Installing Sun Soundcard (part 501-2592) into E450
Hello All,
I need some advise about how to install a soundcard into a E450.
The partnumber of the soundcard is 501-2592 and it should work in an E450. And I can buy the card for a reasonable price.
Is it difficult to install such a sound card into the system? It is PCI so just put it in a free PCI bay?
Do I need to do anything with the OpenBoot environment to initialize the soundcard so the system knows it is there?
The other side is the software, what steps do I need to follow to get sound working in Solaris 9?
I want Darkice to use the soundcard for internet radio.
Any help would be perfect.
Regards,
Maarten
[680 byte] By [
Snowbird01] at [2007-11-26 8:14:13]
# 1
you haven't done much homework about this card. it is a sbus card and it won't fit all of the E450 motherboards.ah yes, the E450 as a workstation... haroldkarl
# 2
Hello,
I guess I didnot do my homework,
but the website that has the add on it talks about a soundcard for a Enterprise 450. So I guessed it should fit into my E450 server.
This is the link of the website that is offering the soundcard:
http://www.damicon.fi/sun/used.html
It can be found under the misc. stuff.
# 3
Even ebay has these modules... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=56099&item=58081 77854But what is needed to get them to work in Solaris 9?
# 4
if you have either of these E450 motherboards (501-2996, 501-5270), you can use the sound card... unforturnately, the first motherboards will only use 300mhz cpus, but the second will take 400mhz...I would find a different Sun box for your music.harold
# 5
I just took a moment to glance through the Spectrum version of the SSH.
It appears that the 501-2592 sound card attaches to the rear of the chassis with screws,
and a ribbon cable does the functional connection to the systemboard.
There appears to be a place to attach a generic sound cable from your CD drive, as well.
The sound card doesn't install to any slot.
It seems to hang off the inside of the system frame.
In a past life, I supported E450's in Sun, for 6+ years as a TSE.
I cannot remember one solitary single service call
to the Support Center, on those puppies.
None. Nada. Nil.
I won't be able to help you with any configuration;
maybe the E450 Service Manual mentions it ?
# 6
it isn't quite a sbus card... my mistake... if you have the field engineer handbook, it clearly shows the "slot" just to the left of the Marvin chip...
I suppose it helps to have owned a Sparc 4, along with 3 E450s... old knowledge doomed to death by Sun's policy changes... who cares about this old sparc crap anyway?!?!?!? they have this great peecee hardware now!
oh well,
haroldkarl
# 7
I actually want to get rid of this Sun E450 because of the lack of the soundcard, so I was pleased to find a soundcard that would fit into the system.
We are running the sun at a not profit local radio station and now use a separate system that does the encoding to MP3 and then sends it to the sun box.
I want both functions in one machine, so the soundcard would be perfect.
I am not shure if I can access all the documentation from the sun site becaus whe do not have a service contract, it is all donated hardware.
To find out if the motherboard supports this sound option I probably have to bring the system down and have to open the case, or should it be possible to find it out another way?
# 8
I wish I knew where my spare sound card is for that beast... but, you need to figure out if your E450 would take it... and that I don't know, there should be a command line for motherboard version...
the E450 is a great old beast... almost every other Sun has built-in sound... the E450 is a server, so no need for it, other than the add-on board.
haroldkarl
# 9
I agree, it is a server, so under normal conditions no audio required.. ;-)But again, aside from the physical connection, I have absolutely no idea how Solaris 9 reacts on the audio option, I really don't think that sound works after a reboot of the system.
# 10
either do a boot -r after installation or there may be drivers that need to be installed... but you still need to find out which motherboard you have.. it may be a moot point...haroldkarl
# 11
Hello Maarten,
the mentioned board is an "audio option" for a server, not a sound card.
The same chip (Crystal CS4231A) was used in workstation like the Ultra 1, Ultra 30 (add-in board for a special slot) and Ultra 5/10.
I don't think that the sound quality is suitable for FM broadcasting, probably only AM.
Maybe you can contact 4Front Technology, they sell their driver (around US $60), but offer presales (and 2 years free aftersales) support and trial drivers for PCI sound cards.
http://www.opensound.com/solaris-sparc.html
This is from their download page:
Open Sound System is now free for personal and non-commercial use and comes with a license key that will allow you to run OSS. The license key is valid for up to 6 months at a time after which you will need to download and install OSS again. There are no time limitations or restricted functionality during the licensing period.
