This is release 1.2 of the SoundBlaster Pro (Matsushita, Kotobuki,
Panasonic, CreativeLabs, Aztech) CD-ROM driver for Linux.
The driver is able to drive the whole family of IDE-style
Matsushita/Kotobuki/Panasonic drives (the "double speed" versions
like CR-562 and CR-563, too), and it will work with the soundcard
interfaces (SB Pro, SB 16, Galaxy, SoundFX, ...) and/or with
the "no-sound" cards (Panasonic CI-101P, LaserMate, Aztech, ...).
The interface type has to get configured, because the behavior
is different.
The driver respects different drive firmware releases - my drive
is a 2.11, but it should work with "old" drives <2.01 ... >3.00
and with "new" drives (which count the releases around 0.75 or
1.00).
Up to 4 drives are supported. CR-52x and CR-56x drives can be mixed,
but the CR-521 ones are hard-wired to drive ID 0. The drives have
to use different drive IDs, but the same controller (it will be a
little bit harder to support up to four interface cards - but I plan
to do it the day somebody wishes to connect a fifth drive).
Each drive has to get a unique minor number (0...3), corresponding
to it's drive ID. The drive IDs may be selected freely from 0 to 3 -
they must not be in consecutive order.
If this driver doesn't work with your equipment, mail me a
description, please.
The driver supports reading of data from the CD and playing of
audio tracks. The audio part should run with WorkMan, xcdplayer,
with the "non-X11" products CDplayer and WorkBone - tell me if
it is not compatible with other software.
MultiSession is supported, "ManySession" (see below) alternatively.
Photo CDs should work, too. At ftp.gwdg.de:/pub/linux/hpcdtoppm
is a package to convert photo CD image files.
I did not have a chance to play with XA or mixed mode CDs yet.
Send one over, if you would like sbpcd to support that.
The transfer rate will reach 150 kB/sec with standard drives and
the full 300 kB/sec with double-speed drives.
This release is part of the standard kernel and consists of
- this README file
- the driver file linux/drivers/block/sbpcd.c
- the header file linux/include/linux/sbpcd.h.
To install:
-----------
1. Setup your hardware parameters. Though the driver does "auto-probing"
now, this step is recommended for every-day use.
a. Go into /usr/src/linux/include/linux/sbpcd.h and configure
it for your hardware (near the beginning):
a1. Set it up for the appropriate type of interface board.
Most "compatible" sound boards (for example "Highscreen",
"SoundFX" and "Galaxy") need the "SBPRO 0" setup. The
"no-sound" board from OmniCd needs the "SBPRO 1" setup.
sbpcd.c holds some examples in it's auto-probe list.
a2. Tell the address of your CDROM_PORT.
b. Additionally for 2.a1 and 2.a2, the setup may be done during
boot time (via the "kernel command line" or "LILO option"):
sbpcd=0x230,SoundBlaster
or
sbpcd=0x320,LaserMate
(these strings are case sensitive!).
2. Do a "make config" and select "yes" for Matsushita CD-ROM
support and for ISO9660 FileSystem support.
SCSI and/or SCSI CD-ROM support is not needed.
3. Then do a "make dep", then make the kernel image ("make zlilo"
or else).
4. Make the device file(s). The driver uses definitely and exclusive
the MAJOR 25, so do
mknod /dev/sbpcd b 25 0 (if you have only drive #0)
and/or
mknod /dev/sbpcd0 b 25 0
mknod /dev/sbpcd1 b 25 1
mknod /dev/sbpcd2 b 25 2
mknod /dev/sbpcd3 b 25 3
to make the node(s).
Take care that you create a node with the same MINOR as your drive
id is. So, if the DOS driver tells you have drive id #3, you have to
mknod /dev/<any_name> b 25 3
If you further make a link like
ln -s sbpcd /dev/cdrom
you can use the name /dev/cdrom, too.
5. Reboot with the new kernel.
You should now be able to do "mount -t iso9660 /dev/sbpcd /mnt"
and see the contents of your CD in the /mnt directory, and/or
hear music with "workman -c /dev/sbpcd &".
Things of interest:
-------------------
The driver is configured to try the SoundBlaster Pro type of
interface at I/O port 0x0230 first. If this is not appropriate,
sbpcd.h should get changed (you will find the right place -
just at the beginning).
No DMA and no IRQ is used, so the IRQ adjusting is not necessary,
and the IRQ line stays free for the SB Pro sound drivers.
To reduce or increase the amount of kernel messages, edit
sbpcd.c and change the initialization of the variable
"sbpcd_debug". This is the way to get rid of the initial
warning message block, too.
With "#define MANY_SESSION 1" (sbpcd.c), the driver can use
"many-session" CDs. This will work only with "new" drives like
CR-562 or CR-563. That is NOT multisession - it is a CD
with multiple independent sessions, each containing block
addresses as if it were the only session. With this feature
enabled, the driver will read the LAST session. Without it,
the FIRST session gets read.
If you would like the support of reading "in-between" sessions,
drop me a mail and some food for the soul. :-)
Those "many-session" CDs can get made by CDROM writers like
Philips CDD 521.
With this feature enabled, it is impossible to read true
multisession CDs.
Auto-probing at boot time:
--------------------------
The driver does auto-probing at all well-known interface card
addresses now. The idea to do that came from Adam J. Richter
(YGGDRASIL).
This auto-probing looks first at the configured address resp.
the address submitted by the kernel command line. With this,
it is possible to use this driver within installation boot
floppies, and for any non-standard address, too.
Auto-probing will make an assumption about the interface type
("SBPRO" or not), based upon the address. That assumption may
be wrong (initialization will be o.k., but you will get I/O
errors during mount). In that case, use the "kernel command
line" feature and specify address & type at boot time to find
out the right setup.
SBPCD's auto-probing happens before the initialization of the
net drivers. That makes a hang possible if an ethernet card
gets touched.
For every-day use, address and type should get configured
within sbpcd.h. That will stop the auto-probing due to success
with the first try.
Setting up address and interface type:
--------------------------------------
If your I/O port address is not 0x0230 or if you use a "no-sound"
interface other than OmniCD, you have to look for the #defines
near the beginning of sbpcd.h and configure them: set SBPRO to
0 or 1, and change CDROM_PORT to the address of your CDROM I/O port.
Most of the "SoundBlaster compatible" cards behave like the
no-sound interfaces!
With "original" SB Pro cards, an initial setting of CD_volume
through the sound cards MIXER register gets done. That happens
at the end of "sbpcd_init". If you are using a "compatible"
sound card of type "LaserMate", you can change that code to get
it done with your card, too...
Using audio CDs:
----------------
Workman, WorkBone, xcdplayer and cdplayer should work good now,
even with the double-speed drives.
The program CDplayer likes to talk to "/dev/mcd" only, xcdplayer
wants "/dev/rsr0", workman loves "/dev/sr0" - so, do the appropriate
links for using them without the need of supplying parameters.
Known problems:
---------------
Currently, the detection of disk change or removal does not
work as good as it should.
Further, I do not know if this driver can live together with a
SCSI CD-ROM driver and/or device, but I hope so.
Bug reports, comments, wishes, donations (technical information
is a donation, too :-) etc. to
emoenke@gwdg.de
or to eberhard_moenkeberg@rollo.central.de
or to my FIDO address: Eberhard Moenkeberg, 2:2437/210.27
SnailMail address, preferable for CD editors if they want to submit
a free "cooperation" copy:
Eberhard Moenkeberg
Reinholdstr. 14
D-37083 Goettingen
Germany
