# Realtek ALC850 Audio AC'97 and FreeBSD 8.2



## j4r3ck (Jul 7, 2011)

First, hello. I'm so new to FreeBSD. I have trouble to use the sound card (its name is in the name of the topic) with FreeBSD. On my first computer, I have a C-Media USB sound card and I used the snd_uaudio driver - it works. On my second computer it doesn't work - snd_driver can't detect my sound card. I have installed OSS. The sound card is integrated with Gigabyte GA-K8VT800 rev. 2.0 motherboard.

Is there any driver for FreeBSD which can enable sound support for my sound card?

j4r3ck.

PS. Sorry for my English if I did some ortographic mistakes - I don't use this language for talking so often.


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## graudeejs (Jul 7, 2011)

Try snd_ich(4), on my other PC I only could get stereo (no surround sound).


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## j4r3ck (Jul 7, 2011)

@killasmurf86: This driver doesn't work. Still can't detect my sound card.

Btw, I forgot to share some logs if it will you help me:

dmesg:


```
Copyright (c) 1992-2011 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
	The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.
FreeBSD 8.2-RELEASE #0: Fri Feb 18 02:24:46 UTC 2011
    root@almeida.cse.buffalo.edu:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC i386
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
CPU: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 2800+ (1608.05-MHz 686-class CPU)
  Origin = "AuthenticAMD"  Id = 0x20fc2  Family = f  Model = 2c  Stepping = 2
  Features=0x78bfbff<FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CLFLUSH,MMX,
 FXSR,SSE,SSE2>
  Features2=0x1<SSE3>
  AMD Features=0xe2500800<SYSCALL,NX,MMX+,FFXSR,LM,3DNow!+,3DNow!>
  AMD Features2=0x1<LAHF>
real memory  = 536870912 (512 MB)
avail memory = 506347520 (482 MB)
ACPI APIC Table: <VIAK8  AWRDACPI>
ioapic0 <Version 0.3> irqs 0-23 on motherboard
kbd1 at kbdmux0
acpi0: <VIAK8 AWRDACPI> on motherboard
acpi0: [ITHREAD]
acpi0: Power Button (fixed)
acpi0: reservation of 0, a0000 (3) failed
acpi0: reservation of 100000, 1fef0000 (3) failed
Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
acpi_timer0: <24-bit timer at 3.579545MHz> port 0x4008-0x400b on acpi0
cpu0: <ACPI CPU> on acpi0
acpi_button0: <Power Button> on acpi0
pcib0: <ACPI Host-PCI bridge> port 0xcf8-0xcff on acpi0
pci0: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib0
agp0: <VIA K8T800Pro host to PCI bridge> on hostb0
pcib1: <PCI-PCI bridge> at device 1.0 on pci0
pci1: <PCI bus> on pcib1
vgapci0: <VGA-compatible display> mem 0xf4000000-0xf4ffffff,0xe0000000-0xefffffff,0xf5000000-0xf5ffffff
 irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
atapci0: <VIA 6420 SATA150 controller> port 0xc000-0xc007,0xc400-0xc403,0xc800-0xc807,0xcc00-
 0xcc03,0xd000-0xd00f,0xd400-0xd4ff irq 20 at device 15.0 on pci0
atapci0: [ITHREAD]
ata2: <ATA channel 0> on atapci0
ata2: [ITHREAD]
ata3: <ATA channel 1> on atapci0
ata3: [ITHREAD]
atapci1: <VIA 8237 UDMA133 controller> port 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6,0x170-0x177,0x376,0xd800-0xd80f at device
 15.1 on pci0
ata0: <ATA channel 0> on atapci1
ata0: [ITHREAD]
ata1: <ATA channel 1> on atapci1
ata1: [ITHREAD]
uhci0: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> port 0xdc00-0xdc1f irq 21 at device 16.0 on pci0
uhci0: [ITHREAD]
usbus0: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> on uhci0
uhci1: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> port 0xe000-0xe01f irq 21 at device 16.1 on pci0
uhci1: [ITHREAD]
usbus1: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> on uhci1
uhci2: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> port 0xe400-0xe41f irq 21 at device 16.2 on pci0
uhci2: [ITHREAD]
usbus2: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> on uhci2
uhci3: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> port 0xe800-0xe81f irq 21 at device 16.3 on pci0
uhci3: [ITHREAD]
usbus3: <VIA 83C572 USB controller> on uhci3
ehci0: <VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 controller> mem 0xf7000000-0xf70000ff irq 21 at device 16.4 on pci0
ehci0: [ITHREAD]
usbus4: EHCI version 1.0
usbus4: <VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 controller> on ehci0
isab0: <PCI-ISA bridge> at device 17.0 on pci0
isa0: <ISA bus> on isab0
rl0: <RealTek 8139 10/100BaseTX> port 0xec00-0xecff mem 0xf7001000-0xf70010ff irq 18 at device 19.0 on
 pci0
miibus0: <MII bus> on rl0
rlphy0: <RealTek internal media interface> PHY 0 on miibus0
rlphy0:  10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, auto
