Thinkpad 600e sound
Forum: Laptops
Topic: Thinkpad 600e sound
started by: spotslayer
Posted by spotslayer on July 20 2005,14:42
I have bee trying to get the sound working on my 600e for a while now. I have had sound issues with other TP's and other distros. I have been able to get these others working. I have read all the post's I could find. I know the settings are correct as this is a dual boot with XP Pro being the other installed OS and I have checked these in XP. Sound works in XP. Below I have posted my efforts and the results. I have also tried using modprobe instead of insmod. I know these computers can play sound in linux, but this one has me scratching my head. I need some help.David
=======================================
root@box:~# rmmod sound
rmmod: module sound is not loaded
root@box:~#
root@box:~# insmod sound
Using /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/sound/sound.o
root@box:~#
root@box:~# insmod ad1848
Using /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/sound/ad1848.o
root@box:~#
root@box:~# insmod uart401
Using /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/sound/uart401.o
root@box:~#root@box:~# insmod cs4232 io=0x530 irq=5 dma=1 dma2=0
Using /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/sound/cs4232.o
/lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/sound/cs4232.o: init_module: No such device
Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters.
You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg
root@box:~#
Posted by ke4nt1 on July 20 2005,15:14
You should add the io and irq information to your cs4232 line, as it suggests.Also, I use the mpuio and mpuirq lines as well..
Do the io and irq you have listed match what you see in XP ?
I have posted many threads in the forum with data on the cs4232 chipset.
Search the forums for cs4232, and you should find all you need.
73
ke4nt
Posted by spotslayer on July 20 2005,16:32
KE4NT1I have read just about everything that you have posted that I could find. I also have tried using the mpuio and muirq. The line I pasted here was just the last attempt I made. I will search again and see if I missed anything.
Is this what you are referring to when you say to add the io and irq info to my cs4232 line?
insmod cs4232 io=0x530 irq=5
If not which line are you refering to? Those do match what is shown in XP.
Thank's for your assistance KE4NT. I have been scratchin my head for a while now but I am stuck.
David
73
Posted by kopsis on July 20 2005,17:53
I have sound working on my 600E so I know it's possible 
You're loading the modules correctly, but unfortunately on the 600E that's only half the battle. The CS42XX chip on the 600E is really odd and the 600E BIOS (complete with cute little hummingbird cursor in the setup) is even worse.The 600E with the latest BIOS updates (which I believe you need to run XP) has a BIOS option called "fast boot" or some such thing. What that really does is enable PnP OS support. You need to have that turned off when you boot Linux to have any hope of the sound working. Unfortunately XP probably wants it "on" so be prepared to do the BIOS shuffle if you plan to dual boot.
You also need to make sure that all the IRQs, DMAs, and IOs are set as you expect them. I know there is a DOS program for viewing/adjusting them at the BIOS config level. I suspect there's a Windows control panel thingy for that as well. The safest thing to do is just use the reset option in the BIOS config to put them all back to factory defaults (which is what the values you're using on your insmod cs4232 reflect).
So the steps that worked for me were:
1) Boot into BIOS config, reset to defaults, reboot
2) Boot into BIOS config again, make sure "fast boot" is disabled
3) Boot directly into Linux (do not pass Windows, do not collect $200) and load up the sound modules.
Hang in there and keep trying. I spent the better part of three weeks the first time I tried to do this with Kubuntu and the ALSA drivers. I even went so far as to customize the driver with additional debug output! With DSL and OSS it worked first try but by then I had already figured out all the required BIOS magic.
Posted by ke4nt1 on July 20 2005,18:03
plug-n-pray ? eww.. scary stuff..Thanks for sharing, kopsis .. Good Work!
73
ke4nt
Posted by spotslayer on July 20 2005,18:47
Thank's kopsis!!!Disabling quickboot was the missing piece. I did that came back, set the sound up and viola!, I am listening to Carlos Santana "Samba Pa Ti" as I type this.(I'm in Brownsville Texas, so I been ridin' out Emily ) Now my old TP with frugal install is complete. This has long been my favorite computer. I would get rid of XP(spit) except I have a GPS program I am using that has a USB antenna/receiver that I have not been able to make work with any linux distro. Folks on other forums have told me the thing I would have to do is change antenna/receivers to a serial setup. Not. I only use it when I travel so I can deal with it.
