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diff --git a/Documentation/sound/oss/NM256 b/Documentation/sound/oss/NM256 deleted file mode 100644 index b503217488b..00000000000 --- a/Documentation/sound/oss/NM256 +++ /dev/null @@ -1,280 +0,0 @@ -======================================================= -Documentation for the NeoMagic 256AV/256ZX sound driver -======================================================= - -You're looking at version 1.1 of the driver. (Woohoo!) It has been -successfully tested against the following laptop models: - - Sony Z505S/Z505SX/Z505DX/Z505RX - Sony F150, F160, F180, F250, F270, F280, PCG-F26 - Dell Latitude CPi, CPt (various submodels) - -There are a few caveats, which is why you should read the entirety of -this document first. - -This driver was developed without any support or assistance from -NeoMagic. There is no warranty, expressed, implied, or otherwise. It -is free software in the public domain; feel free to use it, sell it, -give it to your best friends, even claim that you wrote it (but why?!) -but don't go whining to me, NeoMagic, Sony, Dell, or anyone else -when it blows up your computer. - -Version 1.1 contains a change to try and detect non-AC97 versions of -the hardware, and not install itself appropriately. It should also -reinitialize the hardware on an APM resume event, assuming that APM -was configured into your kernel. - -============ -Installation -============ - -Enable the sound drivers, the OSS sound drivers, and then the NM256 -driver. The NM256 driver *must* be configured as a module (it won't -give you any other choice). - -Next, do the usual "make modules" and "make modules_install". -Finally, insmod the soundcore, sound and nm256 modules. - -When the nm256 driver module is loaded, you should see a couple of -confirmation messages in the kernel logfile indicating that it found -the device (the device does *not* use any I/O ports or DMA channels). -Now try playing a wav file, futz with the CD-ROM if you have one, etc. - -The NM256 is entirely a PCI-based device, and all the necessary -information is automatically obtained from the card. It can only be -configured as a module in a vain attempt to prevent people from -hurting themselves. It works correctly if it shares an IRQ with -another device (it normally shares IRQ 9 with the builtin eepro100 -ethernet on the Sony Z505 laptops). - -It does not run the card in any sort of compatibility mode. It will -not work on laptops that have the SB16-compatible, AD1848-compatible -or CS4232-compatible codec/mixer; you will want to use the appropriate -compatible OSS driver with these chipsets. I cannot provide any -assistance with machines using the SB16, AD1848 or CS4232 compatible -versions. (The driver now attempts to detect the mixer version, and -will refuse to load if it believes the hardware is not -AC97-compatible.) - -The sound support is very basic, but it does include simultaneous -playback and record capability. The mixer support is also quite -simple, although this is in keeping with the rather limited -functionality of the chipset. - -There is no hardware synthesizer available, as the Losedows OPL-3 and -MIDI support is done via hardware emulation. - -Only three recording devices are available on the Sony: the -microphone, the CD-ROM input, and the volume device (which corresponds -to the stereo output). (Other devices may be available on other -models of laptops.) The Z505 series does not have a builtin CD-ROM, -so of course the CD-ROM input doesn't work. It does work on laptops -with a builtin CD-ROM drive. - -The mixer device does not appear to have any tone controls, at least -on the Z505 series. The mixer module checks for tone controls in the -AC97 mixer, and will enable them if they are available. - -============== -Known problems -============== - - * There are known problems with PCMCIA cards and the eepro100 ethernet - driver on the Z505S/Z505SX/Z505DX. Keep reading. - - * There are also potential problems with using a virtual X display, and - also problems loading the module after the X server has been started. - Keep reading. - - * The volume control isn't anywhere near linear. Sorry. This will be - fixed eventually, when I get sufficiently annoyed with it. (I doubt - it will ever be fixed now, since I've never gotten sufficiently - annoyed with it and nobody else seems to care.) - - * There are reports that the CD-ROM volume is very low. Since I do not - have a CD-ROM equipped laptop, I cannot test this (it's kinda hard to - do remotely). - - * Only 8 fixed-rate speeds are supported. This is mainly a chipset - limitation. It may be possible to support other speeds in the future. - - * There is no support for the telephone mixer/codec. There is support - for a phonein/phoneout device in the mixer driver; whether or not - it does anything is anyone's guess. (Reports on this would be - appreciated. You'll have to figure out how to get the phone to - go off-hook before it'll work, tho.) - - * This driver was not written with any cooperation or support from - NeoMagic. If you have any questions about this, see their website - for their official stance on supporting open source drivers. - -============ -Video memory -============ - -The NeoMagic sound engine uses a portion of the display memory to hold -the sound buffer. (Crazy, eh?) The NeoMagic video BIOS sets up a -special pointer at the top of video RAM to indicate where the top of -the audio buffer should be placed. - -At the present time XFree86 is apparently not aware of this. It will -thus write over either the pointer or the sound buffer with abandon. -(Accelerated-X seems to do a better job here.) - -This implies a few things: - - * Sometimes the NM256 driver has to guess at where the buffer - should be placed, especially if the module is loaded after the - X server is started. It's usually correct, but it will consistently - fail on the Sony