rl0: Ethernet address: 00:16:e6:4b:d9:55
rl0: [ITHREAD]
atrtc0: <AT realtime clock> port 0x70-0x73 irq 8 on acpi0
fdc0: <floppy drive controller> port 0x3f0-0x3f5,0x3f7 irq 6 drq 2 on acpi0
fdc0: [FILTER]
uart0: <16550 or compatible> port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on acpi0
uart0: [FILTER]
uart1: <16550 or compatible> port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on acpi0
uart1: [FILTER]
ppc0: <Parallel port> port 0x378-0x37f irq 7 on acpi0
ppc0: Generic chipset (NIBBLE-only) in COMPATIBLE mode
ppc0: [ITHREAD]
ppbus0: <Parallel port bus> on ppc0
plip0: <PLIP network interface> on ppbus0
plip0: [ITHREAD]
lpt0: <Printer> on ppbus0
lpt0: [ITHREAD]
lpt0: Interrupt-driven port
ppi0: <Parallel I/O> on ppbus0
atkbdc0: <Keyboard controller (i8042)> port 0x60,0x64 irq 1 on acpi0
atkbd0: <AT Keyboard> irq 1 on atkbdc0
kbd0 at atkbd0
atkbd0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
atkbd0: [ITHREAD]
pmtimer0 on isa0
sc0: <System console> at flags 0x100 on isa0
sc0: VGA <16 virtual consoles, flags=0x300>
vga0: <Generic ISA VGA> at port 0x3c0-0x3df iomem 0xa0000-0xbffff on isa0
Timecounter "TSC" frequency 1608054844 Hz quality 800
Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec
usbus0: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus1: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus2: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus3: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus4: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
acd0: DVDR <LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1213S/TS0D> at ata0-master UDMA33 
ugen0.1: <VIA> at usbus0
uhub0: <VIA UHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus0
ugen1.1: <VIA> at usbus1
uhub1: <VIA UHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus1
ugen2.1: <VIA> at usbus2
uhub2: <VIA UHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus2
ugen3.1: <VIA> at usbus3
uhub3: <VIA UHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus3
ugen4.1: <VIA> at usbus4
uhub4: <VIA EHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus4
ad3: DMA limited to UDMA33, device found non-ATA66 cable
ad3: 152626MB <Seagate ST3160815A 3.AAD> at ata1-slave UDMA33 
Root mount waiting for: usbus4 usbus3 usbus2 usbus1 usbus0
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub2: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
Root mount waiting for: usbus4
Root mount waiting for: usbus4
Root mount waiting for: usbus4
uhub4: 8 ports with 8 removable, self powered
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad3s1a
Setting hostuuid: aca9bc6e-a8ac-11e0-9ab9-0016e64bd955.
Setting hostid: 0x9245fdc0.
Entropy harvesting:
 interrupts
 ethernet
 point_to_point
 kickstart
.
ugen1.2: <Microsoft> at usbus1
ukbd0: <Microsoft Microsoft 2.4GHz Transceiver V1.0, class 0/0, rev 2.00/2.70, addr 2> on usbus1
kbd2 at ukbd0
Starting file system checks:
/dev/ad3s1a: FILE SYSTEM CLEAN; SKIPPING CHECKS
/dev/ad3s1a: clean, 73000018 free (78234 frags, 9115223 blocks, 0.1% fragmentation)
ums0: <Microsoft Microsoft 2.4GHz Transceiver V1.0, class 0/0, rev 2.00/2.70, addr 2> on usbus1
Mounting local file systems:
.
ums0: 5 buttons and [XYZT] coordinates ID=17
ums0: 0 buttons and [ZT] coordinates ID=0
Setting hostname: evilus.ru
.
Starting Network: lo0 rl0.
lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 16384
	options=3<RXCSUM,TXCSUM>
	inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3 
	inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 
	inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 
	nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
rl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	options=3808<VLAN_MTU,WOL_UCAST,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC>
	ether 00:16:e6:4b:d9:55
	inet 192.168.1.3 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
	media: Ethernet autoselect (none)
	status: no carrier
add net default: gateway 192.168.1.1
Starting devd.
Configuring keyboard:
 keymap
.
Starting ums0 moused
.
ELF ldconfig path: /lib /usr/lib /usr/lib/compat /usr/local/lib
a.out ldconfig path: /usr/lib/aout /usr/lib/compat/aout
Creating and/or trimming log files
.
Starting syslogd.
Clearing /tmp (X related).
Starting Open Sound System
Starting dbus.
Starting hald.
Updating motd:
.
Configuring syscons:
 keymap
 blanktime
.
Starting sshd.
rl0: link state changed to UP
Starting cron.
Starting inetd.
Jul  7 18:00:15 evilus inetd[1043]: ssh/tcp: bind: Address already in use
Starting background file system checks in 60 seconds.

Thu Jul  7 18:00:15 CEST 2011
```

