[SunRescue] MP3 on SPARCstation LX (Findings)

[Pullig, Bruce A.]

OK, I wanted to share my findings on MP3s on my LX.   

First off the reason I wanted to use an LX was because of size and the 16bit
audio. My plan was to build a SPARC Solaris MP3Car and I don't want to put
my Ultra 10 in my trunk!  When I tried to play MP3s on an IPX under Solaris
I found that apparently mpg123 didn't support 8-bit sound.  This may or may
not be true so don't flame me.

I bought an LX with 32MB RAM, and a sound box.  When I tried Solaris 7 the
mpg123 output was very choppy.   I tried to kill all the unneeded daemons.
When that didn't help, I tried Solaris 2.6 & 2.5.1.   I decided I needed an
OS that required less memory.  I now believe that more memory might allow
using Solaris, which is my OS preference.  (Does anyone have cheap memory
for an LX for sale?)

According to the BSD hardware compatibility lists, Sun4M sound is not
supported on the LX. I never tested this though.

That brought me to Linux...since a co-worker had made a CD from an ISO of
SPARC RedHat 6.1, I decided to try it and see if it would work.  (Also there
are some cool LCD & keypad source code available for Linux.)  When I tried
RH, I initially found the sound output to be unsatisfactory, but not choppy.
I booted in init 2 starting only the S??network and S99linuxconf.  I played
with mpg123 and found that the sound is fine if I use the -m switch which
combines both channels. (Mono)  Maybe more memory would fix that.  (Does
anyone have cheap memory for an LX for sale?)

I might try more memory and/or the -m switch under Solaris soon. (Hey the
neat Linux source code should port, right?)

So, if you want MP3s on your LX, I currently suggest at least 32MB, and RH
6.1 with no extra services using the -m switch for mpg123.

If I ever get it playing MP3s under Solaris, I'll let y'all know.

Does anyone have cheap memory for an LX for sale? ;-)

-
Bruce Pullig
UNIX/NetWare Support
CSC Midland, Texas 
(915) 686-5517
ETN: 644-5517
bruce.a.pullig at usa.conoco.com
bpullig at csc.com