Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Nicos Gollan]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1630 bytes --]

Hi...

During the last weeks, I tried to get that card to work with ALSA 0.9.3c. 
Here's what I found:

 - The card is not properly recognized by the driver. I added the card to the 
drivers hardware list (see attached patch) which seemed to help somewhat.

 - Without the external_amp parameter, sound is sometimes OK, sometimes 
distorted, sometimes not available at all.

 - With external_amp set, the card basically works, but there are some quirks

The remaining quirks are:

 - After a cold boot, the driver loads OK. After some 2-3 minutes uptime, 
there's a very loud crackling noise, independent of sound output (like very 
high spikes in the output). This goes away after about 20 seconds. After 
that, sound is either "normal" (definition of normal follows...) or entirely 
gone.

 - Unloading the driver module works. However, reloading the module fails the 
first time. Trying to load the driver a second time is always successful. See 
the "reload-module.txt" attachment for output.

 - Sometimes, sound is distorted at high PCM volume settings, sometimes it 
isn't. I have not found any way to reproduce this, it just happens from time 
to time. (Lasts as long as the machine isn't power-cycled). Setting the PCM 
volume down to about 77% avoids this.

 - After rebooting from Windows, sound dies with a "plop" afer some minutes. 
Reloading the module gives another few minutes of sound. (repeat ad nauseam)

In conclusion, I think there's something wrong with the initialization. My 
configuration is similar to the one given on the alsa-project website. Are 
there any known bugs or workarounds?

-- 
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[-- Attachment #2: alsa-herculesgsf3.patch --]
[-- Type: text/x-diff, Size: 506 bytes --]

--- modules/alsa-driver/alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c	2003-05-25 12:22:10.000000000 +0200
+++ /home/nicos/systemcode/alsa-driver-0.9.3c/alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c	2003-05-30 14:48:52.000000000 +0200
@@ -3743,6 +3743,13 @@
 		.amp = amp_hercules,
 		.mixer_init = hercules_mixer_init,
 	},
+  {
+		.vendor = 0x1681,
+    .id = 0xa011,
+    .name = "Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1",
+    .amp = amp_hercules,
+    .mixer_init = hercules_mixer_init,
+  },
 	/* Teratec */
 	{
 		.vendor = 0x153b,

[-- Attachment #3: reload-module.txt --]
[-- Type: text/plain, Size: 2138 bytes --]

--- loading the module after unloading ---
elysium:~# modprobe snd-cs46xx
Warning: ignoring device_gid=29, no such parameter in this module
Warning: ignoring device_uid=0, no such parameter in this module
Module snd loaded, with warnings
Module snd-seq-device loaded, with warnings
Module snd-rawmidi loaded, with warnings
Module snd-timer loaded, with warnings
Module snd-pcm loaded, with warnings
Module snd-ac97-codec loaded, with warnings
/lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o: init_module: No such device
Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters.
      You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg
/lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o: insmod snd-cs46xx failed
elysium:~# modprobe snd-cs46xx
Warning: ignoring device_gid=29, no such parameter in this module
Warning: ignoring device_uid=0, no such parameter in this module
Module snd loaded, with warnings
Module snd-seq-device loaded, with warnings
Module snd-rawmidi loaded, with warnings
Module snd-timer loaded, with warnings
Module snd-pcm loaded, with warnings
Module snd-ac97-codec loaded, with warnings
Module snd-cs46xx loaded, with warnings


--- dmesg ---
PCI: Found IRQ 5 for device 00:0f.0
ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:416: cs46xx: failure waiting for FIFO command to complete
ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3216: ERROR: snd-cs46xx: never read ISV3 & ISV4 from AC'97
ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3217:        Try reloading the ALSA driver, if you find something
ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3218:        broken or not working on your soundcard upon
ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3219:        this message please report to alsa-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
Sound Fusion CS46xx soundcard not found or device busy
PCI: Found IRQ 5 for device 00:0f.0
ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:416: cs46xx: failure waiting for FIFO command to complete

Re: Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Nicos Gollan]

On Friday 27 June 2003 18:48, Nicos Gollan wrote:
>  - With external_amp set, the card basically works, but there are some
> quirks

OK, forget about that. The card just decided to always drop dead after about a 
minute, no matter what I'm doing even after a cold boot. Without me changing 
the configuration. Great.

-- 
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Re: Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Benny Sjostrand]

>
>
> - Without the external_amp parameter, sound is sometimes OK, sometimes 
>distorted, sometimes not available at all.
>
> - With external_amp set, the card basically works, but there are some quirks
>  
>
But, amp_hercules(...) and hercules_mixer_init(...) function have only 
been implemented to
do some specific initializations to the Game Theater XP card, which 
probably is very
similar to the Fortissimo card, but my guess is that something slight 
diferenent is needed on
the initialization phase. (which can be hard to know course Hercules 
seems to be yet another company
which dont releases any spec. about their soundcards ....)

