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<?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?> |
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<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml,v 1.52 2005/06/07 06:25:11 fox2mike Exp $ --> |
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|
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<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd"> |
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|
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<guide link="/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml"> |
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<title>Gentoo Linux ALSA Guide</title> |
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|
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<author title="Author"> |
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<mail link="fox2mike@gentoo.org">Shyam Mani</mail> |
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</author> |
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|
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<abstract> |
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This document helps a user setup ALSA on Gentoo Linux. |
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</abstract> |
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|
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<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license --> |
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<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 --> |
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<license/> |
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|
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<version>2.2</version> |
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<date>2005-06-09</date> |
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|
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<chapter> |
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<title>Introduction</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>What is ALSA?</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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ALSA, which stands for <e>Advanced Linux Sound Architecture</e>, provides |
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audio and MIDI (<e>Musical Instrument Digital Interface</e>) functionality to |
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the Linux operating system. ALSA is the default sound subsystem in the 2.6 |
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kernel thereby replacing OSS (<e>Open Sound System</e>), which was used in the |
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2.4 kernels. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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ALSA's main features include efficient support for all types of audio |
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interfaces ranging from consumer sound cards to professional sound |
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equipment, fully modularized drivers, SMP and thread safety, backward |
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compatibility with OSS and a user-space library <c>alsa-lib</c> to make |
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application development a breeze. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>ALSA on Gentoo</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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One of Gentoo's main strengths lies in giving the user maximum control over |
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how a system is installed/configured. ALSA on Gentoo follows the same |
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principle. There are two ways you can get ALSA support up and running on your |
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system. We shall look at them in detail in the next chapter. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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<chapter> |
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<title>Installing ALSA</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>Options</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<warn> |
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The methods shown below are mutually exclusive. You cannot have ALSA compiled |
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in your kernel and use <c>media-sound/alsa-driver</c>. It <e>will</e> fail. |
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</warn> |
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|
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<impo> |
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<c>genkernel</c> users have their config built such a way that the ALSA |
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sub-system in the kernel is active. Therefore <c>genkernel</c> users can |
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proceed to the <uri link="#alsa-utilities">ALSA Utilities</uri> section |
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directly. |
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</impo> |
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|
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<p> |
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The two options are : |