This is not a sales plug ! I'm just a customer (Sound Blaster Live! Linux driver many years ago).
Michael
# 12
Michael,Thanks for the link,I will check out what soundcard would fit in the E450 server in combination with the OSS.
# 13
Hello,
To find out if the motherboard supports this sound option I probably have to bring the system down and have to open the case, or should it be possible to find it out another way?
Invoke as root prtconf -vp | grep "model: 'SUNW,501-"
These are the first few lines ...
# prtconf -vp | more
System Configuration: Sun Microsystems sun4u
Memory size: 2048 Megabytes
System Peripherals (PROM Nodes):
Node 0xf002a490
boot-retained-page:
scsi-initiator-id: 00000007
reset-reason: 'POR'
model: 'SUNW,501-5270'
...
Michael
# 14
Michael,
The output shows that the sound option should fit:
System Configuration: Sun Microsystems sun4u
Memory size: 4096 Megabytes
System Peripherals (PROM Nodes):
Node 0xf002a490
boot-retained-page:
scsi-initiator-id: 00000007
reset-reason: 'POR'
model: 'SUNW,501-5270'
But, I think that I choose for a 'real' soundcard.
It seems that a SB Audigy/Audigy2 should work with OSS. To be shure of that I have sent an email to the OSS people.
Maarten
# 15
Maarten,
You cannot use a PC sound card, such as anything from Creative Labs,
with a SPARC system like your E450.
Don't confuse Solaris-on-x86 functionality with Solaris-on-SPARC compatibility.
The hardware inter-relationship will not be in your Sun system.
Just don't bother.
If you must put sound into the E450,
then get that 501-2592 board at Ebay,
and try to get Solaris to work with it.
Your monetary cost will be small.
The biggest cost will just be your time.
# 16
Hello,
You cannot use a PC sound card, such as anything from <insert your favourite brand>, with a SPARC system like your E450.
Not every PC sound card will work, but some.
Rukbat: Please review their forum.
http://www.4front-tech.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4
Usually I would recommend to review the [url=http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/ihvindex.html]Third Party I/O Solutionspage[/url] and avoid any component not listed there, but the lack of OBP support is out of question (playing a fanfare at the ok-prompt...).
I thought about trying a Sound Blaster Live 1024 (EMU1K chip) in a SPARC, but incidently even OSS doesn't support this card for SPARC.
About 3-4 years ago I tried their Solaris x86 driver for this board, but at that time the trial was timebombed in serveral ways (after 30 days ceased to work and after 60 minutes of operation).
This is a link to their installation guide (they use a x86 package as example, but a package for SPARC is available). The document contains a list of supported card, but as noted before they use a x86 package ...
http://www.opensound.com/test/oss-install.pdf
Michael
# 17
Thanks, Michael.
I briefly used the OSS packages on the Live card, in an x86 PC, and they're fine.
... then I needed the card in a Windows system, so I changed to a SB16
card and put [url=http://www.tools.de/solaris/]Jeugen Keil's packages[/url] on it.
I currently have Sol10 in that same box, with a simple CrystalSound card.
My audio needs are simple, for whatever system I might have.
I have a suspicion that if Maarten keeps his configuration simple,
he may eventually get the Internet radio function he desires.
The 501-2592 card and native Solaris recognition may still be
the the most straight-forward answer for the E450.
We can hope to hear back, when all is complete.
# 18
All,
Thank you for your advise..
I also emailed today to 4front (OSS).
They advised me to use the SB Audigy 2 ZS, that card should work fine in the E450 with OSS.
I guess my next step is to find a Audigy en just try if it all turns out well.
I will look for the Audigy on ebay or other dutch marketplaces on the internet, so it could take a couple of days.. or a bit more for me to find one.
I will let you all know via this topic how it turns out with the OSS drivers and of course the sound... I will put on the URL for the local radio station here so you all can here.. ;-)
Again,
thanks!
Maarten
# 19
HelloI have got a Ultra 450 that is the workstation version of the E450. That has the audio module card 501-2592 factory install. Solaris recognizes the audio module at installation.Alexander
# 20
I know this is an old topic but just incase anyone else is wondering and came across this;
I have an E-450 4x400 Mhz also. I installed a Sound Blaster Audigy SE 2 and installed the OSS drivers. It works perfectly and even recognized the surround sound ports.
This is the link to the drivers http://www.opensound.com/
Have fun
Dean
