SAM 440EP No sound

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Mikey_C
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SAM 440EP No sound

Post by Mikey_C »

Hi all

I have been unable to enjoy the use of my Amiga since november, basically, I got a SAM 440 EP and passed on my MicroA1 for free, however, it turned out that the SAM440EP has no sound, it appears to be a hardware issue. This I confirmed because we created (ANT) a bootable SAM440EP AmigaOS4 Disc and then just booted into the disc, tried the sound,nothing happened. We put the exact same disc into another SAM440EP and there was Sound.

I contacted ACUBE but apart have not heard back from them in over a month regarding my problem, after a couple of initial email exchanges, I was looking to see if the board could be checked by them and if so, maybe possibly repaired.

So, I am currently Amiga less, I would like to get back to the Amiga community, but without an Amiga it is currently impossible, does anyone here have any ideas please?

Cheers

MIkey C
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tonyw
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by tonyw »

This is a well-known issue, caused by a bad update last year. The file "Devs/AHI/CS4281.device" V5.6 (12/05/2013) is bad and prevents audio from working.

Once you revert to V5.5 (26.07.2009), your audio will all be sweet. You can use AmiUpdate to revert or just copy it from your install CD.
cheers
tony
Mikey_C
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by Mikey_C »

aha! But alas I have got CS4281.device" V5.5 installed and I still have no sound.

I hope someone here will be able to help, I really do, I want to get back to the Amiga experience :-(
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cha05e90
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by cha05e90 »

You might check whether all (!) units in AHI prefs are muted or not. This was the case when I switched my Sam440ep on for the first time. Back then it seemed to be a (wrong) default setting.
X1000|II/G4|440ep|2000/060|2000/040|1000
Mikey_C
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by Mikey_C »

They are not, in addition, when I plug in a jack into the headphone socket at the rear the speakers do not so much as crackle.

Anyone got any other ideas?

I personally think its hardware, but as I said, Acube haven't replied to my last email and I know they got it. :-(
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tonyw
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by tonyw »

Surely sounds like hardware. You could try another power supply (the Sam may depend on a PSU output that nothing else does), but otherwise, it sounds like a "go home to Mother" job.
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tony
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nbache
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by nbache »

Mikey_C wrote:They are not, in addition, when I plug in a jack into the headphone socket at the rear the speakers do not so much as crackle.
Just to make sure: If you pull out the jack again and touch the tip of it with a finger, do your speakers hum? If not, the problem is probably in your audio chain rather than in the Sam (and vice versa).

Best regards,

Niels
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LyleHaze
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by LyleHaze »

I'm not sure how the SAM440 sound is wired ionto the case, but I learned a few things when working my way through HDAudio that might apply:

There are two separate ways to wire a case for audio. One is AC97 and the other is HDAudio.. these two are NOT compatible.

If the SAM440 has an AC-97 header on board, the sound jacks on the back may not work unless the header to the front audio ports is connected properly, AND the actual jacks in the case are OK too.

Please read that last line again.. EVEN the BUILT IN jacks on the back will fail if the front panel stuff is not connected properly. This could possibly include plugging an HDAudio case harness into an AC-97 header.

It all comes down to the audio path in hardware. On the older AC-97 system, the left and right outputs are wired through the board header and the case wiring harness to the front headphone jack.. in addition to the headphone connections are a couple "normally closed" contacts that carry the signal BACK to the board header, where it is passed on to the rear jacks. When it works correctly, plugging in headphones would mute the rear outputs.

Obviously the long signal path and variety of connections points is less than ideal.

On HDAudio boards/cases, the sound card has separate outputs for front and rear audio, and instead of switching audio at the front headphone jacks, there is a simple one bit return indicating whether anything is plugged in or not. So the Audio switching is now done in software which is a lot less likely to cause problems.

So, if this board has never worked in this case, you might want to check the wiring harness in the case for a label, either AC97 or HDAudio, and check the Sam documentation as well.

Good Luck,
LyleHaze
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tonyw
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by tonyw »

@LyleHaze:

The Sam440ep has only a single ring-tip-sleeve jack on the motherboard. The on-board audio is a CS4281 with a RealTek ALC655 codec.
There is a 22-way "Audio Expansion" connector, but I doubt that Mikey has it wired to anything.
cheers
tony
Mikey_C
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Re: SAM 440EP No sound

Post by Mikey_C »

Tony is correct, I have not got the motherboard wired to anything. I have photos of the thing, but stick them where?
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