Thanks Neil and Nick for the info about linux sound. I will have to spend some more time reading about how it fits together.
The system "Just Started Working" [1] on Friday evening. Following instructions from http://alsa.opensrc.org/TroubleShooting, I did the following: 1. checked again that lspci and lsmod seemed sensible (they did) 2. ran alsamixer as root---hooray, I could change volume levels 3. ran alsamixer as me---again, I had control over the volume levels 4. opened the gnome mixer---success 5. used gnome cd player to play a CD---success 6. used rhythmbox to play an ogg file---success I did not edit any files, change any permissions, change the BIOS settings or adjust the sound card. The only thing I did differently was to run alsamixer as root. So everything came right magically. Perhaps it just needed a second boot after installing the sound card: first boot to recognise the sound card and make sure the drivers are in place, second boot to start working? Though it does seem odd. Once again, thanks for all the suggestions. Now for the joystick... Stephen [1] Apple products are reputed to "Just Work". My experience with (Ubuntu) Linux is that things "Just Start Working" after I have posted a cry for help on a list, or invoked the aid of our resident guru. This has happened three or four times now. sgi Nick Rout wrote: > On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 13:21:22 +1200 > Neil Stockbridge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >> On Fri, 2006-04-28 at 11:59 +1200, Stephen Irons wrote: >> >>> It is not clear to me how various things work together (or not) in linux >>> to make sound work. There seem to be too many layers and alternatives: >>> alsa, oss, esd, jack? >>> >> OSS is a known interface between application software and physical sound >> cards and includes OSS kernel drivers for each sound card. ALSA is >> similar and has mostly made OSS obsolete. ESD is another interface but >> one that sits on top of either OSS or ALSA and mixes audio from multiple >> applications (OSS and ALSA support only one application using the sound >> card at once i think). >> > > no longer true of alsa - dmix allows mixing of different sources. > > http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_ALSA_sound_mixer_aka_dmix has alot of info. > > Also note that although OSS is deprecated, and alsa is now integrated > with the kernel, there are plenty of apps that want to output to oss > drivers. Those drivers make a device at /dev/dsp (or similar) that you > can output to. > > Because so many apps depend on the oss driver being present, alsa has > oss emulation included. Here is a typical list of modules installed on > a modern (2.6) kernel with oss emulation included: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~/media/audio/bbcjazz $ lsmod|grep snd > snd_pcm_oss 47392 0 > snd_mixer_oss 17024 1 snd_pcm_oss > snd_seq_oss 32128 0 > snd_seq_midi_event 6400 1 snd_seq_oss > snd_seq 49488 4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event > snd_via82xx 22688 0 > snd_ac97_codec 78392 1 snd_via82xx > snd_pcm 82120 3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec > snd_timer 21124 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm > snd_page_alloc 7620 2 snd_via82xx,snd_pcm > snd_mpu401_uart 6144 1 snd_via82xx > snd_rawmidi 20512 1 snd_mpu401_uart > snd_seq_device 6988 3 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi > snd 46692 11 > snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device > soundcore 7456 1 snd > > > the OSS stuff is self evident. > > Anyway - back to "why don't I have sound" > > first check what modules are loaded - lsmod|grep snd > > next check the device permissions on /dev/dsp. It will probably be > owned by root and a group like "audio" or "media" - make sure that the > user is in the correct group. DO NOT change the ownership, it will > revert on the next boot! Put yourself into that group, log out. log in. > (group changes take effect from the next login - apain when you are in > X) > > > >> what's jack? >> >> > > Jack Audio Connect Kit > > Pro level low latency audio system. If you want to set up a linux music > making machine (synth, drum machine, midi etc etc ) you need jack. > > or so they tell me! > > >>> I did notice from /proc/interrupts that interrupt 11 is shared between >>> the soundcard and the PCI-based USB card, and the number of interrupt >>> events for interrupt 11 is zero. This suggests some sort of conflict >>> between the sound card and the USB card at the interrupt level. >>> >>> 4. I thought that PCI was meant to have solved interrupt sharing? >>> >>> I have the BIOS set to non-PnP operating system, with resources >>> allocated automatically. >>> >>> 5. Do I need to change this? >>> >> did you change this and did it make any difference? >> >> - neil >> >> >> ======================================================================= This email, including any attachments, is only for the intended addressee. It is subject to copyright, is confidential and may be the subject of legal or other privilege, none of which is waived or lost by reason of this transmission. If the receiver is not the intended addressee, please accept our apologies, notify us by return, delete all copies and perform no other act on the email. Unfortunately, we cannot warrant that the email has not been altered or corrupted during transmission. =======================================================================
