Very Computer

I have a Pentium 120 with all the extras, but am considering replacing
my soundcard.  I am also going to install Linux very soon, so I am
seeking advice here first.  I currently have an Ensoniq Soundscape, and
although the 1.3.x kernel now supports it, I've heard that it's near
impossible to setup and that special linux ssinit .exe's are hard to
find.  Has anyone set up Ensoniq's successfully and/or easily?

I was thinking about switching to a SB 32 AWE PnP card.  This is
relatively new, so does anyone know if the kernel does/will support it?  
Or how easy SB cards are to setup in linux?

Thanks

Brian

: I have a Pentium 120 with all the extras, but am considering replacing
: my soundcard.  I am also going to install Linux very soon, so I am
: seeking advice here first.  I currently have an Ensoniq Soundscape, and
: although the 1.3.x kernel now supports it, I've heard that it's near
: impossible to setup and that special linux ssinit .exe's are hard to
: find.  Has anyone set up Ensoniq's successfully and/or easily?

: I was thinking about switching to a SB 32 AWE PnP card.  This is
: relatively new, so does anyone know if the kernel does/will support it?  
: Or how easy SB cards are to setup in linux?

AWE32 is easy to setup in linux as an SB16. There are no drivers for the
wavetable part of it. Creative Labs refuses to give out programming info
for it, hence no driver. If anybody knows differently I would love to hear
from you! As for the PnP version, I have no idea what problems if any that
would cause.

        Andrew.

: I have a Pentium 120 with all the extras, but am considering replacing
: my soundcard.  I am also going to install Linux very soon, so I am
: seeking advice here first.  I currently have an Ensoniq Soundscape,
and
: although the 1.3.x kernel now supports it, I've heard that it's near
: impossible to setup and that special linux ssinit .exe's are hard to
: find.  Has anyone set up Ensoniq's successfully and/or easily?

: I was thinking about switching to a SB 32 AWE PnP card.  This is
: relatively new, so does anyone know if the kernel does/will support it
: Or how easy SB cards are to setup in linux?

I have an Ensoniq Soundscape and have been running it successfully under
1.2.13 for a long time and am now successfully running it under 1.2.52.
As for it being impossible to setup I certainly have not found this to
be the case. In answer to the 'special linux ssinit .exe's', these are
distributed as part of the snd-util-3.0.tar.gz and the total effort
required is maximally:

        1. Edit the one and only source file ssinit.c to select the                             right
sndscape.co? to download. This is a one character
                change.
        2. compile using gcc -o ssinit ssinit.c
        3. cp ssinit /usr/local/bin
        3. Add a line of the form /usr/local/bin/ssinit to rc.local

If you are worried about answering the DMA/IRQ questions then the
following are the setting I use (your mileage may vary).

#define SSCAPE_BASE 0x330
#define SSCAPE_IRQ 9
#define SSCAPE_DMA 3
#define SSCAPE_MSS_BASE 0x534
#define SSCAPE_MSS_IRQ 5
#define SSCAPE_MSS_DMA 1

Lastly, I have been using xmcd (1.4) to play music cd's. And xmmix (1.1)
as a mixer. If you want to play MIDI stuff then playmidi (2.2) seems to
work just fine.

Hope some of this help, regards,