Sound cards

Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO
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# 14. Sound cards

More information on sound drivers and sound cards can be found on Alan Cox's OSS page, ALSA, and the Linux Sound HOWTO.

## 14.1. Supported

- 4Front Technology Virtual Mixer (includes SoftOSS)

- 4Front Technology Virtual Synth (SoftOSS)

- 6850 UART MIDI

- A-Plus Sound of Music (OPL3-SA)

- A-Trend Harmony 3Ds751 (PCI)

- AcerMagic S23

- Adlib FM synthesizer card

- Adlib MSC 16 PnP (CS4235)

- AMD Interwave reference card

- ARC Probook

- Audio Excell DSP16

- Avance Logic ALS-007 chip based cards. Code for this chip is integrated in the Sound Blaster 16 driver. Isapnptools should be used for configuration.

- AW32 Pro (R2.2-W2)

- AW35 (CS4237)

- AW37 Pro (CS4235)

- Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro, NX Pro 16, WaveRider 32+

- Aztech Washington

- BTC Mozart Sound System

- BTC-1831 Sound Card (Opti 1688)

- Bravo Sound Card (Opti 82C930)

- Bull PowerPc builtin audio

- CDR4235-6/-8

- CS32-3DI

- Compaq Deskpro XL integrated Business Audio

- Creative EMU8000 add on (PnP)

- Creative Phone Blaster 28.8/33.6

- Creative Sound Blaster 1.0 to 2.0

- Creative Sound Blaster Pro

- Creative Sound Blaster 16

- Creative Sound Blaster 16 ASP

- Creative Sound Blaster 16 PnP (type-1 up to type-10)

- Creative Sound Blaster 16 Vibra

- Creative Sound Blaster 2.x

- Creative Sound Blaster 32/AWE

- Creative Sound Blaster 32/AWE PnP (type-1 up to type-10)

- Creative Sound Blaster AWE64 (type-1 up to type-7)

- Creative Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold (type-1 and type-2)

- Creative Sound Blaster PCI64/128

- Creative Sound Blaster AWE64/Gold and 16/32/AWE PnP cards need to be activated using isapnptools

- Creative ViBRA16C/CL/S (type-1 and type-2) PnP

- Creative ViBRA16X PnP (half duplex only)

- CrystaLake Crystal Clear Series 100

- Crystal Audio (CS4235)

- Crystal CRD4236B-1E

- Crystal CRD4237B-5/-8

- Crystal CSC0B35 (CS4236B)

- Crystal CX4237B-SIDE

- Crystal Onboard PnP Audio (CS4235)

- Dell Latidude builtin audio

- Diamond Crystal MM PC/104

- Digital AXP builtin audio

- ECHO-PSS cards (Orchid SoundWave32, Cardinal DSP16)

- ESS 1868, 1869 (type-1 and type-2), 1878, 1879, 1968 PnP AudioDrive

- Ensoniq AudioPCI (ES1371)

- Ensoniq AudioPCI / SoundBlaster PCI (ES1370)

- Ensoniq Soundscape Elite

- Ensoniq Soundscape PnP (model 1 and 2)

- Ensoniq Soundscape S-2000

- Ensoniq Soundscape VIVO, VIVO90

- Ensoniq ActionNote 880 C/CX

- Gallant's sound card (SC-6000 and SC-66000 based)

- Generic AD1815 based soundcard (PnP)

- Generic CMI8330 based soundcard (PnP)

- Generic Crystal CS4232 based soundcard or motherboard (non PnP)

- Generic Crystal CS4232 by Acer (PnP mode)

- Generic Crystal CS4232 type-1 up to type-3 (PnP mode)

- Generic Crystal CS4235 type-1

- Generic Crystal CS4236 (type-1 up to type-3)

- Generic Crystal CS4236 based soundcard or motherboard (non PnP)

- Generic Crystal CS4236A (type-1 and type-2), CS4236B

- Generic Crystal CS4237 based soundcard or motherboard (non PnP)

