1 An OSS/Free Driver for WaveFront soundcards
2 (Turtle Beach Maui, Tropez, Tropez Plus)
3
4 Paul Barton-Davis, July 1998
5
6 VERSION 0.2.5
7
8 Driver Status
9 -------------
10
11 Requires: Kernel 2.1.106 or later (the driver is included with kernels
12 2.1.109 and above)
13
14 As of 7/22/1998, this driver is currently in *BETA* state. This means
15 that it compiles and runs, and that I use it on my system (Linux
16 2.1.106) with some reasonably demanding applications and uses. I
17 believe the code is approaching an initial "finished" state that
18 provides bug-free support for the Tropez Plus.
19
20 Please note that to date, the driver has ONLY been tested on a Tropez
21 Plus. I would very much like to hear (and help out) people with Tropez
22 and Maui cards, since I think the driver can support those cards as
23 well.
24
25 Finally, the driver has not been tested (or even compiled) as a static
26 (non-modular) part of the kernel. Alan Cox's good work in modularizing
27 OSS/Free for Linux makes this rather unnecessary.
28
29 Some Questions
30 --------------
31
32 **********************************************************************
33 0) What does this driver do that the maui driver did not ?
34 **********************************************************************
35
36 * can fully initialize a WaveFront card from cold boot - no DOS
37 utilities needed
38 * working patch/sample/program loading and unloading (the maui
39 driver didn't document how to make this work, and assumed
40 user-level preparation of the patch data for writing
41 to the board. ick.)
42 * full user-level access to all WaveFront commands
43 * for the Tropez Plus, (primitive) control of the YSS225 FX processor
44 * Virtual MIDI mode supported - 2 MIDI devices accessible via the
45 WaveFront's MPU401/UART emulation. One
46 accesses the WaveFront synth, the other accesses the
47 external MIDI connector. Full MIDI read/write semantics
48 for both devices.
49 * OSS-compliant /dev/sequencer interface for the WaveFront synth,
50 including native and GUS-format patch downloading.
51 * semi-intelligent patch management (prototypical at this point)
52
53 **********************************************************************
54 1) What to do about MIDI interfaces ?
55 **********************************************************************
56
57 The Tropez Plus (and perhaps other WF cards) can in theory support up
58 to 2 physical MIDI interfaces. One of these is connected to the
59 ICS2115 chip (the WaveFront synth itself) and is controlled by
60 MPU/UART-401 emulation code running as part of the WaveFront OS. The
61 other is controlled by the CS4232 chip present on the board. However,
62 physical access to the CS4232 connector is difficult, and it is
63 unlikely (though not impossible) that you will want to use it.
64
65 An older version of this driver introduced an additional kernel config
66 variable which controlled whether or not the CS4232 MIDI interface was
67 configured. Because of Alan Cox's work on modularizing the sound
68 drivers, and now backporting them to 2.0.34 kernels, there seems to be
69 little reason to support "static" configuration variables, and so this
70 has been abandoned in favor of *only* module parameters. Specifying
71 "mpuio" and "mpuirq" for the cs4232 parameter will result in the
72 CS4232 MIDI interface being configured; leaving them unspecified will
73 leave it unconfigured (and thus unusable).
74
75 BTW, I have heard from one Tropez+ user that the CS4232 interface is
76 more reliable than the ICS2115 one. I have had no problems with the
77 latter, and I don't have the right cable to test the former one
78 out. Reports welcome.
79
80 **********************************************************************
81 2) Why does line XXX of the code look like this .... ?
82 **********************************************************************
83
84 Either because its not finished yet, or because you're a better coder
85 than I am, or because you don't understand some aspect of how the card
86 or the code works.
87
88 I absolutely welcome comments, criticisms and suggestions about the
89 design and implementation of the driver.
90
91 **********************************************************************
92 3) What files are included ?
