Vintage Computers — 16
While not related to the previous DOS escapades, I continued my vintage computer journey on the K6-III+ computer. After installing the system to an office corner I noticed there was no audio sound. The sound card functions correctly on this multi-boot system with Windows for Workgroups and Windows NT4. I did not recall any sound problems with previous Slackware releases.
I scratched my head for a while until I remembered the sound card is on the ISA bus. Thereafter I discovered the required module was not loading automatically. I needed to manually load the respective snd-sbawe kernel module in /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.local, run alsamixer, alsactl store, and enable /etc/rc.d/rc.alsa. I browsed the rc.d script from previous Slackware releases and found no such reference. I recall though the alsaconf tool once upon a time was used to configure sound cards. Perhaps that tool played a role and configured modules to load through /etc/modprobe.d.
During this vintage computer resurrection the power supply on the Pentium II coincidentally gave up the ghost. The power supply died quietly when inserting a disk in the CD writer. No poof, noise, or other excitement. Just no usable computer. Luckily I had a spare power supply in the junk collection. Not bad I suppose for a computer more than 20 years of age.
More to come.
Posted: Category: Usability Tagged: General
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