sound driver compatibility

[kolas]

sound driver/installer compatibility on motherboard.how can we easily see or to identify the correct sound driver/installer?what are the basic things to consider?

[stj]

Re: sound driver compatibility

look at the make of the sound chip.
go to the makers website & lookup the part number.

specially easy if it's realtek.

[ratdude747]

Re: sound driver compatibility

what os? windows? linux? other?

also, using your spacebar between sentences would be nice... also, try not to word things like a rant.

[stj]

Re: sound driver compatibility

it's pretty safe to say it's windoze given that Linux has all available drivers in the kernel to begin with.

[ratdude747]

Re: sound driver compatibility

not if it is a higher end creative... my audigy 2 was hell to even make working at all, and when i did, it was a crackle-a-thon... useless.

[kolas]

Re: sound driver compatibility

windows xp2.thanks to all of you.i should try to look first to the audio chip of my cpu unit

[kolas]

Re: sound driver compatibility

what os? windows? linux? other?

also, using your spacebar between sentences would be nice... also, try not to word things like a rant.

ok sir i'll try my best

[ratdude747]

Re: sound driver compatibility

the chip is not in the cpu (if you mean the processor). it is either on the mainboard or on a card.

if it is a major brand machine (dell, hp, etc.), post the brand/model... if it is custom, post the main board brand/model. if it is custom, then find the model on the card or post a pic of it... the main chip is easy to find on the card

note- sound chips on semi-newer mainboards are TINY- the size of a wooden pencil eraser head. hence why a model no. is a better bet.

one last trick (this is for all drivers) is to burn a live linux cd (pick a distro, ubuntu will work great), boot off it to desktop, open a termnal and type:

lspci

for non-usb devices and usb controllers

lsusb

for usb connected devices

note- firewire is neither- i am not 100% sure if there is a command for that.

and find what you need off the list. all it detects is the hardware info, so if the cd does not load the linux driver, it will still show up.

examples from my laptop with ubuntu:

larry@larry-laptop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:00.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:00.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5705M Gigabit Ethernet (rev 01)
01:01.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI7510 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
01:01.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI7510,7610 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
01:01.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCI7410,7510,7610 OHCI-Lynx Controller
01:01.3 System peripheral: Texas Instruments PCI7410,7510,7610 PCI Firmware Loading Function
01:03.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4309 802.11a/b/g (rev 03)

larry@larry-laptop:~$ lsusb
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 045e:0039 Microsoft Corp. IntelliMouse Optical
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 413c:0058 Dell Computer Corp. Port Replicator
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

for sound, look for "multimedia audio controller"

example:

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)

and there is your chip model. write it down and reboot back to windows.

go to the company's website and find the driver, if not, google for it, and if you come up dry, post here about it and we will try our best to help you.