"System timer resolution is set too low..."any help out there? Thanks

ubuntuuser1 · 02-18-2007, 07:56 AM

That's the error message I get from Rosegarden explaining why I have no sound when playing a midi file. It goes on to say my timing rate is 250 and probably needs to be 1000 or something like that. Audio works fine in other programs but I have no midi in any of the other programs. I'm using a sb live snd card with Ubuntu 6xxx (i can look up the xxx if needed) with gnome. Any help would be appreciated. thanks

bigrigdriver · 02-18-2007, 05:25 PM

This might answer your question:

http://help.lockergnome.com/linux/Ro...ict392767.html

ubuntuuser1 · 02-19-2007, 02:03 PM

Thanks, bigrigdriver. That addresses the problem.

studioj · 02-19-2007, 06:27 PM

you load midi fonts into sblive with the utility
sfxload
the command would look like
sfxload -D 0 /path/to/soundfonts/somesoundfont.sf2

you can find some simple soundfont files on the sblive windows install disk

to unload soundfonts
sfxload -i

ubuntuuser1 · 03-01-2007, 04:19 PM

Thanks Studioj. Help me out: sfxload is for oss...right? asfx is for alsa...right? Which one is the best to use? What is the practical difference? I have loaded Timidity and Qsynth and loaded sndfonts with them and that worked ok. But, I'm sure that uses more system resources than the synth that is on my SB Live sound card...right? thanks

studioj · 03-02-2007, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ubuntuuser1

Thanks Studioj. Help me out: sfxload is for oss...right? asfx is for alsa...right? Which one is the best to use? What is the practical difference? I have loaded Timidity and Qsynth and loaded sndfonts with them and that worked ok. But, I'm sure that uses more system resources than the synth that is on my SB Live sound card...right? thanks

yea you are right asfxoad uses native alsa where sfxload uses alsa oss emulation.

i swear sfxload sounds way better here so just check them out yourself and use the one you like best.

in terms of system resources i think using hardware synth is better but i'm not sure. once again i always think hardware synth sounds better. plus i always have soft synths running too, the more synths the better ;-) i can use huge soundfont files here with my sb live on an amd64 cpu and it works great using oss emulation.

so many different versions of sblive out there before they stopped selling them so you just have to see what work best. i personally love having a fast hardware synth.

theoretically soft synths might have more latency problems but they are not slow enough to cause any problems here. i guess like all things music you just have to check it out and see what blows best.

i have mine load the soundfonts at boot and unload at shutdown

ubuntuuser1 · 03-03-2007, 03:11 AM

Thanks, again. If you don't mind, I would love to know how to load at startup like you do.

studioj · 03-03-2007, 12:27 PM

you just stick the commands in the alsa startup/shutdown script.
for debian etch i put it in /etc/init.d/alsa-utils
i assume you have debian like ubuntu so i will post a little section from the script so you can see what i mean

Code:

case "$1" in
  start)
	EXITSTATUS=0
	TARGET_CARD="$2"
	case "$TARGET_CARD" in
	  ""|all) TARGET_CARD=all ; log_action_begin_msg "Setting up ALSA" ;;
	  *) log_action_begin_msg "Setting up ALSA card ${TARGET_CARD}" ;;
	esac
	card_OK "$TARGET_CARD" || log_action_end_msg_and_exit "$( [ ! "$2" ] ; echo $? ; )" "none loaded"
	preinit_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
	if ! restore_levels "$TARGET_CARD" ; then
		sanify_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
		restore_levels "$TARGET_CARD" >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
	fi
        echo "loading midi fonts.."
        /usr/bin/sfxload -D 0 /usr/local/soundfonts/PC51f.sf2
	log_action_end_msg_and_exit "$EXITSTATUS"
	;;
  stop)
	EXITSTATUS=0
	TARGET_CARD="$2"
	case "$TARGET_CARD" in
	  ""|all) TARGET_CARD=all ; log_action_begin_msg "Shutting down ALSA" ;;
	  *) log_action_begin_msg "Shutting down ALSA card ${TARGET_CARD}" ;;
	esac
	card_OK "$TARGET_CARD" || log_action_end_msg_and_exit "$( [ ! "$2" ] ; echo $? ; )" "none loaded"
	store_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
	mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
        echo "unloading midi fonts.."
        /usr/bin/sfxload -i
	log_action_end_msg_and_exit "$EXITSTATUS"
	;;

ubuntuuser1 · 03-03-2007, 05:16 PM

Thanks again, Studioj. I really appricate you taking the time to help me with this stuff. I didn't know what file to alter. I'll try this. Keep making music.