*uname -a*:

```
FreeBSD evilus.ru 8.2-RELEASE FreeBSD 8.2-RELEASE #0: Fri Feb 18 02:24:46 UTC 2011 
root@almeida.cse.buffalo.edu:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC i386
```


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## graudeejs (Jul 7, 2011)

Try to run this script:
https://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=290


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## j4r3ck (Jul 7, 2011)

Doesn't works or script is pretty screwed up and doesn't work with FreeBSD 8.2 (it can't output if my sound card is detected or it isn't):


```
[root@evilus /usr/home/jaro]# sh ./snddetect
Please wait...
[root@evilus /usr/home/jaro]#
```


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## graudeejs (Jul 7, 2011)

So if it was detected, then perhaps you need to play with your plugs, and *hw.snd.default_unit* sysctl variable

One of combinations could work.
You can start with *hw.snd.default_unit=0* and go to some 5 or 6 (maybe more)
Once you hear sound, you can write that in /etc/sysctl.conf

Just load the driver, that detects your sound card


P.S.
I set hw.snd.default_unit=2 on my pc. After I inserted nVidia GeForce GT240, I had to set it to 4 (Just an example)

EDIT:
As I understand you installed OSS from ports/packages. Perhaps remove it and try to use native OSS


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## j4r3ck (Jul 7, 2011)

I removed OSS, so, I did the simple trick in bash (in FreeBSD /bin/sh doesn't work)


```
[root@evilus /boot/kernel]# for i in snd*.ko;do kldload $i;done
[root@evilus /boot/kernel]# cat /dev/sndstat
FreeBSD Audio Driver (newpcm: 32bit 2009061500/i386)
Installed devices:
[root@evilus /boot/kernel]#
```

It looks my sound card isn't supported under FreeBSD (but it's supported under Linux). So, what's cheap, but good sound card which is supported under FreeBSD?


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## graudeejs (Jul 7, 2011)

/bin/sh works absolutely great.
About cheap soundcard... it's tricky...

I have SoundBlaster that doesn't work (hardware is ok, but it's not supported)  So right now I stick with integrated sound cards.
On 1 PC shd_ich (Intel ICH AC'97 codec) for other snd_hda driver.

Not sure if sound card integrated in video card works or not, I've no way to test...

BTW, check your bios, perhaps your soundcard is disabled in BIOS
if you have other soundcards that are plugged in (pci or something like that), take them out, and try again.


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## j4r3ck (Jul 7, 2011)

@up: So, I forgot set it in BIOS - I restored fail-safe settings but it disabled my sound card.

So, I'm retrying snd_driver... it's detected as:


```
pcm0: <VIA VT8237> (play/rec) default)
```

Btw, I can't edit my posts so one of the forum moderators can check this topic as "[Solved]"?


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## graudeejs (Jul 7, 2011)

Great


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