93 **********************************************************************
94
95 drivers/sound/README.wavefront -- this file
96
97 drivers/sound/wavefront.patch -- patches for the 2.1.106 sound drivers
98 needed to make the rest of this work
99 DO NOT USE IF YOU'VE APPLIED THEM
100 BEFORE, OR HAVE 2.1.109 OR ABOVE
101
102 drivers/sound/wavfront.c -- the driver
103 drivers/sound/ys225.h -- data declarations for FX config
104 drivers/sound/ys225.c -- data definitions for FX config
105 drivers/sound/wf_midi.c -- the "uart401" driver
106 to support virtual MIDI mode.
107 include/wavefront.h -- the header file
108 Documentation/sound/Tropez+ -- short docs on configuration
109
110 **********************************************************************
111 4) How do I compile/install/use it ?
112 **********************************************************************
113
114 PART ONE: install the source code into your sound driver directory
115
116 cd <top-of-your-2.1.106-code-base-e.g.-/usr/src/linux>
117 tar -zxvf <where-you-put/wavefront.tar.gz>
118
119 PART TWO: apply the patches
120
121 DO THIS ONLY IF YOU HAVE A KERNEL VERSION BELOW 2.1.109
122 AND HAVE NOT ALREADY INSTALLED THE PATCH(ES).
123
124 cd drivers/sound
125 patch < wavefront.patch
126
127 PART THREE: configure your kernel
128
129 cd <top of your kernel tree>
130 make xconfig (or whichever config option you use)
131
132 - choose YES for Sound Support
133 - choose MODULE (M) for OSS Sound Modules
134 - choose MODULE(M) to YM3812/OPL3 support
135 - choose MODULE(M) for WaveFront support
136 - choose MODULE(M) for CS4232 support
137
138 - choose "N" for everything else (unless you have other
139 soundcards you want support for)
140
141
142 make dep
143 make boot
144 .
145 .
146 .
147 <whatever you normally do for a kernel install>
148 make modules
149 .
150 .
151 .
152 make modules_install
153
154 Here's my autoconf.h SOUND section:
155
156 /*
157 * Sound
158 */
159 #define CONFIG_SOUND 1
160 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_OSS
161 #define CONFIG_SOUND_OSS_MODULE 1
162 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_PAS
163 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_SB
164 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_ADLIB
165 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_GUS
166 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_MPU401
167 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_PSS
168 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_MSS
169 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_SSCAPE
170 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_TRIX
171 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_MAD16
172 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_WAVEFRONT
173 #define CONFIG_SOUND_WAVEFRONT_MODULE 1
174 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_CS4232
175 #define CONFIG_SOUND_CS4232_MODULE 1
176 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_MAUI
177 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_SGALAXY
178 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_OPL3SA1
179 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_SOFTOSS
180 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_YM3812
181 #define CONFIG_SOUND_YM3812_MODULE 1
182 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_VMIDI
183 #undef CONFIG_SOUND_UART6850
184 /*
185 * Additional low level sound drivers
186 */
187 #undef CONFIG_LOWLEVEL_SOUND
188
189 ************************************************************
190 6) How do I configure my card ?
191 ************************************************************
192
193 You need to edit /etc/modules.conf. Here's mine (edited to show the
194 relevant details):
195
196 # Sound system
197 alias char-major-14 wavefront
198 alias synth0 wavefront
199 alias mixer0 cs4232
200 alias audio0 cs4232
201 pre-install wavefront modprobe "-k" "cs4232"
202 post-install wavefront modprobe "-k" "opl3"
203 options wavefront io=0x200 irq=9
204 options cs4232 synthirq=9 synthio=0x200 io=0x530 irq=5 dma=1 dma2=0
205 options opl3 io=0x388
206
207 Things to note:
208
209 the wavefront options "io" and "irq" ***MUST*** match the "synthio"
210 and "synthirq" cs4232 options.
211
212 you can do without the opl3 module if you don't
213 want to use the OPL/[34] FM synth on the soundcard
214
215 the opl3 io parameter is conventionally not adjustable.
216 In theory, any not-in-use IO port address would work, but
217 just use 0x388 and stick with the crowd.
218
219 **********************************************************************
220 7) What about firmware ?
