AC-97 chip sets
(Version: page rev. 1.33/ 18.02.2004)
AC-97 is a general term for a certain kind of on-board chip set, i.e. there is no sound card to insert into the computer, but the chip is built onto the motherboard itself instead. Sound quality usually isn't very high for both playing and recording, and some chips are also quite limited in terms of supported sampling rates, etc.
If you don't know which chip you have, see the code which is printed on top of the chip or check the web site of your motherboard's manufacturer. If both methods fail, use the latest version of the PCI hardware sniffer which has been ported by Veit Kannegieser. Search for pci*vk.zip at Hobbes.
Some of the chip set manufacturers, IBM, or freeware developers write drivers for certain chip sets. This results in support for all motherboards which use the specific chip set.
Tbl.3: OS/2- and eComStation-compatible AC-97 sound card chipsets (PCI) Vendor ALi Analog Device Analog Device Avance Logic Avance Logic Crystal Crystal C-Media ESS SigmaTel Via Via Via Yamaha multiple vendors (IBM/Innotek ALSA driver) multiple vendors (ALSA 2 driver) Vendor Chipset/Codecs ALI 5451 AD 1881, AD1881a, AD1885, AD1887,AD1981A,B (since version V.3.11 or V.3.13 respectively) AD1819, AD1881, AD1881A, AD1885, AD1886, AD1887, AD1886A, AD1980, AD1981A, AD1981B, AD1985 ALC-201A, ALC-650 ALC200/200P, ALC650, ALC101, ALC202, ALC250, ALC203 CS4299 CS4297, CS4297A, CS4294/4298, CS4294, CS4299, CS4201, CS4205, CS4291, CS4202, CMI9738, CMI9739 (ALSA 2 driver only) ES1988 STAC9700/83/84, STAC9701/3/4/5, STAC9704, STAC9708/11, STAC9721/23, STAC9744, STAC9750/51, STAC9752/53, STAC9756/57, STAC9766/67 VIA1612A Via KT133 Via KT266-KT400 (P4X/P4M266-400) YMF743, YMF752, YMF753, Avance Logic ALC650; C-Media 9738; SigmaTel STAC9721/23 AK4540,AK4542,AK 4543, AK4544A,AK4545, RL5306,RL5382,RL5383,HSD11246, Cx20468, DT0398, 28028, ESS1988, HMP9701, ICE1230, ICE1232, ICE1232A, VT1616, VT1616i, IT2226E, LM4540/43/45/46/48, LM4549, LM4550, UCB1400, Si3036/8, TR28022, TR28026, TR28028, TR28602, TLC320AD9xC, W83971D, WM9701A,WM9703, WM9707,WM9708,WM9717,WM9704M,WM9704Q,WM9705,WM9710,WM9709 Chipset/Codecs Hosts see ALSA 2 driver Intel ICH 8xx chipset (e.g. 815, 820, etc.) see ALSA 2 driver VIA KT133, KT266/333/400, Intel ICH 8xx (e.g. 815, 820, etc.), SIS chipset IBM/Innotek ALSA driver has been tested with NVidea + VIA KT266-KT400 exclusively Intel ICH 8xx chipset (e.g. 815, 820, etc.) see ALSA 2 driver see ALSA 2 driver see ALSA 2 driver see ALSA 2 driver see ALSA 2 driver see ALSA 2 driver Avance Logic ALC650 and C-Media 9738 only work with nVidia and VIA AC'97 host chipset; SigmaTel STAC9721/23 chipset only with Intel ICHx chipset Intel: 82801AA-ICH, 82801BA-ICH2, 82801CA-ICH3, 82901AB-ICH0, ICH5iMX440; SIS: Si7012,SI7018; nVidia (PCI to AC 97 bridge): nForce Audio, nForce2 Audio; AMD: AMD768, AMD8111; ALI 5455; VIA: 82C686A/B/C, VT8233A/B/C; (=VIA KT266-KT400 (P4X/P4M266-400)),VT8235 Hosts alternative description SoundMax / alternative description alternative driver / ALSA2 project driver IBM/Innotek ALSA or Analog Device driver for some chips IBM/Innotek ALSA or ALSA2 driver IBM/Innotek ALSA or Avance Logic driver for some chips ALSA2 driver / ALSA2 project driver / / / ALSA2 driver / ALSA2 driver / alternative driver driver version see ALSA2 driver 3.17 see ALSA2 driver 1.30 see ALSA2 driver 5.0 see ALSA2 driver see IBM or ALSA2 driver see ALSA2 driver see ALSA2 driver see ALSA2 driver 1.0 3.30 see ALSA2 driver 1.04b 1.09 driver version Features Features Wave x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Wave Max. wave channels n/a n/a n/a 1 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1 1 n/a n/a n/a Max. wave channels MIDI (OPL3 FM) / / / /* /* /* / /* /* /* /* /* /* /* /* /* MIDI (OPL3 FM) MIDI wavetable / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / MIDI wavetable RTMIDI (MPU401) Play & Rec. / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / RTMIDI (MPU401) Play & Rec. digital Play & Rec. (S/P DIF) / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / digital Play & Rec. (S/P DIF) 4 channel audio output / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 4 channel audio output Win-OS/2 sound support /** x /** /** /** x /** /** /** /** /** /** /** /** /** /** Win-OS/2 sound support DOS sound support / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / DOS sound support APM support n/a n/a n/a n/a / x / n/a n/a n/a n/a / n/a / / / APM support Full duplex x x x x ? / n/a / n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a / / / / Full duplex Odin-compatible (e.g. Win32 RealPlayer) x x x n/a x x x x x x x n/a n/a x x x Odin-compatible (e.g. Win32 RealPlayer) VPC-compatible x / x n/a x / x x x x x n/a