Arch Linux

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Member

From: Dayton, OH

Registered: 2008-12-10

Posts: 34

Interesting soundcard issues

So heres the deal. I got a Creative Labs X-fi 5.1 surround usb sound card for christmas, and when I plugged it in, it somehow plays audio, but the problem is that I can;t change the volume of it at all. I've already checked through the alsa-mixer and alsa-configs, only to come to the conclusion that alsa doesnt recognize it. I checked lsusb and it recognizes that the card is there. I went searching on the web to see if there was a driver available for it, and the opensource creative driver for the x-fi series for some reason doesnt cover the usb series of cards. I'd love to get this card working so I don't have to return another present this year ~_~. Any sugguestions or other things to try would be greatly appreciated.

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Arch64 + Awesome on Compal FL92 Laptop ~ Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2ghz 4gig ram
All HAIL the tiling window manager.

dav7

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2008-02-08

Posts: 674

Re: Interesting soundcard issues

I heard (well, read) that ALSA isn't so good with the X-Fi series, no thanks to Creative's binary blob being a blob of fail, and that OSS flawlessly works with it. It makes no sense as to why OSS, which I've heard is (more or less) "ALSA without cruft", doesn't see the news headlines as a viable alternative, when ALSA isn't up for the job. Okay, so OSS is older, but doesn't that make it more mature?

Anyway, enough ranting.

At any rate, I recommend you rip ALSA (completely) out of your rc.conf, remove all alsa-related packages, reboot (to clear all the drivers out) and set yourself up an entirely OSS-based system.

It's a possibility, and it might work. But probably one that will take a week to get stable.

-dav7

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Windows was made for looking at success from a distance through a wall of oversimplicity. Linux removes the wall, so you can just walk up to success and make it your own.
--
Reinventing the wheel is fun. You get to redefine pi.

sand_man

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2008-06-10

Posts: 2,164

Re: Interesting soundcard issues

But probably one that will take a week to get stable.

Is this another dig at OSS? Itฆ is far more stable and performs better than ALSA.

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xaiviax

Member

From: Michigan

Registered: 2008-11-04

Posts: 282

Re: Interesting soundcard issues

But probably one that will take a week to get stable.

Is this another dig at OSS? Itฆ is far more stable and performs better than ALSA.

I agree OSS4 is far more stable and performs better than ALSA, but I don't think that was a dig against, as he recommended the OP switch from ALSA to OSS.  I think it was a friendly caveat, as I too had to go through some crap when I switched over.  It took a little bit of time and effort to remove all remnants of ALSA and switch settings on several programs, and recompile some packages, etc.

Selection

Member

From: Dayton, OH

Registered: 2008-12-10

Posts: 34

Re: Interesting soundcard issues

Hmm, thanks for the input guys, I guess I'll take a stab at setting up my computer to run off OSS. I assume things like MPD, Mplayer, etc will still function on OSS?

It's a possibility, and it might work. But probably one that will take a week to get stable

Lol, at least it'll keep me busy over the holidays then

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Arch64 + Awesome on Compal FL92 Laptop ~ Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2ghz 4gig ram
All HAIL the tiling window manager.

dav7

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2008-02-08

Posts: 674

Re: Interesting soundcard issues

But probably one that will take a week to get stable.

Is this another dig at OSS? Itฆ is far more stable and performs better than ALSA.

I agree OSS4 is far more stable and performs better than ALSA, but I don't think that was a dig against, as he recommended the OP switch from ALSA to OSS.  I think it was a friendly caveat, as I too had to go through some crap when I switched over.  It took a little bit of time and effort to remove all remnants of ALSA and switch settings on several programs, and recompile some packages, etc.

That's exactly how I meant it. I might get an X-Fi too someday (unless Creative have a better card by the time I head to their online store), and I can only imagine how fun it'll be to make a system full of ALSA-oriented programs like OSS

-dav7

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Windows was made for looking at success from a distance through a wall of oversimplicity. Linux removes the wall, so you can just walk up to success and make it your own.
--
Reinventing the wheel is fun. You get to redefine pi.

xaiviax

Member

From: Michigan

Registered: 2008-11-04

Posts: 282

Re: Interesting soundcard issues

Hmm, thanks for the input guys, I guess I'll take a stab at setting up my computer to run off OSS. I assume things like MPD, Mplayer, etc will still function on OSS?

Absolutely

Selection

Member

From: Dayton, OH

Registered: 2008-12-10

Posts: 34

Re: Interesting soundcard issues

Well I managed to get rid of ALSA and get OSS, but now I'm at another stumbling block. OSS recognizes the existance of my usb sound card, but it wont let me send any audio to it. When I tried the osstest command it gave me an error about the driver not reconigzing the device. I guess that OSS doesn't support the card either. I took a look at the OSS list of supported soundcards and mine wasn't on there, and they also noted that USB sound is still an early beta if anything.

So in the end I suppose I'm going to have to wait until decent USB drivers are made.

Unless you guys have anymore ideas; I'm about ready to turn this card into a nice expensive paperweight for the time being

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Arch64 + Awesome on Compal FL92 Laptop ~ Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2ghz 4gig ram
All HAIL the tiling window manager.