[gentoo-user] Usb sound and ALSA

[gentoo-user] Usb sound and ALSA

[Leandro Melo de Sales]

Hi list...

   I have an usb sound system from Gradiente company (an eletronic
device factory) and I plugged it on my system. dmesg command shows
this:

    input: Gradiente AS-M5X0 as /class/input/input3
    input: USB HID v1.00 Device [Gradiente AS-M5X0] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1

   But when I play a mp3 media the sound is not forwarded to my usb
device, instand, the sound is still played through my integrated
laptop device.
   On windows I use it without problem. So, what do I have to do to
forward the sound to my usb device?

[]s
Leandro.
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Re: [gentoo-user] Usb sound and ALSA

[Richard Fish]

On 10/30/06, Leandro Melo de Sales <leandroal@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi list...
>
>    I have an usb sound system from Gradiente company (an eletronic
> device factory) and I plugged it on my system. dmesg command shows
> this:
>
>     input: Gradiente AS-M5X0 as /class/input/input3
>     input: USB HID v1.00 Device [Gradiente AS-M5X0] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1
>
>    But when I play a mp3 media the sound is not forwarded to my usb
> device, instand, the sound is still played through my integrated
> laptop device.
>    On windows I use it without problem. So, what do I have to do to
> forward the sound to my usb device?

Probably windows is disabling any existing sound card or at least
making the USB the "default" sound device.  Unfortunately there is no
equivalent with alsa currently.

So assuming that you've got the alsa drivers loaded for this device
(/proc/asound/cards should contain two entries), you can usually
specify alsa device as "hw1,0".  The exact method for doing this
depends on what app you are using.  For example on amarok with the
xine it is under Configure Amarok... -> Engine -> ALSA Device
Configuration.  If you enter hw1,0 for Stereo there, then 2 channel
audio should be played on the first pcm of the second sound card.

You should also be able to do this with a .asoundrc file, with an entry like:

pcm.default {
        type hw
        card 1
        device 1
}

The above is really primitive, without any dmix plugin (software
mixing), so only one app could use the device at a time unless it does
hardware mixing.  Mostly this is just to give you an idea of where to
look! ;-)

-Richard
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Re: [gentoo-user] Usb sound and ALSA

[Leandro Melo de Sales]

Hi... The device is configured and I type cat xxx > /dev/sound/dsp1
and I got an strange sound, but this prove that the device was
recognized by the kernel. I also can control volume of the second
audio device through alsamixer. The question is: how can I specify (on
alsa) that the default device is /dev/sound/dsp1 or something like
that?
   I tried to do what you said on Amarok, but the "Alsa Device
Configuration" section is disabled, why?

[]s
Leandro.

2006/10/31, Richard Fish <bigfish@asmallpond.org>:
> On 10/30/06, Leandro Melo de Sales <leandroal@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi list...
> >
> >    I have an usb sound system from Gradiente company (an eletronic
> > device factory) and I plugged it on my system. dmesg command shows
> > this:
> >
> >     input: Gradiente AS-M5X0 as /class/input/input3
> >     input: USB HID v1.00 Device [Gradiente AS-M5X0] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1
> >
> >    But when I play a mp3 media the sound is not forwarded to my usb
> > device, instand, the sound is still played through my integrated
> > laptop device.
> >    On windows I use it without problem. So, what do I have to do to
> > forward the sound to my usb device?
>
> Probably windows is disabling any existing sound card or at least
> making the USB the "default" sound device.  Unfortunately there is no
> equivalent with alsa currently.
>
> So assuming that you've got the alsa drivers loaded for this device
> (/proc/asound/cards should contain two entries), you can usually
> specify alsa device as "hw1,0".  The exact method for doing this
> depends on what app you are using.  For example on amarok with the
> xine it is under Configure Amarok... -> Engine -> ALSA Device
> Configuration.  If you enter hw1,0 for Stereo there, then 2 channel
> audio should be played on the first pcm of the second sound card.
>
> You should also be able to do this with a .asoundrc file, with an entry like:
>
> pcm.default {
>         type hw
>         card 1
>         device 1
> }
>
> The above is really primitive, without any dmix plugin (software
> mixing), so only one app could use the device at a time unless it does
> hardware mixing.  Mostly this is just to give you an idea of where to
> look! ;-)
>
> -Richard
> --
> gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
>
>
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Re: [gentoo-user] Usb sound and ALSA

[Leandro Melo de Sales]

Hi,

 After I click on Apply button the Alsa Device Configuration section
become enabled, but when I specify hw1,0 in Stereo text field and play
a song amarok shows the message: "Audio output unavailable; the device
is busy.".

/proc/asound/ # ls
ASM5X0  Modem  card1  cards    hwdep    oss  seq     version
ICH6    card0  card2  devices  modules  pcm  timers

the file ASM5X0 is a symbolic link to card2.

