[gentoo-amd64] alsa mixer question

[gentoo-amd64] alsa mixer question

[Steve Herber]

I am running a 2.6.14 kernel:

uname -a
Linux lurch 2.6.14-gentoo #1 PREEMPT Mon Oct 31 01:06:31 PST 2005 x86_64 
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux

using the 2005.0 profile and ~amd64<F4> ARCH on a Shuttle SN85G4.

In general a single sound application, xmms, mplayer, torcs, works.  The
problem is that the browser, galeon and others, often open /dev/sound/dsp.
Then when I try to run a second application that also uses sound, the
second application fails when it tries to open /dev/sound/dsp.

Does anyone have recommendations that I could follow to more easily get
multiple applications to work together?

I just want to be able to start a browser, xmms, and then run a few laps
with Torcs.

Thanks,

---
Steve Herber	herber@thing.com		work: 206-221-7262
Security Engineer, UW Medicine, IT Services	home: 425-454-2399
-- 
gentoo-amd64@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-amd64] alsa mixer question

[Hemmann, Volker Armin]

On Saturday 05 November 2005 10:43, Steve Herber wrote:
> I am running a 2.6.14 kernel:
>
> uname -a
> Linux lurch 2.6.14-gentoo #1 PREEMPT Mon Oct 31 01:06:31 PST 2005 x86_64
> AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
>
> using the 2005.0 profile and ~amd64<F4> ARCH on a Shuttle SN85G4.
>
> In general a single sound application, xmms, mplayer, torcs, works.  The
> problem is that the browser, galeon and others, often open /dev/sound/dsp.
> Then when I try to run a second application that also uses sound, the
> second application fails when it tries to open /dev/sound/dsp.
>
> Does anyone have recommendations that I could follow to more easily get
> multiple applications to work together?
>
> I just want to be able to start a browser, xmms, and then run a few laps
> with Torcs.
>

have you built everything with the alsa-useflag?
Are you using the latest alsa-libs?

If yes, go to alsa-project.org and read about dmix.

I have no problems to have douzends of apps playing sound simultanously (tried 
with civclient+amarok+alsaplayer+wesnoth+other stuff)
-- 
gentoo-amd64@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-amd64] alsa mixer question

[Ryan L]

Hemmann, Volker Armin wrote:

>On Saturday 05 November 2005 10:43, Steve Herber wrote:
>  
>
>>I am running a 2.6.14 kernel:
>>
>>uname -a
>>Linux lurch 2.6.14-gentoo #1 PREEMPT Mon Oct 31 01:06:31 PST 2005 x86_64
>>AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
>>
>>using the 2005.0 profile and ~amd64<F4> ARCH on a Shuttle SN85G4.
>>
>>In general a single sound application, xmms, mplayer, torcs, works.  The
>>problem is that the browser, galeon and others, often open /dev/sound/dsp.
>>Then when I try to run a second application that also uses sound, the
>>second application fails when it tries to open /dev/sound/dsp.
>>
>>Does anyone have recommendations that I could follow to more easily get
>>multiple applications to work together?
>>
>>I just want to be able to start a browser, xmms, and then run a few laps
>>with Torcs.
>>
>>    
>>
You could also pick up a cheap Sound Blaster Live! card and throw that 
it in. Should work right off just fine with multiple apps. It is an old 
card, but it has hardware mixing and does the job rather well. Otherwise 
you could use a software sound server. I would recommend esound. It's 
better than arts and jack.

But if you don't want to get a card that has hardware mixing, I would 
suggest what the other guy said and that is to setup dmix. It will 
result in a better quality sound than using a software server. Less 
overhead as well.
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Re: [gentoo-amd64] alsa mixer question

[Dmitri Pogosyan]

As people said your choices are

1) Use sound card with hardware mixing
2) Run sound mixing daemon like esound or arts 
3) Set up dmix in alsa.  I also heard that alsa 1.10 is supposed to
come with replacement for dmix ?

3) is preferable to 2), especially arts seems having a lot of bad rap.

I have recompiled everything without arts (I don't have gnome or esound
installed) and set up dmix devices. Works fine.  

I don't know much about 'jack'


> I am running a 2.6.14 kernel:
> 
> uname -a
> Linux lurch 2.6.14-gentoo #1 PREEMPT Mon Oct 31 01:06:31 PST 2005 x86_64 
> AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
> 
> using the 2005.0 profile and ~amd64<F4> ARCH on a Shuttle SN85G4.
> 
> In general a single sound application, xmms, mplayer, torcs, works.  The
> problem is that the browser, galeon and others, often open /dev/sound/dsp.
> Then when I try to run a second application that also uses sound, the
> second application fails when it tries to open /dev/sound/dsp.
> 
> Does anyone have recommendations that I could follow to more easily get
> multiple applications to work together?
> 
> I just want to be able to start a browser, xmms, and then run a few laps
> with Torcs.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> ---
> Steve Herber	herber@thing.com		work: 206-221-7262
> Security Engineer, UW Medicine, IT Services	home: 425-454-2399
> -- 
> gentoo-amd64@gentoo.org mailing list



--
Dmitri Pogosyan            Department of Physics
Associate Professor        University of Alberta
tel 1-780-492-2150         412 Avadh Bhatia Physics Labs
fax 1-780-492-0714         Edmonton, AB, T6G 2J1, CANADA


-- 
gentoo-amd64@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-amd64] alsa mixer question

[Kyle Lutze]

Dmitri Pogosyan wrote:
> As people said your choices are
> 
> 1) Use sound card with hardware mixing
> 2) Run sound mixing daemon like esound or arts 
> 3) Set up dmix in alsa.  I also heard that alsa 1.10 is supposed to
> come with replacement for dmix ?
> 
> 3) is preferable to 2), especially arts seems having a lot of bad rap.
> 
> I have recompiled everything without arts (I don't have gnome or esound
> installed) and set up dmix devices. Works fine.  
> 
> I don't know much about 'jack'
> 
> 
jack is the jack audio connection kit. It is mostly used by audio
professionals or people that have m-audio audio cards. It is probably
unwanted for this situation as most programs don't support it, and it's

Jack is the jack audio connection kit. It is mostly used by audio 
professionals or people that have m-audio audio cards. It is probably 
too powerful for your type of setup, so don't worry about. It's very 
powerful for what it does, and with that a bit complicated to setup, 
especially to get non-jack programs working with it.

