Thorvan Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 (edited) I hope this hasn't been covered before, I didn't get any matches ... but sorry if it is! ;) I'm getting a new computer soon and wish to have Mandrake 9.2 installed on it ... and was wondering on the compatibility of the ASUS P4S800-MX SIS661FX motherboard. In particular the sound and video on board ... The video is SiS Real 256E Video and the audio is ADI AD1888 SoundMAX 6-channel CODEC according to the ASUS website, the place I'm buying it from also lists it with AC97. Would I be safe in assuming those would work in Mandrake? Its probably stated somewhere, but from what I've seen I just can't find a straight answer ;) Thanks in advance. Edited January 28, 2004 by Thorvan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 The ALSA pages don't mention this model of audio chip, although they mention very similarly numbered chips from Analog Devices (ADI). I just came across another site that mentioned that no linux drivers are available, didn't see a date on that page though. Personally I'd be hesitant about this mobo... better to get one that you know will work, instead of one that you hope may work.. But maybe others here know this board or these chips.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorvan Posted January 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 (edited) Yeah I feared that ... I read in one spot that it "should" be supported by ALSA, but theres a difference between should be supported, and supported ... One place said ADI1816 based chips, if I have the number right ... I'm on a budget so was trying to go to something that would work without going overboard on the mobo. I was hoping someone might be using the mobo in question, never know I might still get lucky ;) -- Hm just found what seems to be a driver for AD1888 SoundMAX http://www.asus.com.cn/support/download/se...nux.zip~zaqwedc I don't know why I didn't think of searching google/linux earlier ... Confirmation from someone more in the know than I would still be greatly appreciated on the video/audio on the mobo. Edited January 27, 2004 by Thorvan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Well.. if you want to test whether it works or not, why don't you try using knoppix or (better yet) mandrakemove to see whether everything is supported? Besides, seeing the huge size of that driver (2 mb for a linux driver? ouchie), I think it is more of a version of alsa that works. Note that even though the driver works, there is a chance that the 6 channel capability may not be supported, so it will be only a simple 2 speaker setup that works. Anyway, I don't think Asus is that stupid to create a really proprietary motherboard that has crippled capability in linux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorvan Posted January 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Yeah I would have tried that, but I don't have the mobo I'm in the market for a new PC ... so I can't really try knoppix on it, I don't have it :) I think if I downgrade the ASUS board it still has the same AD1888 chip, which isn't much help. I gotta go up market to get the 1980 which is supported according to the ALSA pages ... but that mobo doesn't come with a serial port for my modem so I'd have to fork out more money for a PCI serial card so itd probably end up costing 60 more bucks ... which may not sound like much, but I'm a uni student :P Anyone know if "BIOSTAR" is any good? It had an S3 video and Cmedia audio card onboard, I'm pretty sure. But then again I'm downgrading RAM support and support for faster CPU's if I wanna upgrade ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 (edited) I used to work at a place that sold 'cheap' computer parts. And by cheap, I don't mean inexpensive. Most of the motherboards we carried were Biostars, but I have no real-life experience with them. I have an Asus A7V600 and my onboard is not supported either. If I understand correctly, the Asus boards that use NVidia chipsets tend to have onboard sound that is supported, but I'm not sure. Try comparing here: http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/hardware.php3 Edited January 28, 2004 by Steve Scrimpshire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorvan Posted January 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Yeah ... I was sorta turned off at how unprofessional the board itself looked by biostar. BAH! I think I'll have a closer look at the ASUS boards I can get, then get an audio card that is suported ... any recommendations on supported soundcards that wouldn't break the budget too much? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 This one: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....epa=1§ion=2 should work, but I don't know what kind of quality you are desiring in a sound card. Creative Labs are average, I would say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 SB Live! Should be around us$ 50 nowadays.. great compatibility with linux. But if asus actually have the linux driver for the board, why don't you use it? You may as well try installing it and ask us if there are any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorvan Posted January 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Hm ... well food for thought, I suppose. I just don't really wanna spend the money on something that won't work thats all ;) I'm looking at Soundblaster LIVE! At the moment, but that will cost me 68 bucks ... Scratch that, if I want surround I'll mooch off my parents surround sound system in their living room hah! So I'm looking at Soundblaster Vibra 128. Would that work well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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