofwander sent me a link to a document that will help you installing this card - which is, basically, nothing more than <CODE>modprobe snd-card-esssolo1</CODE> ... but <A HREF="http://dice.shopcenter.nu/alsa/">http://dice.shopcenter.nu/alsa/</A> can be of help. If you have an IBM Thinkpad 1412 you can also refer to <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/3649/1412.html">http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/3649/1412.html</A>, thanks to Kumar Sankaran. <H3>Trident 4DWave DX/NX <A HREF="#trident">(**)</A></H3> <P>Best Union Miss Melody 4DWave PCI, HIS 4DWave PCI, Warpspeed ONSpeed 4DWave PCI, AzTech PCI 64-Q3D, Addonics SV 750, CHIC True Sound 4Dwave, Shark Predator4D-PCI, Jaton SonicWave 4D. <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-trident</CODE> <H3>ForteMedia FM801</H3> <P>These are PCI cards based on the FM801 chip. <P><CODE>modprobe snd-card-fm801</CODE> <P><B>(*)</B> <A NAME="no-card"></A> For ALSA version 0.3.0-pre4, you need to leave out the ``card-'' part in most (not all!) of the drivernames. So ``snd-card-sb16'' becomes ``snd-sb16'', however, ``snd-card-cs4232'' remains ``snd-card-cs4232'' (modprobe snd-cs4232 will do something, but it will not produce any sound!) <P><B>(**)</B> <A NAME="trident"></A> In older ALSA versions this driver was called ``snd-card-trid4wave'' and ``snd-trid4wave''. <P> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss5.3">5.3 modprobe for drivers without auto-probing</A> </H2> <P>If you have a non-autoprobing driver, you need to supply additional info at startup to have the driver work. More information can be found in the file INSTALL in the driver directory. <H3>OPL3-SA2 and OPL3-SA3</H3> <P>According to the INSTALL file you need to supply all the information for this driver. If you initialized the card with the isapnp-tools, you can probably get info from the /etc/isapnp.conf file for the following values: <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> snd_port - control port # for OPL3-SA chip snd_wss_port - WSS port # for OPL3-SA chip (0x530,0xe80,0xf40,0x604) snd_midi_port - port # for MPU-401 UART (0x300,0x330), -1 = disable snd_fm_port - FM port # for OPL3-SA chip (0x388), -1 = disable snd_irq - IRQ # for OPL3-SA chip (5,7,9,10) snd_dma1 - first DMA # for Yamaha OPL3-SA chip (0,1,3) snd_dma1_size - max first DMA size in kB (4-64kB) snd_dma2 - second DMA # for Yamaha OPL3-SA chip (0,1,3), -1 = disable snd_dma2_size - max second DMA size in kB (4-64kB) </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> You would do a "modprobe snd-card-opl3sa snd_port=0xNNN snd_wss_port=0x530 snd_midi_port=-1 snd_fm_port=0x388 snd_irq=5 snd_dma1=0 snd_dma1_size=NN snd_dma2=1 snd_dma2_size=NN" to load this driver (without midi-support. I am still convinced that midi-support is the thing you need when you have synthesizers and stuff and want to connect them to your Linux box. Never needed Midi-support even to play midi-files.) <P>Note that the "NN" values need to be supplied, only I do not know what would be reasonable values. I do not know if the dma size option is really required. <P>If you happen to have an IBM Thinkpad with this chipset, then <A HREF="http://www.cirs.org/patrick/index.html">http://www.cirs.org/patrick/index.html</A> might be of help. <P>If you use the driver from 0.3.0-pre4, then leave out the ``card-'' part in the name. <P> <H3>CS4231 chips</H3> <P>According to the INSTALL file you need to supply the main port for this card. Note that with the driver for 3235/6/7/8/9 cards, the one below, I ended up supplying all information (except DMA-size), otherwise the driver did not work. So you may as well use the whole command line to insert the driver. If you initialized the card with the isapnp-tools, you can probably get info from the /etc/isapnp.conf file for the following values: <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> snd_port - port # for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x534) snd_mpu_port - port # for MPU-401 UART (PnP setup - 0x300), -1 = disable snd_irq - IRQ # for CS4232 chip (5,7,9,11,12,15) snd_mpu_irq - IRQ # for MPU-401 UART (9,11,12,15) snd_dma1 - first DMA # for CS4232 chip (0,1,3) snd_dma1_size - max first DMA size in kB (4-64kB) snd_dma2 - second DMA # for Yamaha CS4232 chip (0,1,3), -1 = disable snd_dma2_size - max second DMA size in kB (4-64kB) </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> You would do a "modprobe snd-card-cs4231 snd_port=0x534 snd_mpu_port=-1 snd_irq=5 snd_dma1=0 snd_dma1_size=NN snd_dma2=1 snd_dma2_size=NN" to load the driver for a "standard configured" soundcard. (Without midi-support, see the note at Yamaha OPL-3). If you used different values in /etc/isapnp.conf, then you would use the values here also (Note: it can be wise to use your brains anyway ;) <P>Note that the "NN" values need to be supplied, only I do not know what would be reasonable values. I do not know if the dma size option is really required. <P> <H3>CS4232/CS4232A chips</H3> <P>According to the INSTALL file you need to supply the main port for this card. Note that with the driver for 3235/6/7/8/9 cards, the one below, I ended up supplying all information (except DMA-size), otherwise the driver did not work. So you may as well use the whole command line to insert the driver. If you initialized the card with the isapnp-tools, you can probably get info from the /etc/isapnp.conf file for the following values: <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> snd_port - port # for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x534) snd_cport - control port # for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x120) snd_mpu_port - port # for MPU-401 UART (PnP setup - 0x300), -1 = disable snd_fm_port - FM port # for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x388), -1 = disable snd_jport - joystick port for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x200), -1 = disable snd_irq - IRQ # for CS4232 chip (5,7,9,11,12,15) snd_mpu_irq - IRQ # for MPU-401 UART (9,11,12,15) snd_dma1 - first DMA # for CS4232 chip (0,1,3) snd_dma1_size - max first DMA size in kB (4-64kB) snd_dma2 - second DMA # for Yamaha CS4232 chip (0,1,3), -1 = disable snd_dma2_size - max second DMA size in kB (4-64kB) </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> You would do a "modprobe snd-card-cs4232 snd_port=0x534 snd_cport=0x120 snd_mpu_port=-1 snd_fm_port=0x388 snd_jport=-1 snd_irq=5 snd_dma1=0 snd_dma1_size=NN snd_dma2=1 snd_dma2_size=NN" to load the driver for a "standard configured" soundcard. (Without midi-support, see the note at Yamaha OPL-3, and no joystick support). If you used different values in /etc/isapnp.conf, then you would use the values here also (Note: it can be wise to use your brains anyway ;) <P>Note that the "NN" values need to be supplied, only I do not know what would be reasonable values. I do not know if the dma size option is really required. <H3>CS4235/CS4236/CS4236B/CS4237B/CS4238B/CS4239 chips</H3> <P>According to the INSTALL file you need to supply the main port and control ports for this card. Note that with a CS4237B card, I ended up supplying all information (except DMA-size), otherwise the driver did not work. So you may as well use the whole command line to insert the driver, and not only supply snd_port and snd_cport. If you initialized the card with the isapnp-tools, you can probably get info from the /etc/isapnp.conf file for the following values: <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> snd_port - port # for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x534) snd_cport - control port # for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x120) snd_mpu_port - port # for MPU-401 UART (PnP setup - 0x300), -1 = disable snd_fm_port - FM port # for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x388), -1 = disable snd_jport - joystick port for CS4232 chip (PnP setup - 0x200), -1 = disable snd_irq - IRQ # for CS4232 chip (5,7,9,11,12,15) snd_mpu_irq - IRQ # for MPU-401 UART (9,11,12,15) snd_dma1 - first DMA # for CS4232 chip (0,1,3) snd_dma1_size - max first DMA size in kB (4-64kB) snd_dma2 - second DMA # for Yamaha CS4232 chip (0,1,3), -1 = disable snd_dma2_size - max second DMA size in kB (4-64kB) </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> You would do a "modprobe snd-card-cs4236 snd_port=0x534 snd_cport=0x120 snd_mpu_port=-1 snd_fm_port=0x388 snd_jport=-1 snd_irq=5 snd_dma1=0 snd_dma1_size=NN snd_dma2=1 snd_dma2_size=NN" to load the driver. (Without midi-support, see the note at Yamaha OPL-3, and no joystick support). Notes: <UL> <LI>the "NN" values need to be supplied, only I do not know what would be reasonable values.