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Cs46xx

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For games like quake3, support of OSS mmap is available through the module option mmap_valid=1. To set this in modules.conf, add the line "options snd-cs46xx mmap_valid=1", or for modprobe/insmod, append it to the end of the command (eg., "modprobe snd-cs46xx mmap_valid=1)

Digital in/out has been developed, and is known to function on the following:

Dolby Digital and DTS passthrough works with most (all?) cards using alsa-driver 0.9.1. Multichannel PCM has been integrated, and should work on all cs46xx based cards. Basically, the chip can be opened up to 31 times for output, without a daemon like ESD or artsd. (Is there an example somewhere for getting this to work with standard applications? e.g. XMMS?) ([Addition by Reader] I got it to work nicely. I play UnrealTournament while at the same time listening to mp3's with xmms and playing a movie with mplayer) ([Addition by Wawrzek] - It works for me too. I have IBM ThinkPad T21). It basically works automatically - try just opening xmms, playing something, and then just doing 'aplay bla.wav'. Note that with alsa in kernel 2.6, you need to enable CONFIG_SND_CS46XX_NEW_DSP=y - this is experimental (I don't know why - seems to work just fine), so it may be hidden in your kernel config if you don't specify CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL=y as well.

Contents

Midiman DMAN

If you find you can't record with this card, open up the alsamixer and set the following 3 channels to "capture": LINE, CAPTURE, and ADC. You of course have to unmute and set levels, but it takes all 3 of these channels set to capture mode in order to record on the Midiman DMAN.

BlackGold II 5.1 Family

Value,Value Plus,Value Fine,Cannon -- Use the same settings for recording as with the above (Midiman DMAN) to record audio using this card (cs4630 chip),codec using stac9750T/66T/56T and cs4294.

Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II

Use the same settings for recording as with the above (Midiman DMAN) to record audio using this card (cs4624 chip).

Turtle Beach Santa Cruz

This is a good sound card, and it works great with ALSA, except one thing: The sound-card does not automatically mirror the Front channel to the Rear - so stereo sounds (the majority of them) just stay stereo. This can be gotten around using the asoundrc. As with the Midiman DMAN above, to record from the input jack on this card you have to set all of LINE, CAPTURE and ADC to Captur(e), unmute all three, and set levels appropriately. On my system at least, alsamixer detects two CAPTURE channels. The leftmost one was the one that I had to adjust to get recording to work. Looking for information on mirroring output to the front channels so that it is also played from the rear channels simultaneously (simulated surround, otherwise playing to the Front device will only output on the front, leaving the rear silent).

NOTE: as of ALSA 1.0.8, you MUST enable the "External Amplifier" in the mixer, or you will end up with no sound. This was apparently only implemented in this version, though the mixer channel has been there since before 1.0. Since it defaults to "Off", upgrading from an older vesion to 1.0.8 (or to the 2.6.11 kernel) will leave you with no sound unless you "unmute" (turn "On") this switch.

Terratec DMX XFire 1024

The sound driver works very good except for one thing. Sometimes under heavy load switching the capture device distorts he captured sound until capture is turned off and on once again. Frequency: seldom, once a day when doing lots of audio stuff. The driver supports harware mixing so i can use xmms and mplayer and whatnot at the same time, when it has alsa-support.

Here's my experiences using this driver with the jack-audio-connection kit. The terratec sound card driver seemingly allows [when starting jack with jackd -d alsa -d hw:0 -p PERIODSIZE -n PERIODS]:

   period sizes: 64, 128, 512
   Number of periods: 2 .. 32

so the default settings of jack don't work. When starting jackd as non root, reliable xrun free operation is possible only with large buffers. When starting jackd with

   jackd -d alsa -d hw:0 -p 512 -n 32

realtime softsynths have too much latency with this setting, but it is still suited for using jackd just as a sound daemon and for basic hd-recorders that use jack. Of course 32 periods don't make sense, really, because interrupts are always generated at period boundaries.. So, a setting like:

   jackd -d alsa -d hw:0 -p 512 -n 4

should be ok, too. When using a patched kernel (low-latency patches and capabilities enabled), it is possible to use jack with

   jackstart -R -d alsa -d hw:0 -p 64 -n 3

or even with 2 periods for use with software synths like amSynth or funny tools like freqtweak.

Retrieved from "http://alsa.opensrc.org/Cs46xx"

Category: ALSA modules