- Generic Crystal CS4237B (type-1 and type-2)

- Generic Crystal CS4238 based soundcard or motherboard (non PnP)

- Generic ESS ES688, ES1688, ES1788, ES1868, ES1869, ES1887, ES1888 based soundcard or motherboard

- Generic Jazz16 based soundcard

- Generic MAD16 (OPTi 82C928), MAD16 Pro, MAD16 Pro (duplex) (OPTi 82C929)

- Generic Mozart soundcard (OAK OTI-601 chip)

- Generic OPTi 82C924, 82C925 based sound card (PnP)

- Generic OPTi 82C924 soundcard (non PnP mode). Use the MSS driver and the isapnp tools

- Generic OPTi 82C930

- Generic OPTi 82C931 (more info)

- Generic Soundscape based soundcard

- Generic Windows Sound System compatible

- Generic Yamaha OPL3-SA1 (YMF701) based soundcard

- Generic Yamaha OPL3-SA2 (YMF711) based soundcard (type-1, type-3, type-4)

- Generic Yamaha OPL3-SA3 (YMF715) based soundcard

- Generic Yamaha OPL3-SAx (YMF715/YMF719) non-PnP

- Gravis Ultrasound

- Gravis Ultrasound Extreme

- Gravis Ultrasound 16-bit sampling daughterboard

- Gravis Ultrasound MAX

- Gravis Ultrasound ACE

- Gravis Ultrasound PnP (with RAM), PnP Pro

- HP OmniBook 2100 (CS4236)

- Home Studio 64 (analog audio only)

- IBM Audio Feature (CS423x)

- Logitech SoundMan Games (SBPro, 44kHz stereo support)

- Logitech SoundMan Wave (Jazz16/OPL4)

- Logitech SoundMan 16 (PAS-16 compatible)

- MED3201 audio card

- Maxi Sound 32 PnP (analog audio only)

- Maxi Sound 64 Dynamic 3D (analog audio only)

- Media Sound SW/32 (non PnP mode)

- MediaTriX AudioTriX Pro, 3D XG

- Media Vision Premium 3D (Jazz16)

- Media Vision Pro Sonic 16 (Jazz)

- Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (PAS-16)

- Media Vision Pro Audio Studio 16

- Media Vision Thunderboard

- Microsoft Windows Sound System board (AD1848)

- MiroSound PCM!-pro

- MultiWave AudioWave Green 16

- Music Quest MIDI connector card (MCC)

- Music Quest MQX-16, MQX-16S MIDI adapter

- Music Quest MQX-32, MQX-32M MIDI adapter

- Music Quest PC MIDI card

- NEC Harmony

- Orchid SoundDrive 16EZ

- Pine PT201

- Primax SoundStorm FM 16, SoundStorm Wave

- Pro Audio Spectrum 16, Studio 16

- RME Digi32, Digi32 Pro, Digi32/8

- Reveal SC300

- Reveal WaveExtreme Pro (with RAM)

- Roland MPU IPC-T MIDI adapter

- S3 SonicVibes

- Shark Mako

- Sharp PC8800

- Shuttle Sound System 48

- Spacewalker HOT-255 PCI 3D (PCI)

- TerraTec Maestro 32/96

- Terratec EWS64XL (audio only)

- Terratec Sound System Base 1 (AD1816)

- Terratec Sound System Base 64 (AD1816)

- Tomato Sound System (OPTi 82C930)

- Trust Sound Expert De Luxe Wave 32

- Turtle Beach Classic/Tahiti/Monterey

- Turtle Beach Maui

- Turtle Beach Monte Carlo 928, Monte Carlo 929

- Turtle Beach Pinnacle/Fiji

- Turtle Beach Tropez, Tropez Plus (audio only)

- Turtle Beach Daytona (audio only)

