Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2018 16:35:09 -0800 From: C Gray <frankfenderbender@council124.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: followup to my previous sound-card/driver question Message-ID: <69060D2E-8ED1-4BDB-8801-2BA29F15C632@council124.org> In-Reply-To: <09DEB81A-3DC1-4147-9249-0497C89F429B@council124.org> References: <8F08E935-33A8-4B5F-9057-51FAD51DA97D@council124.org> <20180201121251.95e345cf.freebsd@edvax.de> <09DEB81A-3DC1-4147-9249-0497C89F429B@council124.org>
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Creative Lab apparently now only produces/sells/supports "x1" =
SoundBlaster sound cards.
My slots are for "PCIe x4", "PCIe x8", or "PCI-X". No "PCIe x1".
Creative Labs support is digging through archives to find which EOL'ed =
cards were which as most are listed on Amazon w/o that pertinent =
information, rather just listing as a model in a card family. I actually =
found a telephone number and got an answer in 2-3 rings: (405) =
742-6655.
And, of course, there are the "fake" cards called "SoundBlaster" =
(clones, unsupported and seldom taken back if incompatible) rather than =
those named "Creative SoundBlaster" (officially made by Creative Labs).
None show the listed models down to a level indicating {x1, x4, x8} or =
even if it is a PCI-X slot-fitting card.
So, reverse engineering is what I shall try to do while waiting for the =
technical support email with a hopeful list.
The FreeBSD page, =
<https://freebsd.org/releases/11.1R/hardware.html#sound>, indicates the =
following for 64-bit system supported sound cards that are supported by =
either the "snd_emu10k1(4)" or the "snd_emu10kx(4)" drivers:
=95 Creative SoundBlaster Live! (EMU10K1 Chipset)
=95 Creative SoundBlaster Audigy (EMU10K2 Chipset)
=95 Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 (EMU10K2 Chipset)
=95 Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 (EMU10K3 Chipset)
=95 Creative Sound Blaster Live! (EMU10K1 Chipset).=20
Both PCM and MIDI interfaces are available.
=95 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy (CA0100 and CA0101 Chipset).=20=
PCM and two MIDI interfaces available.
=95 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 and Creative Sound Blaster =
Audigy 4 (CA0102 Chipset).=20
PCM support is limited to 48kHz/16 bit stereo (192kHz/24 bit =
part of this chipset is not supported).
=95 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value (CA0108 Chipset).=20
PCM support is limited to 48kHz/16 bit stereo (192kHz/24 bit =
part of this chipset is not supported).=20
There is no MIDI support for this card.
The following doc is less helpful:
The snd_emu10kx(4) driver does not support the following sound cards =
(although they have names similar to some supported ones):
=95 ...
=95 All Creative X-Fi series sound cards.
Too bad because the ad for "Creative Labs SB0880 PCI Express Sound =
Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card" =20
on =
<https://amazon.com/Creative-SB0880-Express-Blaster-Titanium/dp/B001E25KDK=
/>.
It "System Requirements" list seems to fit, as far as I'm aware at the =
present, of what barriers could get in the way.
It appears to tell me that its work for my slots:
Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, or XP;=20
Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor or =
equivalent;=20
available PCI Express (x1, x4, x8, or x16) slot;=20
256MB RAM (512 MB RAM for Vista);=20
600MB of free hard-disk space;=20
CD or DVD-ROM for software installation; <<<< [not needed]
headphones or amplified speakers;=20
Internet connection to download PowerDVD player software.
Unfortunately, there is no mention of the chipset, but having the PCI =
types listed is encouraging.
The FreeBSD doc, although very helpful, does not tell me which X-Fi =
models are NOT supported by theFreeBSD's "snd_emu10kx(4)" driver.
So, if anyone knows the "supported X-Fi" list that would be very =
helpful.
FreeBSD doc's "not specific enough" list for me, logic-wise, arise from =
the phrases "does not support" (from the list intro) and "All"..." (from =
the actual list).
Together they form the phrase "does not support... all", which =
delineates a set, N, with an indeterminant # of elements.
It can support (0-to-N) of the X-Fi sound cards.
Supporting only (1-of-N) X-Fi sound cards meets the criteria of "not =
supporting all" as does supporting (N-1) X-Fi sound cards.
Even supporting 0 meets the logic of the chosen phraseology.
Thus, I will stay away from the X-Fi family due to the "non-specific =
list" factor, unless I hear of a very matchable, qualified application =
by someone.
That's not too much of a loss w/so many supported devices.=20
My first list from the FreeBSD doc, is still quite vast, as far as a =
list goes, though availability may narrow that down a bit. =20
I have also read bad reviews of the Audigy family which have proprietary =
cables.=20
Non-standard proprietaries so well-deployed by Microsoft and Apple. No =
thanks.=20
They are the 180-degree flip-sides of clones.
The "chipset" is never listed with the sound card descriptions on =
Amazon.com, SoundBlaster.com, or Creative.com web pages.
Some of a chipset's models may not be supported so I must know all vars =
before I can select and order a card.
Does a list of specific models (selling name as well as actual model =
nomenclature) exist.
The four-variable algorithm (chipset; x1/x4/x8/-X; model #; =
FreeBSD-supported) list is what I seek so that I avoid the =
somewhere-documented failure.
My dragged-out question can be pared down to this:
which of the FreeBSD driver-supported Creative Labs sound cards =
(listed above) are made for {x4, x8, -X) slots AND are built with a =
supported chipset?
It would appear that I am trying to find exact model #s -- and not just =
the all-encompassing advertisement family called "Creative SoundBlaster =
Live! - EMU10K1 Chipset)" that will fit one of my PCIe x4. PCIe x8, or =
PCI-X slots.
[Note: it would also be great to find one that will work with my Ensoniq =
TS-10 Sampler-Sequencer-Synthesizer via MIDI, so I can move away from =
another Apple-broken tool, MIDI (like NFS, X11, mail, BSD, ad finitum), =
however, that would just add another variable into the 'find-a-card' =
algorithm. Even considering this seems foolhardy. I just want some audio =
for my Python/PHP/Java/Javascript/Perl/C development server.]=20
best wishes (and sorry for the elongated clarification),
Chris Gray
frankfenderbender@council124.org
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