David
Posted by kopsis on July 20 2005,21:12
Glad I could help The old 600 series ThinkPads were/are great laptops. Built pretty tough (except for all the flimsy port covers) and really compact for their vintage. I was thinking about finally replacing mine because Kubuntu was just too sluggish, but a frugal DSL install has breathed new life into it. With DSL, performance feels not too far behind a Centrino running XP or a G4 iBook. Not bad for a 366MHz PII! Yeah, there's a lot less eye candy, but for practicality it rocks!Now I'm actually thinking of keeping it long enough to justify spending some $$ to replace the long dead battery and add some more RAM. I bet with frugal running "toram" and using a big CF card for /opt and /home, I could get 3-4 hours of battery life.
BTW - I've worked up a .dsl that provides the APM daemon (apmd) and associated scripts. The 600E won't suspend when on AC power with PCMCIA cards installed (it goes to standby instead) but with apmd you can hook the suspend/resume events and shutdown/restart PCMCIA cards to allow the suspend/hibernate to really happen. I'll submit the .dsl and post more details once I have a chance to do a little more testing.
Posted by spotslayer on July 20 2005,21:37
That is pretty much exactly what I am doing. Frugal, toram. I don't have a cf card but since I am also using windows(spit) I can use the TP config GUI and set the hard drive to shut down from immediatly to whatever I need. I get around 3 hours using a wireless NIC with DSL set this way. The drive rarely spins up in DSL. I have used the DOS setup utility in the past but lost my copy and have not been able to locate another. It will fit on one diskette and can set everything the GUI can. Just in case you want to try and let the HD spindown.David
Posted by ke4nt1 on July 20 2005,21:40
spotslayer,Brownsville? Hope all is OK..
The Weather Channel has mentioned some pretty severe winds there..
Up north a fir piece, in Brenham,TX all is well.. We need the rain.
kopsis,
Frugall running toram is DA BOMB-a-da-bing-daddy-O!
Really improves performance - well worth the $$ in ram.
Running CF-to-IDE is hit or miss on some laptops,
Make sure yours will recognize the CF as a HD.
My IBM 240's give me troubles, IBM 770's are no problem,
Toshiba was no problem either..
Both SU and I have CF cards as HD's in our toshibas.
Improved battery life, quiet, and still very fast,
on all but the biggest of files..
( P99, 40MB ram, 800x600 w/XFree86, 256MB CF )
73
ke4nt
Posted by mgmont on July 20 2005,23:36
Ke4nt1, I hope you get some rain. We want to make sure those Blue Bell cows have plenty of grass to eat. 
Kopsis,I am running a CF in my laptop which is a Micron transport zx. It works great. However I would caution you about putting /home on the CF because Things like Firefox are constantly reading and writing within /home. This could cause premature failure of your cf. Otherwise I am very happy with the setup.
Posted by cbagger01 on July 21 2005,03:02
Good point.You are better off using the backup/restore function for your /home instead of the persistent /home if you are using a flash-based storage device.
Posted by kopsis on July 21 2005,13:49
| Quote (spotslayer @ July 20 2005,17:37) |
| .. since I am also using windows(spit) I can use the TP config GUI and set the hard drive to shut down from immediatly to whatever I need. |
I just finished building tpctl (and its associated kernel modules) for DSL. That should allow full ThinkPad hardware control under DSL without the need to use the Windows or DOS utilities. Hopefully I can find time to test it in the next couple days and if all goes well I'll make the .dsl available.
I also grabbed the source for noflushd and may experiment with that as a way to further reduce HD access. Even when using CF for persistant storage, putting the "drive" to sleep and deferring writes could help battery life.
As for mgmont's point about keeping /home off the CF card, that's a good tip. Though in my case I'll likely be using a 4GB Microdrive so write limits don't apply. And keeping /home untarred makes it easier to go back and forth between laptop and Zaurus
Posted by spotslayer on July 21 2005,22:40
kopsis please keep me informed on your efforts. I think something like that would be very useful. David