ARIA(4)

📦 version 11.0, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 ARIA 💖

okay bestie, so this whole page is from the Kernel Interfaces Manual, and it's all about aria — Sierra's Aria chipset audio device driver. yes, that's a whole sound card driver. we love a niche retro audio moment. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

aria — the audio device driver for Sierra's Aria chipset. it's giving "your sound card's whole personality" 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

aria0 at isa? port 0xPPP irq I
aria0 at isa? port 0xPPP irq I flags 1
audio* at audiobus?
ngl, that first line is the standard vibe, and the second one is the same vibe but with flags 1 — which matters, and we'll get to why. iykyk. 💅

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so the aria driver is here to support Sierra's Aria chipset, which is literally the basis of iconic cards like the Prometheus Aria 16, the Genoa AudioBahn 16 Pro, and some Diamond Sonic Sounds (the Rev A5 and Rev B2 ones, specifically — not all of them, so don't come for me). 👑

the Sierra Aria chipset is full-duplex, and it can do 8- and 16-bit audio sample recording and playback at these rates, exactly these and no others:

  • 7875 Hz
  • 11025 Hz
  • 15750 Hz
  • 22050 Hz
  • 31500 Hz
  • 44100 Hz

the valid I/O addresses are 0x280, 0x290, 0x2A0, and 0x2B0. the IRQ can be set to 10, 11, or 12. pick your fighter. 🌈

now, the flags setting is necessary for the Prometheus Aria 16, because that card needs to be specially configured at each cold boot by twiddling with the joystick port. yes. the joystick port. that's not a bit, that's the actual procedure. 😭 like it's genuinely doing the most at every boot and there's no way around it here.

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

go read those too, bestie, they're the supporting cast. 💖

🎀 HISTORY 🎀

the aria device driver appeared in NetBSD 1.4. vintage. iconic. lowkey a historical artifact. ⭐

💀 BUGS 💀

bestie, here's the honest part, and i need you to stay calm:

  • DMA is not yet supported. not yet. it's giving "we're working on it." 😭
  • the flags option should not be necessary. like, it shouldn't have to be this way. but here we are.
  • it is necessary to configure the port and irq. no notes, no shortcuts, just do it. don't skip this one, fr fr. ⚠️
so yeah: set your port, set your irq, add flags 1 if you've got the Prometheus Aria 16, and accept that DMA is a future problem. vibe check complete. 🦋

later, legend — this page came to you from Debian, dated June 22, 2005. 💅✨🎀💜

📦 where this page comes from