ariainit.zip file contents:





aria.cfg     --  An example config file known to work with ariainit.com


ariainit.c   --  C source code for program


ariainit.com --  Executable for MS-DOS compiled with Quick C ver 2.x


readme.1st   --  This file





The Aria sound card uses a chipset from Sierra Semiconductor that allows all


but a small number of port addresses IRQ settings and DMA channels to be set


through software.  Unfortunately,  Sierra did not disclose how to do this in


the documentation to their SDK. The Prometheus software license for the Aria


16se did not prohibit reverse engineering or disassembly of the software. So


armed only with debug, my goal was to discover how the Aria is configured. I


needed to know this to use the Aria under the Linux operating system,  which


is not supported by Prometheus. My intention is to write a device driver for


Linux that will allow me to take advantage of the Aria's SCSI port and sound


(through Sound Blaster emulation) capabilities. Maybe I will go so far as to


write a native Aria driver!





I created the ariainit program as a learning aid and for confirmation that I


understood how the soundcfg.sys driver worked to set the Aria configuration.


ARIAINIT.COM  provides almost identical functionality as the soundcfg.sys it


replaces,  plus the ARIAINIT.COM program allows the Aria to be configured in


the AUTOEXEC.BAT file instead of the CONFIG.SYS file.





I may attempt to use ARIAINIT for OS/2 also.  I do not currently know enough


about OS/2 device drivers or  boot/initialization sequences to say how  easy


it might be to use ARIAINIT in that environment.  If anyone cares to do some


experimenting, I would love to hear from you! I also have OS/2 on my system,


but I have my hands full with Linux right now.  So don't expect anything for


OS/2 from me in the near future.





___


|KM


=====================================================================


 myers@cfi.org      |  Thomas K. Myers  |  CAD Framework Initiative


 Desk: 512/338-3516 | Software Engineer | 4030 West Braker Lane #550


 FAX:  512/338-3853 |  &  so much more  |    Austin, Texas 78759


=====================================================================


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