Specifications

If your sound card was not found then something is wrong. Make sure it really is installed. If the sound card
works under DOS then you can be reasonably confident that the hardware is working, so it is likely a problem
with the kernel configuration. Either you configured your sound card as the wrong type or wrong parameters,
or your sound card is not compatible with any of the Linux kernel sound card drivers.
One possibility is that your sound card is one of the compatible type that requires initialization by the DOS
driver. Try booting DOS and loading the vendor supplied sound card driver. Then soft boot Linux using
Control−Alt−Delete. Make sure that card I/O address, DMA, and IRQ settings for Linux are the same
as used under DOS. Read the Readme.cards file from the sound driver source distribution for hints on
configuring your card type.
If your sound card is not listed in this document, it is possible that the Linux drivers do not support it. You
can check with some of the references listed at the end of this document for assistance.
4.6.4. Step 4: Can you read data from the dsp device?
Try reading from the /dev/audio device using the dd command listed earlier in this document. The
command should run without errors.
If it doesn't work, then chances are that the problem is an IRQ or DMA conflict or some kind of hardware
incompatibility (the device is not supported by Linux or the driver is configured for a wrong device).
A remote possibility is broken hardware. Try testing the sound card under DOS, if possible, to eliminate that
as a possibility.
4.6.5. When All Else Fails
If you still have problems, here are some final suggestions for things to try:
carefully re−read this HOWTO document •
read the references listed at the end of this document and the relevant kernel source documentation
files
•
post a question to one of the comp.os.linux or other Usenet newsgroups
(comp.os.linux.hardware is a good choice; because of the high level of traffic in these groups it helps
to put the string "sound" in the subject header for the article so the right experts will see it)
•
Using a web/Usenet search engine with an intelligently selected search criteria can give very good
results quickly. One such choice is http://www.google.com
•
try using the latest Linux kernel (but only as a last resort, the latest development kernels can be
unstable)
•
send mail to the author of the sound driver •
send mail to the author of the Sound HOWTO •
fire up emacs and type Esc−x doctor :−) •
The Linux Sound HOWTO
4.6.4. Step 4: Can you read data from the dsp device? 14