[linux-audio-user] thoughts towards an ALSA configuration utility

Martin Wohlleben Martin.Wohlleben at gmx.de
Mon Sep 12 14:19:46 EDT 2005


Am Montag, 12. September 2005 17:03 schrieb Dave Phillips:
> Greetings:
>
>   While I was working on the JACK article I was reminded how much I rely
> on is Rui Capela's QJackCtl. I haven't touched JACK at the command-line
> in a long while, thanks to QJC.
>
>   So I was thinking about the complexity of configuring ALSA and I
> started wondering what I'd want to see in a more complete ALSA
> configuration utility. I'm just rambling out loud here, so feel free to
> add and comment:
>
>     1) A soundcard configuration utility that would install multiple
> drivers in a single pass, order and reorder devices as you wish, and
> provide useful help regarding module options. This utility would bundle
> the edit jobs for modules.conf and supply the information from modinfo.
> Optimally the modinfo output could be made selectable for instant
> addition to the configuration. [Add relevant info here for doing the
> same with the 2.6 modules system]
>
>     2) An auto-generated .asoundrc, based on the capabilities of your
> cards and chipsets, and a facility for editing, saving and deleting that
> file. The editor should provide examples and explanations for the
> possible additions to .asoundrc.
>
>     3) Built-in utilities for IRQ ordering and other hardware
> optimizations.
>
>     4) A panel for a built-in mixer or facility to select a mixer, with
> a store/restore interface to alsactl. Ideally the built-in mixer would
> handle *any* soundcard supported by ALSA.
>
>     5) Start/stop/restart ALSA from the utility.
>
>     6) GUI for ALSA sequencer client connections.
>
>     7) Integrated loaders for soundfonts and other patches.
>
>     8) Display and control of ALSA's MIDI resources e.g. aseqnet, amidi,
>
> Tooltips and other help should be available for every option and every
> part of the configurator to make the setup easy and quick.
>
> I realize that this utility could get rather big. Perhaps something
> resembling xine's "level of mastery" could be added to divide the
> utility into basic and advanced configuration panels ?
>
> I think ALSA is a great system, but fully understanding it is
> non-trivial, and its variety makes it difficult for a normal user to
> "see" the whole system. QJC envelopes JACK and its possibilities in such
> a way that it's often ready to rock at its defaults, and it makes it
> easy to further configure the server if necessary. Certainly something
> similar could happen for ALSA, yes ? A QAlsaCtl maybe ?
>
> One problem: How to resist the temptation to refer to its acronym as
> "quack"...
>
> Best,
>
> dp

Do you know kasound?

I think it's a good start for point 2)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/kasound/

Best regards,
Martin



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