Delta 1010 sound card seems a hair away from functional.
 

Thanks for reading.

Summary:
New sound card works, but not with all programs.

Intro:
I just got a new m-audio delta 1010 sound card with (beautiful) breakout box. I'm running a Debian-based Mepis 3.3 system. The following has occurred (while in KDE):

1. Booted up
2. ice-1712 automatically loaded as module
3. Attempts- No in rhythmbox, No in Audacity, Yes in XMMS.
4. Ran alsaconfig- fine but for one error message during 'alsactl restore' (see below)
5. After alsaconfig- No in XMMS, Yes in Audacity, No in Rhythmbox


Logs:


Audacity errors:

Pre alsaconfig- "Error initializing Audio. There was an error initializing the audio i/o layer. You will not be able to play or record audio. Error: Host error"
Post alsaconfig- No problems.


Rhythmbox errors:
Pre alsaconfig:
Upon clicking play- "OSS device "/dev/dsp" is already in use by another program." "Could not pause playback."
Post alsaconfig:
Upon clicking play-"OSS device could not be configured properly" (About 15 of them in a row)



XMMS errors:

Pre alsaconfig:
No problems.
Post alsaconfig:
"Couldn't open audio. Please check that: Your soundcard is configured properly, you have the correct output plugin, No other program is blocking the soundcard."


(During alsaconfig)
..."Running update-modules...
Loading driver...
Setting up ALSA.../etc/init.d/alsa: Warning: 'alsactl restore' failed with error message 'No state is presentfor card M1010'. done.
Setting default volumes..."...




The problem doesn't seem to do with output levels, faulty wiring, or improper physical installation. MY onboard sound was disabled in the BIOS. I've attached lspci,lsmod, and lsdev output.


okeefe@1[~]$ lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8375 [KM266/KL266] Host Bridge
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8633 [Apollo Pro266 AGP]
0000:00:06.0 Ethernet controller: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21140 [FasterNet] (rev 22)
0000:00:07.0 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies Inc. ICE1712 [Envy24] PCI Multi-Channel I/O Controller (rev 02)
0000:00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82)
0000:00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
0000:00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 MX 440] (rev a3)


okeefe@1[~]$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
rfcomm 31772 0
l2cap 21764 5 rfcomm
bluetooth 41988 4 rfcomm,l2cap
parport_pc 30532 1
lp 8748 0
parport 20032 2 parport_pc,lp
binfmt_misc 8840 1
ipt_state 1664 32
ipt_REJECT 5504 4
ipt_limit 2176 6
ipt_LOG 6272 6
ip_conntrack_ftp 71344 0
ip_conntrack 39412 2 ipt_state,ip_conntrack_ftp
iptable_filter 3072 1
ip_tables 16640 5 ipt_state,ipt_REJECT,ipt_limit,ipt_LOG,iptable_filter
ipv6 231296 13
pcmcia 16900 0
yenta_socket 17920 0
pcmcia_core 45632 2 pcmcia,yenta_socket
8250 18180 0
serial_core 18048 1 8250
nls_iso8859_1 3968 0
nls_cp437 5632 0
af_packet 16648 0
snd_ice1712 56644 3
snd_ice17xx_ak4xxx 3200 1 snd_ice1712
snd_ak4xxx_adda 5376 2 snd_ice1712,snd_ice17xx_ak4xxx
snd_cs8427 8192 1 snd_ice1712
snd_ac97_codec 66936 1 snd_ice1712
snd_i2c 4480 2 snd_ice1712,snd_cs8427
tulip 46240 0
snd_opl3_lib 8832 0
snd_sb16_dsp 9600 0
snd_pcm_oss 46112 0
snd_mixer_oss 15872 2 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 77832 5 snd_ice1712,snd_ac97_codec,snd_sb16_dsp,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 20612 2 snd_opl3_lib,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 7428 1 snd_pcm
snd_sb16_csp 18048 0
snd_sb_common 13440 2 snd_sb16_dsp,snd_sb16_csp
snd_hwdep 7200 2 snd_opl3_lib,snd_sb16_csp
snd_mpu401_uart 6016 1 snd_ice1712
snd_rawmidi 19744 1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device 6924 2 snd_opl3_lib,snd_rawmidi
snd 45668 20 snd_ice1712,snd_ak4xxx_adda,snd_cs8427,snd_ac97_codec,snd_i2c,snd_opl3_lib,snd_sb16_dsp,snd_pcm_oss, snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_sb16_csp,snd_sb_common,snd_hwdep,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd _seq_device
soundcore 7264 2 snd
ndiswrapper 114356 0
sg 28960 0
thermal 11016 0
processor 19764 1 thermal
fan 3332 0
button 5136 0
battery 8324 0
ac 3588 0
floppy 52816 0
uhci_hcd 28944 0
ohci_hcd 19080 0


okeefe@1[~]$ lsdev
Device DMA IRQ I/O Ports
------------------------------------------------
0000:00:06.0 c000-c07f
0000:00:07.0 c400-c41f c800-c80f cc00-cc0f d000-d03f
0000:00:10.0 d400-d41f
0000:00:10.1 d800-d81f
0000:00:10.2 dc00-dc1f
0000:00:11.1 e000-e00f
acpi 9
ACPI 4010-4015
cascade 4 2
dma 0080-008f
dma1 0000-001f
dma2 00c0-00df
ehci_hcd 3
eth0 11
fpu 00f0-00ff
GPE0_BLK 4020-4023
i8042 1 12
ICE1712 5 c400-c41f c800-c80f cc00-cc0f d000-d03f
ide0 14 01f0-01f7 03f6-03f6 e000-e007
ide1 15 0170-0177 0376-0376 e008-e00f
keyboard 0060-006f
motherboard 4000-407f 5000-500f
parport0 0378-037a
PCI 0cf8-0cff
pic1 0020-0021
pic2 00a0-00a1
PM1a_CNT_BLK 4004-4005
PM1a_EVT_BLK 4000-4003
PM_TMR 4008-400b
rtc 8 0070-0077
serial 02f8-02ff 03f8-03ff
timer 0
timer0 0040-0043
timer1 0050-0053
tulip c000-c07f
uhci_hcd 10 d400-d41f d800-d81f dc00-dc1f
vesafb 03c0-03df


Thanks for reading.

