Realtek Dolby Digital Live support on non-DDL chips

FreedomFighter · May 8, 2008, 08:15 PM

The Realtek chip ALC888S appears to have the exact same pin outs as the ALC888DD. This indicates that to enable DDL on non DDL chips would require a software mod of the audio drivers.

I was wondering if anyone was aware of any projects on this?

Judas · May 9, 2008, 03:28 PM

this would be very very cool

ACSlater · May 10, 2008, 05:30 PM

Interesting thing! I tried RedocneXk but didn't get it working. On my mainboard is a Realtek ALC888 but not with the DDL/DTS Connect functions. So if this driver thing is going to make DDL work for my simple onboard, it's just awesome. Saves me some money I would have to spend on a new soundcard with DDL like the Theatron Agrippa.

ACSlater · May 12, 2008, 09:07 PM

I did a load of googling on this subject and didn't find if anyone ever tried to hack the drivers to enable DDL & DTS Connect. It has to be possible but I don't have any hacking skills. Realtek only uses one driver for all their HD Audio codecs, so it has to be the device or motherboard ID that enables the DDL. I guess changing the drivers is illegal but nevertheless if Realtek offered a software add on to unlock DDL, I would buy it.

FreedomFighter · May 13, 2008, 07:13 PM

Yes, I would love to see it done too, but I also have minimal coding/hacking skills.

New realtek HD drivers are out today: v1.92

Realtek

**dj_stick** · May 13, 2008, 11:30 PM

the chips may have the same pinout, but if the DDL engine is hardware, then you're out of luck

Judas · May 14, 2008, 04:07 PM

but what is the actual hardware is present within the chip.. but is disabled by default..

it would be pretty amazing if a driver inf changeup were to activate such features..

perhaps some of the chips have a faulty ddl, and some other don't...

FreedomFighter · May 14, 2008, 05:04 PM

DDL and DTS connect are both listed under the "software features" section of the product info here:

Realtek

and here:

http://realtek.info/pdf/ALC888_1-0.pdf

FreedomFighter · May 14, 2008, 05:26 PM

Here is the datasheet we need:

ftp://218.210.127.132/pc/audio/ALC88...aSheet_1.2.pdf

page 15 shows the pin out from a regular ALC888S

page 16 shows the pin out from a ALC888DD

they are exactly the same.

FreedomFighter · May 21, 2008, 07:20 AM

Anyone notice the disclaimer that realtek put up on their site a few weeks back:

"Audio drivers available for download from the Realtek website are general drivers for our audio ICs, and may not offer the customizations made by your system/motherboard manufacturer. To be sure you obtain the full features/customizations provided in your original audio product, please download the latest drivers from your system/motherboard manufacturer's website."

With this in mind, I found a mobo that supports DTS connect and DDL with the realtek 888D chip:

GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - Driver - GA-M59SLI-S5 (rev. 1.0)

Interestingly, the drivers are nearly double the size of the drivers straight from realtek when extracted.

I tried installing them, (hoping for an easy solution), but I did not see any added features.

Perhaps someone else might take a look and see how to get these extra features to install from the above linked drivers (v1.87).

ACSlater · May 22, 2008, 10:45 PM

I tried the same thing as you Freedomfighter and with the same result. I gave up on this. I bought a Club3d Theatron Agrippa which has DTS Connect and DDLive. It's well worth the money. I have every sound in DTS on my home cinema. Soundquality on the analog outs are also way better than the Realtek HD or Audigy 4 that I used before. The soundcard is also sold as Auzentech X-plosion I believe.

**dj_stick** · May 23, 2008, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreedomFighter

Here is the datasheet we need:

ftp://218.210.127.132/pc/audio/ALC88...aSheet_1.2.pdf

page 15 shows the pin out from a regular ALC888S

page 16 shows the pin out from a ALC888DD

they are exactly the same.

pinouts mean nothing if the 888s chip has no dolby digital engine

FreedomFighter · Jun 3, 2008, 11:18 PM

bump for a worthy cause

FreedomFighter · Jun 21, 2008, 05:05 AM

has anyone looked further into this?

leimrod · Jul 29, 2008, 11:57 AM

signed up to these forums as I'm also interested in this. Is there anyway of getting an answer either way as to whether this is possible or not?

