  The Elite's K7s5a mainboard HOWTO
  Sebfrance nospam-sebfrance@ifrance.com,
  nospam-Andreas.Willenbrink@web.de,
  nospam-alvaro@reguly.net,

  nospam-paolo.berva@st.com

  (yeah you should remove the nospams :)


  v1.4, 2002-11-15


  How to use Elite's K7s5a mainboard under GNU/Linux.

  1.  Introduction


  I got the mainboard for christmas 2001, and after a little while, I
  understood that the new chipset sis735 was not handled by Mandrake
  <http://www.mandrake.com> 8.0,

  OSS <http://www.opensound.com> had drivers for it that worked but I
  didn't really want to pay for it, so  I looked on ALSA cvs and found
  that in their latest sources they had something for the sis 7012, and
  also find later the drivers for the sensors.



  2.  The integrated sound board


  2.1.  Getting the ALSA drivers


  So we'll compiling the latest sources from ALSA, which should work for
  any other distrib as well... just the kernel sources will change
  because mandrake uses specific patches.

  You may get your kernel sources from your distribution or from
  http://www.kernel.org <http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/>

  Here can be found Mandrake sources for the kernel used in 8.0:

  ftp://ftp.univ-
  savoie.fr/pub/Linux/Mandrake/8.0/i586/Mandrake/RPMS/kernel
  -source-2.4.3-20mdk.i586.rpm <ftp://ftp.univ-
  savoie.fr/pub/Linux/Mandrake/8.0/i586/Mandrake/RPMS/kernel-
  source-2.4.3-20mdk.i586.rpm>

  and grab the tarball from ALSA:

  ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-driver-0.9.0beta10.tar.bz2
  <ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-
  driver-0.9.0beta10.tar.bz2>


  2.2.  Installing them


  Install your kernel sources, in my case:

  rpm -ivh kernel-source-2.4.3-20mdk.i586.rpm

  Then decompress alsa drivers:

  bzip2 -d alsa-driver-0.9.0beta10.tar.bz2 && tar -xvf alsa-
  driver-0.9.0beta10.tar

  Make them and install them and create the devices files:

  cd alsa-driver-0.9.0beta10 && make install && ./snddevices

  Edit /etc/modules.conf to set everything, and add to it the following
  lines:



       alias char-major-116 snd

       alias char-major-14 soundcore

       alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0

       alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss

       alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss

       alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
       alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss

       alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss

       alias snd-card-0 snd-card-intel8x0



  Paolo reports that in order to start up sensord on boot, he put in
  /etc/sysconfig/sensors:



       MODULE_0=i2c-proc

       MODULE_1=it87

       MODULE_2=i2c-isa



  2.3.

  Kernel Approach: The AC'97 Driver


  If you are using a 2.4 or later kernel you can use the Audio Codec
  '97 (AC'97) <http://developer.intel.com/ial/scalableplatforms/audio/>
  sound driver, as the integrated sound card is AC'97 complaint.

  You may enable your soundcard with a kernel module, as a matter of
  fact,

  you should be able to just use the module without even recompiling

  your kernel, because most GNU/Linux distributions have it already,

  just type:

  modprobe i810_audio

  and you should see something like this in your syslog:



         Intel 810 + AC97 Audio, version 0.21, 21:31:04 Apr 15 2002

         i810: SiS 7012 found at IO 0xd800 and 0xdc00, IRQ 11

         i810_audio: Audio Controller supports 2 channels.

         ac97_codec: AC97 Audio codec, id: 0x414c:0x4710 (ALC200/200P)

         i810_audio: AC'97 codec 0 supports AMAP, total channels = 2



  or type

  dmesg | less and scroll to see the kernel messages.

  If everything went fine, you may add i810_audio to /etc/modules so it
  will autoload everytime you boot:

  echo "i810_audio" >> /etc/modules


  or you like monolitic kernels (no modules), follow the step above to
  install the kernel sources and say Y to Sound card support and Y to
  Intel ICH (i8xx) audio support

  compile your kernel, install, reboot and now your integrated soundcard
  is working.

  If you don't know how to compile a kernel, read the Kernel HOWTO
  <http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html>,

  it's easy and you'll get a optimized kernel for you system, also
  you'll learn a bit about that talk of using the source code (yes you
  are already taking advantage of it :-)


  3.  The mainboard's sensors


  3.1.  Getting the drivers


  Get the lm_sensors 2.6.2 or more recent:

  http://www.lm-sensors.nu/archive/lm_sensors-2.6.2.tar.gz
  <http://www.lm-sensors.nu/archive/lm_sensors-2.6.2.tar.gz>

  You'll need kernel sources too in order to compile that one.



  3.2.  Installing them


  tar -xzvf i2c-2.6.2.tar.gz

  cd i2c-2.6.2

  make && make install

  Then there was a problem when making install for me, so if it doesn't
  work, just do the following:

  cp kernel/i2c-core.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc/i2c-core.o

  cp kernel/i2c-proc.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc/i2c-proc.o

  Now let's copy the specific driver:

  cp kernel/chips/it87.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc/it87.o

  ok now

  cp prog/sensors/sensors /usr/bin/sensors

  --------------------------------------------------------------------


  Edit /etc/modules.conf and add to it the following lines:



       alias char-major-89 i2c-dev

       options it87 temp_type=0x31



  now:

  modprobe i2c-proc

  modprobe it87

  modprobe i2c-isa

  sensors

  should output you some data

  When it works, you can write it to a file, that will be loaded
  automatically on boot. Under SuSE <http://www.SuSE.de> the file is:
  /etc/init.d/boot.local (used to be /sbin/init.d/)

  and you should just add: sensors -s

  Under mandrake, the install should have created that file:
  /etc/init.d/sensors, which you can edit freely, sensord being just a
  daemon to watch over temperature and fan speed, I assume no one

  will need something like that for her/his own machine.

