Linux for Dell Latitude/audio

quizzz · 01-21-2006, 10:46 AM

I acquired Dell Latitude C400 laptop recently and want to get rid off that disaster called Windows on it.
I work mostly on my mac but I want to give linux a go on audio and perhaps video production.
Any ideas, what would be the best/easiest Linux for optimised audio and video production?

cybrog · 01-21-2006, 01:28 PM

You might want to take a look at the agnula project.

quizzz · 01-23-2006, 09:49 AM

I installed Agnula Demudi. No problems with the installer but the sound is not working yet.

I have problems getting the sound working through /dev/dsp, sound applications are usually saying dev/dsp being busy or something like that. I followed the instructions on Agnula website but they don't say that much.
I've checked the permissions and they should be correct (agnula.org/documentation/FAQ/index_html#dev_dsp), I've also added few lines on /etc/modules as suggested here dipalo.com/c400.html.

Any ideas what to do next.

Charred · 01-23-2006, 05:27 PM

What distro and kernel?
Is the kernel vanilla or custom?
Please post exact error messages.

quizzz · 01-24-2006, 05:58 AM

Distro: 1.2.1.
Kernel: 2.6.12-3-multimedia-686

Vanilla or custom, dunno. I'm a newbie, I just ran the installer.

Errors like these...

Audacity: "There was an error initializing the audio i/o layer. You will not be able to play or recod audio. Error:Host error."

Soundtracker: "Couldnt open /dev/dsp for sound output:tiedostoa tai hakemistoa ei ole(translated:the file or the folder does not exist)" Hmmm, I can only see dsp0, dsp1,2,&3.

Also getting error message(in finnish) with Grip trying to access /dev/cdrom. It says something like "unable or install or access" or so.
Damn, I wish I installed the English version, having used English OS for years I don't understand these artificial Finnish translations. I guess I could also try finnish IRC there are many finnish Linux geeks out there.

Charred · 01-24-2006, 10:03 AM

quizzz-
Welcome to LQ!

1.2.1 is a version number, do you know what the name of your distibution is? For example, I use Slackware 10.1 and 10.2.

Your kernel is vanilla (or generic).

To me, it looks like the problem is your system is looking for your soundcard in the wrong place. It's looking for it at /dev/dsp, when it's at /dev/dsp0.

<thinking>

Let's start with udev.

Have you got a udevd process? From the command line (or terminal, aterm, vterm, whatever), run:

Code:

ps aux | grep udevd

and post the output.

You can try Finnish IRC if you'd like, but there are LOTS of Finnish speaking people here.

In the meantime, allow me to refer you to the Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition for your continued education.

quizzz · 01-24-2006, 03:46 PM

Distribution is called Agnula Demudi, Debian GNU/Linux for music and audio.
I installed this distro because I'm interested in the audio production on Linux and I don't want to have anything to do with Windows.

My recently acquired standard Dell Latitude c400 might not be very good for hi-quality audio production but it doesn't matter as I just want to get familiar with Linux and I already have a decent mac.

ps aux | grep udevd returns

Code:

16184 0.0 0.2 1920 632 pts/0  S+  23:32  0-00 grep udev

or something like that, it varies.

Charred · 01-24-2006, 04:51 PM

That tells us that the udev daemon is running.

<thinking>

And you said the contents of /dev do not include a symlink for /dev/dsp?

If not, run

Code:

ln -s /dev/dsp0 /dev/dsp

as root to create the symlink, then reboot to see if udev is not creating /dev/dsp when it generates the /dev files.

Run

Code:

ls -l /dev

and look for the dsp symlink.

quizzz · 01-25-2006, 08:57 AM

Ok, I can now see dps(linked to dsp0) in the dev folder but it's not in the list created by ls-command.

Charred · 01-26-2006, 01:09 PM

Hmmm...I replied yesterday. Looks like it got eaten. Odd.

Speaking of odd, you're saying that the /dev/dsp symlink is visible when you open the /dev directory with your file manager, but not if you list the directory's contents?

Your distro is a Debian fork, so I'm guessing you're using KDE as your GUI?

Let's try this: Open an aterm window, and move to the device directory:

Code:

cd /dev

List the directory's contents again:

Code:

ls

It should be there.

<thinking>......this guy recommends adding these lines to /etc/modules:

Code:

    ac97_codec
    i810_audio
    options i810_audio      clocking=48000

Give that a try, and let me know what happens.