SGI: Hardware

hi

I've just got my fuel setup and would now like a sound card. My basic question is, what is so bad with the sound blaster audigy zs? Given i'm only what it to play music and watch video etc, will i notice any difference with the more expensive option?

Many thanks

There's been a recent discussion concerning the use of SoundBlaster Audigy boards in the Fuel you might find interesting: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16725195

Dr. Dave's post in that topic describes issues he discovered with the Audigy2 ZS while watching videos - as a result he suggested using the first generation Audigy SB0090. I did some follow up testing of an SB0090 in a Fuel with good results.

The Audigy SB0090 seems to be readily available (and relatively inexpensive) on eBay: http://shop.ebay.com/?_nkw=SB0090&

Since the preferred M-Audio Revolution 7.1 boards often command a premium price, and the list of fully working third-party PCI audio alternatives seems to currently be limited to the Creative Audigy SB0090 (and the Audigy2 ZS has received mixed reviews).

The Audigy SB0090 uses an EMU10k1 chipset and the Audigy2 ZS uses an EMU10k2 chipset, so I thought I'd post a link to a list of other PCI audio boards that use the those same EMU chipsets on the chance someone might have (or cheaply acquire) a sample to test.

The list is from an FAQ for a project to provide a Win7 driver for EMU-based boards. So only consider the boards listed if you're willing to experiment/take the risk they won't work with IP35/IRIX (and some of the older EMU-based boards may only support 5V PCI slots, so check closely if you're attempting to acquire one): http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/faq.php?language=en#cards

There's a slightly more concise list (but without part/model numbers) in another forum concerning the same driver project: http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/ ... u10k1.html


If you do discover an alternative PCI audio board for IRIX, please post a follow up.

I have a Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1, model SB0100, that I recently removed from an old PC of mine. It was working in the PC last I checked but that machine hasn't seen regular use in a long time, and I recently opted to use the motherboard AC97 audio while trying out a new AGP video card.

I installed the SB0100 in a Fuel with a basic 6.5.30f installation, and while the card showed up in 'hinv -v' output, it didn't appear to be recognized as a compatible audio card - no "Iris Audio Processor" line, but the PCI IDs were present. When I would try to run the audio control panel it would refuse to start claiming there was no recognized audio device. When running the Confidence test app, no audio test was offered.

By contrast, I finally installed my SB0090 Audigy and it was recognized on boot with no action on my part. 'hinv -v' reports both the "Iris Audio Processor: version EMU revision A3, number 1" and the PCI IDs, audio control panel runs and works (a little oddly, but works), and the audio confidence test 1) is now shown as an option, and 2) plays the sound clip successfully.

Too bad - when I noticed the EMU10K1 chip I was hoping it might turn out to be another option...

The only sizeable chip on the SB Live! 5.1 has the following markings:

( LOGO ) Environmental
( LOGO ) Audio
CREATIVE
EMU10K1-NGF
© CREATIVE TECH'97
0044K3075

Board shows a "COPYRIGHT CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY LTD 2000" on the component side, just above the PCI card edge fingers.

If you are only interested in sound out you can use an USB sound dongle.
The rule seems to be if the sound dongle works without drivers in an Win XP install it will work in IRIX (HID device I guess)
I have plugged in Logitech USB headsets, China manufactured dirt cheap USB dongles etc. and they all worked.
I have also run in to USB dongles that do not work, it seems the the cheaper and less sofisticated they are the bigger chanse they will work.
So scavenge around your junk box and see what USB sound devices you might already have at hand and try them out.

//Harry

Good to know -- I can add that the Plantronics "DSP Adaptor -01" (spacing per their label) USB dongle works for output-only. Shows up in 'hinv -v' as follows:

smj wrote: I installed the SB0100 in a Fuel with a basic 6.5.30f installation, and while the card showed up in 'hinv -v' output, it didn't appear to be recognized as a compatible audio card - no "Iris Audio Processor" line, but the PCI IDs were present. When I would try to run the audio control panel it would refuse to start claiming there was no recognized audio device. When running the Confidence test app, no audio test was offered.

Steve - thanks for taking the time to test that board. I spent a little time browsing google images and it looks like pretty much anything older than the board you tried requires a 5V PCI slot, which excludes almost everything in the IP35 generation (except perhaps one of the O3x0 PCI Expansion Modules with both 3.3 and 5v slots).

deBug wrote: If you are only interested in sound out you can use an USB sound dongle.

Harry - thank you for adding USB audio to the the list of alternative IP35 sound devices. The USB Griffin iMic and the PCI DM8/M-Audio Revolution both got added to the IP35 family tree at the same time (with IRIX 6.5.20) . When I originally set up the Onyx300 it had a single compute module (with no empty PCI slots), so I picked up a Griffin iMic to have audio .

I wouldn't pass up any of the PCI audio options to run an iMic (high fidelity it ain't) but it was cheap, painless to configure, and functioned reliably.

Just a reminder that you need Irix 6.5.25 or later to get sound out of an Audigy, per the Fuel hardware aggregator .

I just installed IRIX 6.5.19 -> patch 5086 -> 6.5.22 on my Fuel. For the installation I removed both the SB0090 and an Adaptec AUA-3020, one of which was causing the miniroot kernel to hang with some kind of PCI bridge condition. But sure enough, when I added back the SB0090 post-installation it was not recognized...

FYI, YMMV, IANAL, SNAFU, PEBCAK...