  Now as root you should edit your /etc/sensors.conf

  search for that line: chip "it87-*"

  and below you should be able to modify everything to get the right
  data, here is a copy of what i have in there:

  (please note that temp1 is trash and only temp2 and temp3 should be
  kept)

  --------------------------------------------------------------------



  chip "it87-*"



  # The values below have been tested on Asus CUSI, CUM motherboards.

  # Voltage monitors as advised in the It8705 data sheet



      label in0 "VCore"

      label in1 "Vcc2.5v"

      label in2 "Vcc5v"

      label in3 "+5V"

      label in4 "+12V"

      label in5 "-12V"

      label in6 "-5V"

      label in7 "SB 5V"

      label in8 "V battery"



      set in0_min 1.7 * 0.95

      set in0_max 1.7 * 1.05

      set in1_min 2.4

      set in1_max 2.6

      set in2_min 3.3 * 0.95

      set in2_max 3.3 * 1.05

      set in3_min 5.0 * 0.95

      set in3_max 5.0 * 1.05

      set in4_min  12 * 0.95

      set in4_max  12 * 1.05
      set in5_min -12 * 0.95

      set in5_max -12 * 1.05

      set in6_min  -5 * 0.95

      set in6_max  -5 * 1.05

      set in7_min   5 * 0.95

      set in7_max   5 * 1.05



      # vid not monitored by IT8705F

      ignore  vid
  # For this family of chips the negative voltage equation is different from

  # the lm78.  The chip uses two external resistor for scaling but one is

  # tied to a positive reference voltage.  See ITE8705/12 datasheet (SIS950

  # data sheet is wrong)


  # Vs = (1 + Rin/Rf) * Vin - (Rin/Rf) * Vref.

  # Vref = 4.096 volts, Vin is voltage measured, Vs is actual voltage.



  #    compute in2 (1 + 1)*@ ,       @/(1 + 1)

      compute in3 ((6.8/10)+1)*@ ,  @/((6.8/10)+1)

      compute in4 ((30/10) +1)*@  , @/((30/10) +1)



  # The next two are negative voltages (-12 and -5).

  # The following formulas must be used. Unfortunately the datasheet

  # does not give recommendations for Rin, Rf, but we can back into

  # them based on a nominal +2V input to the chip, together with a 4.096V Vref.



  # Formula:

  #    actual V = (Vmeasured * (1 + Rin/Rf)) - (Vref * (Rin/Rf))
  #    For -12V input use Rin/Rf = 6.68

  #    For -5V input use Rin/Rf = 3.33

  # Then you can convert the forumula to a standard form like:



      compute in5 -(36/10)*@, -@/(36/10)

  #(7.67 * @) - 27.36  ,  (@ + 27.36) / 7.67

      compute in6 -(56/10)*@, -@/(56/10)

  #(4.33 * @) - 13.64  ,  (@ + 13.64) / 4.33

      compute in7 ((6.8/10)+1)*@ ,  @/((6.8/10)+1)



  # Temperature



      label temp3       "Processor"

      set   temp3_over  40

      set   temp3_hyst  20

      label temp2       "Mainboard"

      set   temp2_over  45

      set   temp2_hyst  25

      ignore temp1



  # Fans



      label fan1"Processor's Fan"

      set fan1_min 2000

      ignore fan3

      ignore fan2



  4.  The mainboard's LAN adapter

  4.1.  Making it work...

  If your board came with the optional on-board LAN card, you have a
  Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 10/100 Fast Ethernet card,
  this card is supported by Linux kernels 2.4 and later (that I know of,
  as I only use 2.4 kernels).


  To make it work you should type

  modprobe sis900

  and you should see something like this in your syslog:



         sis900.c: v1.08.02 11/30/2001

         eth0: SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet at 0xd400, IRQ 5, 00:d0:09:ea:7a:98.



  or type

  dmesg | less and scroll to see the kernel messages.

  If everything went fine, you may add sis900.o to /etc/modules so it
  will autoload everytime you boot:

  echo "sis900" >> /etc/modules

  or compile it in your kernel, where you should say Y to SiS 900/7016
  PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter support in your kernel
  configuration.


  5.  Other

  5.1.

  Links

  Warning: If your board is working fine, then don't fix it. Anyway here
  are the cool links:


  ·  Elite Group (new BIOS)
     <http://www.ecsusa.com/ecsusa/www.ecs.com.tw/download/bios.htm>

  ·  Overclockers Work Bench
     <http://forum.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=27>

  ·  ECS K7s5a FAQ
     <http://forum.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&
     amp;t=001477>

  ·  french guide for the K7S5a <http://k7s5a.free.fr/>

  ·  Elite groupe most recent bioses
     <http://www.ecs.com.tw/download/k7s5a.htm>


  5.2.  Some words

  Using a modified BIOS, I was able to successfully overclock my Athlon
  1000Mhz to 1050Mhz flawlessy, but when I messed with hdparm (30Gig
  Western Digital hard drive) using hdparm -c1 -X66 /dev/hda, I managed
  to corrupt my filesystem, so beware.


  If you are a real tweaker, you might want to change your BIOS Logo and
  stuff, some people tried that and it worked OK, some others not, so
  they had to flash their BIOS again (blindly with a bootdisk and a
  working bios in it) to make the board work again. It is really up to
  you. Search Google or OC Workbench and you'll be on your way.


  Good Luck! :-)