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</p> |
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|
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<ol> |
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<li> |
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Use ALSA provided by your kernel. This is the preferred/recommended |
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method. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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Use Gentoo's <c>media-sound/alsa-driver</c> package. |
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</li> |
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</ol> |
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|
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<p> |
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We shall take a peek into both before finally deciding on one. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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If you were to use ALSA provided by the kernel, the following are the pros and |
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cons : |
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</p> |
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|
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<table> |
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<tr> |
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<th>Kernel ALSA</th> |
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<th>Pros and Cons</th> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<th>+</th> |
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<ti>Pretty stable as drivers are integrated into kernel.</ti> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<th>+</th> |
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<ti>One shot solution, no repeating emerges.</ti> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<th>-</th> |
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<ti>Might be a slightly older version than <c>alsa-driver</c>.</ti> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
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|
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<p> |
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And, if you were to use alsa-driver, |
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</p> |
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|
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<table> |
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<tr> |
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<th>alsa-driver</th> |
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<th>Pros and Cons</th> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<th>+</th> |
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<ti>Latest drivers from the ALSA Project.</ti> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<th>-</th> |
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<ti>Every kernel recompile requires a re-emerge of <c>alsa-driver</c>.</ti> |
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</tr> |
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<tr> |
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<th>-</th> |
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<ti>Needs certain kernel config options disabled to work correctly.</ti> |
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</tr> |
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</table> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>So...</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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The main difference between using <c>alsa-driver</c> and ALSA that comes with |
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the kernel is that <c>alsa-driver</c> is generally more up to date than the |
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version in the kernel. Since this does not make any huge difference as |
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such, you are encouraged to use the ALSA provided by the kernel. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section id="lspci"> |
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<title>Before you proceed</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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Whichever method of install you choose, you need to know what drivers your |
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sound card uses. <c>lspci</c> will help you in digging out the required |
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information. Please <c>emerge sys-apps/pciutils</c> to get <c>lspci</c>, if |
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you don't have it installed already. We now proceed to find out details about |
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the sound card. |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Soundcard Details"> |
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# <i>lspci -v | grep -i audio</i> |
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0000:00:0a.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 06) |
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</pre> |
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|
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<p> |
