<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><blockquote><br>Message: 4<br>Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 17:59:52 -0700<br>From: munkeyfreenix batcat <<a ymailto="mailto:munkeyfreenix.batcat@gmail.com" href="http://us.mc332.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=munkeyfreenix.batcat@gmail.com"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_17">munkeyfreenix.batcat@gmail.com</span></a>><br><br>Hi, welcome.<br><br>A few comments:<br><br>1. The RT kernel is the linux real time kernel, and you can get it with any<br>distro. How your particular distro decides to provide it for you is one of<br>the things that make distros different. Since <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_20">Ubuntu</span> is debian-based, it<br>uses apt-get (or synaptics gui front end) as the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_21">package management system</span>.<br>I'm not sure if you can apt-get the real-time kernel from there. On
gentoo,<br>one runs 'emerge gentoo-sources', which grabs the kernel source tree and<br>places it in /usr/src/linux. For gentoo, then you need to configure and<br>compile your own kernel. Ubuntu was designed with the idea that users would<br>never really compile their own kernel. I left ubuntu because I couldn't get<br>alsa or jack to work properly, and felt as detached from the system as I did<br>on windoze.<br><br>2. Is Alsa started? I imagine Ubuntu should start alsa on startup, but look<br>into whether or not your alsa drivers have been configured properly. It will<br>probably be different for you, but something like '/etc/init.d/alsasound<br>status' will tell you if its started or stopped. if its stopped, rerun that<br>command and replace status with start, or --verbose start if it fails to<br>start.<br><br>3. You probably don't know if the alsa drivers are compiled into the kernel<br>or as loadable modules, but should find out. I found that
in-kernel alsa<br>drivers just don't work, so I compile them all as modules and have them load<br>at boot. 'lsmod |grep -i snd' should show if alsa drivers are loaded, and<br>which ones. if you don't get anything that way, try 'modprobe -l | grep -i<br>snd'. This will list all available LKM (loadable kernel modules). Perhaps<br>the soundblaster driver has not been loaded. If you find the right module,<br>but its not showing in lsmod, do 'modprobe <module-name>'. That will load<br>the driver.<br><br>4. Check the Alsa wiki and site. Check them again. Also look at <a target="_blank" href="http://kernel.org"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_22">kernel.org</span></a>:<br><a href="http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_23">http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt</span></a><br><br>5. If you can't get things
going under Ubuntu within a week, ditch ubuntu<br>(personal opinion). Linux audio is NOT easy, nor for those not willing to<br>work to make it work. Try other distros like openSUSE, arch linux, gentoo,<br>centOS. Ubuntu is a great intro, but you may want something more flexible to<br>handle problems like these. Also keep in mind that a tough install also<br>usually has more rewards, since you must learn your machine up front.<br><br>best,<br>justin<br><br><br><br>On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 8:09 PM, <<a ymailto="mailto:webmaster@seconnecticut.com" href="http://us.mc332.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=webmaster@seconnecticut.com">webmaster@seconnecticut.com</a>> wrote:<br><br>> I have two Ubuntu computers, one running 8.04 and the other running 9.04.<br>> Since Ubuntu is said to offer a RT kernel and a version that has been<br>> customized for audio work, I was surprised to find that it is not so easy<br>> to<br>> configure audio in Ubuntu.
Debian recognized my SoundBlaster audigy card<br>> immediately and used it. For Ubuntu the small app that is supposed to<br>> select<br>> the sound card doesn't seem to do anything.<br>><br>> So I started asking questions of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_24">Google</span> and found that there are a number<br>> of<br>> people who are having difficulty configuring Soundblaster on Ubuntu. It<br>> looks to be a chronic problem.<br>><br>> Aside from that <a target="_blank" href="http://SlashDot.org"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_25">SlashDot.org</span></a> had a link to this last week, although it<br>> seems<br>> to be vintage 2007.<br>><br>><br>> <a href="http://blogs.adobe.com/penguin.swf/2007/05/welcome_to_the_jungle.html" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1247160031_26">http://blogs.adobe.com/penguin.swf/2007/05/welcome_to_the_jungle.html</span></a><br>><br>> There
is a map of Linux Audio Applications that looks to be useful<br>> documentation. Any comments on the rather critical note ?<br>><br>><br><br>Tried most of the distros you suggested and have settled with ubuntu studio. None of them are perfect and they all have flaws. Just installed the RT kernel and works well from the repos. Nothing synaptic cannot handle. Check the forums -- particularly http://www.ubuntuforums.org and you will see a number of things where I personally have worked through some issues. Would be happy to help share what I know.<br> <div>Paul</div><br><br></td></tr></table><br>