If you say that it works better with the external_amp=1, then this card 
must have some similarity
with the Santa Cruz card ... the amp_voyectra(...) function will also 
set some GPIO's on
the seconary cs4294 codec, who knows if this is good or bad for the 
Fortissimo card ....

> - After a cold boot, the driver loads OK. After some 2-3 minutes uptime, 
>there's a very loud crackling noise, independent of sound output (like very 
>high spikes in the output). This goes away after about 20 seconds. After 
>that, sound is either "normal" (definition of normal follows...) or entirely 
>gone.
>
> - Unloading the driver module works. However, reloading the module fails the 
>first time. Trying to load the driver a second time is always successful. See 
>the "reload-module.txt" attachment for output.
>  
>
This card is not the only one that has initialization problems, I've got 
similar
problems with the Terratec SixPack 5.1. Some of the initialization 
problems could
probably be fixed having some time and pacience.

The other sound problems you're talking about seems to be new to the 
Fortissimo card ...

> - Sometimes, sound is distorted at high PCM volume settings, sometimes it 
>isn't. I have not found any way to reproduce this, it just happens from time 
>to time. (Lasts as long as the machine isn't power-cycled). Setting the PCM 
>volume down to about 77% avoids this.
>  
>
Well, and thoose distortion problems with cs46xx are not new either.
Try having the master volume at 100% and 3D settings to "Post 3D" then
play with the PCM volume, and check what's the behaviour.

> - After rebooting from Windows, sound dies with a "plop" afer some minutes. 
>Reloading the module gives another few minutes of sound. (repeat ad nauseam)
>  
>
Who knows what the Windows driver does with the HW that the ALSA driver 
dont ....


What about the other functions on the card:
Have you tested the SPDIF output/input AC3 pass-through?
 the different outputs, center, rear, surround speakers ?

/Benny

>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>--- modules/alsa-driver/alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c	2003-05-25 12:22:10.000000000 +0200
>+++ /home/nicos/systemcode/alsa-driver-0.9.3c/alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c	2003-05-30 14:48:52.000000000 +0200
>@@ -3743,6 +3743,13 @@
> 		.amp = amp_hercules,
> 		.mixer_init = hercules_mixer_init,
> 	},
>+  {
>+		.vendor = 0x1681,
>+    .id = 0xa011,
>+    .name = "Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1",
>+    .amp = amp_hercules,
>+    .mixer_init = hercules_mixer_init,
>+  },
> 	/* Teratec */
> 	{
> 		.vendor = 0x153b,
>  
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>--- loading the module after unloading ---
>elysium:~# modprobe snd-cs46xx
>Warning: ignoring device_gid=29, no such parameter in this module
>Warning: ignoring device_uid=0, no such parameter in this module
>Module snd loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-seq-device loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-rawmidi loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-timer loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-pcm loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-ac97-codec loaded, with warnings
>/lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o: init_module: No such device
>Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters.
>      You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg
>/lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o failed
>/lib/modules/2.4.21-personal-alsa/alsa/snd-cs46xx.o: insmod snd-cs46xx failed
>elysium:~# modprobe snd-cs46xx
>Warning: ignoring device_gid=29, no such parameter in this module
>Warning: ignoring device_uid=0, no such parameter in this module
>Module snd loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-seq-device loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-rawmidi loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-timer loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-pcm loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-ac97-codec loaded, with warnings
>Module snd-cs46xx loaded, with warnings
>
>
>--- dmesg ---
>PCI: Found IRQ 5 for device 00:0f.0
>ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:416: cs46xx: failure waiting for FIFO command to complete
>ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3216: ERROR: snd-cs46xx: never read ISV3 & ISV4 from AC'97
>ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3217:        Try reloading the ALSA driver, if you find something
>ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3218:        broken or not working on your soundcard upon
>ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:3219:        this message please report to alsa-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
>Sound Fusion CS46xx soundcard not found or device busy
>PCI: Found IRQ 5 for device 00:0f.0
>ALSA ../../alsa-kernel/pci/cs46xx/cs46xx_lib.c:416: cs46xx: failure waiting for FIFO command to complete
>  
>





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Re: Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Nicos Gollan]

On Saturday 28 June 2003 14:28, Benny Sjostrand wrote:
> But, amp_hercules(...) and hercules_mixer_init(...) function have only
> been implemented to do some specific initializations to the Game Theater XP
> card, which probably is very similar to the Fortissimo card, but my guess is
> that something slight diferenent is needed on the initialization phase.
> [...]
> If you say that it works better with the external_amp=1, then this card
> must have some similarity with the Santa Cruz card ... the amp_voyectra(...)
> function will also  set some GPIO's on the seconary cs4294 codec, who knows
> if this is good or bad for the Fortissimo card ....

