Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

> > > > Would the Nvidia server be faster than SVGA or Xvesa?
> > >
> > > Yes.
> > But it is not available for kernel 2.2.16?
>
> It works with 2.2.16.
Some day I will try it if I don't have to compile it first.  Xvesa is 
adequate.
> > In our case, the audio dropped behind the video.  You would see
> > people's lips move, and then a few seconds letter the sound
> > arrived.  After 20 sec (at 16-bit, or 2 sec at 24-bit color) the
> > sound simply stopped.  So -framedrop must somehow set things such
> > that the audio has priority.
> >
> > (buggy driver)
>
> Woah, now _that_ sounds like a buggy driver. My problem is the
> opposite; the video driver can't produce frames fast enough to
> keep up with the audio.

Interesting.  Anyway, vesa or -framedrop solve the problem.
> > I also just got opti 82c931 working on the model of a Bulgarian
> > forum's helpful list of what to use for the 930 (soundcore,
> > soundlow, sound, ad1848, uart401, mad16 io=0x530 irq=5 dma=0
> > dma16=3 mpu_io=300 mpu_irq=7, all of them required or you get error
> > messages, but joystick=1 optional).

The three opti 929a's accepted
> > the modules okay but when I tried to play sound 'can't open output
> > file /dev/dsp, No such device'.  Any idea why? I tried to use
> > isapnp pnpdump on them and it found no cards.  They have only
> > line/speaker out jumpers.
>
> Does dmesg seem to indicate successful module insertion?

I did not look, but there were no complaints when I used this combination 
(io etc. as above) and there were if I used anything else.  I thought 
dmesg only mirrored what goes by on the screen.  Is there another way to 
tell if the modules are properly installed?  A former list member who 
knows a lot about sound said he gave up on the 929A I sent him - it might 
work in Windows if you download the driver.  For me, it crashes Windows 
when you let it search for pnp hardware. 
> > Speaking of compiling kernels, I added a few sound driver modules
> > (answered m to ad1848 cs4232 mad16 ym3812 es1371 trident) to my
> > kernel which was working perfectly and now it will not work with
> > pppd.
> > Kermit (terminal program) works with it.  First I included SMP
> > support and got a message saying the kernel did not support ppp.
> > Then I removed that and now it just hangs.  My previous kernel
> > (sb16 sound only) still dials perfectly on the same computer.  How
> > do I compare files with linux? I will post any sections that
> > differ, for help.
>
> 2.2.16 is very buggy. The PPP driver will cause you many problems
> if you try to use it under unusual circumstances (e.g. with SMP,
> strange modem/other drivers)

One of my problems was that I had changed modems to USR and had to add 
back AT&F1 but the PPP error message went away when I left out SMP. 
Thanks for the warning.  We will not use the SMP machine (dual 200MHz 
pentium pro) online, or if we do, we can use Kermit to dial the local bbs 
(or DOS lynx).  We also have a dual 450MHz that is waiting until we find 
a huge case.  It can also be experimental.

 > >>>> Which cards have buggy drivers?
> > > Not sure. The ALSA emulation of OSS is perfect. I've also managed
> > > to test the following OSS drivers which worked great with MPlayer:
> > >
> > > cs4232 - back when I had a laptop with this chip. Great sound.
> >
> > I was just given one of these, ISA Modules all install, it seems to
> > play, but no sound at all.  Did this need aumix?
>
> IIRC it did. MPlayer lets you change PCM volume. See mplayer --help
> for the key to use. On mine, it's Shift+8 (in other words, the *
> character) to increase volume. You need /dev/mixer for this to work.


> > It is not powered
> > - do the unpowered cards tend to sound as good as the older SB16's
> > with power?
>
> If your speakers have good amplifiers the sound quality will be
> better. I have found sound card amplifiers to be very noisy.

My speakers are cheapies.  We use a radio with line in (aux) for better 
sound (and vol control).  Are SB16 cards, ESS, Trident, Ensoniq or Crystal 
thought to produce better sound?

> > > i810_audio (is that the name of it?) - my current laptop
> > > opl3sa2 - my old desktop sound card
> >
> > I Have not ever seen either of these.  We now have three laptops
> > with sound, which should be a challenge. (One has the odd Neomagic
> > video too).

> The opl3sa2 driver was used with a "Yamaha OPL3-SAx" board. ISA PnP.
In included this in my sound kernel in case other people have it.

> isapnptools didn't like it, either. The Vibra16 board is PnP, too,
> but it works with the plain sb.o driver. (Thanks for posting fixes
> for the DMA problem)
Why does the problem only occur on newer computers?  Do they use DMA for 
things that older computers do not?

My 533MHz, when booted with DOS 7.1, shows the IRQ and DMA of both my 
sound card and my modem.  HWINFO (shareware) lists all the IRQs and DMAs. 
It found only one free IRQ on a computer where Syschk found 6 free.  I no 
longer trust Syschk.  HWINFO has been right about everything so far.  The 
free NISSI told me I had no ISA cards in one computer and no ethernet card 
(PCI) in another.

DMA 2 and 4 are always taken.  So far only the sound cards seem to use 
DMAs.

> > I gave up on an Aztech card which works as sb with a 2.4.x patch.
It is said to work with s_galaxy.o.

> > Three pci esssolo1's and an AudioPCI (es1371) work perfectly.
>
> es1371 is apparently a good board for Linux, next to the sb in
> compatibility, I believe.

Also made my Creative - did they buy Ensoniq or vice versa?

> > > Use -ao sdl
> >
> > In mplayer #1 and/or #3?
>
> #3. Another difference between #1 and 3 that I forgot to mention.

mplayer -ao sdl scarlatti.mp3 - worked perfectly after I unplugged the 
modem and plugged in the radio.  I need a large power thingy with buttons 
(for scanner, zip drive, external modem, radio, monitor, printers....) 
instead of crawling under the desk to plug and unplug.

