NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE | FILES | ATTRIBUTES | SEE ALSO | BUGS
sbpro:sound,sbpro sbpro:sound,sbproctl
The Creative Labs Sound Blaster family of audio cards comprises DMA-capable ISA bus plug-in cards that provide 8 and 16 bit mono and stereo digitized sound recording and playback over a wide range of sampling rates. Each card includes a digital sound processor and mixing capability. Some of the cards also support more advanced audio features such as FM synthesis, advanced signal processing, advanced wave effects, and MIDI capability; however, the sbpro driver does not currently support those advanced features. The features and interfaces supported by the Solaris sbpro driver are described here and in audio(7I).
Some Sound Blaster cards support optional non-audio capabilities such as SCSI interfaces and CD-ROM interfaces. These interfaces are not supported by the sbpro driver. The Sound Blaster 16 optional SCSI-2 interface is supported by the aic(7D) driver.
The sbpro driver also supports certain "Sound Blaster compatible" audio devices, including some based on the ESS688 audio chip.
In addition, the driver supports some devices based on the Analog Devices AD1847 and AD1848, and Crystal Semiconductor CS4231 chips. Any CS4231-based devices supported by this driver are programmed in AD1848 compatibility mode. There is no special support in this driver for the more advanced CS4231 features. This family of devices will be referred to as the "AD184x family."
For a list of supported hardware implementations known to work with this driver, consult the latest version of the Solaris IA Device Configuration Guide or the Solaris IA Driver Update Guide (available online on the World Wide Web and other locations). The guide will contain more specific information about the settings for each type of card or motherboard.
The Sound Blaster device is treated as an exclusive resource: only one process may open the device at a time. Since the Sound Blaster hardware does not support simultaneous sound input and output, the sbpro driver does not allow the simultaneous access of the device by two processes, even if one tries to open it read-only and the other write-only.
The sbpro driver will return "SUNW,sbpro" or "SUNW,sb16" in the name field of the audio_device structure. The version field will contain the version number of the card's DSP chip, and the config field will be set to "SBPRO" or "SB16". The AWE32 is currently identified as an SB16. In all the discussion below, the Sound Blaster AWE32 behaves the same as the Sound Blaster 16.
The Sound Blaster Pro handles 8-bit samples. In mono mode, audio data may be sampled at rates from 4,000 to 44,100 samples per second. In stereo mode, samples may be handled at the rates of 11,025 and 22,050 samples per second. The SB-16 can sample 8-bit or 16-bit mono or stereo data in the range of 5,000 to 44,100 Hz. Devices in the AD184x family can handle sample rates up to 48,000 Hz.
The Sound Blaster Pro hardware handles 8-bit linear samples in excess-128 format. The Sound Blaster 16 handles that format as well as 16-bit linear samples in two's complement format. The sbpro driver will generate and accept data in these formats if AUDIO_ENCODING_LINEAR is selected in the encoding field of the audio information structure. 16 bit precision is not available on the Sound Blaster Pro. The sbpro driver will also accept and generate mu-law format data (as in the Greek letter mu) if the encoding field is set to AUDIO_ENCODING_ULAW. In this case, driver software performs the translation between linear and mu-law formats. mu-law encoding is designed to provide an improved signal-to-noise ratio at low amplitude levels. To achieve best results when using mu-law encoding, the audio record volume should be set so that typical amplitude levels lie within approximately three-fourths of the full dynamic range. Devices in the AD184x family support both mu-law and A-law in hardware, and the driver allows either of those encodings to be selected.
The Sound Blaster hardware does not support multiple output devices, so the play.port field of the audio information structure only supports AUDIO_HEADPHONE. Output volume is controlled by software. There is a volume control thumbwheel on the back of the card which should be turned all the way up to maximum; otherwise no sound may be audible.
The record.port field of the audio information structure allows selection of which audio source is used for recording, and may be set to one of AUDIO_MICROPHONE, AUDIO_LINE_IN, or AUDIO_CD. These select input from the microphone jack, line-level input jack, or internal CD input, respectively. The microphone input is treated as a mono source by the hardware, although the microphone jack is a stereo jack. If your microphone has a mono plug, you should convert it to a stereo plug using an appropriate adapter. Line and CD are stereo sources. When recording in mono mode, both stereo channels are mixed before recording.
linked to s/dev/sound/0
linked to /dev/sound/0ctl
first audio device in the system
audio control for first audio device
audio demonstration programs
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
---|---|
Architecture | IA |
audioconvert(1), ioctl(2), attributes(5), aic(7D), audio(7I), streamio(7I)
Solaris IA Device Configuration Guide
Solaris IA Driver Update Guide
Creative Labs, Inc. Sound Blaster Pro User Reference Manual
The current driver implementation does not support the A-law encoding mode for Sound Blaster and compatible devices.
The conversion of mu-law to 8-bit linear format for Sound Blaster and compatible devices can cause a loss of precision, resulting in poor sound quality in cases where the original recording level was well below normal. If this occurs while using the Sound Blaster 16 card, audioconvert(1) can be used to convert the original mu-law data to 16-bit linear format before play. This will preserve all the precision from the original mu-law sample.
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE | FILES | ATTRIBUTES | SEE ALSO | BUGS