It worked for some time (with the mentioned distortion and crackling but seems 
to have stopped working now. Sound now dies after about a minute from module 
load, even after a cold reboot. Behaviour now is the same independent from 
external_amp. I don't have the slightest idea why this is so. I had the 
machine switched off for a week, turned it on and it was like this. The only 
thing that changed is the VGA card, but it does the same thing even in pure 
text mode, without DRM drivers or AGPGART modules loaded.

So in conclusion, I can only say that external_amp was good for the card but 
only for some time :-/

Also, the problems now seem to be somewhat independent from Windows drivers 
having seen the card before. In the past, I had all kinds of different side 
effects, ranging from the card running better after a reboot from Windows to 
complete inactivity.

> What about the other functions on the card:
> Have you tested the SPDIF output/input AC3 pass-through?
>  the different outputs, center, rear, surround speakers ?

Sorry, I don't have any hardware that knows SPDIF. The analog speaker outputs 
all seemed to be dead.

-- 
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Re: Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Ronny V. Vindenes]

Nicos Gollan <gtdev@spearhead.de> writes:

> On Saturday 28 June 2003 14:28, Benny Sjostrand wrote:
> > But, amp_hercules(...) and hercules_mixer_init(...) function have only
> > been implemented to do some specific initializations to the Game Theater XP
> > card, which probably is very similar to the Fortissimo card, but my guess is
> > that something slight diferenent is needed on the initialization phase.
> > [...]
> > If you say that it works better with the external_amp=1, then this card
> > must have some similarity with the Santa Cruz card ... the amp_voyectra(...)
> > function will also  set some GPIO's on the seconary cs4294 codec, who knows
> > if this is good or bad for the Fortissimo card ....
> 
> It worked for some time (with the mentioned distortion and crackling but seems 
> to have stopped working now. Sound now dies after about a minute from module 
> load, even after a cold reboot. Behaviour now is the same independent from 
> external_amp. I don't have the slightest idea why this is so. I had the 
> machine switched off for a week, turned it on and it was like this. The only 
> thing that changed is the VGA card, but it does the same thing even in pure 
> text mode, without DRM drivers or AGPGART modules loaded.
> 
> So in conclusion, I can only say that external_amp was good for the card but 
> only for some time :-/
> 
> Also, the problems now seem to be somewhat independent from Windows drivers 
> having seen the card before. In the past, I had all kinds of different side 
> effects, ranging from the card running better after a reboot from Windows to 
> complete inactivity.
> 
> > What about the other functions on the card:
> > Have you tested the SPDIF output/input AC3 pass-through?
> >  the different outputs, center, rear, surround speakers ?
> 
> Sorry, I don't have any hardware that knows SPDIF. The analog speaker outputs 
> all seemed to be dead.
> 

Are you sure it's not just the card that is dead/dying? I've been
running the card since last year without any problems, except the
"distortion at full pcm volume" problem.

-- 
Ronny V. Vindenes <s864@ii.uib.no>


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Re: Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Nicos Gollan]

On Tuesday 01 July 2003 12:01, Ronny V. Vindenes wrote:
> Are you sure it's not just the card that is dead/dying? I've been
> running the card since last year without any problems, except the
> "distortion at full pcm volume" problem.

The card is working perfectly in Windows, no matter what I do (music, games, 
...). The only time that I saw similar problemis in Windows was when I had 
the card running with the stock drivers (Win2k, SP3) where sound was dying 
after a short time, but that was solved with the drivers on the CD. So I 
don't think it's a hardware problem.

Or perhaps it is a known problem that the drivers can work around.

-- 
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Re: Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Nicos Gollan]

On Sunday 06 July 2003 13:32, Benny Sjostrand wrote:
> Maybe the problem is not in the alsa-driver, maybe it's something else
> related to
> another comoponent of the kernel, PCI-bridge/ctrl ...
>
> Is the soundcard the only thing causing problems in your system ??

Yes, it is. And now that I've changed to a Creative SB Live 5.1, all is 
working fine.

Just a thought: could it be a problem with power management sending the card 
to sleep? If so, how could I avoid this (apart from disabling APM et al. 
everywhere I see it mentioned)?

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Re: Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1

[Benny Sjostrand]

>
>
>>Are you sure it's not just the card that is dead/dying? I've been
>>running the card since last year without any problems, except the
>>"distortion at full pcm volume" problem.
>>    
>>
>
>The card is working perfectly in Windows, no matter what I do (music, games, 
>...). The only time that I saw similar problemis in Windows was when I had 
>the card running with the stock drivers (Win2k, SP3) where sound was dying 
>after a short time, but that was solved with the drivers on the CD. So I 
>don't think it's a hardware problem.
>
>Or perhaps it is a known problem that the drivers can work around.
>  
>
Maybe the problem is not in the alsa-driver, maybe it's something else 
related to
another comoponent of the kernel, PCI-bridge/ctrl ...

Is the soundcard the only thing causing problems in your system ??

/Benny



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