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We now know that the sound card on the machine is a Sound Blaster Live! and |
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the card manufacturer is Creative Labs. Head over to the |
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<uri link="http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/"> ALSA Soundcard Matrix</uri> |
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page and select Creative Labs from the drop down menu. You will be taken to |
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the Creative Labs matrix page where you can see that the SB Live! uses the |
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<c>emu10k1</c> module. That is the information we need for now. If you are |
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interested in detailed information, you can click on the link next to the |
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"Details" and that will take you to the <c>emu10k1</c> specific page. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section id="kernel"> |
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<title>Using ALSA provided by your Kernel</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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If you're a person who likes to keep things simple like I do, then this is |
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the way to go. |
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</p> |
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|
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<note> |
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Since the 2005.0 release, Gentoo Linux uses 2.6 as the default kernel. Unless |
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you are specifically using the 2.4 profile, <c>gentoo-sources</c> will be a |
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2.6 kernel on <e>most</e> architectures. Please check that your kernel is a |
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2.6 series kernel. This method will <e>not</e> work on a 2.4 kernel. |
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</note> |
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|
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<p> |
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Let us now configure the kernel to enable ALSA. |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Heading over to the source"> |
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# <i>cd /usr/src/linux</i> |
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# <i>make menuconfig</i> |
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</pre> |
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|
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<note> |
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The above example assumes that <path>/usr/src/linux</path> symlink points to |
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the kernel sources you want to use. Please ensure the same before proceeding. |
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</note> |
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|
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<p> |
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Now we will look at some of the options we will have to enable in the 2.6 |
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kernel to ensure proper ALSA support for our sound card. |
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</p> |
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|
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<note> |
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Please note that for the sake of ease, all examples show a modular kernel. It |
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is advisable to follow the same. Please do <e>not</e> skip the |
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<uri link="#alsa-config">Configuration</uri> section of this document. If |
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you still like to have options built-in, ensure that you make changes to your |
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config accordingly. |
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</note> |
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|
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<pre caption="Kernel Options for ALSA"> |
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Device Drivers ---> |
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Sound ---> |
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|
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<comment>(This needs to be enabled)</comment> |
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<M> Sound card support |
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|
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<comment>(Make sure OSS is disabled)</comment> |
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Open Sound System ---> |
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< > Open Sound System (DEPRECATED) |
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|
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<comment>(Move one step back and enter ALSA)</comment> |
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Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ---> |