F250. - - * Virtual screens greater than 1024x768x16 under XFree86 are - problematic on laptops with only 2.5MB of screen RAM. This - includes all of the 256AV-equipped laptops. (Virtual displays - may or may not work on the 256ZX, which has at least 4MB of - video RAM.) - -If you start having problems with random noise being output either -constantly (this is the usual symptom on the F250), or when windows -are moved around (this is the usual symptom when using a virtual -screen), the best fix is to - - * Don't use a virtual frame buffer. - * Make sure you load the NM256 module before the X server is - started. - -On the F250, it is possible to force the driver to load properly even -after the XFree86 server is started by doing: - - insmod nm256 buffertop=0x25a800 - -This forces the audio buffers to the correct offset in screen RAM. - -One user has reported a similar problem on the Sony F270, although -others apparently aren't seeing any problems. His suggested command -is - - insmod nm256 buffertop=0x272800 - -================= -Official WWW site -================= - -The official site for the NM256 driver is: - - http://www.uglx.org/sony.html - -You should always be able to get the latest version of the driver there, -and the driver will be supported for the foreseeable future. - -============== -Z505RX and IDE -============== - -There appears to be a problem with the IDE chipset on the Z505RX; one -of the symptoms is that sound playback periodically hangs (when the -disk is accessed). The user reporting the problem also reported that -enabling all of the IDE chipset workarounds in the kernel solved the -problem, tho obviously only one of them should be needed--if someone -can give me more details I would appreciate it. - -============================== -Z505S/Z505SX on-board Ethernet -============================== - -If you're using the on-board Ethernet Pro/100 ethernet support on the Z505 -series, I strongly encourage you to download the latest eepro100 driver from -Donald Becker's site: - - ftp://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/linux/drivers/test/eepro100.c - -There was a reported problem on the Z505SX that if the ethernet -interface is disabled and reenabled while the sound driver is loaded, -the machine would lock up. I have included a workaround that is -working satisfactorily. However, you may occasionally see a message -about "Releasing interrupts, over 1000 bad interrupts" which indicates -that the workaround is doing its job. - -================================== -PCMCIA and the Z505S/Z505SX/Z505DX -================================== - -There is also a known problem with the Sony Z505S and Z505SX hanging -if a PCMCIA card is inserted while the ethernet driver is loaded, or -in some cases if the laptop is suspended. This is caused by tons of -spurious IRQ 9s, probably generated from the PCMCIA or ACPI bridges. - -There is currently no fix for the problem that works in every case. -The only known workarounds are to disable the ethernet interface -before inserting or removing a PCMCIA card, or with some cards -disabling the PCMCIA card before ejecting it will also help the -problem with the laptop hanging when the card is ejected. - -One user has reported that setting the tcic's cs_irq to some value -other than 9 (like 11) fixed the problem. This doesn't work on my -Z505S, however--changing the value causes the cardmgr to stop seeing -card insertions and removals, cards don't seem to work correctly, and -I still get hangs if a card is inserted when the kernel is booted. - -Using the latest ethernet driver and pcmcia package allows me to -insert an Adaptec 1480A SlimScsi card without the laptop hanging, -although I still have to shut down the card before ejecting or -powering down the laptop. However, similar experiments with a DE-660 -ethernet card still result in hangs when the card is inserted. I am -beginning to think that the interrupts are CardBus-related, since the -Adaptec card is a CardBus card, and the DE-660 is not; however, I -don't have any other CardBus cards to test with. - -====== -Thanks -====== - -First, I want to thank everyone (except NeoMagic of course) for their -generous support and encouragement. I'd like to list everyone's name -here that replied during the development phase, but the list is -amazingly long. - -I will be rather unfair and single out a few people, however: - - Justin Maurer, for being the first random net.person to try it, - and for letting me login to his Z505SX to get it working there - - Edi Weitz for trying out several different versions, and giving - me a lot of useful feedback - - Greg Rumple for letting me login remotely to get the driver - functional on the 256ZX, for his assistance on tracking - down all sorts of random stuff, and for trying out Accel-X - - Zach Brown, for the initial AC97 mixer interface design - - Jeff Garzik, for various helpful suggestions on the AC97 - interface - - "Mr. Bumpy" for feedback on the Z505RX - - Bill Nottingham, for generous assistance in getting the mixer ID - code working - -================= -Previous versions -================= - -Versions prior to 0.3 (aka `noname') had problems with weird artifacts -in the output and failed to set the recording rate properly. These -problems have long since been fixed. - -Versions prior to 0.5 had problems with clicks in the output when -anything other than 16-bit stereo sound was being played, and also had -periodic clicks when recording. - -Version 0.7 first incorporated support for the NM256ZX chipset, which -is found on some Dell Latitude laptops (the CPt, and apparently -some CPi models as well). It also included the generic AC97 -mixer module. - -Version 0.75 renamed all the functions and files with slightly more -generic names. - -Note that previous versions of this document claimed that recording was -8-bit only; it actually has been working for 16-bits all along. |