[linux-audio-user] hdsploader

[Thomas Charbonnel]

Robert Epprecht wrote:
> When using a RME Hammerfall DSP card (like in my case the pci interface
> together with a multiface) the 'hdsploader' program from Thomas Charbonnel
> is used to load the firmware into the card (that's what the README says).
> 
> I am not really sure if I do understand correctly what this means.
> Would someone who really knows be so kind and correct me if I am wrong.
> 
> AFAIK hdsploader must be called once after booting the hardware and
> after loading the snd-hdsp module. Without that snd-hdsp cannot work.
> Right?
> 
> There is firmware on the RME website. I guess this firmware is *not* the
> same as the one hdsploader loads into the card.  I guess, the RME firmware
> is burnt into FLASH memory of either the interface card (pci or cardbus)
> or the soundcard (digiface, multiface) or maybe both, while the firmware
> hdsploader cares about seems to be stored in RAM of the soundcard (and/or
> interface).  Is this correct?
> 
> Thanks a lot for helping me to understand,
> Robert Epprecht

Yes, you are correct.
We use the word 'firmware' in two cases :
1) to designate the flashable onboard firmware of the hdsp cards, which
determines the card revision.
2) (improperly) to designate the configuration data that needs to be 
uploaded into external IO boxes (Multiface and Digiface) using hdsploader.

Thomas