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<M> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture |
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<comment>(Select this if you want MIDI sequencing and routing)</comment> |
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<M> Sequencer support |
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<comment>(Old style /dev/mixer* and /dev/dsp* support. Recommended.)</comment> |
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<M> OSS Mixer API |
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<M> OSS PCM (digital audio) API |
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|
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<comment>(You now have a choice of devices to enable support for. Generally, |
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you will have one type of device and not more. If you have more than one |
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sound card, please enable them all here.)</comment> |
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|
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<comment>(Mostly for testing and development purposes, not needed for normal |
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users unless you know what you are doing.)</comment> |
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Generic devices ---> |
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|
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<comment>(For ISA Sound cards)</comment> |
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ISA devices ---> |
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<comment>(IF you had the Gravis, you would select this option)</comment> |
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<M> Gravis UltraSound Extreme |
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|
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<comment>(Move one level back and into PCI devices. Most sound cards today are |
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PCI devices)</comment> |
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PCI devices ---> |
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<comment>(We now select the emu10k1 driver for our card)</comment> |
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<M> Emu10k1 (SB Live!, Audigy, E-mu APS) |
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<comment>(Or an Intel card would be)</comment> |
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<M> Intel/SiS/nVidia/AMD/ALi AC97 Controller |
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<comment>(Or if you have a VIA Card)</comment> |
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<M> VIA 82C686A/B, 8233/8235 AC97 Controller |
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|
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<comment>(Move one level back and select in case you have an USB sound card)</comment> |
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USB Devices ---> |
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</pre> |
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|
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<p> |
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Now that your options are set, you can (re)compile the kernel and ALSA support |
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for your card should be functional once you reboot into the new kernel. |
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You can now proceed to <uri link="#alsa-utilities">ALSA Utilities</uri> and |
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see if everything is working as it should. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section id="alsa-driver"> |
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<title>Using the ALSA Driver package</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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So you've decided to go the <c>alsa-driver</c> way. Let's get started then. |
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There are a few minor things to be done to ensure only the drivers for your |
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sound card are compiled. Although this is not really necessary, it cuts down |
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on the unnecessary drivers that will be compiled otherwise. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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If you don't have an idea of what drivers your sound card might need, please |
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take a look at the <uri link="#lspci">lspci</uri> section of this guide. Once |
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you have your driver name (<c>emu10k1</c> in our example), edit |
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<path>/etc/make.conf</path> and add a variable, <c>ALSA_CARDS</c>. |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Adding ALSA_CARDS to make.conf"> |
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<comment>(For one sound card)</comment> |
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ALSA_CARDS="emu10k1" |
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<comment>(For more than one, seperate names with spaces)</comment> |
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ALSA_CARDS="emu10k1 via82xx" |
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</pre> |