x x x x VPC-compatible Included software Included software Joystick driver / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / Joystick driver Mixer / x x / / / / / / / / / / / / / Mixer Mixer standard Mixer standard IOCTL90 x x n/a x x x x x x x x x x x IOCTL90 IBM mixer x n/a n/a IBM mixer System requirements according to manufacturer OS/2 Warp 4.0 and eComStation Warp 3 FP42 Warp 4 FP13 OS/2 Warp 4.0 and eComStation Warp 4 rel. 9.023 and later, eCS Warp 4 and eComStation Warp 3 blue-spine and later OS/2 Warp 4.0 and eComStation OS/2 Warp 4.0 and eComStation OS/2 Warp 4.0 and eComStation OS/2 Warp 4.0 and eComStation OS/2 Warp 4.0 and eComStation Warp 3 red-spine and later Warp 3 XR_W017 or XR_W032 and later Warp 4 and eComStation Warp 4 and eComStation Warp 4 and eComStation System requirements according to manufacturer System requirements unsupported n/a Warp 3 FP26 red-spine Warp 4 FP 10 n/a n/a Warp 3 red-spine and later Warp 3 red-spine (without Win-OS/2 support) and later n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a / / n/a n/a n/a System requirements unsupported Driver developer ALSA2 driver project Analog Devices,Inc. ALSA2 driver project Avance Logic ALSA2 driver project Crystal ALSA2 driver project IBM/Innotek, ALSA2 driver project Alsa2 driver project Alsa2 driver project Alsa2 driver project Via Andrew Belov ALSA2 driver project IBM/Innotek ALSA2 project Driver developer Homepage driver manufacturer http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://www.analog.com/ http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://www.realtek.com.tw/ http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://www.cirrus.com http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://www.viaarena.com n/a http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php http://www.innotek.de/ http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php Homepage driver manufacturer Filename see ALSA2 driver ad188xos2_314.zip see ALSA2 driver os2warp4.exe see ALSA2 Treibe aftp1aos.exe,Pi0500.zip (Cirrus.com) see ALSA2 driver uniaud.exe uniaudio_104b_binaries.zip, see ALSA2 driver see ALSA2 driver see ALSA2 driver see ALSA2 driver 68mu210b.zip 823xac97.zip see ALSA2 driver uniaud.exe uniaudio_104b_binaries.zip uniaud2003xxxx.zip Filename Sources Sources Homepage driver manufacturer x x x x x x x x x x x x x Homepage driver manufacturer IBM DDPak nur Softw. Choice x IBM DDPak Hobbes x x x x Hobbes others IBM driver Device Matrix ThinkPad T40 IBM Device Driver Matrix ThinkPad T23+T30 others Availability Availability Freeware x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Freeware eComStation / IBM Software Choice customers only x x eComStation / IBM Software Choice customers only Installer/Deinstaller x x x n/a x / x x x x x n/a n/a x x x Installer/Deinstaller Comment sound chip supported by ALSA2 driver http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php driver requires an Intel ICH 8xx chipset (e.g. 815, 820) sound chip supported by ALSA2 driver http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php driver requires a VIA KT133, KT266/333/400, Intel ICH 8xx (815, 820, etc.) or SIS chip set. IBM/Innotek ALSA driver was tested with nVidea and VIA KT266-400 exclusively. sound chip supported by ALSA2 driver http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php driver requires an Intel ICH 8xx or Via KT xxx chipset sound chip supported by ALSA2 driver http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php IBM/Innotek ALSA driver requires a SIS SI7012 + C-Media CMI9738 chip set sound chip supported by ALSA2 driver http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php sound chip supported by ALSA2 driver http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php VT82C686A chip required, in case of IRQ sharing problems please use the VIA "viasp09" patch (filename: viasp09c.zip from Hobbes) Requires Via Tech. 8233/8233C/8233A/8235 chip sound chip supported by ALSA2 driver http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php supported sound chips are listed in the sound chip table and the driver readme as well. supported sound chips are listed in the sound chip table and the driver readme as well. This driver is based on the IBM/Innotek ALSA driver. Comment Driver quality n/a 3 n/a n/a n/a 3 3 4 4 n/a n/a n/a Driver quality
Abbreviations
- x
- yes/supported/available
- /
- no/not supported/not available
- n/a
- no information available
- *
- Software MIDI possible via TiMidity
- **
- output of system sound possible via generic Win-OS/2 driver
- ***
- possible if ESS Win-OS/2 sound drivers installed (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/)
- ****
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