Thanks for the info

I'll try and update my cmpci driver first and then pull my install up to a
higher snapshot - these days my box is too much of a production machine :(

As for different chips, you might be right, can't see how cmedia can afford
to manufacture so many variants.

I got my info from: http://www.cmedia.com.tw/e_product_01.htm
			
CMI8738/PCI C3DX Series  	

Chip Function List   

Model			MODEM		SPDIF/ZVport		channel

CMI8738/PCI-6CH		O		O			6
CMI8738/PCI-6CH-MX	x		O			6
CMI8738/PCI-6CH-LX	x		x			6
CMI8738/PCI		O		O			4
CMI8738/PCI-SX		x		x			4

The card I have has front and rear line out connectors and line-in and mic
for input, so I guess it's a 4 channel device, but I will have to pull the
card to see if the SX label is on the chip.

The card I got was even cheaper than $30US. You get what you pay for, I
thought I could be clever and mod the card to get the SPDIF outputs - the
SPDIF enabled CMI8738 cards were 3 times the price :)

--et

> Ernst du Toit wrote:
> 
>> Are you running -current for the SPDIF functionality?
> 
> I'm using current at the moment. But I've started with 1.5. I found
> alternative sources for the cmpci drivers at cvsweb. I patched the
> kernel and it worked. NetBSD-current has working SPDIF out-of-the-box.
> 
>> I'm on 1.5.2 using driver:
>> $NetBSD: cmpci.c,v 1.3.2.1 2000/06/30 16:27:49 simonb Exp $
> 
> Too old. You could try "itohy" from somewhat 2001 but using a snapshot
> of 1.5ZA/B/C is probably easier.
> 
>> So either one needs -current or my 8738 is the SX or LX version that
>> does not have SPDIF support. 
> 
> Are there really two different chips? I know there's a 8738 and a 8738B
> but the only difference is that the second supports 6 channels, the
> first *only* 4.
> 
>> From the data sheet it looks like the chips
>> are pin compatible, so the manufacturer could have placed the lower
>> spec chip on the board and left the connectors off.
>> 
>> I'll have to pull the card tonight to confirm my theory.
> 
> I don't know an alternative. FYI, I bought the card *with optical
> tos-link extension* for 35 EUR (about 30 US-$).