IBM Thinkpad 380XD (CS4237B)

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer audio hardware
Post Reply
Message
Author
gjeldridge
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun 22 Apr 2007, 03:06

IBM Thinkpad 380XD (CS4237B)

#1 Post by gjeldridge »

Has anyone had experience with Puppy 2.14 on this machine? Alsaconf will not find this sound card, however it runs fine under Windows. Any help appreciated.

Regards,
Greg

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#2 Post by tempestuous »


panda_watch
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed 09 May 2007, 07:51

#3 Post by panda_watch »

gday,

i am having similar problems getting the cs4237b chip to work on an aptiva 166 64mb ram running puppy 2.14. i have tried all the different posts on the subject and was wondering if anyone has any further instructions as i still can't get it to work. does the aptiva have anything similar to the quickboot function in thinkpad? i'm completely new to linux by the way but puppy seems to be the one for me.

thanks

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

Anyone get this working?

#4 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has got the sound on an IBM 380 working. I get a beep on startup but no woof!

I read the links. So, is it a case of not having the drivers installed, i.e. is the zdrv_212.sfs file missing in 2.15CE? or is it a case of reconfiguring the bios properly, and then modifying the modprobe.conf file for the right sound device?

I'm just trying to get the lay of the land, so I do this properly, since I'm new to this.

Greg
(another Greg, not the one who started the post)
:-)

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

On my way to a solution...

#5 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Ok I found this link to the CS4236B Audio Controller on the IBM 380

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/CS4236 as part of their IBM 380 information which says:

Linux ALSA driver
This sound chip is supported by the snd-cs4236 kernel module. Use the following options line when loading this module:

options snd-cs4236 snd_index=0 snd_port=0x530 snd_cport=0x538 snd_isapnp=0 snd_dma1=1 snd_dma2=0 snd_irq=5


So, do I enter this in the modprobe.conf file, replacing all the snd lines that are there?

Oh great I've got a CS4237B Audio controller since this is an 380XD... Hmmm......http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/CS4237 which says:

Linux ALSA driver
This sound chip is supported by the snd-cs4236 kernel module. Use the following options line when loading this module:

options snd-cs4236 snd_index=0 snd_port=0x530 snd_cport=0x538 snd_isapnp=0 snd_dma1=1 snd_dma2=0 snd_irq=5
Newer versions of the module (such as in Fedora Core 4) have dropped the snd_ prefix, so the above line would have to be:

options snd-cs4236 index=0 port=0x530 cport=0x538 isapnp=0 dma1=1 dma2=0 irq=5

You must disable "ThinkPad Simple Boot"

Ensure that "ThinkPad Simple Boot", AKA "Quick Boot" is DISABLED. If you do not do this, the PNP BIOS may not appropriately set the resources for the CS4232, and you'll always get a Device Busy or not found error when you modprobe the driver no matter what settings you give.


Interesting its more or less the same thing... Well, same question, I guess do I add this in the modprobe.conf?

Greg the second[/url]

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#6 Post by tempestuous »

Your answer is in the link I provided earlier -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 335#110335

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

Will do!

#7 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Hi,

Thanks for the link! I'll try your procedure this evening (I hope) and see if I can make this thing bark! If it works I'll report back here on the result. Should be interesting. I'm learning!

Greg
:-)

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

Initial steps

#8 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Hi Tempestuous,

I have a small problem with the first part of your message:

Let me summarize it in Puppy-speak:
In your bios set "QuickBoot = OFF". This is VERY IMPORTANT. It's the Thinkpad equivalent of "PnP OS = NO"
ISA devices such as your sound chip will not play well under Linux otherwise.


When I boot up using F1 on the IBM 380 I get an application called easy setup, which allows some basic bios changes. There doesn't seem to be any setting for quickboot or PnP. I'll have to do a little research on bios editing to see what I can do to really use your directions.

I pressed on anyway just to see what would happen.

Now run the sound wizard, choose search for "legacy" devices, select "cs4236"

The sound wizard does not find any legacy devices.

Hopefully this will work. If not, you need to set up ALSA manually: open /etc/modprobe.conf in geany and add these lines

Ok, I added your lines to the end of the modprobe.conf file:

alias snd-card-0 snd-cs4236
alias sound-slot-0 snd-cs4236
options snd-cs4236 index=0 port=0x530 cport=0x538 isapnp=0 dma1=1 dma2=0 irq=5

I saved the file and rebooted. I can hear the speaker go "pic pic" a few times during the bootup, but no woof. Not surprising really since I wasn't able to edit the bios as you recommend. I'll look into that further and report back.

Greg
:)

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#9 Post by tempestuous »

The "2 barks" sound does not necessarily play at each boot up.
To test your sound, try to play an audio file with Gxine.

At http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/CS4237
I see that "Quick Boot" may be called "ThinkPad Simple Boot".

