Changes between Version 3 and Version 4 of EndUserInfo

Timestamp:

Sep 22, 2008, 10:48:34 PM (16 years ago)

Author:

Lewis Rosenthal

Comment:

Clarified support for pre-AC'97 cards; clarified role of experimental uniaud32.sys; added What is Uniaud? section

EndUserInfo

@@ -5 +5 @@
 (N.B.: FAQ coming soon.)
 
+== What is Uniaud? ==
+
+Uniaud is a generic audio device driver which derives some of its functionality from the Linux [http://www.alsa.com ALSA Project]. Uniaud supports a broad range of PCI audio cards and chipsets including but not limited to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC97 AC'97] and High Definition ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_High_Definition_Audio HDA]) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_codec audio codecs]. It also supports at least one ISA sound card. In fact, Uniaud supports most audio chipsets on the market.
+
 == Card Selection ==
 
 If you don't already have an audio card, or you are shopping for a system board with onboard audio, you should review our [SupportedHardware Supported Hardware Matrix].
 
-Generally, current audio cards come in two basic flavors: HDA and AC'97. HDA (High Definition Audio) is a newer spec defined by Intel in 2004 which specifically brings the ability of more sound channels at higher quality than previously available. Naturally, this new functionality requires newer hardware and software support. The Uniaud Project is making great strides to support this newer specification, but there is still much work to be done. (For more on HDA, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_High_Definition_Audio Wikipedia's page].)
+Generally, current (new, off-the-shelf, 4th quarter, 2008) audio cards come in two basic flavors: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_High_Definition_Audio HDA] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC97 AC'97]. HDA (High Definition Audio) is a newer spec defined by Intel in 2004 which specifically brings the ability of more sound channels at higher quality than previously available. Naturally, this new functionality requires newer hardware and software support. The Uniaud Project is making great strides to support this newer specification, but there is still much work to be done.
 
-Non-HDA hardware in recent years has made use of the AC'97 codec, also released by Intel, but back in 1997 (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC97 here] for more specifics). Uniaud has fairly good support for AC'97 devices.
+Non-HDA hardware in recent years has made use of the AC'97 codec developed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Architecture_Labs Intel Architecture Labs] in 1997. Uniaud has fairly good support for AC'97 devices.
 
-Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy cards seem to present their own set of problems for Uniaud and under Linux, for [http://www.alsa.com/ ALSA] (on which much of Uniaud is based). If you would like to help with the debugging effort on this hardware, then please feel free. Just be warned that you may be in for a bumpy ride before getting pleasant tones to your ears.
+Pre-AC'97 cards are also generally supported, including at least one ISA card. If you have an older system with 16-bit ISA slots, or a newer one which does indeed have one, Uniaud may just work for you.
 
-So, in order of ease of use, one would likely choose:
+Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE cards seem to present their own set of problems for Uniaud and under Linux, for [http://www.alsa.com/ ALSA] (on which much of Uniaud is based). If you would like to help with the debugging effort on this hardware, then please feel free. Just be warned that you may be in for a bumpy ride before getting pleasant tones to your ears. (Note that the original Audigy cards are fairly well supported.)
+
+So, for brand new cards, and in order of ease of use, one would likely choose:
 
   1. AC'97 based devices
-  2. HDA based devices or Sound Blaster (the latter is probably less likely to result in a system hang, but more likely to currently result in no sound)
+  2. HDA based devices or Sound Blaster Audigy SE (the latter is probably less likely to result in a system hang, but more likely to currently result in no sound)
 
 == Driver Selection ==
@@ -25 +31 @@
 
   1. A non-HDA build of Uniaud, currently at the 1.1.4 RC6 level, and available [ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/uniaud/uniaud114RC6.zip here], or
-  2. The above overlaid with the latest HDA-enabled component (uniaud32.sys), currently at the 1.9.6 level (see [VersioningInfo Versioning Info] for more details), which is available [http://download.smedley.info/uniaud32-1.9.6.zip here].
+  2. The above overlaid with the latest (experimental) HDA-enabled uniaud32.sys, currently at the 1.9.6 level (see [VersioningInfo Versioning Info] for more details), which is available [http://download.smedley.info/uniaud32-1.9.6.zip here].
 
 == Basic Installation: Common ==
@@ -35 +41 @@
 == Installing HDA Support ==
 
-To provide HDA support, you should download the HDA component as mentioned above. Unzip the distribution to a safe location, peruse the readme, and copy uniaud32.sys on top of the one previously installed in your \MMOS2 directory. Once this is done, as an added precaution, you may want to disable system sounds (these have been known to cause hangs as the desktop comes up, presumably due to the overlapping of them as one event follows quickly after the other). Shut down and reboot (the driver must be loaded from CONFIG.SYS, so merely restarting the desktop will not produce the desired effect).
+To provide HDA support, you should download the (experimental) HDA-enabled uniaud32.sys as mentioned above. Unzip the distribution to a safe location, peruse the readme, and copy uniaud32.sys on top of the one previously installed in your \MMOS2 directory. Once this is done, as an added precaution, you may want to disable system sounds (these have been known to cause hangs as the desktop comes up, presumably due to the overlapping of them as one event follows quickly after the other). Shut down and reboot (the driver must be loaded from CONFIG.SYS, so merely restarting the desktop will not produce the desired effect).
 
 == Troubleshooting ==