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|
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<p> |
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If you have compiled your kernel and want to use <c>alsa-driver</c>, please |
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ensure the following before proceeding, else <c>alsa-driver</c> is likely to |
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fail. The next code listing gives you one way of performing the checks. |
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</p> |
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|
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<ol> |
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<li> |
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<c>CONFIG_SOUND</c> is set. (Basic Sound support enabled) |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>CONFIG_SOUND_PRIME</c> is not set. (In-built OSS support disabled) |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>CONFIG_SND</c> is not set. (In-built ALSA support disabled) |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<path>/usr/src/linux</path> points to the kernel you want ALSA working on. |
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</li> |
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</ol> |
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|
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<pre caption=".config checks"> |
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<comment>(Assuming the linux symlink points to the correct kernel)</comment> |
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# <i>cd /usr/src/linux</i> |
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# <i>grep SOUND .config</i> |
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<comment>(1. is true)</comment> |
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CONFIG_SOUND=y |
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<comment>(2. is true)</comment> |
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CONFIG_SOUND_PRIME is not set |
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# <i>grep SND .config</i> |
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<comment>(and 3. is true)</comment> |
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CONFIG_SND is not set |
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</pre> |
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|
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<p> |
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Now all you have to do is type the magic words...and no, its not abracadabra. |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Installing alsa-driver"> |
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# <i>emerge alsa-driver</i> |
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</pre> |
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|
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<impo> |
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Please note that you will have to run <c>emerge alsa-driver</c> after every |
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kernel (re)compile, as the earlier drivers are deleted. |
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</impo> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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<chapter> |
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<title>Configuring/Testing ALSA</title> |
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<section id="alsa-utilities"> |
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<title>ALSA Utilities</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>alsa-utils</c> forms an integral part of ALSA as it has a truckload of |
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programs that are highly useful, including the ALSA Initscripts. Hence we |
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strongly recommend that you install <c>alsa-utils</c> |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Install alsa-utils"> |
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# <i>emerge alsa-utils</i> |
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</pre> |
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|
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<note> |
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If you activated ALSA in your <uri link="#kernel">kernel</uri> <e>and</e> did |
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not compile ALSA as modules, please proceed to the |
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<uri link="#initscript">ALSA Initscript</uri> section. The rest of you need |
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to configure ALSA. This is made very easy by the existence of the |
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<c>alsaconf</c> tool provided by <c>alsa-utils</c>. |
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</note> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section id="alsa-config"> |
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<title>Configuration</title> |
| 394 |
<body> |
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|
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<note> |
| 397 |
Please shut down any programs that <e>might</e> access the sound card while |
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running <c>alsaconf</c>. |
