From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Thu Feb 1 20:24:22 2018 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 64EA3EC6423 for ; Thu, 1 Feb 2018 20:24:22 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from frankfenderbender@council124.org) Received: from vps349.pairvps.com (vps349.pairvps.com [216.92.231.69]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 181E883E2C for ; Thu, 1 Feb 2018 20:24:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from frankfenderbender@council124.org) Received: from [192.168.0.100] (unknown [104.220.39.23]) (using TLSv1 with cipher AES128-SHA (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by vps349.pairvps.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 65402A5FD9; Thu, 1 Feb 2018 15:24:20 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: sound-card/driver question Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v1085) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii From: C Gray In-Reply-To: <20180201121251.95e345cf.freebsd@edvax.de> Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2018 12:24:19 -0800 Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Reply-To: C Gray Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: <09DEB81A-3DC1-4147-9249-0497C89F429B@council124.org> References: <8F08E935-33A8-4B5F-9057-51FAD51DA97D@council124.org> <20180201121251.95e345cf.freebsd@edvax.de> To: Polytropon X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1085) X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.25 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:24:22 -0000 Much appreciation for sharing that wisdom.=20 Ordering the card now.=20 thanks and best wishes, chris On 01-February-2018, at 03:12 AM, Polytropon wrote: > On Wed, 31 Jan 2018 15:02:30 -0800, C Gray wrote: >> I have a Dell PowerEdge T300 server which has the following slots = available: >> slot 1: 3.3-V, full-length PCIe x4 with x8 connector >> slot 2: 3.3-V, full-length PCIe x4 >> slot 3: 3.3-V, full-length PCIe x8 >> slot 4: 3.3-V, full-length PCIe x8 >> slot 5: 3.3-V, full-length PCI-X >>=20 >> The system is based around: >> Xeon X3440 @ 2.50 GHz Quad core >> 2GB DDR3 RAM. >>=20 >> It's been said that a driver supported for Vista will work with for = FreeBSD. >=20 > That sounds very strange. Both systems are so fundamentally > different in architecture and binary interfaces. >=20 >=20 >=20 >> The card I am looking at works with Microsoft Windows7, Vista, and = XP. >> It's PCI-X based, and would, thus, be inserted into [my] slot 5: >> Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer SB0770 7.1-Channel >> PCI Sound Card >>=20 >> My question is whether the CD of sound card drivers are in a >> standardized format such that,=20 >> FreeBSD/TrueOS can use them, as is, just as the Microsoft-verified >> environments do? >=20 > Probably not. >=20 > But it's not needed. FreeBSD provides the drivers needed and loads > them automatically at system startup once the hardware has been > detected properly. There usually is no need to manually download > or install something. >=20 > I've been using Creative Labs SoundBlaster cards in the past, and > the OS automatically loaded the correct driver. You can easily > verify this with >=20 > # pciconf -lv | less >=20 > and >=20 > # cat /dev/sndstat >=20 > The sound card should then be listed, and the corresponding driver > right next to it. >=20 > SoundBlaster cards have a long tradition of out-of-the-box support > on FreeBSD. Even on Linux, ALSA seems to provide support for this > particular card. >=20 >=20 >=20 >> Do they even use the same suffix? >=20 > What kind of suffix are you talking about? >=20 >=20 >=20 >> Are they well-written enough to discover the platform whereon >> they are expected to run (*that is, to "drive"). >=20 > Probably not. Drivers made for "Windows" will only work on a > specific subset of "Windows" versions, i. e., the "driver system" > they have been created for. So their use is even limited within > the "Windows" ecosystem, and outside of it, they are more or > less useless. >=20 >=20 >=20 >> It the OS discovers the driver rather than the driver=20 >> discovering the OS, the same functional use may be achieved, >> however, I'm ignorant other than=20 >> guessing as to how drivers work and what is required for that >> to take place. >=20 > As I said, manually supplying drivers is not needed on FreeBSD > because the drivers are already there. The OS discovers the > hardware and loads the driver. Simple and easy. :-) >=20 >=20 >=20 >> Where are they stored in Windows and in FreeBSD, and how do I >> install the proper one from the=20 >> disk accompanying the card (most likely meant for Microsoft's >> toolset/installer. >=20 > You don't. The OS already has the drivers installed. >=20 >=20 >=20 >> Suggestions? >=20 > If you have the card at hand, install it as recommended into the > system and boot FreeBSD. With the commands mentioned above, check > if (a) the device has been recognized, and (b) the appropriate > driver has been loaded. There isn't much more you have to do, as > FreeBSD is a "plug & play" OS. :-) >=20 >=20 >=20 >=20 > --=20 > Polytropon > Magdeburg, Germany > Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 > Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to = "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" >=20 C Gray frankfenderbender@council124.org