UPDATE

Regarding the error message I had received when running alsaconf:

"Warning: 'alsactl restore' failed with error message 'No state is presentfor card M1010'. done."

I no longer receive this message when running alsaconf. This is because (I'm pretty sure) I deleted my old /var/lib/alsa/asound.state. The old asound.state had the name of my previous sound card listed, and had not been changed through alsaconf. It was an emu-1820 that was identified (incorrectly) as an Audigy card. As soon as I removed this file, a new asound.state was created through alsaconf in its place. The new file has my real card (M-audio Delta 1010) listed. So part of the problem seems solved. But the other errors, the real ones, listed above, still exist. Can anybody help, please?

In addition, I seem to have no volume control in Kmix, alsamixer, or in Audacity itself. I can only control volume through my receiver's volume knob.

I have all of the volume settings down to zero, and I still receive full sound. (But NOT in XMMS or Rhythmbox!).
I also still hear sound from Websites.

But if I try to watch something or listen to something at the same time as I play a sound in Audacity I receive the following error, and no sound in Audacity-- "error while opening sound device. Please check the output device settings and the project sample rate".

concerning the volume: I believe the ICE1712 chip doesn't have volumecontrol, but an attenuator, which seems to work just a bit differently.
The not working of the volumecontrols can be solved by dmixing your audio (I think that solved the problem fotr me with my audiophile 2496). There's a bit about dmixng on the alsa-homepage.
Good luck. I had some trouble with my soundcard, but in the end it works pretty well and gives great audio!

Do you use the envy24control tool, or know whether this is a good option? It's for ICE1712 cards. I'm trying to install it right now.

I just read your post, so I haven't done the reading yet, but will shortly. Thanks.

Digory,

I am about to install an m-audio delta 1010 on Mandriva 2006, and am wondering if you would mind helping me by outlining your installation process. I am hoping to run either Ardour or Audacity with this system and am really excited to start recording! Please email me at hihat2112 @ yahoo.com and let me know if you can help me out with this installation. I'm a newbie starting with a fresh install of Mandriva 2006.

Thanks!

Ryan

Actually I'm now using Ubuntu, and the sound card worked perfectly with no special installation instructions. I had it physically set up before I began the install.

The "ice1712" driver, which is what you need, should automatically install itself. If not, modprobe should do it. The syntax is simple. Read the man page on modprobe if you are having trouble, or ask me for more help. To check what modules are installed already, do lsmod (shift-pageup to look up the list). You should see snd_ice1712 somewhere.

If you want to be able to control the soundcard with software (not necessary for simple recording) you need to install the envy24control program. I don't use the program, but just so you know.

I use Ardour, not audacity. I suggest it strongly. The learning curve is a little steeper, but it seems more powerful. You might want to try Hydrogen for beats. Make beats in Hydrogen, import to Ardour, record over tracks in Ardour, import separate tracks and completed tracks into GNUsound for effects and trimming, and for conversion to ogg,flac, whatever. That's my pretty simple method.

Check these sites as well:
http://linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/1019/1/ (about drivers)
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm (home studios)
http://www.agnula.org/ (sound distro)
http://www.alsa-project.org/

I have a similar problem with the lack of volume control. (see below)

Recently I bought a brand new Delta 1010 system to be run on
Fedora Core 4. Prior to this I had a Delta 44 system and trialed it without issues on the same machine.

The specific system build I'm currently running is:
>uname -r
2.6.11-1.1369_FC4smp

Here are the facts about my problem:
- The Delta1010 doesn't allow any manual gain/volume control using
the built-in linux tools (both from the command line and the GUI)
under ALSA or OSS. We are running ALSA lib & util version: 1.0.9rc2.
- The Delta 44 had ADC and DAC volume control abilities(as well as 'Multi Track Peak' - which
by default is read only), whereas the Delta
1010 only has the Multi Track Peak control - which of course isn't much
use since the user does not have write access to control it.
- In testing the outputs (both individually and multiple outs)
the system will adjust the volume control to 100%, play the file
then reset the volume to 0% once finished playing. So, whether this is
done 'in program' (by the software) or a feature of the hardware I'm not sure.
- Switching between +4 dB and -10 dB while playing (via the rear
buttons) does produce an audible difference in volume (+4dB setting is
louder).
- I am using a similar set up to the Delta 44 (the '.asoundrc' file
was modified to incorporate additional inputs and outputs. The Delta 44
and 1010 systems were automatically recognised and appropriate drivers
automatically used by linux)
- Programs primarily used to test the system were aplay and XMMS.

So my questions are:
1. Should the Delta 1010 allow the user to manually adjust the
volume/gain control or is the gain control permanently set in hardware?
(The manual seems to suggest the former)
2. If the latter what are they fixed to? (ie +4dB and -10dB only)
3. Could it be an AGC (Automatic Gain Control) algorithm in the
hardware which is dis-allowing the manual volume control?
4. Is the Delta 1010 a multi track device only (ie requires an external
volume control device or has no DAC/ADC manual control) or should
it also have DAC and ADC controllers like the Delta 44?
5. If the latter how can this be displayed/adjusted?
6. if it is a dmixer issue, any tips on how to fix it? ie could a "working" configuration be posted please? :)

Thanks,


J.