/proc/asound/ # cat cards
 0 [ICH6           ]: ICH4 - Intel ICH6
                      Intel ICH6 with unknown codec at 0xc8000800, irq 18
 1 [Modem          ]: ICH-MODEM - Intel ICH6 Modem
                      Intel ICH6 Modem at 0x3400, irq 18
 2 [ASM5X0         ]: USB-Audio - AS-M5X0
                      Gradiente AS-M5X0 at usb-0000:00:1d.1-1, full speed

I also tried to specify hw2,0 but the message is the same, device is busy! :(

But a good news is that if I do:

mpg123 -a /dev/sound/dsp1 music.mp3

... the file is played on my usb device perfectly!!! So, this is the
proof that kernel recognize the device and I just don't know how
switch alsa default device do /dev/sound/dsp1.

Any clue? Thank you,

Leandro.

2006/10/31, Leandro Melo de Sales <leandroal@gmail.com>:
> Hi... The device is configured and I type cat xxx > /dev/sound/dsp1
> and I got an strange sound, but this prove that the device was
> recognized by the kernel. I also can control volume of the second
> audio device through alsamixer. The question is: how can I specify (on
> alsa) that the default device is /dev/sound/dsp1 or something like
> that?
>    I tried to do what you said on Amarok, but the "Alsa Device
> Configuration" section is disabled, why?
>
> []s
> Leandro.
>
> 2006/10/31, Richard Fish <bigfish@asmallpond.org>:
> > On 10/30/06, Leandro Melo de Sales <leandroal@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Hi list...
> > >
> > >    I have an usb sound system from Gradiente company (an eletronic
> > > device factory) and I plugged it on my system. dmesg command shows
> > > this:
> > >
> > >     input: Gradiente AS-M5X0 as /class/input/input3
> > >     input: USB HID v1.00 Device [Gradiente AS-M5X0] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1
> > >
> > >    But when I play a mp3 media the sound is not forwarded to my usb
> > > device, instand, the sound is still played through my integrated
> > > laptop device.
> > >    On windows I use it without problem. So, what do I have to do to
> > > forward the sound to my usb device?
> >
> > Probably windows is disabling any existing sound card or at least
> > making the USB the "default" sound device.  Unfortunately there is no
> > equivalent with alsa currently.
> >
> > So assuming that you've got the alsa drivers loaded for this device
> > (/proc/asound/cards should contain two entries), you can usually
> > specify alsa device as "hw1,0".  The exact method for doing this
> > depends on what app you are using.  For example on amarok with the
> > xine it is under Configure Amarok... -> Engine -> ALSA Device
> > Configuration.  If you enter hw1,0 for Stereo there, then 2 channel
> > audio should be played on the first pcm of the second sound card.
> >
> > You should also be able to do this with a .asoundrc file, with an entry like:
> >
> > pcm.default {
> >         type hw
> >         card 1
> >         device 1
> > }
> >
> > The above is really primitive, without any dmix plugin (software
> > mixing), so only one app could use the device at a time unless it does
> > hardware mixing.  Mostly this is just to give you an idea of where to
> > look! ;-)
> >
> > -Richard
> > --
> > gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
> >
> >
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Re: [gentoo-user] Usb sound and ALSA

[Christoph Eckert]

> Any clue? Thank you,

your device identifies itself to the kernel as human input device (HID). 
Many manufacturers seem to like to make their devices to behave like 
this.

On ALSA, the module snd_usb_audio is responsible to drive your card. But 
as it already works, it seems to be loaded.

Then (as others suggested) there are some applications which allow you 
to select the device to use (see the xmms preferences for an example). 
Use "cat /proc/asound/cards" to see which cards are present on your 
system.

To make the USB card the default device, create an .asoundrc file as 
suggested by Richard.

As I'm using various USB cards (MIDI controllers and the like), I 
adjusted /etc/modules.d/alsa to force the same numbering at every 
system boot. Looks like:

options snd device_mode=0666

options snd cards_limit=8
alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0
alias sound-slot-0 snd-intel8x0
alias snd-card-1 snd-intel8x0m
alias snd-card-2 snd-usb-audio
alias snd-card-3 snd-usb-audio
alias snd-card-4 snd-usb-audio
alias snd-card-5 snd-usb-audio
alias snd-card-6 snd-usb-audio
# alias snd-card-7 snd-virmidi

options snd-intel8x0 index=0
options snd-intel8x0m index=1
options snd-usb-audio index=2,3,4,5,6 
vid=0x0582,0x0763,0x0763,0x0582,0x0ccd   
pid=0x0074,0x1033,0x0117,0x0009,0x0028 nrpacks=1

Didn't try it, but maybe the above block can be used to make the USB 
card the card at position 0 (=>default card) and to move the internal 
card to 1.

HTH,

ce

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