How  to  Activate  SoundBlaster  Audio


If you are running BL3 on SoundBlaster-compatible hardware, you should be able to play audio files.   However, BL3 does not do this automatically -- you need to add some sound modules and install an audio player.


Step 1:   Get the sound modules 

Go to the 2.2.26 module repository and download these modules:

      soundcore.o       sound.o       uart401.o       sb.o

Put them in the /lib/modules/2.2.26/misc directory of your BL3 installation.


Step 2:   Activate the modules

At the beginning of each session the modules have to be activated.  The commands can be typed in, or they can be executed automatically by putting them in the system startup script (/etc/rc).

    insmod soundcore
    insmod sound
    insmod uart401
    insmod sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=1 dma16=0 mpu_io=0x330

The parameters for the sb module are the default values for SoundBlaster hardware.  Your hardware setup might be different, and you might have to alter some of those values.


Step 3:   Install audio player

You will find an mp3 player in the BL3 add-ons.  The package is called mpg123.tgz.  It comes with a small mp3 file which you can use to test your audio:

      pkg  mpg123.tgz
      mpg123  /tmp/test.mp3

That should play 10 seconds of music.  If not, there is something wrong with your configuration or with your hardware.

Once you have mpg123 working, you should consider installing a more capable media player.  David Moberg has compiled a very nice version of mplayer for BL3.  You will find a link to David's software here.