Hi Hugh,
 
It isn't clear which distribution you are using (is it jacklab ?), but I can tell you that Debian etch, while not too straightforward to configure, does work well after you get it right.
 
I have a Yamaha UX16 usb interface which I connect to a motif keyboard using  aconnectgui. To get the UX16 to work,  I need to execute (as root) the command 'modprobe snd-usb-audio'. No doubt this command should be in an initialization file somewhere, but who knows where ? 
 
Alsa is redundant in functionality with jack, but they work together. Maybe someone could answer this: Why do alsa and jack have the same functionality ?
 
Rosegarden can be connected to an independent midi player. I like to use Hydrogen for the drum track. However, Rosegarden needs a faster, better yet a real-time kernel, to actual perform as a midi source, so I use  ZynAddSubFx software synthesizer instead. I plan to recompile the kernel for that reason, but it's not urgent.
 
I can't tell you about the joystick port, since I don't use it.
 
Bob
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Hugh Lawrence
To: linux-audio-user@lists.linuxaudio.org
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 10:13 PM
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] [LAU] Using jacklab + rosegarden + soundcard midi input + mother board joystick midi output

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer me.
 
I am a novice linux user and would basically like to know how to do the following, and any applicable advice you can give me.
I would like to use my jacklab box as a midi controller as follows:
 
pc #1: midi-out => jacklab box: audiophile 2496 midi-in => jacklab box: motherboard joystick port   => external keyboard synth
 
The audiophile works fine, I now would like to get the joystick port working with midi. I have read that I need to use the snd-mpu401 driver and at http://www.ale.org/archive/ale/ale-2005-02/msg00641.html have seen how to configure it.
 
My questions are as follows:
1) is the alsa recompilation necessary in jacklab? Is there another way to get alsa to recognize the interface as a midi device in jacklab or is this the way to go...
2) upon getting the joystick port to work as a midi port, should I expect rosegarden to play nicely and see the new interface? I understand it *probably* should...
3) can I expect the joystick port and soundcard to both work well at the same time or should I just get an external midi interface (eg, midisport). The jacklab box is a P4/1.6ghz/768 MB if it pleases you to know...
 
Thanks for any help...I just don't want to play around with this stuff to find out it doesn't work well.