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  • From: "David Moberg" <davidjmoberg AT lycos.com>
  • To: baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [BL] playmidi and aumix
  • Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 18:49:17 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: "sindi keesan" <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>

> Perhaps you are not insmodding it with the proper settings? Would
> you like a copy of SB16 diagnose to determine the settings and then
> use them in linux?

I have tried various settings. It only insmods correctly _after_ I
have loaded ISA PnP. If I try to specify DMA, it only insmods at
all after I choose the "correct" one, and then it still doesn't
work quite right.

> I was having the problem with DMA warning and
> IRQ/DRQ errors when playing mp3s until I also specified high dma on
> my three newest computers. dma16=5 (try also 6 and 7 if 5 is
> taken). insmod sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=1 (or 0 or 3) dma16=5

Perhaps the AWE32 works differently than the plain Vibra16? Do
you have any plain Vibra16s?

> >> Maybe these would sound better after initialization? I can't here
> >> a difference but this is downloaded internet radio. Perhaps higher
> >> sampling rates need initialization? /proc/dma shows that 0 is
> >> SoundBlaster8.
> >> What does high DMA do?
> >
> > It appears to be for 16-bit audio.
>
> How does 16-bit audio differ from 8-bit audio?

Audio files have 65536 choices of volume levels for each sample, versus
256 for 8-bit. It sounds crisper to some ears (not mine). It is
absolutely useless if you're only using 8-bit audio files.

> Is it needed for stereo?

No.

> Is mplayer using the hard drive once it starts?

Not if you have plenty of memory (so that Linux doesn't need
to swap).

> I think you said vidix works on GeForce2. It did not on my PCI
> Nvidia GeForce2.

It's not a sure thing if you haven't initialized the Geforce. It
works better with other cards.

> Is scaling used in games rather than movies?

No. If you're resizing the DVD at all (if MPlayer is changing the
aspect ratio by default, or if you have an X window and you are
resizing it to something bigger or larger than the DVD) you are
using scaling. If you don't have proper drivers, this is being
done in software, which is very slow.

> Would I be better off avoiding graphics cards with heat sinks and fans if
> not playing games?

Yes.

> Do they work better on DVDs movies?

Not significantly.

> > Any of the ATI cards (Radeon, Rage(128), Mach64) should work with
> > both -vo xvidix and -vo vesa:vidix. The nvidia may need a full-size
> > X server. But just in case, try -vo cvidix with the nvidia.
> > Everything else should work like an ATI card.
>
> We may have a dead ATI Rage. I will try cvidix some time. There
> are three ways to use vidix? vesa:vidix cvidix xvidix? The xvidix
> did not work with our Nvidia card. I should read up on this.

The Rage will _not_ work with cvidix at all. Only the NVidia will
work with it, and only _after_ you have used full-size X with the
proprietary nvidia driver.

> Do these cards generate a lot of heat all the time, or just while
> playing games?

Usually the fan only cranks up when playing games.

> We have a very hot overclocked 600>750MHz board
> with three heat sinks on the slot - should we choose a cool
> (non-heat-sinked) video card for it?

Definitely. You should keep computers as cool as possible.

> Is AGP advantageous if you are not playing games or DVDs?

Somewhat. It make a noticable difference in X, however you
probably won't miss it.

> Any idea if our 'new' $4 15GB hard drive is fixable if it lights up
> and whirs for a couple of seconds then the light goes off and the
> MB does not boot?

None. Good luck. It may be on one of the controller chips, and you
can probably forget about repairing that.

David

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