- Wearnes Classic 16

- Yamaha Sound Edge SW20-PC

- Zefiro Acoustics ZA2 (NOT RECOMMENDED)

- Zenith Z-Player

- AWE32/64 supports is started in kernel series 2.1.x (check the SoundBlaster AWE 32/64 HOWTO by Marcus Brinkmann for installation details)

- MPU-401 MIDI Intelligent mode (don't enable blindly)

  - MPU IPC-T

  - MQX-32M

- MPU-401 MIDI UART only dumb port (don't enable blindly)

- Yamaha FM synthesizers (OPL2, OPL3, OPL3-SAx (since kernel series 2.1.x) and OPL4)

OSS supports all MIDI daughter cards including Wave Blaster, TB Rio and Yamaha DB50XG. The only requirement is that the "host" card is supported by OSS. Note that only the "host" card needs to be configured using soundconf. The daughter card will be automatically accessible through the MIDI of the "host" card.

## 14.2. Alpha, Beta drivers

- 4Front Tech. Waveloop loopback audio device

- Acer FX-3D (AD1816 based)

- AVM Apex Pro card (AD1816 based)

- Aztech AZT1008, AZT2320, AZT3000

- Aztech SC-16 3D (AD1816 based)

- Creative Sound Blaster Vibra16x

- Creative Sound Blaster Live! and Live! Value Edition Creative Labs has beta driver for this card. They work with kernels 2.0.36 and 2.2.5 (and most probably newer kernels in these series). The drivers can be downloaded under the software download area at Creative's web site.

- Highscreen Sound-Boostar 32 Wave 3D (AD1816 based)

- Highscreen Sound-Boostar 16 (AD1816 based)

- HP Kayak (AD1816 based)

- IBM MWave

- Newcom SC-16 3D (AD1816 based)

- PC speaker / Parallel port DAC (driver)

- Rockwell WaveArtist chipset

- Sonorus STUDI/O

- SY-1816 (AD1816 based)

- Terratec Base 1, Base 64 (AD1816 based)

- Terratec EWS64S (AD1816 based)

- Turtle Beach Malibu (driver)

For the AD1816 sound chip based sound cards isapnptools is needed for configuration.

## 14.3. Unsupported

Please note that this section has not been updated recently. It is most likely incorrect.

- A-Trend Harmony 3DS724 (PCI)

- Actech PCI 388-A3D q

- Adaptec AME-1570

- Aureal Vortex (PCI)

- Cardinal DSP 16

- Contributed lowlevel drivers

- Crystal CS4614 (PCI)

- Cyrix MediaGX builtin audio

- Diamond Monster Sound MX300

- Diamond Sonic Impact

- Dream 94PnP Home Studio

- EON Bach SP901 (A3D)

- ESS (PCI)

- ESS Maestro-1 (PCI), Maestro-2 (PCI)

- ESS Solo-1 (PCI)

- Echo Personal Sound System

- Generic ALS007, ALS100 based soundcard

- Orchid NuSound 3D

- Orchid SoundWave 32

- Paradise DSP-16

- Quicknet Internet LineJACK

- Terratec XLerate (A3D)

- Turtle Beach Montego

- Turtle Beach TBS-2000

- Videologic SonicStorm

- Wearnes Beethoven ADSP-16

- Western Digital Paradise DSP-16

- Yamaha YMF724 (PCI)

The ASP chip on Sound Blaster 16 series is not supported. AWE32's onboard E-mu MIDI synthesizer is not supported.

Nathan Laredo <`laredo@gnu.ai.mit.edu`> is willing to write AWE32 drivers if you send him a complimentary card. He is also willing to write drivers for almost any hardware if you send him free samples of your hardware.

Sound Blaster 16's with DSP 4.11 and 4.12 have a hardware bug that causes hung/stuck notes when playing MIDI and digital audio at the same time. The problem can happen with either Wave Blaster daughterboards or MIDI devices attached to the MIDI port. There is no known fix.

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