It might be worth considering doing a bios update, if you're brave enough.
Bios update file here - http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... S2RLY.html

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

IBM380XD and IBM600 are Bios Different

#10 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Hi Tempestuous,

Thanks for the links. I've found there's a bit of a difference between the 380 and the 600 thinkpads. I think I'd be afraid to run the Thinkpad 600 bios update on a 380. Unless someone else has already been a willing guinea pig! Do you know if anyone has successfully done it?

Both machines share the same audio hardware which is where we get our crossover but not the same bios.

I upgraded the bios a while back using the 1FET19WW v1.19 bios update for the IBM 380 XD downloaded from the lenovo site. The bios for the Thinkpad 600 is different. It uses 1TET55WW v1.11.

When you press F1 the 380 starts up with "Easy Setup", whereas the 600 starts up with "Simple Boot". Unfortunately the options are not the same in each version. In the 380s Easy Setup menu there's nothing that allows you to set the PnP flag. I can change the boot order, already did that to boot Puppy! And you can run tests on the hardware, see what version the bios is, and initialize. Unfortunately thats about it.

I think what I need to do is figure out how to access other settings in the 380s bios, perhaps at bootup trying to access Setup via F2, or perhaps via dos. Time to hit my dos for dummies book! I'll do some surfing too and see what I can learn.

Greg
:-)

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

Audio Test

#11 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

I forgot to mention, since I can't hear the barks, I'll play some audio as you suggest, before I do anything else, just to confirm whether or not the audio is working. It'd save a lot of work!

Thanks a lot by the way!

Greg
:-)

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

Re: Initial steps

#12 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Hi Tempestuous!

Good news, no bios edit is necessary on the 380XD.

I ran xmms which launched on clicking on an mp3 file, and voila I had music. So I can report sound is definitely working without needing a PnP edit in the bios. (Its not loud so my next search is for a volume control.) All I had to do to get sound to work was enter your lines in the etc/modeprobe.conf as follows and reboot:

Ok, I added your lines to the end of the modprobe.conf file:

alias snd-card-0 snd-cs4236
alias sound-slot-0 snd-cs4236
options snd-cs4236 index=0 port=0x530 cport=0x538 isapnp=0 dma1=1 dma2=0 irq=5
So as far as I'm concerned the problem is solved. I tried the Gxine media player but it plays the file choppily, while xmms plays it smoothly.

Why wouldn't I get the bark at boot? Just curious.

Greg
:-)

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

Tried it a different way for IBM 380XD 4237B sound

#13 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Update

Since I recently installed Puppy 2.15CE Puppy to an ext3 partition on my hard drive, I decided to take a run at installing the legacy sound support from the updates for 2.15CE, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 33&t=17065 and then running alsaconf. As you know the existing alsaconf does not find the legacy cards, or you'll find this out when you try to run it. However there is really good news which I found by digging around in the posts. Tempestuous has posted a replacement alsaconf to fix the problem of not locating any legacy sound drivers properly. It works! I downloaded the pet http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... ch&id=3709, and then installed it. I then ran alsaconf from the menu. I ran though the first couple of menus by its defaults, and when it provided a list of the legacy cards, I pressed the spacebar to uncheck all the cards I knew I (for sure) didn't have. The arrows can be used to move up and down in the list.

That left the last C42... something or other (the universal one) and the two soundblasters in the list as active. I chose not to let alsaconf look for odd DMA combinations. In pretty short order it found the soundcard, played a test sound, and I chose yes to allow it to modify the sound.

I clicked on an mp3 and Xmms launched and played the file very nicely.

So, Thanks again Tempestuous!

Yorkiesnorkie
:D

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#14 Post by tempestuous »

I can't take any credit for alsaconf, I never modified it. The alsaconf download simply reinstates alsaconf back to the original Puppy-compatible version.

The updated ALSA libraries and utilities are certainly a positive improvement, so this may partly explain your improved success ...
though I think that failed attempts to detect legacy audio devices are more likely to be due to Puppy not being able to access the zdrv file, and this is especially likely to be a problem with full HD installations.

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

#15 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

Hi Tempestuous,

I'm thankful for the contributions made by those unsung midnight programmers to alsaconf. Still, I thank you for posting the old version with the legacy stuff because it made it easy to get sound to work.

Yorkiesnorkie
:-)

maryhalloran
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat 15 Mar 2008, 15:24

also on thinkpad 600

#16 Post by maryhalloran »

I was never able to get sound to work under earlier versions of PUppy, but I read this thread today.

I'm now running 3.02 on a thinkpad 600. I disabled the quickboot by pressing the F1 button during boot and going through the set up menu to find quickboot.

Then I ran the ALSA wizard and had it detect for the sound card. It found my sound card!

I rebooted, and now I have sound

helius
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon 24 Mar 2008, 13:05

#17 Post by helius »

Worked for me too, IBM thinkpad 380XD
THANKS!!!!

User avatar
yorkiesnorkie
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon 04 Jun 2007, 13:11
Location: George's Island

#18 Post by yorkiesnorkie »

The IBM 380 XD Sound card is also found and easily configured in Puppy 3.01(retro) using the sound wizard. It works successfully.

Yorkiesnorkie
:-)

Post Reply