Some people are having problems to configure their soundcard after they have successfully installed Slackware. They have passed one of the biggest problem in GNU/Linux, which is installing the system itself. Most people still think that Slackware installation is difficult, mainly because the installation is done in text-based interface, just like the old distro (Gentoo and Debian has just introduced a new GUI installer which makes Slackware is the only distro which still uses the ncurses-based installation proccess - please correct me if i'm wrong about this, since there are so many distro around the world and i don't have time to study all of them). I think that if we pay attention about the help text that was displayed, it wouldn't be so much problem in the installation. In my experience of installing several distros, Slackware is the fastest one (even some people are claiming that Ubuntu is the fastest, since it only uses 1 CD, rather 2 CD in Slackware).
This article will try to help you to configure your soundcard after you have installed the main system of Slackware. There are several ways to do that, but for this article, i will limit it by using only ALSA drivers, since it's the most widely used driver in Slackware (and it worked). There are three ways of installing the ALSA driver in your system and run the tool to probe your soundcard and load the suitable modules in your kernel modules. We will discuss both method and also advantages and disadvantages of each ways.
The only preparation for this article is by installing alsa-lib alsa-oss, alsa-utils packages. That would be easy for you right?
The best way for beginners who has just meet Slackware is by installing alsa-driver-<package version>-<kernel-version>-<release version>.tgz package, for example alsa-driver-1.0.11rc3_2.4.32-i486-1.tgz for 2.4.x kernel and alsa-driver-1.0.11rc3_2.6.15.5-i486-1.tgz for 2.6.x kernel. Please keep in mind that the kernel version must be the same version as your current kernel or else it won't work, since Patrick Volkerding has built it for each kernel version that he released under Slackware's repository. These kind of driver was built for specific kernel version, thus it will only be valid for one kernel version. If you upgrade or install a new kernel, you will also have to download another alsa-driver package again which match with your kernel version.
The other solution is by using your kernel modules. This can be applied if you want to compile your own kernel (i have started to use this method since i have been able to compile my own kernel for my system). ALSA Project has include some of it's module in the kernel, so you can use it, rather than installing each driver for each kernel version that you install. As a start, you can use Slackware's config file for the base config and start tweaking the config file by including all ALSA modules (leave the OSS, since it was deprecated, but if you want to use it, it's up to you) after you have run
make xconfigmake menuconfig
After making the kernel image, don't forget to compile the modules and installing it by executing
make modulesmake modules_install
If you have successfully boot up your new kernel, then everything should be fine and you can start configuring your soundcard. If you have a new kernel, you don't have to reconfigure it again, since you can use your old config file as the base for the new kernel.
The last way to install the ALSA driver is by getting the packages directly from ALSA Project and compile it for your system. This method will require some knowledge on installing from source code (./configure, make, and make install). Please note that by using this method, you will get the latest version of ALSA drivers, but the problem will be the same with the first method; you will have to compile it again if you install new kernel. You will also have to use the same GCC version that was used to build your kernel.
After you have installed the ALSA drivers, it's time to start configuring your soundcard. First of all, let's probe the soundcard and detect which module is suitable for the device by typing this in terminal (as root)
alsaconf
It will launch a small window dialog which will build the database driver and try to identify the device you have and pick the correct module. If your soundcard is detected by the ALSA driver, it will ask whether the module will be put in some file so it would be called at startup. You should say yes, or else you will have to manually load it after the system boot up.
Next, try to configure your volume settings by typing
alsamixer
It will display small simple mixer in terminal. You can start tunning your volume and other things. When you are done, exit by using ESCAPE key. To save your setting, type
alsactl store
That's it. Your configuration is saved and in the future boot, the system will try to restore your settings by calling alsactl restore command at boot time.
It's time to have some comparison between three ways to install the ALSA driver.
Using binary packages
+ Easy to do it (just use upgradepkg or installpkg to do it)Using kernel modules
+ You don't have to download the drivers. It's included in the kernelUsing source code
+ You will get the latest stable versionConfiguring your soundcard in Slackware is very easy. Just use ALSA drivers and in three steps, you will be able to hear audio files by using XMMS or Amarok or any other audio player. Which method is the best? I'll leave that question to you, since each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages. You will have your answer if you have tried all (or some) of them (i have never tried the last method, since i'm quite happy with the second method). If you have any other methods, please let me know, and i will add it here.
Last Update : 5 June 2006 :: 15:10:55
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