hme/qfe x86 and SPARC binaries

hme (and by extension qfe) cards can be used on x86 systems if you download the test driver that I've supplied. Just download, extract, and follow the directions in the README file.

I'm also interested in verification that the driver performs properly on SPARC; binaries are in the same archive. The code was significantly simplified, and I need to know it works properly.

Finally, I'm seriously in need of code reviewers. I can't integrate the changes without a proper review. If you can volunteer to help, check out the webrev that I have posted.

Thanks!

(Note: on x86 qfe cards will show up as "hme" devices... this is normal and expected. The "qfe" name is an artifact only found on SPARC systems for historical reasons... the actual qfe card consists of 4 hme devices behind a PCI bridge.)

Via Rhine driver integrated

Joost Mulders last night integrated his Via Rhine "vr" driver. While I don't personally have this hardware, I know it is very common. I did code review his driver, which I found to represent very tight and well-written code. Congratulations Joost!

Saurabh Misra is working on a home-grown "bfe" (Broadcom Fast Ethernet) driver as well, which also looks very good and should be integrating soon.

ALI 5451 southbridge AC'97 audio integrated

I just integrated support for the ALi Southbridge AC'97 controller found on certain x86 motherboards The necessary driver (audiots from the SPARC world, actually) is available on x86 platforms starting with build 115. For the moment this driver only supports stereo, but if someone has a multichannel configuration that they want to have supported, they should contact me and I'll work with them to get the testing necessary to enable this done.

Enjoy.

kaBOOM!

Boomer has integrated! Yay... this was a long road, and a lot of code -- one of the biggest projects I've worked on (and the hg push was far and away the single biggest push or putback I've ever done.)

Anyway, we were the first integration into build 115 of ON. See the flag day message for more details. Enjoy!

-- Garrett

preliminary audio driver for cmi8738

I've got a preliminary driver working for the CMedia 8738, 8768, and 8338 series of devices. This driver works with Boomer (you'll need RC3 installed, or -- hopefully -- Nevada build 115 when it comes out, and it seems to be working except for some issues with the record gain being a bit faint. (Hopefully I'll resolve those soon.)

The driver lacks support for advanced features like surround sound or jack retasking, mostly because I can't easily test them -- I have only an ancient 8738 -033 (stereo only) part available to me. (Also, it seems that CMedia has had some rather unusual changes with each revision of the chip, making proper support of advanced features such as SPDIF or surround sound a bit troublesome.)

So, that said, I'd like to hear from folks who have this part and can use a driver for it. If you want to test, drop me a line. Thanks.

Going to KCA 2009

It looks like I'll be in Brisbane, Australia for the Kernel Conference Australia 2009. The primary mission is to talk about Boomer -- the exact details aren't locked in yet. But I've been asked to chat about GLDv3 and driver porting in general as well.

Anyway, for those of you down under, I look forward to the chance to meet you. This will be my first trip south of the equator, and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully my wife will be able to join me there as well!

boomer rc3, audio driver for ali5451

I've posted Boomer RC3 yesterday. It will be the last separate binary release of Boomer Phase I -- we're on track for integration into Nevada B115 -- C-Team Commitment review is on Monday.

That said, we've found one problem, which is of a P3 nature, which affects the ability of certain applications (audacity is the only one found so far) to record -- the record process doesn't start properly when triggered. I've got a fix for this, and can offer a binary to anyone who needs it for RC3. We've still not yet figured out whether this problem will be fixed in Boomer Phase I prior to integration, or just after integration -- but in either case it will be build 115 as well.

The other thing is that I've got a binary driver built for the audio controller found on the ALi 5451 southbridge. This is a somewhat older part, but folks might have them on certain motherboards. If you've got one, and you want a binary driver, let me know -- I'll be happy to supply one -- but you'll need to run Boomer RC3 or an OpenSolaris build that has Boomer integrated (i.e. build 115). We'll be handling this one as an RFE after Boomer Phase I integration -- probably also in Build 115. (Note that Dev at 4Front has already tested this binary for me, so I know its good to go -- it is just a recompilation on x86 of the audiots SPARC driver that is in Boomer.)

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for our integration into build 115.