Kyle

-- 
gentoo-amd64@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-amd64] alsa mixer question

[Hemmann, Volker Armin]

On Saturday 05 November 2005 19:14, Dmitri Pogosyan wrote:
> As people said your choices are
>
> 1) Use sound card with hardware mixing
> 2) Run sound mixing daemon like esound or arts
> 3) Set up dmix in alsa.  I also heard that alsa 1.10 is supposed to
> come with replacement for dmix ?
>

no, but since a recent version came out, you do not need to setup up dmix. It 
should just work out of the box.
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gentoo-amd64@gentoo.org mailing list

[gentoo-amd64] Re: alsa mixer question

[Duncan]

Hemmann, Volker Armin posted
<200511060449.41167.volker.armin.hemmann@tu-clausthal.de>, excerpted
below,  on Sun, 06 Nov 2005 04:49:41 +0100:

> On Saturday 05 November 2005 19:14, Dmitri Pogosyan wrote:
>> As people said your choices are
>>
>> 1) Use sound card with hardware mixing
>> 2) Run sound mixing daemon like esound or arts
>> 3) Set up dmix in alsa.  I also heard that alsa 1.10 is supposed to
>> come with replacement for dmix ?
>>
> 
> no, but since a recent version came out, you do not need to setup up dmix. It 
> should just work out of the box.

Well... except with stuff that insists on using exclusive mode access. 
arts is one such "stuff", one of the big reasons folks have such
difficulty with it.  Use it, and everything else has to play thru arts, or
not play at all, when arts is active, even with hardware mixing or dmix. 

At least, that's been my experience, and the arts kcontrol applet
(kcmshell arts, or just find it in kcontrol) specifically mentions it DOES
use exclusive mode, and that other things won't be able to use sound when
it's active.

Other sound daemons may or may not be equally "selfish".

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman in
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html


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Re: [gentoo-amd64] Re: alsa mixer question

[Hemmann, Volker Armin]

On Sunday 06 November 2005 16:30, Duncan wrote:
> Hemmann, Volker Armin posted
> <200511060449.41167.volker.armin.hemmann@tu-clausthal.de>, excerpted

> > no, but since a recent version came out, you do not need to setup up
> > dmix. It should just work out of the box.
>
> Well... except with stuff that insists on using exclusive mode access.
> arts is one such "stuff", one of the big reasons folks have such
> difficulty with it.  Use it, and everything else has to play thru arts, or
> not play at all, when arts is active, even with hardware mixing or dmix.
>
> At least, that's been my experience, and the arts kcontrol applet
> (kcmshell arts, or just find it in kcontrol) specifically mentions it DOES
> use exclusive mode, and that other things won't be able to use sound when
> it's active.
>
> Other sound daemons may or may not be equally "selfish".

I solved this by using no sound daemons at all. They are all evil. 
I can't say I lost anything I miss.
But even If you have to setup dmix, there are a lot of nice easy howtos and 
guides about it.
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Re: [gentoo-amd64] Re: alsa mixer question

[Karol Krizka]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2402 bytes --]

On Sunday 06 November 2005 07:30, Duncan wrote:
> Hemmann, Volker Armin posted
> <200511060449.41167.volker.armin.hemmann@tu-clausthal.de>, excerpted
>
> below,  on Sun, 06 Nov 2005 04:49:41 +0100:
> > On Saturday 05 November 2005 19:14, Dmitri Pogosyan wrote:
> >> As people said your choices are
> >>
> >> 1) Use sound card with hardware mixing
> >> 2) Run sound mixing daemon like esound or arts
> >> 3) Set up dmix in alsa.  I also heard that alsa 1.10 is supposed to
> >> come with replacement for dmix ?
> >
> > no, but since a recent version came out, you do not need to setup up
> > dmix. It should just work out of the box.
>
> Well... except with stuff that insists on using exclusive mode access.
> arts is one such "stuff", one of the big reasons folks have such
> difficulty with it.  Use it, and everything else has to play thru arts, or
> not play at all, when arts is active, even with hardware mixing or dmix.
>
I agree with you. Arts sucks and I can't wait when they get rid of it in 
KDE4 :) I once managed to get it to play nice with dmix, but then I switched 
to GNOME and now back in kde and can't get it working. I don't want to get 
rid of it since it's quite a lot of work getting all kde things working with 
alsa without arts and not worth the trouble. There is one useful aspect of 
arts that makes it not 100% bad, you can suspend it. When I go play a game 
that needs acess to /dev/dsp I just open the Arts Control Tool from the menu, 
click status and suspend it. Also it suspends automaticly every 60 seconds 
(configurable in kcontrol) or it might be possible to make a script for 
launching the game that suspends arts then launches. This is way less working 
than going opening cmd line, typing killall artsd then after game ends 
starting it again.

> At least, that's been my experience, and the arts kcontrol applet
> (kcmshell arts, or just find it in kcontrol) specifically mentions it DOES
> use exclusive mode, and that other things won't be able to use sound when
> it's active.
>
> Other sound daemons may or may not be equally "selfish".
>
> --
> Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
> "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
> and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman in
> http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html

-- 
Karol Krizka

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