Shift-8 does not change the volume.  mplayer --help says * or /
I have a /dev/mixer and /dev/mixer1.  14 0 and 14 16.
Do I need ALSA too?

I don't yet have /dev/midi(0) or /dev/sequencer - are those just for 
playing midi files?

> > I thought you said you were not going to
> > include it after the first version.
>
> It got included anyway. It's not that big.

oss and sdl sound the same to me - what differences should I listen for?

> > Do I need to do anything else
> > differently from OSS?
>
> No. -ao sdl is just a different way of sending audio
> to OSS in MPlayer #3.

To fix bugs?

> > How do you use ALSA emulation of OSS?
>
> Once you've inserted all of the ALSA modules you can insmod
> snd-pcm-oss.o which allows you to use /dev/dsp just like with
> OSS. It is better than plain OSS because you get more mixer
> features and less chance of a buggy driver.

I don't have any ALSA modules and my driver is not buggy (except for 
getting a bit behind on DVDs, which is fixable).  If I have ALSA modules, 
do I still need the OSS modules for each different card?

> > 'that Steven with a little v did not include in BL3' scans better.
>
> Should we use last names?

Would that rhyme better?  I was once at a square dance where people wore 
first-name tags.  We started with 5 or 6 Stephens and Stevens and by the 
end of the evening everyone had changed to being Steven or Stephen.


> > I used hdparm once to fix a HD reset problem.  Can I also use it
> > with the DVD-ROM drive that is not working quite right and gives
> > reset messages?
>
> Probably. I haven't experienced reset problems. I've found that
> hdparm treats ATAPI CD drives and hard drives similarly. My CD burner
> absolutely refuses to work with DMA, so I sometimes need to use
> hdparm to turn it off. My DVD drive, on the other hand, works
> much better for DVD playback with DMA enabled. hdparm lets me
> choose the correct option.

hdparm /dev/hda (hard drive) lists parameters.
hdparm /dev/hdc (DVD-ROM drive) tells me that three things failed and also
using_dma = 1 (on)   - I will leave it that way.
HDIO_GET_MULTCOUNT, _NOWERR and GEO all failed.  Does this mean something 
to you?  It plays DVDs but is slow to find CDs.

/dev/sr0 not supported by hdparm  (CD-burner, scsi)  It works fine.

> > > > My DVD drive works badly with burned CDs - it gave me some reset
> > > > message but eventually did find the CD.
> > >
> > > cdrecord or cdrdao (one of the two) told me that mine cannot read
> > > CD-Rs. I can stick in the disk and hear the drive crank away. I
> > > don't get any error messages, but I just hear the drive try to
> > > access it. Eventually it gives up and mount acts as though nothing
> > > is in the drive.
> >
> > Mine takes a while.  I will try it on an OEM CD for comparison.
> > Is yours an older model?  I was told the lasers were not as strong originally.

> Yes. That's probably the issue. Mine's from 1998 (probably manufactured 
> in '97) and is slot-loading to boot, which means I can't use unusually 
> shaped CDs.

Mine is 32X CD-ROM as well as DVD-ROM, probably 1998 or 1999.  I heard 
that 20X or later usually reads CD-Rs.  Older NECs seem to do so too.

What shapes do they come in besides circular?

> > > > > CPU type doesn't affect the OSS sound bug.
> > > > But #2 would not even convert files on the PIII (-ao pcm).
> > >
> > > OK, CPU type doesn't affect the OSS sound bug, barring a buggy CPU.
> > Does this mean I have a buggy PIII cpu?  I have no others to test on.
> > This is irrelevant now that Version 3 is out.
>
> Or is it a uClibc interaction? Do #3 or #1 work on the PIII?

Both work, but #2 does not.

> #2 was built against uClibc, which cause most of the problems.
> #1 and #3 were both built against glibc (all static, in case you're
> wondering)
>
> > > > Will #3 be a little less efficient on the PIII?
> > >
> > > Not by much. I cannot tell any difference in speed between the
> > > three versions on my PII.
> >
> > I will test them both on the same DVD in x11 without -framedump,
> > count how many seconds until we lose sound, and if both versions
> > play it equally well, keep only #3, otherwise both.
>
> There is a better benchmarking method listed in the MPlayer
> manpage.

I don't notice any difference, they both work fine.  Would it help you if 
I tried to test the speeds?

> > > > If so, I should probably keep #1 and use #3 elsewhere.  Does #3
> > > > differ only in that it supports all models of pentium-generation
> > > > computer?
> > >
> > > I believe so.
> > And does more Realaudio.
>
> And SDL. By the way, RTSP can stream any file. RA files are what is
> commonly used, though.
>
> > > > Does #1 work a bit faster on a PII or later?  If so, I will keep it
> > > > for playing DVDs.  How would I measure exact speeds, by looking at
> > > > top while playing the same DVD with x11 and -framedrop?
> > >
> > > Do "-ao null" and set "-fps 30", 30 being some ridiculous frame rate
> > > which your PC cannot handle. Do not use any frame dropping. This is
> > > best done with short video clips if you're in a hurry.  Time how
> > > long it takes to play. This will tell you exactly how long it takes
> > > to decode the clip and display it.
>
> > I don't have any video clips.  What format would I look for on the web?
>
> MPlayer is adept at .mpg files. You should have no trouble at all with
> them. Earlier AVI codecs like Cinepak and Indeo 3.1/3.2 are also well-
> supported. I have had success with .asf files, but I don't think all of
> them will work with the standard codecs.

I will look for these.  #3 plays oggs too, just tested.