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.
| 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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