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</note> |
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|
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<p> |
| 402 |
The easiest way to configure your sound card is to run <c>alsaconf</c>. Just |
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type <c>alsaconf</c> in a shell as root. |
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</p> |
| 405 |
|
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<pre caption="Invoking alsaconf"> |
| 407 |
# <i>alsaconf</i> |
| 408 |
</pre> |
| 409 |
|
| 410 |
<p> |
| 411 |
You will now see a neat menu guided interface that will automatically probe |
| 412 |
your devices and try to find out your sound card. You will be asked to pick |
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your sound card from a list. Once that's done, it will ask you permission to |
| 414 |
automatically make required changes to <path>/etc/modules.d/alsa</path>. |
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It will then adjust your volume settings to optimum levels and run |
| 416 |
<c>modules-update</c> and starts the <path>/etc/init.d/alsasound</path> |
| 417 |
service. Once <c>alsaconf</c> exits, you can proceed with setting up the ALSA |
| 418 |
initscript. |
| 419 |
</p> |
| 420 |
|
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</body> |
| 422 |
</section> |
| 423 |
<section id="initscript"> |
| 424 |
<title>ALSA Initscript</title> |
| 425 |
<body> |
| 426 |
|
| 427 |
<p> |
| 428 |
We're now almost all setup. Whichever method you chose to install ALSA, you'll |
| 429 |
need to have something load your modules or initialize ALSA and restore your |
| 430 |
volume settings when your system comes up. The ALSA Initscript handles all of |
| 431 |
this for you and is called <c>alsasound</c>. Add it to the default run-level. |
| 432 |
</p> |
| 433 |
|
| 434 |
<pre caption="Adding ALSA to default"> |
| 435 |
# <i>rc-update add alsasound default</i> |
| 436 |
* alsasound added to runlevel default |
| 437 |
* rc-update complete. |
| 438 |
</pre> |
| 439 |
|
| 440 |
<p> |
| 441 |
Next, just check the <path>/etc/conf.d/alsasound</path> file and ensure that |
| 442 |
SAVE_ON_STOP variable is set to yes. This saves your sound settings when you |
| 443 |
shutdown your system. |
| 444 |
</p> |
| 445 |
|
| 446 |
</body> |
| 447 |
</section> |
| 448 |
<section> |
| 449 |
<title>Volume Check!</title> |
| 450 |
<body> |
| 451 |
|
| 452 |
<p> |
| 453 |
We've completed all the setups and pre-requisites, so let's fire up ALSA. If |
| 454 |
you ran <c>alsaconf</c>, you can skip this step, since <c>alsaconf</c> already |
| 455 |
does this for you. |
| 456 |
</p> |
| 457 |
|
| 458 |
<pre caption="Start the service"> |
| 459 |
<comment>(Modular Kernels)</comment> |
| 460 |
# <i>/etc/init.d/alsasound start</i> |
| 461 |
* Loading ALSA modules ... |
| 462 |
* Loading: snd-card-0 ... [ ok ] |
| 463 |
* Loading: snd-pcm-oss ... [ ok ] |
| 464 |
* Loading: snd-seq ... [ ok ] |
| 465 |
* Loading: snd-emu10k1-synth ... [ ok ] |
| 466 |
* Loading: snd-seq-midi ... [ ok ] |
| 467 |
* Restoring Mixer Levels ... [ ok ] |
| 468 |
<comment>(ALSA compiled in)</comment> |
| 469 |
# <i>/etc/init.d/alsasound start</i> |
| 470 |
* Loading ALSA modules ... |
| 471 |
* Restoring Mixer Levels ... [ ok ] |
| 472 |
</pre> |
| 473 |
|
| 474 |
<p> |
| 475 |
Now that the required things have been take care of, we need to check up on |
| 476 |
the volume as in certain cases, it is muted. We use <c>alsamixer</c> for this purpose. |
| 477 |
</p> |
| 478 |
|
| 479 |
<pre caption="Starting alsamixer"> |
| 480 |
<comment>(Opens up a console program. Only required settings are shown)</comment> |
| 481 |
# <i>alsamixer</i> |
| 482 |
</pre> |
| 483 |
|
| 484 |
<p> |
| 485 |
This is how the ALSA Mixer <e>might</e> look the first time you open it. Pay |
| 486 |
attention to the Master and PCM channels which both have an MM below them. |
| 487 |
That means they are muted. If you try to play anything with <c>alsamixer</c> |
| 488 |
in this state, you will not hear anything on your speakers. |
| 489 |
</p> |
| 490 |
|
| 491 |
<figure link="/images/docs/alsa-mixermuted.png" short="AlsaMixer Muted" caption="The Alsa Mixer Main Window, Muted"/> |
| 492 |
|
| 493 |
<p> |
| 494 |
Now, we shall unmute the channels, and set volume levels as needed. |
| 495 |
</p> |
| 496 |
|
| 497 |
<warn> |
| 498 |
Both Master <e>and</e> PCM need to be unmuted and set to audible volume levels if |
| 499 |
you want to hear some output on your speakers. |
| 500 |
</warn> |
| 501 |
|
| 502 |
<ul> |
| 503 |
<li> |
| 504 |
To move between channels, use your left and right arrow keys. (<- |
| 505 |
& ->) |
| 506 |
</li> |
| 507 |
<li> |
| 508 |
To toggle mute, move to the specific channel, for example Master and press |
| 509 |
the <e>m</e> key on the keyboard. |
| 510 |
</li> |
| 511 |
<li> |
| 512 |
To increase and decrease the volume levels, use the up and down arrow keys |
| 513 |
respectively. |
| 514 |
</li> |
| 515 |
</ul> |
| 516 |
|
| 517 |
<note> |
| 518 |
Be careful when setting your Bass and Treble values. 50 is usually a good |
| 519 |
number for both. Extremely high values of Bass may cause <e>jarring</e> |
| 520 |
on speakers that are not designed to handle them. |
| 521 |
</note> |
| 522 |
|
| 523 |
<p> |
| 524 |
After you're all done, your ALSA Mixer should look similar to the one below. |
| 525 |
Note the 00 instead of the MM and also the volume levels for some optimum |
