Arch Linux

Kalman98

Member

Registered: 2017-05-09

Posts: 3

Website

[SOLVED] ALSA kernel modules usb_midi and snd_usb_lib missing

Hello there. Please let me know if I have done anything wrong here, as this is my first post on these forums.

My overall goal here is to use my MIDI keyboard on my computer with live playback, e.g. I press a key on the keyboard and hear the note play through my speakers/headphones. I tried following the Arch Wiki USB MIDI keyboards guide, which says that I should run lsmod to be sure that I have the three kernel modules usb_midi, snd_usb_audio, and snd_usb_lib loaded. Here is the output of `lsmod | grep usb`:

btusb                  40960  0
btrtl                  16384  1 btusb
btbcm                  16384  1 btusb
btintel                16384  1 btusb
bluetooth             499712  31 btrtl,btintel,bnep,btbcm,rfcomm,btusb
snd_usb_audio         155648  3
snd_usbmidi_lib        28672  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_rawmidi            28672  1 snd_usbmidi_lib
snd_hwdep              16384  2 snd_hda_codec,snd_usb_audio
snd_pcm                90112  6 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_core,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
snd                    65536  21 snd_hda_intel,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_codec,snd_usb_audio,snd_timer,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_pcm
usbhid                 49152  0
hid                   110592  2 hid_generic,usbhid
usbcore               208896  10 usbhid,snd_usb_audio,ehci_hcd,ohci_pci,xhci_pci,snd_usbmidi_lib,btusb,ohci_hcd,xhci_hcd,ehci_pci
usb_common             16384  1 usbcore

As can be seen, neither usb_midi nor snd_usb_lib are loaded. I am very new to how the kernel stuff works, so I researched and found that I needed to use modprobe to load a module. Here is where I got lost:

$ sudo modprobe usb_midi
modprobe: FATAL: Module usb_midi not found in directory /lib/modules/4.10.13-1-ARCH
$ sudo modprobe snd_usb_lib
modprobe: FATAL: Module snd_usb_lib not found in directory /lib/modules/4.10.13-1-ARCH

$ ls /lib/modules/4.10.13-1-ARCH/
build          modules.alias.bin    modules.dep.bin  modules.symbols
extramodules   modules.builtin      modules.devname  modules.symbols.bin
kernel         modules.builtin.bin  modules.order
modules.alias  modules.dep          modules.softdep

From what it looks like I do not have either of these modules on my system. I have alsa-utils installed as the guide suggested. The MIDI keyboard does not connect to my computer properly; my computer seems to ignore any key presses which the guide says it should pick up. Could anyone point me towards a place where I could find more information about how exactly I can acquire these missing modules? I have researched quite a lot and still have no idea where kernel modules come from, especially not those two. Thank you in advance to everyone who takes the time to read this post.

And for the record, because my kernel version was outdated before I started working on this keyboard project, and I had to figure out how to update it:

$ uname -r
4.10.13-1-ARCH

Last edited by Kalman98 (2017-05-19 03:05:00)

Ropid

Member

Registered: 2015-03-09

Posts: 1,069

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA kernel modules usb_midi and snd_usb_lib missing

I don't have a MIDI keyboard or know anything about music, so this is just something general:

I'm wondering if this ArchWiki article might be outdated. When I try to compare changes in the history of the wiki article, it seems to me the last extensive edit was done in December 2014. Things might work different in the kernel nowadays and use modules with different names and maybe no one was interested in updating the article.

Last edited by Ropid (2017-05-09 02:26:02)

Kalman98

Member

Registered: 2017-05-09

Posts: 3

Website

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA kernel modules usb_midi and snd_usb_lib missing

I don't have a MIDI keyboard or know anything about music, so this is just something general:

I'm wondering if this ArchWiki article might be outdated. When I try to compare changes in the history of the wiki article, it seems to me the last extensive edit was done in December 2014. Things might work different in the kernel nowadays and use modules with different names and maybe no one was interested in updating the article.

That would explain a lot. If that is the case, perhaps it would be wise for me to make a new post requesting general help on MIDI keyboards.

stahl

Member

Registered: 2013-04-03

Posts: 10

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA kernel modules usb_midi and snd_usb_lib missing

I'm also wondering what I could do to get MIDI back on the system. I used to load the kernel module manually but now it seems to be gone ..

Kalman98

Member

Registered: 2017-05-09

Posts: 3

Website

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA kernel modules usb_midi and snd_usb_lib missing

I'm sorry that I forgot to update this sooner, but I think my problem is solved. Ropid seems to be right, the ArchWiki page must be outdated. I ended up following this guide:

http://www.tedfelix.com/linux/linux-midi.html

It worked like a charm, I have live playback with my MIDI keyboard, and all of the extra fancy buttons and knobs work as well. The title of this thread was somewhat wrong; the modules are missing, but that's how it's supposed to be. My problem was really figuring out how to set up my MIDI keyboard the right way. I will set it to solved now.

Thank you for the help!

Last edited by Kalman98 (2017-05-19 03:05:56)