date:20050910

[gentoo-user] gnome complains about "no mixer elements and/or device" on login

2005-09-10 Thread Nick Rout

When I log into gnome I get a dialog with the following message:

"Sorry, no mixer elements and/or devices found"

Advcie from google and forums.g.o seems to point to the following likely
solutions:

1. make sure user has ability to do audio - yes I can, and everything I
run in gnome produces audio output when it should (mplayer, xmms,
mpg123, xine, whatever)

2. run gst-register-0.8 - done it, more than once. Doesn't complain
about any problems, but makes no difference even after a reboot.

Thats about a summary of the suggested fixes and the results. I figured
that the error seemed to be on running gnome-volume-control, so when i
run it from an xterm I get the following:

[EMAIL PROTECTED] /home/torrents/nick $ gnome-volume-control

** (gnome-volume-control:19921): CRITICAL **: how to remove plugins?

(gnome-volume-control:19921): GStreamer-CRITICAL **: Factory for
`ossmixer' has no type. This probably means the plugin wasn't found
because the registry is broken. The plugin GStreamer was looking for is
named 'ossaudio' and is expected in file
'/usr/lib/gstreamer-0.8/libgstossaudio.so'. The registry for this plugin
is located at '/var/lib/cache/gstreamer-0.8/registry.xml'

** (gnome-volume-control:19921): CRITICAL **: how to remove plugins?

(gnome-volume-control:19921): GStreamer-CRITICAL **: Factory for
`alsamixer' has no type. This probably means the plugin wasn't found
because the registry is broken. The plugin GStreamer was looking for is
named 'alsa' and is expected in file
'/usr/lib/gstreamer-0.8/libgstalsa.so'. The registry for this plugin is
located at '/var/lib/cache/gstreamer-0.8/registry.xml'


OK well it looks like something is missing. I though gst-register-0.8
was supposed to sort all that out.

What am I missing or what do I do to fix this? Can I safely
delete /var/lib/cache/gstreamer-0.8/registry.xml and re-run the register
program and see if that makes a difference? Or will i break something?


As sound is in fact working in all apps I use, its not such a worry,
just a sign that something is broken, and if something is broken it may
get worse down the track.
-- 
Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Nasty bugs in portage?

2005-09-10 Thread Nick Rout

On Sat, 2005-09-10 at 23:03 +0200, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
> On Saturday 10 September 2005 20:09, Frank Schafer wrote:
> > ... or which distribution to install during less than 4 days?
> >
> > Hi list,
> >
> > as I wrote yesterday I planned to complete installation after work
> > (started ``emerge --emptytree system'' in the morning).
> >
> 
> where did you get the idea that --emptytree is needed or even a wise decision?
> --emptytree is almost NEVER needed and since it is a troublesom procedure, it 
> should not be made, until you are totally sure, that you need it.
> 


I imagine he read the install instructions, which are pretty clear about
doing an 

emerge --emptytree system

What makes you think this is wrong?

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=6#doc_chap2

(bottom of the page)

> emerge system
> 
> is all you need to do, to get the base system.
> After that, emerge what you like to have, but NEVER use --emptytree, except 
> when you are able to deal with the consequences.
> 
> Obviously you are not, so do not do it. 
> NO
> 
> 
> was that clear enough?


> 
> For your gcc-problem, there is the fix script, others mentioned - but a lot 
> of 
> times all that is needed is to run gcc-config to set the correct gcc.
-- 
Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Ideas for a mini-FAQ/HOWTO

2005-09-10 Thread Dave Nebinger


Not to rain on your parade, Walter, but:


 1) In /etc/make.conf set the following entry...
MAKEOPTS="-j1"
Do *NOT*, I repeat, do *NOT* use higher numbers.  You are begging
for problems if you do so.


I use distcc in my compile farm and have most systems set to -j8 or above. 
I haven't run into a single issue with the parallel compiles, and have been 
using this setup for months.


Yes, I will admit that there have been some cases where using a value 
greater than 1 caused problems, but those should be handled as a single 
case, not throwing in the towel on higher values all together.


I don't necessarily agree with using "-*" in your USE flags, simply because 
I think the USE flags in the /etc/make.conf are meant to enhance the builds 
with options you plan on using.  Default USE flags, as identified by the 
developers, typically are limited to those components that the package needs 
to function correctly.


And for those things that you really don't want to have, you can always 
specify the negative USE flag, i.e. "-gnome" to totally disable gnome (which 
is what I use).


Using "-*" basically says that you know better than the developers, which is 
a position I wouldn't want to take...


Otherwise the content was fine, but it makes me wonder why it would be 
necessary.  New folks migrating to Gentoo are going to use the handbook, and 
I don't believe the handbook tells them to enable framebuffer/bootsplash, 
etc.


--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Audio and permissions.

