Next Entry | Previous Entry

HOWTO: Cirrus Logic Crystal CS4237B on Ubuntu/Fluxbox Dell Latitude Cpi D300xt

05.25.07
This tutorial shows how to install the drivers for a Crystal CS4237B on Ubuntu/Fluxbox Dell Latitude Cpi D300xt.

This tutorial is based on a ALSA user group thead here:
http://www.mail-archive.com/alsa-user@lists.sourceforge.net/msg16416.html




I have been trying at this card for a couple of weeks. I tried multiple methods and none of them seemed to work. At the same time my hacking-around left a bunch of stuff that I did not know what to do with nor did I no if I was just making the situation worse!!

I ended up with deleting the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base file and making a /etc/modprobe.d/alsa file:

$ sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
$ sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa

This I added a bunch of stuff (options, etc) that I found and grabbed off the web. This really did nothing for me. I then decided to start over because I finally found something that worked for me and I didn’t want all my hacking around to conflict so I removed and reinstalled the sound:

$ sudo aptitude remove linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils
$ sudo aptitude install linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils

This basically just reset everthing to base install (II am assuming) because I noticed that my /etc/modprobe.d/alsa file I made was gone and the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base file was back! So now I start over and here is what worked for me.

Again I removed the alsa-base file and replaced it with /etc/modprobe.d/alsa:

$ sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
$ sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa

I then added the line ‘snd-cs4236’ to the bottom of my /etc/modules file:

$ sudo nano /etc/modules

So that my /etc/modules now looks like this:

# /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
#
# This file contains the names of kernel modules that should be
# loaded at boot time, one per line. Lines beginning with “#” are
# ignored

# This is my wi-fi card driver
ndiswrapper

# This is my sound card driver
snd-cs4236

And then I save with ‘ctrl-o’ and exit with ‘ctrl-x’. I am not really sure if I am proceeding in the right order. I imagine that this step could be done after the next part of this tutorial but I just want to document ‘every’ I do in a linear order so that I can later repeat and/or alter my steps if necessary.

Now I load the snd-cs426 driver into the kernal.

First I login as super user:

$ su
Password: ********

Then I check to make sure that my card is active:
$ cat /sys/devices/pnp0/00:10/resources

state = active
io 0x210-0x217

It is ‘active’. If it was ‘disabled’ I would then:

$ echo auto >/sys/devices/pnp0/00:10/resources
$ echo activate >/sys/devices/pnp0/00:10/resources

And again I make sure that it is active:

$ cat /sys/devices/pnp0/00:10/resources

state = active
io 0x210-0x217

And it is! So then I check my other resources:

$cat /sys/devices/pnp0/00:0f/resources

state = disabled
io 0x530-0x537
io 0x388-0x38b
io 0x220-0x22f
irq 5
dma 1
dma 0

And I can see that this is ‘disabled’ so I have to ‘activate’ it:

$ echo auto >/sys/devices/pnp0/00:0f/resources
$ echo activate >/sys/devices/pnp0/00:0f/resources

Then again:

$ cat /sys/devices/pnp0/00:0f/resources

state = active
io 0x530-0x537
io 0x388-0x38b
io 0x220-0x22f
irq 5
dma 1
dma 0

So now that I see that it is active I then load the driver:

$ modprobe snd-cs4236 isapnp=0 port=0x530 cport=0x210 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=0

Cool!!! It worked!!! Holy shit!!!

So now lets try to load ‘alsamixer’. Previously with my other configuration attempts I had been getting this really annoying error message when trying to load which said "alsamixer: function snd_mixer_load failed: Invalid argument". How obnoxious!! But this time:

$ alsamixer

SWEET!!! It works!!! I un-mute the master with the ‘m’ key (if its not un-muted already) and use my arrows to navigate to the ‘mic’. I bring the ‘mic’ volume up with the UP-arrow and make sure it is unmated – ‘m’. So to test I fire up my audio program ‘pd’ (puredata) and choose ‘alsa’ from the ‘Media’ menu item – and hit ‘OK’. Then again from the ‘Media’ menu I choose ‘Test Audio and MIDI’. I plug my headphones in and give it a test. Sweet!! All works good!

Now I have PD (puredata) running on an old Dell Latitute Cpi d300xt using Ubuntu/Fluxbox…..

NEXT: Getting everything to load at boot… HA



one comment

One or more comments are waiting for approval by an editor.


No trackback:

Trackback link:

Please enable javascript to generate a trackback url

  
Remember personal info?

/ Textile

Comment moderation is enabled on this site. This means that your comment will not be visible on this site until it has been approved by an editor.

To prevent automated commentspam we require you to answer this silly question.
 

  ( Register your username / Log in )

Notify:
Hide email:

Small print: All html tags except <b> and <i> will be removed from your comment. You can make links by just typing the url or mail-address.