Unknown Aztech ISA sound card setup
Forum: HD Install
Topic: Unknown Aztech ISA sound card setup
started by: Callandor
Posted by Callandor on Mar. 28 2004,14:24
Hi allI have just installed DSL to my Hard Drive on an ext2 partition (800mb). My system also has a 250mb linux swap partition, 486DX2 66mhz processor and 24mb ram.
I have an old (read ancient) ISA sound card. I have absolutely no idea what type of card it is save that it is made by Aztech. About a month ago I asked their technical support about 16bit drivers for it (windows 3.11), but they didn't even recognise the card as one of thier own ISA models :S. The problem seems to be that it doesn't support PnP (plug and play) setup on the ISA bus. It doesnt get detected by DSL on bootup annd I have absolutely no idea how to configure it. (However, an ISA LAN card is autodetected fine.)
The card is Sound Blaster compatable in my experience under DOS. I know its 16bit address, UMA Channel etc, just not how to tell linux
Any help with setting this up would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Callandor
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 29 2004,18:38
If it is truely Soundblaster compatible, you should be able to use it by typing:sudo su
modeprobe sb
exit
from inside an Xterminal (rxvt) or from the command line.
However, it is my suspicion that the card will not probably behave like a Soundblaster without doing some sort of initialization first.
This can be done by booting into DOS/Win3.11/Win95/Win98 and running the DOS driver to initialize the sound card. Once this is complete, you can then start DSL by using a utilitiy called LOADLIN to start up your Linux operating system. Search the forum for more details. It requires some mucking around with DSL boot floppy files and such. Hopefully you will not need to do this.
Good Luck.
Posted by Callandor on Mar. 29 2004,18:52
Will it be necessay to repeat this process each time that I want to use the sound card? Also, I have never needed any DOS drivers save fro a line:"SET BLASTER= " etc. in the autoexec.bat file
From there it seems to run fine. However, I don't have windows drivers for it and have been completely unable to find any looking about the net for about a month.
Thanks for your time and help, i'll let you know how it went
cheers
Callandor
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 29 2004,19:28
I believe that there is a startup script file where you can save the above mentioned commands.Then use your filetool.lst backup process to save this file to a floppy or flash drive or hard drive.
Then use the knoppix restore functionality at the boot prompt to restore your backup file and your soundcard drive commands will run automatically.
I don't remember the name of the file but I am sure that someone else here does. Robets?
Posted by Callandor on Mar. 29 2004,21:25
I tried the:sudo su
modeprobe sb
exit
however on trying this I get a command not recognised etc error :s
This is logging in as root. I don't know exactly how the power heirachy of users works in linux, but omitting sudo su also doesnt work.
How can I get to a point where I can try this restore jobby? Is there a way to exit kde and simply be left at the DOS prompt equivalent that is seen in the Terminal screens and at bootup maybe?
also I should probably say that to install this I transplanted my hdd to a much newer system since my 486 based one doesn't support boot from cd-rom. I installed it from this and then set the HDD back in the 486 and lilo etc loaded fine and up comes linux. One other slight niggle is the message just after selecting linux as the os to load:
| Quote |
| boot: Loading Linux............................... You passed an undefined mode number. Press return to see video modes available, space to continue or wait 30 seconds. |
Hitting space works fine but it isn't an ideal turn on the power and leave it to boot operation. This screen came up on my newer PC with the linux penguin in the corner. This graphics&text screen mode is clearly not supported by the 486 graphics chipset, so is there a way to overide the initial screen mode default?
Thanks for reading all this and please keep postin replies, I'm out on a rock here, knowing very little about linux, but eager to learn.
Callandor
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 30 2004,01:08
Edit your lilo config file so that it reads "vga=normal". Then re-run Lilo.Search the forum for 'lilo' to find out more details.
Are you sure that there is no sound driver listed in your MSDOS config.sys file?
Posted by roberts on Mar. 30 2004,01:23
There is a typo. The command is modprobeWhen you get it working put the command in /opt/bootlocal.sh
Then add /opt/bootlocal.sh to your filetool.lst
Then use system->File Restoration->Specify device
Then backup.
Posted by Callandor on Mar. 30 2004,17:24
I'm absolutely positive that there is no driver for the sound card. It has just always been available to DOS apps so long as the BLASTER environment parameter is set. I have never been able to find any drivers for it and have become resigned to letting it operate in this manner which is at worst acceptable for DOS apps.
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 30 2004,18:22
Callandor,I messed up. I bumped the "e" key when I pressed the "d" key on my keyboard (fat fingers).
The correct command is:
sudo su
modprobe sb
exit
Posted by Callandor on Mar. 30 2004,21:49
Doh!!!I HATE doing that.. my typing is awful at the best of times
MODPROBE SB can't detect my card. I'm thinking that having no sound is looking increasingly predictable...
Just in case the card is emulating something else I will try all the other options in the sound drivers folder.
Thanks for your help
Callandor