b.n. <brullonulla <at> gmail.com> writes:
> What of these audio chips are supported with Linux? Well, in general when you use lspci -v or lshw, you see the information about the main chip that is central to the device driver for that piece of hardware. For example on my ethernet, lspci reveals: 02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller The 'chip is a Realtek RTL8111 If I go to www.realtek.com and look around, I can find the published data sheet to that chipset: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=5&Level= 5&Conn=4&ProdID=142&DownTypeID=1&GetDown=false&Downloads=true Then you go to the sources : /usr/src/linux and look for drivers for that chipset or by the name of the board: for example in /usr/src/linux/sound/pci I see this driver: intel8x0.c Looking at the comments in the driver: ALSA driver for Intel ICH (i8x0) chipsets This code also contains alpha support for SiS 735 chipsets provided by Mike Pieper <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. We have no datasheet for SiS735, so the code is not fully functional. Now you see that the one company chooses not to publish their data on a particular chipset (this is the root of trouble for linux) *assholes* only publish their specifications to large clients Often even those clients have to sign very restrictive documents about their (Intellectual Property) so the data is not published. As much as possible, you want to search out these details, particularly related to the key interfaces/features you want of a given mobo. > Googling or consulting the ALSA matrix is not enough. Google is a challenge and I learn new tricks all the time, so be patient with the net search engines.... > What SOC chips are? The general category is System On a Chip. They can be ASICs or FPGA, or other forms of microprocessors in a package. for example, if you want to build a product, you can license and ARM core from Arm Limited or one of their partners, and go to Realtek and license and ethernet core (cores are 100% software that a hardware engineer (computer or EE) puts on an ASIC or FPGA or such and build an entire system that you do not even know what the components(cores) are that comprise the SOC. All you know is what the vendor wants you to know.... > Yes, but I have no idea of how does a surround 5.1 set is made or how > does it look like. What to choose etc. 5.1 surround is made of 4 speakers, 2 in the front, 2 in the back, a voice channel in the center front(hence the 5) and one subwoofer(hence the .1) for 5.1 surround. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surround http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surround_sound#Creating_surround_sound > Ehm. You really have no idea of what the University in Italy looks like. > There is NO thing like a campus. Nothing. Zero. "University" is just a > bunch of buildings scattered all within the city, usually one or two for > each department, where lessons take place and research is made. Most > students (except a few ones having excellent grades AND poor economic > conditions) are expected to live by themselves, usually by renting a > room somewhere in the city. And grad students have no coverage > whatsoever, apart from monthly 800 Euros, nor are hosted somewhere near > the university. They're basically underpaid researchers. Been there done that, worked many jobs while in engineering school, not to mention fishing boats and construction jobs in the summer.... Builds character and instills resolve to become successful later in life.... Nothing like working 20 hours a day in the freezing cold handling 300 pound fish, gutting and cleaning them, to get motivated to return to school in the fall..... > Sad truth. Things like a university campus etc. are just dreams for us. > When we watch a movie like "Animal House", we simply don't understand. > The movie is fun etc. but the whole environment for us is alien. Well, at least you still have some industry in Europe. Being in America, as an engineer, I do not know a single engineer that is encouraging their children into engineering here in the US. Welcome to globalization. The elites get richer and the middle class of the (industrialize world) loose their jobs.... Very sad here stateside. I was just talking to a mechanical engineerthe other day, he's running a hotdog stand.... > And, oh, there is NO music department. There are artistic departments > covering music, but they have no equipments -just books. Hey, come on, they do not need instruments in Italy...All of those beautiful singing voices, ripe with wine and romantic passion for any female that happens to walk by.....I spent a few summers in europe on the trains and even stayed in dorm rooms in Rome... Wonderful summer, lots of young beautiful skirts to chase..... be happy, find a girl and share a bottle of wine.... You know, I have a friend that is a Savant EE. He grew up as poor as they come here in the states. He rummaged through garbage cans to find old radios and stereo gear. He just start removing chips and repairing things until he graduated with a masters in EE. Now he designs GAs (Gallium Arsenide) chips that are used in things that go mach6.... gotta make the best of the situation.... Most of the best engineers I know, grew up poor, became angry about their circumstances, and did something about it. You might even try to find a computer/electronics repair business and volunteer to do some work, in exchange for old equipment..... If you work on enough computers, you'll figure out what is cool and what works with linux (just a thought). > > Make sure the old gear is impedance matched > > on the speakers and the speakers are impedance matched or compatible > > with the audio card (mobo chip).... > Oh, ok. That's something I didn't know about. I'll ask about how does it > work... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance_matching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_impedance http://www.hometoys.com/htinews/feb04/articles/polk/impedence.htm PS from what you have said, you just might want to keep hacking away at your existing system and read up on new hardware until you are confident in your purchase. hth, James -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
