Baslinux mailing list

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

On Wed, 1 Jun 2005, David Moberg wrote:

> ----- 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?

I have two, but I have not tried them out.  Plain SB16 works without any 
DOS or isapnp initialization in several computers.  Today I tried out the 
second AWE64 and awe won't initialize in DOS.  (The first one would not 
either but did initialize in Windows 98FE and then could be used in a DOS 
box to play midi files).  AWE64 worked in linux without DOS initialization 
(until it suddenly stopped the computer from booting into Windows).

My third AWE32 type card (SB32, CT3600) won't initialize awe either but 
the other two do - I may try moving them between computers.  This one also 
won't play FM synthesized sound so I guess the individual chips can go 
bad.  An SB16 lost FM synthesis and amplification.  Maybe the SB32 lost 
AWE?  I see an EMU8000 chip on it.  AWE64 has a slightly later EMU80** 
chip.  I have only found reference to it working in DOS under Windows, but 
it works fine in linux.  Have not tried midi yet, need to compile first.

SBlive apparently works in straight DOS.  I just downloaded sbldos.zip 
drivers.  You are supposed to use sbeset.com and sbinit.com to set and 
initialize the card.  I got a second one of these and hope to have it 
working in all three OSes (once I upgrade to WinSE).

> > > > 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.

Sound like 8-bit versus 16-bit color, you can notice the difference if you 
see them side by side.

I am happy with one volume level for my music so won't worry about high 
DMA being the same as low DMA.  Is streaming mp3 16-bit?


> > 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).

Finally a use for the 256MB of RAM we put into that computer, or is that 
overkill?  I think I checked while playing a DVD and it used about 100% of 
cpu time (if you added back the 39% that would be used by Xvesa) but only 
a small part of the memory.

> > 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.

I have never heard of initializing a video card, or do you mean to use the 
nvidia X driver?  I could try it on a PCI VooDoo with 16MB RAM - would 
that work better?  The VooDoo does not work too well except in fb mode 
(resizecons and Xvesa are not happy with it) whereas the Nvidia is very 
generic vesa.


> > 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.

When running in vesa mode am I scaling?   I will test the two latest cards 
with -noaspect in X.  I read a review in which someone compared the same 
card in PCI and AGP versions and the latter was 2-5% faster, but the Ti 
version was about 50% faster (in certain games).

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

The PCI Nvidia has no fan, the AGP models do, but another review said you 
ought to add cooling to the PCI model without a fan.  So I will just 
choose whichever plays the DVD better and if it burns itself up, switch to 
the next best model.

> > Do they work better on DVDs movies?
>
> Not significantly.

Other than your 30 fps test on a video clip, or trying to play a DVD in X, 
is there a way I should compare them for speed?

> > > 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.

This may not be worth the bother.  I will stick with vesa unless the 
GeForce2 Ti works in X.  I think by initialize you meant load Nvidia X 
server.

> > 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.

Since we don't play games, we will not worry about heat.  The cards with 
fans are vesafb and work with Xvesa so we may use both (if not dead).
My partner is happy with the nice-looking 132 columns using your fb 
kernel.  I will use the faster of the three Nvidia's for DVDs.

> > 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.

We have a couple of older AGP cards without big heat sinks - Trio3D and 
ATI - which he can use instead in the overclocked model.

> > 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.

We use X primarily for graphical browsing and the bottleneck is the modem 
speed.

> > 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.

Someone suggested this is a short.  Yesterday we were given two working 
6GB drives by a friend who is moving (along with two fixable computers and 
a few sound cards etc.) along with things to recycle.  I think we should 
stop accepting for a while and digest what we have.  Too many toys.

> David
>
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keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org