| 526 |
settings. |
| 527 |
</p> |
| 528 |
|
| 529 |
<figure link="/images/docs/alsa-mixerunmuted.png" short="AlsaMixer Unmuted" caption="Alsa Mixer ready to roll"/> |
| 530 |
|
| 531 |
</body> |
| 532 |
</section> |
| 533 |
<section> |
| 534 |
<title>Sound Check!</title> |
| 535 |
<body> |
| 536 |
|
| 537 |
<p> |
| 538 |
Finally. Some music. If everything above is perfect, you should be able to now |
| 539 |
listen to some good music. A quick way to test is to use a command line tool |
| 540 |
like <c>media-sound/madplay</c>. You could also use something more well known |
| 541 |
like <c>mpg123</c> or <c>xmms</c>. If you are an ogg fan, you could use |
| 542 |
<c>ogg123</c> provided by <c>media-sound/vorbis-tools</c>. Use any player you |
| 543 |
are comfortable with. As always, <c>emerge</c> what you need. |
| 544 |
</p> |
| 545 |
|
| 546 |
<pre caption="Getting the software"> |
| 547 |
<comment>(Install the applications you want)</comment> |
| 548 |
# <i>emerge madplay mpg123 xmms</i> |
| 549 |
<comment>(To play .ogg files)</comment> |
| 550 |
# <i>emerge vorbis-tools</i> |
| 551 |
</pre> |
| 552 |
|
| 553 |
<p> |
| 554 |
And then play your favorite sound track... |
| 555 |
</p> |
| 556 |
|
| 557 |
<pre caption="Playing Music"> |
| 558 |
# <i>madplay -v /mnt/shyam/Music/Paul\ Oakenfold\ -\ Dread\ Rock.mp3</i> |
| 559 |
MPEG Audio Decoder 0.15.2 (beta) - Copyright (C) 2000-2004 Robert Leslie et al. |
| 560 |
Title: Dread Rock |
| 561 |
Artist: Paul Oakenfold |
| 562 |
Album: Matrix Reloaded |
| 563 |
Year: 2003 |
| 564 |
Genre: Soundtrack |
| 565 |
Soundtrack |
| 566 |
00:04:19 Layer III, 160 kbps, 44100 Hz, joint stereo (MS), no CRC |
| 567 |
|
| 568 |
# <i>ogg123 Paul\ Oakenfold\ -\ Dread\ Rock.ogg</i> |
| 569 |
Audio Device: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) output |
| 570 |
|
| 571 |
Playing: Paul Oakenfold - Dread Rock.ogg |
| 572 |
Ogg Vorbis stream: 2 channel, 44100 Hz |
| 573 |
Genre: Soundtrack |
| 574 |
Transcoded: mp3;160 |
| 575 |
Title: Dread Rock |
| 576 |
Artist: Paul Oakenfold |
| 577 |
Date: 2003 |
| 578 |
Album: Matrix Reloaded |
| 579 |
Time: 00:11.31 [04:28.75] of 04:40.06 (200.6 kbps) Output Buffer 96.9% |
| 580 |
</pre> |
| 581 |
|
| 582 |
</body> |
| 583 |
</section> |
| 584 |
<section> |
| 585 |
<title>Issues?</title> |
| 586 |
<body> |
| 587 |
|
| 588 |
<p> |
| 589 |
If for some reason you're unable to hear sound, the first thing to do would |
| 590 |
be to check your <uri link="#doc_chap3_pre5">alsamixer</uri> settings. 80% of |
| 591 |
the issues lie with muted channels or low volume. Also check your Window |
| 592 |
Manager's sound applet and verify that volumes are set to audible levels. |
| 593 |
</p> |
| 594 |
|
| 595 |
<p> |
| 596 |
<path>/proc</path> is your friend. And in this case, <path>/proc/asound</path> |
| 597 |
is your best friend. We shall just take a short look at how much info is made |
| 598 |
available to us there. |
| 599 |
</p> |
| 600 |
|
| 601 |
<pre caption="Fun with /proc/asound"> |
| 602 |
<comment>(First and foremost, if /proc/asound/cards shows your card, ALSA has |
| 603 |
picked up your sound card fine.)</comment> |
| 604 |
# <i>cat /proc/asound/cards</i> |
| 605 |
0 [Live ]: EMU10K1 - Sound Blaster Live! |
| 606 |
Sound Blaster Live! (rev.6, serial:0x80271102) at 0xb800, irq 11 |
| 607 |
|
| 608 |
<comment>(If you run ALSA off the kernel like I do and wonder how far behind |
| 609 |
you are from alsa-driver, this displays current running ALSA version)</comment> |
| 610 |
# <i>cat /proc/asound/version</i> |
| 611 |
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.8 (Thu Jan 13 09:39:32 2005 UTC). |
| 612 |
|
| 613 |
<comment>(ALSA OSS emulation details)</comment> |
| 614 |
# <i>cat /proc/asound/oss/sndstat</i> |
| 615 |
Sound Driver:3.8.1a-980706 (ALSA v1.0.8 emulation code) |
| 616 |
Kernel: Linux airwolf.zion 2.6.11ac1 #2 Wed May 4 00:35:08 IST 2005 i686 |
| 617 |
Config options: 0 |
| 618 |
|
| 619 |
Installed drivers: |
| 620 |
Type 10: ALSA emulation |
| 621 |
|
| 622 |
Card config: |
| 623 |
Sound Blaster Live! (rev.6, serial:0x80271102) at 0xb800, irq 11 |
| 624 |
|
| 625 |
Audio devices: |
| 626 |
0: EMU10K1 (DUPLEX) |
| 627 |
|
| 628 |
Synth devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG |
| 629 |
|
| 630 |
Midi devices: |
| 631 |
0: EMU10K1 MPU-401 (UART) |
| 632 |
|
| 633 |
Timers: |
| 634 |
7: system timer |
| 635 |
|
| 636 |
Mixers: |
| 637 |
0: SigmaTel STAC9721/23 |
| 638 |
</pre> |
| 639 |
|
| 640 |
</body> |
| 641 |
</section> |
| 642 |
</chapter> |
| 643 |
|
| 644 |
<chapter> |
| 645 |
<title>Other things ALSA</title> |
| 646 |
<section> |
| 647 |
<title>Setting up MIDI support</title> |
| 648 |
<body> |
| 649 |
|
| 650 |
<p> |
| 651 |
If your sound card is one of those that come with on-board MIDI synthesizers |
| 652 |
and you would like to listen to some .mid files, you have to install |
| 653 |
<c>awesfx</c> which is basically a set of utilities for controlling the AWE32 |
| 654 |
driver. We need to install it first. If you don't have a hardware synthesizer, |
| 655 |
you can use a virtual one. Please see the section on |
| 656 |
<uri link="#vsynth">Virtual Synthesizers</uri> for more information. |
| 657 |
</p> |
| 658 |
|
| 659 |
<pre caption="Installing awesfx"> |
| 660 |
# <i>emerge awesfx</i> |
| 661 |
</pre> |
| 662 |
|
| 663 |
<note> |
| 664 |
You will need to copy over SoundFont (SF2) files from your sound card's driver |
| 665 |
