Posts in by tag
Recent Poll's
User login
Navigation
Recent Comments
Syndicate
Alsa Sucks
Thu, 01/17/2008 - 07:26 — alsasucks
Alsa really Sucks, it is one of the main reasons I will stay away from Linux. Alsa is dated, it makes you feel in 1984, and it brakes all the time.
Actually sound under linux in general is PATHETIC. Stay away if you really love music.
I don't know what you people
I don't know what you people are complaining about. Setting up software mixing in ALSA is easy. All you have to do is create an .asoundrc file with the following:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
pcm.my_card {
type hw
card 0
# mmap_emulation true
}
pcm.dmixed {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024
# ipc_key_add_uid false # let multiple users share
# ipc_perm 0666 # IPC permissions for multi user sharing (octal, default 0600)
slave {
pcm "my_card"
# rate 48000
# period_size 512
}
}
pcm.dsnooped {
type dsnoop
ipc_key 2048
slave {
pcm "my_card"
# rate 48000
# period_size 128
}
}
pcm.asymed {
type asym
playback.pcm "dmixed"
capture.pcm "dsnooped"
}
pcm.pasymed {
type plug
slave.pcm "asymed"
}
pcm.dsp0 {
type plug
slave.pcm "asymed"
}
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "asymed"
}
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Except with everything changed for your specific configuration. What could be easier?
"What could be easier?" Oh
"What could be easier?"
Oh I dunno... how about something that can actually possibly work?
I posed the GP comment. In
I posed the GP comment. In case anyone else missed this, I was being facetious. I am a linux supporter, I use the OS and prefer it to everything else that I've used (I need to give BSD a go one of these days). That said there are some parts that are lacking. The sound support is not only lacking, it's a batshit insane, convoluted mess as well.
The config that I posed above is actually what I had to do to get software mixing working...but it still doesn't work well.
Jack also sucks, I'm trying
Jack also sucks, I'm trying to set up my MIDI keyboard and the sound quality is HORRIBLE! What the hell are xruns anyway... it was also a real pain to install.
sound mixing is necessary
sound mixing is necessary
I'm a long time Debian user
I'm a long time Debian user and Linux user and even developer of stuff that runs in Linux and I can say with all honesty that Alsa DOES SUCK!
The complicated, undocumented API is one reason why it sucks. But that is not really apparent to users. The reason why it really blows is:
ONE SOFTWARE BLOCKS ANOTHER INSTEAD OF MIXING TOGETHER!!
Wow! What a concept!! To mix sound from different apps together and don't block them.
This is not 1985 anymore. Multi-core processors can handle software mixing without any problems. So why the hell does one program keep blocking another? This is the most retarded design decision ever. Mixing of sound from different apps should be done before the actual driver (unless driver supports native multi-sound inputs) and it should be 100% transparent from API point of view.
But what do we get? We get XMMS opening hw:0,0 and then another app that wants to play sound, is blocked.
And don't get me started about the rest of the sound daemons that are even more pathetic than Alsa (Alsa sucks but sadly it is the best option in Linux!) Arts and related daemons blow just as much if not more by creating pointless redundancies.
My sound works fine here. I
My sound works fine here.
I agree that the component infrastructure in general isnt good on Linux, but tell this Linus. He is only caring about a modular infrastructure, so many components together can suck a lot in the end ....
Linus should design APIs that are ubiquitous and would always work.
Here I help him:
play_audio_file "name_of_file", "alsa"
Agreed. Once, while surfing
Agreed. Once, while surfing to a website that used sound, an error window appears:
Error – artsmessage
Sound server fatal error: cpu overload, aborting
Ok, so I can't hear the page I wanted to listen to. I still have work to do. But after this event my computer feels very sluggish. Not until I use PS do I see ARTSD hogging 88% of my CPU time.
THIS is a KDE problem with
THIS is a KDE problem with ARTS, NOT with Alsa.
Alsa works fine.
It is ARTS which sucks here, not Alsa.
You need to critizise the correct component.
Why are people still using
Why are people still using arts? It is deprecated for several years now and not needed by anything anymore.
Alsa/Arts/else_sound_related
Alsa/Arts/else_sound_related in linux is not only confussing but sometimes just dont work.
And if arts is deprecated... why is it still there? and more than that, why is it set to be used by default... I mean, it would be great to have an alert just before a program attempts to use a deprecated sound manager or whatever warning us that it now sucks... suggesting what to use instead would be nice...
But as things are now you have to figure out yourself...
For example in gnome i go to preferences-sound and then I search for such things as alsa/arts/ or anything and nothing... just one clueless checkbox: Enable software sound mixing ESD and thats it...
Ah! did I mention I dont have system sounds? it seems to be configured correctly but still nothing plays...
ALSA works dependently on
ALSA works dependently on drivers, my previous card based on ICH6 was working perfectly and so many others. My new laptop has an HDA ICH8 chipset and has some problem, but nothing really serious. Arts is installed with KDE and if you don't like it, simply disable it. Don't blame others because they give you the chance of choosing what is better for you. Blame your lack of knowledge instead.
"My new laptop has an HDA
"My new laptop has an HDA ICH8 chipset and has some problem, but nothing really serious."
And why it has a problem? That's the point here.
You would think that Windows
You would think that Windows never had any problems whatsoever the way some people carry on...
Well, I've been making
Well, I've been making sounds & music in windows for decades, and I have trouble describing the difference : Windows XP NEVER failed to do what I want, and it involves some serious stuff, like running2.5 Reason and Live6 through rewire, that sort of stuff. Under windows you don't KNOW what "sound server" you use, and that's quite great, because you just don't CARE.
Here I am w/ this "new" (circa 2004, hardly bleeding edge, ac97 sound) IBM laptop and under XP everything runs fine.
Actually sound & music is the only thing I do in XP, my main machine has always been a linux one.
Every once in a while I install the latest batch of linux sound tools and launch jack.
22:01:14.035 JACK was started with PID=6266.
22:01:14.150 JACK was stopped successfully.
22:01:14.153 Post-shutdown script...
22:01:14.154 killall jackd
jackd: no process killed
22:01:14.572 Post-shutdown script terminated with exit status=256.
22:01:16.263 Could not connect to JACK server as client. - Overall operation failed. - Unable to connect to server. Please check the messages window for more info.
This is laughable. the messages window telling me to check the messages window for more info. for more info.
Show this to a REAL musician.
Music under linux ? You must be kidding.
Linux wasn't designed for
Linux wasn't designed for people who use their computers for purposes other than just dicking around with Linux.
Don't worry,there is another abstraction layer, or wrapper to be added on top of this one to fix the problem. Of, if you're willing to wait, there will be an overhaul of the sound system (again....). Hopefully the new one will be more complex and beastly, with XML configuration files, an overly complex server-client model. Hey, but that offers 'choice', does it not?
Linux reminds me of the freeways in my home city. They are ALWAYS being worked on, and always at less than 100% because they are making it better for the future. Everytime they've finished working in one place, they have to start patching up or redesigning elsewhere. You NEVER get a finished product, its a perpetual work in progress.
the problem is not the "
the problem is not the " perpetual work in progress" thing. Work in progress is good.
The problem is that the progress is REALLY SMALL and the time really long. Guys, audio in linux sucks hardcore.
And there are no excuses like "no drivers" or "no specifications".
The SOUND SERVER SUCKS.
Btw, why they cant do a pretty good working thing? Can someone tell me the reason?