</LI> <LI>my CS4237B works fine without explicit dma size option.</LI> </UL> <H2><A NAME="ss5.4">5.4 The kerneld approach</A> </H2> <P><CODE>kerneld</CODE> is a daemon that inserts modules on request, and unloads them once they are not in use anymore. Since I have no experience with kerneld, I do not know if the information below is accurate. The info comes from the INSTALL file in the ALSA-drivers package. Excellent information about kerneld can be found in the kerneld-mini-HOWTO. <P>Follow these steps: <UL> <LI>Edit your /etc/conf.modules (see below for examples)</LI> <LI>Run 'modprobe snd-card' where card is name of your card [Which I find rather strange, since kerneld is supposed to load them? VS]</LI> </UL> Example for /etc/conf.modules for Gravis UltraSound PnP soundcard: <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> alias char-major-14 snd alias snd-minor-oss-0 snd-interwave alias snd-minor-oss-3 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-4 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-5 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-12 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-card-0 snd-interwave options snd snd_major=14 snd_cards_limit=1 options snd-interwave snd_index=1 snd_id="guspnp" snd_port=0x220 snd_irq=5 snd_dma1=5 snd_dma2=6 </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> Example if you want use more soundcards in one machine (configuration below is for Sound Blaster 16 and Gravis UltraSound Classic): <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> alias char-major-14 snd alias snd-minor-oss-0 snd-mixer alias snd-minor-oss-3 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-4 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-5 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-12 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-card-0 snd-sb16 alias snd-card-1 snd-gusclassic options snd snd_major=14 snd_cards_limit=2 options snd-sb16 snd_index=1 snd_port=0x220 snd_irq=5 snd_dma8=1 snd_dma16=5 options snd-gusclassic snd_index=2 snd_irq=11 snd_dma1=6 snd_dma2=7 </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> Example if two Gravis UltraSound Classic soundcards are present in system: <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> alias char-major-14 snd alias snd-minor-oss-0 snd-mixer alias snd-minor-oss-3 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-4 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-5 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-minor-oss-12 snd-pcm1-oss alias snd-card-0 snd-gusclassic alias snd-card-1 snd-gusclassic options snd snd_major=14 snd_cards_limit=2 options snd-gusclassic snd_index=1,2 snd_port=0x220,0x260 snd_irq=5,11 snd_dma1=5,6 snd_dma2=7,3 </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> <P> <H2><A NAME="backw-compat"></A> <A NAME="ss5.5">5.5 Backwards compatibility</A> </H2> <P>If you want to preserve OSS/Free or OSS/Linux compatibility, you need to insert one more driver: the snd-pcm1-oss driver for OSS-compatibility. Issue a <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> modprobe snd-pcm1-oss </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> This will give you /dev/audio and /dev/dsp-support, just as the OSS/Free (kernel) drivers and OSS/Linux (the $25 ones) do. Note that this is only an emulation. <P> <HR> <A HREF="Alsa-sound-6.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Alsa-sound-4.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Alsa-sound.html#toc5">Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>