ALSA support on PowerMac

This page attempts to summarize the status of support for ALSA sound on Mac PowerPC hardware. The info was gathered from this thread on debian-powerpc and mimics the controls offered by alsamixer.

Please add any missing info you can provide.

More info on the ALSA bug tracker (use the Guest login to view).

n/a = not applicable.

# = see note below.

? = untested.

To determine your Mac's audio chipset, use: cat /proc/asound/cards

To determine your Mac's machine ID, use: grep machine /proc/cpuinfo

To determine your kernel's ALSA version, use: cat /proc/asound/version

Chipset

Platform (machine ID)

Master Volume

Speakers

Headphones

CD

Line Input

Microphone

Beep

AWACS

601, 603, 604 (Old World)

yes

#

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Screamer

G3 beige DT (Gossamer)

yes

yes

yes

#

yes

n/a

yes

Screamer

G3 iMac SL (PowerMac2,1 PowerMac2,2 PowerMac4,1)

#

yes

#

#

#

yes

yes

Screamer

G4 AGP (PowerMac3,1)

yes

yes

yes

?

yes

n/a

yes

Burgundy

G3 B&W (PowerMac1,1)

yes

yes

yes

?

yes

n/a

yes

Burgundy

G3 iMac classic (iMac,1)

yes

#

#

yes

yes

#

yes

Daca

G3 iBook clamshell (PowerBook2,1)

no

Tumbler

G4 Silver (PowerMac3,4)

yes

yes

yes

yes

n/a

n/a

yes

Tumbler

G4 Quicksilver (PowerMac3,5)

yes

yes

yes

yes

n/a

n/a

yes

Snapper

G4 Mirrored Drive Doors (PowerMac3,6)

yes

yes

#

n/a?

n/a?

?

yes

Tumbler

G4 iMac flowerpot (PowerMac4,2)

yes

yes

yes

no

n/a

no

yes

Snapper

G4 pBook (PowerBook3,4)

yes

yes

yes

yes

#

yes

yes

Tumbler

G3 iBook2 (PowerBook4,1)

yes

yes

yes

yes

n/a

n/a

yes

Snapper

G3 iBook2 (PowerBook4,3)

yes

yes

yes

yes

n/a

n/a

yes

Snapper

G4 pBook (PowerBook5,2)

yes

yes

yes

?

n/a

no

yes

Snapper

G4 pBook (PowerBook5,6)

yes

yes

yes

no

n/a

yes

yes

Snapper

G4 iBook2 (PowerBook6,5)

yes

yes

yes

yes

n/a

yes

yes

Snapper

G5 desktop (PowerMac7,2)

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

n/a

yes

Snapper

eMac 700 (PowerMac4,4)

yes

no

no

Snapper

eMac 1.25 (PowerMac6,4)

yes

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

yes

Toonie

Mac Mini (PowerMac10,1)

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

NOTES

AWACS (601, 603, 604, 604e a.k.a. Old World)

As of kernel 2.6.26 (ALSA 1.0.17):

Screamer (beige G3, iMac G3 slot-loading)

As of kernel 2.6.13.2 (ALSA 1.0.9b):

As of kernel 2.6.15 (ALSA 1.0.10):

As of kernel 2.6.26 (ALSA 1.0.17):

Burgundy (iMac G3)

As of kernel 2.6.13.2 (ALSA 1.0.9b):

As of kernel 2.6.15 (ALSA 1.0.10):

As of kernel 2.6.26 (ALSA 1.0.17):

Snapper

G4 Mirrored Drive Doors (PowerMac 3,6)

As of kernel 2.6.26 (ALSA 1.0.16)

G4 PowerBook (PowerBook 3,4)

As of kernel ?

G5 desktop

As of kernel 2.6.12 (ALSA 1.0.9):

G4 PowerBook (PowerBook 5,2)

As of kernel ? (ALSA 1.0.9a):

G4 PowerBook alu post-february-2005 (PowerBook 5,6)

As of kernel 2.6.13 (ALSA 1.0.9a):

Toonie

Mac Mini


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