FreedomFighter · Jul 31, 2008, 07:11 PM

It would be a great development, alas, I know of no one thus far who has taken the reigns.

FreedomFighter · Feb 22, 2009, 10:34 PM

bump for a good cause

**dj_stick** · Feb 22, 2009, 11:38 PM

there's no cause here, so please stop bumping an old thread... someone else will bump it if they find more information

RIV@NVX · Feb 24, 2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreedomFighter

Anyone notice the disclaimer that realtek put up on their site a few weeks back:

"Audio drivers available for download from the Realtek website are general drivers for our audio ICs, and may not offer the customizations made by your system/motherboard manufacturer. To be sure you obtain the full features/customizations provided in your original audio product, please download the latest drivers from your system/motherboard manufacturer's website."

With this in mind, I found a mobo that supports DTS connect and DDL with the realtek 888D chip:

GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - Driver - GA-M59SLI-S5 (rev. 1.0)

Interestingly, the drivers are nearly double the size of the drivers straight from realtek when extracted.

I tried installing them, (hoping for an easy solution), but I did not see any added features.

Perhaps someone else might take a look and see how to get these extra features to install from the above linked drivers (v1.87).

If I were you, and I cared about this, I would check the .inf file bundled with drivers and see if I can make driver installation procedure precisly the same on ALC888S and ALC888DD.

SoNic67 · Mar 1, 2009, 06:09 PM

The chips are identical outside but INSIDE they have some sort of "ID number" embedded in their memory. The drivers are reading that ID and if it is one of the DDL/DTS Connect enabled chips, then those features are activated in the software. If not, no.
It is a way to be sure that only the chips that have paid the licenses (that's why are more expensive) for those features are using that part of the software.

DDL/DTS Connect encodings are actually done by the system CPU with the drivers help. There is nothing different hardware - except that ID field in the chip.
Shure, theoretically speaking, those drivers can be hacked, but that would be illegal

Just support the companies that have invested in those chips by buying their DDL chips if you need that.

FreedomFighter · Mar 12, 2009, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoNic67

The chips are identical outside but INSIDE they have some sort of "ID number" embedded in their memory. The drivers are reading that ID and if it is one of the DDL/DTS Connect enabled chips, then those features are activated in the software. If not, no.
It is a way to be sure that only the chips that have paid the licenses (that's why are more expensive) for those features are using that part of the software.

DDL/DTS Connect encodings are actually done by the system CPU with the drivers help. There is nothing different hardware - except that ID field in the chip.
Shure, theoretically speaking, those drivers can be hacked, but that would be illegal

Just support the companies that have invested in those chips by buying their DDL chips if you need that.

True, but there is no option to just buy the DDL/DTSC license from Realtek. So if you have a computer with a Realtek audio chip on the MB, you are stuck either buying a new motherboard or buying a new sound card, when the solution could be software. Driver hack seems to be the answer until there is an alternative.

krishan2207 · Mar 27, 2009, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreedomFighter

The Realtek chip ALC888S appears to have the exact same pin outs as the ALC888DD. This indicates that to enable DDL on non DDL chips would require a software mod of the audio drivers.

I was wondering if anyone was aware of any projects on this?

I think it is chipset friendly feature cause i just upgraded my MB from gigabyte 945gzme(alc 883) to asus via chip(alc 662) than asus nvidia chip P5N73VM(via 170x) and Finaly to gigabyt EG31MFS2(alc888) and out of all four motherboards only 945gzme get the Dolby Digital option on vista under playback devices.

I managed to change three boards in three days Cause i m a hardware vendor. AND my bad luck is that i hv sold my old 945 board to someone.

I hv tried all the driver version from realtek site. Dolby comes auto in 945 as i put version 2.11 or above but goes as i changed the MB.

after 945 the best audio is from asus nvidia chip having via 170x chip.

AND YES AFTER DOLBY THE BASE WAS AWESOME.

May 8, 2008, 08:15 PM	#1
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Realtek Dolby Digital Live support on non-DDL chips The Realtek chip ALC888S appears to have the exact same pin outs as the ALC888DD. This indicates that to enable DDL on non DDL chips would require a software mod of the audio drivers. I was wondering if anyone was aware of any projects on this?