2005-09-10 Thread Walter Dnes

On Sat, Sep 10, 2005 at 11:40:50AM -0700, gentuxx wrote

> OK, I tried that and I have/can verify that I am in the audio group.
> Logged out, then back in, even did a reboot.  No joy.  Now here's the
> weird thing.  mplayer works fine, for both video (sound with movies)
> and audio (mp3s).  But none of the GUI apps (XMMS, JuK, etc.) seem
> to output any sound.  As a matter of fact, XMMS errors out that it
> "failed to open the audio output: ALSA 1.2.10 output plugin".  And I
> don't get any of the "blips and whirrs" from the desktop interaction
> (minimizing windows, etc.).
> 
> Any more ideas?

  Two questions...

  1) Run the command "ls -al /dev/sound/".  What's the output ?

  2) Are you familiar with PAM? (That will determine how we proceed to
solve your problem, if it's what I think it is).

-- 
Walter Dnes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
My musings on technology and security at http://tech_sec.blog.ca
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

[gentoo-user] Ideas for a mini-FAQ/HOWTO

2005-09-10 Thread Walter Dnes

I've been using Gentoo for several months now, and I've learned,
sometimes "the hard way", what to do and not to do. Here's the first
draft of a mini-FAQ/HOWTO. It can stand alone. If there's another FAQ
out there already, maybe the ideas here can be included in it...

The secret of a fast and stable Gentoo is knowing what *NOT* to do, as
much as knowing what to do. To use an automotive analogy, any idiot can
floor the gas pedal, and keep it pressed down. But if you don't let off
the gas pedal as the tachometer approaches the red line, your engine
will blow up on you. In addition to hints about what to do, this
document will point out some red lines that should not be crossed.
Please remember, when I say do *NOT* do something, I have a reason.

Commonsense disclaimer... cpu tweaks are *NOT* going to speed up a
program that pounds away on the hard drive. But for cpu-intensive apps,
the speedup can be significant. Properly optimizing Gentoo is a
fill-in-the-blanks excercise. First, I'll deal with generic
optimizations that are applicable to all architectures.

1) In /etc/make.conf set the following entry...
MAKEOPTS="-j1"
Do *NOT*, I repeat, do *NOT* use higher numbers. You are begging
for problems if you do so. This is one place where I diverge from
official recommendation, ie.
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?full=1#book_part1_chap5__chap5_sect3
which says
> With MAKEOPTS you define how many parallel compilations should occur
> when you install a package. A good choice is the number of CPUs in
> your system plus one, but this guideline isn't always perfect.

Actually, that statement of fact is correct. The guideline is *NOT*
always perfect. CPUs+1 *USUALLY* works, but "usually" isn't good
enough. I have had compiles blow up on me on an old PII where I had set
MAKEOPTS="-j2". Setting MAKEOPTS="-j1" solved the problem. I've seen
reports of the same problem and solution on an AMD64. The root cause of
the problem is that the combo of autoconf/make/gcc is not parallel-safe
today. Future versions might be, but it will require major re-writes.
Parallel programming is a world of its own. Parallel processes, by
definition, are not guaranteed to finish in a specific order. In a
situation where module "b" depends on module "a", you get stuff like the
process which is supposed to delete module "a" executes before the
compilation of module "b" begins... oops.

Future versions may be declared parallel-safe, but for now, stick with
j1. It slows down *THE COMPILATION PROCESS*. However, it does *NOT*
slow down *THE COMPILED PROGRAM*.

2) The generic portion of CFLAGS consists of those flags that do not
begin with "-m". For that part, use "-O2 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"

Please, do *NOT* use "-O3" (or higher!!!) or try to unroll every last
loop or use every last exotic generic optimization. Your programs will
*USUALLY* work, but they'll probably be flakier. They may be faster, or
they may be slower. However, people will point their fingers at you and
laugh. Developers will ignore you when a program blows up and you file
a bug report. The only exception is if a developer specifically OK's
special optimizations for specific modules or programs, and is willing
to support those modules or programs with extra optimization. Things
may change in future versions of gcc, but the 3.4.x series works best
with the settings I've given.

And now for the machine-specific flags in CFLAGS. I'll use my machine
because it happens to be handy. *YOUR MACHINE WILL HAVE DIFFERENT FLAGS
UNLESS YOU HAVE THE EXACT SAME MODEL AS ME*. Try to follow the logic I
use, and apply it to your situation.

Boot your machine with any linux distro, and execute...

cat /proc/cpuinfo

The two output lines we're interested in are "model name" and "flags".
On my machine, they're...

model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.80GHz

That tells me what my CPU is.

flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov
pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm

This one involves a bit of looking up. First execute "gcc --version"
to find out which version of gcc you're running. Check the docs for your
version at http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs and look under "Hardware Models
and Configurations" *FOR YOUR CPU*. Look for anything in there that
matches anything in your flags line. For my machine that's
"-march=pentium4 -mfpmath=sse -mmmx -msse -msse2". This gives me a the
following combined CFLAGS line...

CFLAGS="-O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe -march=pentium4 -mfpmath=sse -mmmx -msse
-msse2"

Some of the flags are also valid in the USE variable as well. Check
your flags line against the list in /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc (or
online at http://www.gentoo.org/dyn/use-index.xml ). In my case, mmx
and sse and sse2 are usable. My USE variable looks like so (I'll exp

73 matches

Mail list logo