[ltp] Sound on Thinkpad 600

[JP Shipherd]

Wow...I'm blown away by all these responses.  Thanks so much! 


> Is this first ever GNU/Linux, or just the first time on the Thinkpad? 
> Assuming the former, realise that you're NOT using up-to-date hardware. 
> That fact is fine for people like me, but it tends to convey the wrong
>impression to those who have no experience. They don't know what to expect.

Yes...first ever and yes I realize its old but all I had to spare for the
project.  This system is meant to replace an equally out-dated stereo system
(so as you can imagine sound card is essential!)

> That's an old kernel. You didn't mention what Red Hat release. If it's one
> of the ones from before the Fedora split, dump it. Get yourself a more 
> recent distro.

Hmmm. I've spent SO much time trying to figure out how to get samba mounts
and everything on this that I'm reluctant to start over...although if I
can't get this going this week (especially with all this great help!) I'm
willing to try a different distro.  To show you what a newbie I am...I don't
even know how to determine what Red Hat release I'm running!


> Okay, modprobe.conf indicates a newer distro. Why not just install the 
> packages for ALSA?

Isn't that what I was doing when I ran "make install"?  

> These files are generated (appended to perhaps) by alsaconf(8). I don't 
> generate them manually ... and I know enough to be able to do that! I 
> suggest you try running "alsaconf".

Where does alsaconf live?  I can run alsamixer (although only when running
the /sbin/modprobe command line with lots of parameters which seems to at
least halfway get the drivers going.  When I try to run alsamixer before
doing that manual modprob call I get:

Alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device


> Make sure no snd* drivers are loaded before you do this. "lsmod" and
> rmmod(8) whatever you need to.

OK..this might be a clue.  I tried the following:

[root@samsneech sam]# /sbin/lsmod | grep snd
snd                    48996   0  (autoclean)
soundcore               6340   0  (autoclean) [snd]
snd-page-alloc          7848   0  (autoclean) [snd]

[root@samsneech sam]# /sbin/rmmod snd 
[root@samsneech sam]# /sbin/rmmod soundcore 
[root@samsneech sam]# /sbin/rmmod snd-page-alloc 
[root@samsneech sam]# /sbin/lsmod | grep snd 

Now that it looks "clean" I ran my trusty:

 [root@samsneech sam]# /sbin/modprobe snd-cs4236 index=0 port=0x530
cport=0x538 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=0 isapnp=0
Warning: ignoring snd_major=116, no such parameter in this module
Warning: ignoring snd_cards_limit=1, no such parameter in this module
Warning: ignoring snd_device_mode=0666, no such parameter in this module
Warning: ignoring snd_device_gid=0, no such parameter in this module
Warning: ignoring snd_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-mpu401-uart loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-timer loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-pcm loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-cs4231-lib loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-cs4236-lib loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-hwdep loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-opl3-lib loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-pnp loaded, with warnings 
Module snd-cs4236 loaded, with warnings 

Not exactly without complaint...but it did say it loaded.  Now I can run
alsamixer (but not alsaconf) but I can't seem to get any sounds to play.
System Settings/Sound Detection still reports no sound card on the system.

So, am I going down the right path?  Just for completeness sake, heres the
output of lsmod after the modprobe:

[root@samsneech sam]# /sbin/lsmod | grep snd
snd-cs4236             10272   0  (unused)
snd-pnp                 5628   0  [snd-cs4236]
snd-opl3-lib            9348   0  [snd-cs4236]
snd-hwdep               7168   0  [snd-opl3-lib]
snd-cs4236-lib         13392   0  [snd-cs4236]
snd-cs4231-lib         21356   0  [snd-cs4236
snd-cs4236-lib]
snd-pcm                82784   0  [snd-cs4236-lib
snd-cs4231-lib]
snd-timer              19996   0  [snd-opl3-lib
snd-cs4231-lib snd-pcm]
snd-mpu401-uart         5296   0  [snd-cs4236]
snd-rawmidi            18816   0  [snd-mpu401-uart]
snd-seq-device          6672   0  [snd-opl3-lib
snd-rawmidi]
snd                    48996   0  [snd-cs4236
snd-opl3-lib snd-hwdep snd-cs4236-lib snd-cs4231-lib snd-pcm snd-timer
snd-mpu401-uart snd-rawmidi
snd-seq-device]soundcore               6340   0  [snd]
snd-page-alloc          7848   0  [snd-hwdep
snd-cs4231-lib snd-pcm snd-timer snd-rawmidi snd-seq-device snd] 

> I think you're doing a good job of trying to help yourself here. What 
> you're trying to do is definitely achievable, but you can make it easier 
> on yourself.

I REALLY appreciate your (and everyone who responded to my post) help.
Hopefully I'm taking some baby steps in the right direction.

Oh yes..as some others who responded to my thread suggested,  I did see a
few days ago the recommendation to disable Quickboot in the bios and have
done that.

Thanks,
--jp