Feb 22, 2009, 10:34 PM	Thread Starter #17
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Re: Realtek Dolby Digital Live support on non-DDL chips bump for a good cause

Mar 1, 2009, 06:09 PM	#20
SoNic67 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: VA, USA Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	Re: Realtek Dolby Digital Live support on non-DDL chips The chips are identical outside but INSIDE they have some sort of "ID number" embedded in their memory. The drivers are reading that ID and if it is one of the DDL/DTS Connect enabled chips, then those features are activated in the software. If not, no. It is a way to be sure that only the chips that have paid the licenses (that's why are more expensive) for those features are using that part of the software. DDL/DTS Connect encodings are actually done by the system CPU with the drivers help. There is nothing different hardware - except that ID field in the chip. Shure, theoretically speaking, those drivers can be hacked, but that would be illegal Just support the companies that have invested in those chips by buying their DDL chips if you need that.

May 10, 2008, 05:30 PM	#3
ACSlater DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	Interesting thing! I tried RedocneXk but didn't get it working. On my mainboard is a Realtek ALC888 but not with the DDL/DTS Connect functions. So if this driver thing is going to make DDL work for my simple onboard, it's just awesome. Saves me some money I would have to spend on a new soundcard with DDL like the Theatron Agrippa.

May 12, 2008, 09:07 PM	#4
ACSlater DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	I did a load of googling on this subject and didn't find if anyone ever tried to hack the drivers to enable DDL & DTS Connect. It has to be possible but I don't have any hacking skills. Realtek only uses one driver for all their HD Audio codecs, so it has to be the device or motherboard ID that enables the DDL. I guess changing the drivers is illegal but nevertheless if Realtek offered a software add on to unlock DDL, I would buy it.

May 13, 2008, 07:13 PM	Thread Starter #5
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Yes, I would love to see it done too, but I also have minimal coding/hacking skills. New realtek HD drivers are out today: v1.92 Realtek

May 14, 2008, 05:04 PM	Thread Starter #8
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	DDL and DTS connect are both listed under the "software features" section of the product info here: Realtek and here: http://realtek.info/pdf/ALC888_1-0.pdf

May 14, 2008, 05:26 PM	Thread Starter #9
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Here is the datasheet we need: ftp://218.210.127.132/pc/audio/ALC88...aSheet_1.2.pdf page 15 shows the pin out from a regular ALC888S page 16 shows the pin out from a ALC888DD they are exactly the same.

May 21, 2008, 07:20 AM	Thread Starter #10
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Anyone notice the disclaimer that realtek put up on their site a few weeks back: "Audio drivers available for download from the Realtek website are general drivers for our audio ICs, and may not offer the customizations made by your system/motherboard manufacturer. To be sure you obtain the full features/customizations provided in your original audio product, please download the latest drivers from your system/motherboard manufacturer's website." With this in mind, I found a mobo that supports DTS connect and DDL with the realtek 888D chip: GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - Driver - GA-M59SLI-S5 (rev. 1.0) Interestingly, the drivers are nearly double the size of the drivers straight from realtek when extracted. I tried installing them, (hoping for an easy solution), but I did not see any added features. Perhaps someone else might take a look and see how to get these extra features to install from the above linked drivers (v1.87).

May 22, 2008, 10:45 PM	#11
ACSlater DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	I tried the same thing as you Freedomfighter and with the same result. I gave up on this. I bought a Club3d Theatron Agrippa which has DTS Connect and DDLive. It's well worth the money. I have every sound in DTS on my home cinema. Soundquality on the analog outs are also way better than the Realtek HD or Audigy 4 that I used before. The soundcard is also sold as Auzentech X-plosion I believe.

Jun 3, 2008, 11:18 PM	Thread Starter #13
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	bump for a worthy cause

Jun 21, 2008, 05:05 AM	Thread Starter #14
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	has anyone looked further into this?

Jul 29, 2008, 11:57 AM	#15
leimrod DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	signed up to these forums as I'm also interested in this. Is there anyway of getting an answer either way as to whether this is possible or not?

Jul 31, 2008, 07:11 PM	Thread Starter #16
FreedomFighter HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	It would be a great development, alas, I know of no one thus far who has taken the reigns.