221 **********************************************************************
222
223 Turtle Beach have not given me permission to distribute their firmware
224 for the ICS2115. However, if you have a WaveFront card, then you
225 almost certainly have the firmware, and if not, its freely available
226 on their website, at:
227
228 http://www.tbeach.com/tbs/downloads/scardsdown.htm#tropezplus
229
230 The file is called WFOS2001.MOT (for the Tropez+).
231
232 This driver, however, doesn't use the pure firmware as distributed,
233 but instead relies on a somewhat processed form of it. You can
234 generate this very easily. Following an idea from Andrew Veliath's
235 Pinnacle driver, the following flex program will generate the
236 processed version:
237
238 ---- cut here -------------------------
239 %option main
240 %%
241 ^S[28].*\r$ printf ("%c%.*s", yyleng-1,yyleng-1,yytext);
242 <<EOF>> { fputc ('\0', stdout); return; }
243 \n {}
244 . {}
245 ---- cut here -------------------------
246
247 To use it, put the above in file (say, ws.l) compile it like this:
248
249 shell> flex -ows.c ws.l
250 shell> cc -o ws ws.c
251
252 and then use it like this:
253
254 ws < my-copy-of-the-oswf.mot-file > /etc/sound/wavefront.os
255
256 If you put it somewhere else, you'll always have to use the wf_ospath
257 module parameter (see below) or alter the source code.
258
259 **********************************************************************
260 7) How do I get it working ?
261 **********************************************************************
262
263 Optionally, you can reboot with the "new" kernel (even though the only
264 changes have really been made to a module).
265
266 Then, as root do:
267
268 modprobe wavefront
269
270 You should get something like this in /var/log/messages:
271
272 WaveFront: firmware 1.20 already loaded.
273
274 or
275
276 WaveFront: no response to firmware probe, assume raw.
277
278 then:
279
280 WaveFront: waiting for memory configuration ...
281 WaveFront: hardware version 1.64
282 WaveFront: available DRAM 8191k
283 WaveFront: 332 samples used (266 real, 13 aliases, 53 multi), 180 empty
284 WaveFront: 128 programs slots in use
285 WaveFront: 256 patch slots filled, 142 in use
286
287 The whole process takes about 16 seconds, the longest waits being
288 after reporting the hardware version (during the firmware download),
289 and after reporting program status (during patch status inquiry). Its
290 shorter (about 10 secs) if the firmware is already loaded (i.e. only
291 warm reboots since the last firmware load).
292
293 The "available DRAM" line will vary depending on how much added RAM
294 your card has. Mine has 8MB.
295
296 To check basically functionality, use play(1) or splay(1) to send a
297 .WAV or other audio file through the audio portion. Then use playmidi
298 to play a General MIDI file. Try the "-D 0" to hear the
299 difference between sending MIDI to the WaveFront and using the OPL/3,
300 which is the default (I think ...). If you have an external synth(s)
301 hooked to the soundcard, you can use "-e" to route to the
302 external synth(s) (in theory, -D 1 should work as well, but I think
303 there is a bug in playmidi which prevents this from doing what it
304 should).
305
306 **********************************************************************
307 8) What are the module parameters ?
308 **********************************************************************
309
310 Its best to read wavefront.c for this, but here is a summary:
311
312 integers:
313 wf_raw - if set, ignore apparent presence of firmware
314 loaded onto the ICS2115, reset the whole
315 board, and initialize it from scratch. (default = 0)
316
317 fx_raw - if set, always initialize the YSS225 processor
318 on the Tropez plus. (default = 1)
319
320 < The next 4 are basically for kernel hackers to allow
321 tweaking the driver for testing purposes. >
322
323 wait_usecs - loop timer used when waiting for
324 status conditions on the board.
325 The default is 150.
326
327 debug_default - debugging flags. See sound/wavefront.h
328 for WF_DEBUG_* values. Default is zero.
329 Setting this allows you to debug the
330 driver during module installation.
331 strings:
332 ospath - path to get to the pre-processed OS firmware.
333 (default: /etc/sound/wavefront.os)
334
335 **********************************************************************
336 9) Who should I contact if I have problems?
337 **********************************************************************
338
339 Just me: Paul Barton-Davis <pbd@op.net>
340
341
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