CD or a Windows installation into <path>/usr/share/sounds/sf2/</path>. For |
| 666 |
example a sound font file for the Creative SBLive! card would be 8MBGMSFX.SF2. |
| 667 |
</note> |
| 668 |
|
| 669 |
<p> |
| 670 |
After copying over the Soundfont files, we can then play a midi file as shown. |
| 671 |
You can also add the <c>asfxload</c> command to |
| 672 |
<path>/etc/conf.d/local.start</path>, so that the sound font is loaded |
| 673 |
every time the system starts up. |
| 674 |
</p> |
| 675 |
|
| 676 |
<note> |
| 677 |
<path>/mnt</path> paths mentioned in the code listing(s) below will <e>not</e> |
| 678 |
be the same in your machine. They are just an example. Please be careful to |
| 679 |
change the path to suit your machine. |
| 680 |
</note> |
| 681 |
|
| 682 |
<pre caption="Loading Soundfonts"> |
| 683 |
<comment>(First, copy the Soundfont)</comment> |
| 684 |
# <i>cp /mnt/win2k/Program\ Files/CreativeSBLive2k/SFBank/8MBGMSFX.SF2 /usr/share/sounds/sf2/</i> |
| 685 |
<comment>(We load the specific Soundfont)</comment> |
| 686 |
# <i>asfxload /usr/share/sounds/sf2/8MBGMSFX.SF2</i> |
| 687 |
</pre> |
| 688 |
|
| 689 |
<p> |
| 690 |
You can now play midi files using a program like <c>aplaymidi</c>. Run |
| 691 |
<c>aplaymidi -l</c> to get a list of available ports and then pick one |
| 692 |
to play the file on. |
| 693 |
</p> |
| 694 |
|
| 695 |
<pre caption="Playing MIDI"> |
| 696 |
<comment>(Check open ports)</comment> |
| 697 |
# <i>aplaymidi -l</i> |
| 698 |
Port Client name Port name |
| 699 |
64:0 EMU10K1 MPU-401 (UART) EMU10K1 MPU-401 (UART) |
| 700 |
65:0 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 0 |
| 701 |
65:1 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 1 |
| 702 |
65:2 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 2 |
| 703 |
65:3 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 3 |
| 704 |
<comment>(Pick a port, and play a mid file)</comment> |
| 705 |
# <i> aplaymidi --port=65:0 /mnt/shyam/music/midi/mi2.mid</i> |
| 706 |
</pre> |
| 707 |
|
| 708 |
</body> |
| 709 |
</section> |
| 710 |
<section id="vsynth"> |
| 711 |
<title>Virtual Synthesizers</title> |
| 712 |
<body> |
| 713 |
|
| 714 |
<p> |
| 715 |
If your sound card lacks a hardware synthesizer, you could use a virtual one |
| 716 |
like <c>timidity++</c>. Installation is a breeze. |
| 717 |
</p> |
| 718 |
|
| 719 |
<pre caption="Installing timidity++"> |
| 720 |
# <i>emerge timidity++</i> |
| 721 |
</pre> |
| 722 |
|
| 723 |
<p> |
| 724 |
For timidity to play sounds, it needs a sound font. If you do not have any, |
| 725 |
install <c>timidity-eawpatches</c> or <c>timidity-shompatches</c> which will |
| 726 |
give you some sound fonts. You can have multiple sound font configurations |
| 727 |
installed, and you can place your own in <path>/usr/share/timidity/</path>. |
| 728 |
To switch between different timidity configurations, you should use the |
| 729 |
<c>timidity-update</c> tool provided in the timidity++ package. |
| 730 |
</p> |
| 731 |
|
| 732 |
<pre caption="Installing sound fonts"> |
| 733 |
# <i>emerge timidity-eawpatches</i> |
| 734 |
# <i>timidity-update -g -s eawpatches</i> |
| 735 |
|
| 736 |
<comment>(or)</comment> |
| 737 |
|
| 738 |
# <i>emerge timidity-shompatches</i> |
| 739 |
# <i>timidity-update -g -s shompatches</i> |
| 740 |
</pre> |
| 741 |
|
| 742 |
<p> |
| 743 |
Don't forget to add <c>timidity</c> to the default runlevel. |
| 744 |
</p> |
| 745 |
|
| 746 |
<pre caption="Adding timidity to the default runlevel"> |
| 747 |
# <i>rc-update add timidity default</i> |
| 748 |
# <i>/etc/init.d/timidity start</i> |
| 749 |
</pre> |
| 750 |
|
| 751 |
<p> |
| 752 |
You can now try out <uri link="#doc_chap4_pre3">Playing MIDI</uri> files. |
| 753 |
</p> |
| 754 |
|
| 755 |
</body> |
| 756 |
</section> |
| 757 |
<section> |
| 758 |
<title>Tools and Firmware</title> |
| 759 |
<body> |
| 760 |
|
| 761 |
<p> |
| 762 |
Some specific sound cards can benefit from certain tools provided by the |
| 763 |
<c>alsa-tools</c> and <c>alsa-firmware</c> packages. If you need |
| 764 |
<c>alsa-tools</c>, be sure to define the ALSA_TOOLS variable in |
| 765 |
<path>/etc/make.conf</path> with the tools you require. For instance: |
| 766 |
</p> |
| 767 |
|
| 768 |
<pre caption="Selecting ALSA Tools in /etc/make.conf"> |
| 769 |
ALSA_TOOLS="as10k1 ac3dec" |
| 770 |
</pre> |
| 771 |
|
| 772 |
<p> |
| 773 |
If the ALSA_TOOLS variable is not set, all available tools will be built. |
| 774 |
Now, install the <c>alsa-tools</c> (and/or <c>alsa-firmware</c>) package(s): |
| 775 |
</p> |
| 776 |
|
| 777 |
<pre caption="Installing ALSA Tools"> |
| 778 |
# <i>emerge alsa-tools</i> |
| 779 |
</pre> |
| 780 |
|
| 781 |
</body> |
| 782 |
</section> |
| 783 |
<section> |
| 784 |
<title>A Big thank you to...</title> |
| 785 |
<body> |
| 786 |
|
| 787 |
<p> |
| 788 |
Everyone who contributed to the earlier version of the Gentoo ALSA Guide: |
| 789 |
Vincent Verleye, Grant Goodyear, Arcady Genkin, Jeremy Huddleston, |
| 790 |
John P. Davis, Sven Vermeulen, Benny Chuang, Tiemo Kieft and Erwin. |
| 791 |
</p> |
| 792 |
|
| 793 |
</body> |
| 794 |
</section> |
| 795 |
<section> |
| 796 |
<title>References</title> |
| 797 |
<body> |
| 798 |
|
| 799 |
<ul> |
| 800 |
<li><uri link="http://www.alsa-project.org/">The ALSA Project</uri></li> |
| 801 |
<li><uri link="http://linux-sound.org">Linux Sound/MIDI Software</uri></li> |
| 802 |
</ul> |
| 803 |
|
| 804 |
</body> |
| 805 |
</section> |
| 806 |
</chapter> |
| 807 |
</guide> |