[LAU] ffado tools and presonus firebox

[Pieter Palmers]

Hartmut Noack wrote:
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> Pieter Palmers schrieb:
>> Hartmut Noack wrote:
>>
>> Please don't advertise using ffado towards unexperienced users.
> 
> Allright - this I understand also but if users with some skill use it it
> generates feedback that you might have a use for? And everybody is well
> aware, that there is no support for an unreleased software. Plus: if
> others share their experience with ffado, it can help you a lot to build
> a documentation. And: if people out there use their interfaces with
> Linux it could make some HW-vendors think about sending you their boxes
> for testing.
> 
>> We can't
>> cope with the RTFM type of support that would generate.
> 
> And you dont need to - everybody, that does not understand, that unpaid
> devs do not have the time to offer support for a software that is
> labeled experimental/unsupported can be savely ignored I guess...
Unfortunately this is not what my experience is. A lot of users are 
disappointed if you tell them that they are on their own since the 
software is experimental.

> 
>> FFADO is
>> currently only for users that already sort-of know what they are doing,
>> and who we don't have to help setting up their system.
> 
> But I am glad to offer help by spreading my experience with the
> software. I dare to say, that I am some sort of a user, that knows, what
> he does but still it took me about 2 h to find out, that the stuff in
> test/ is so important and can do such tricks like switching sync - a
> feature, that is absolutely vital, since with it I can have 6
> In-channels with my Firebox instead of 4...

At this moment the project's strategy is to get a release out ASAP with 
support for the devices of cooperative vendors. The idea is that it's 
too cumbersome to support devices we don't have access to. Having a 
released will hopefully accelerate vendor support for us. Unfortunately 
for you Presonus is not on the 'supportive vendors' list yet.

> 
> wich does not work btw ;-)
> 
> $ ./progs/libffado/tests/test-ffado -n 1 SetClockSource 80
> 
>  Type: Sync Syt Match    , Id: 80, Valid: 1, Active: 0, Description:
> Sync Stream Input
>  Type: Compound Syt Match, Id: 79, Valid: 1, Active: 0, Description: Syt
> Match
>  Type: Internal          , Id: 78, Valid: 1, Active: 1, Description:
> Internal (CSP)
>   set clock source to 80
> Could not set clock source
> 
> it worked for ID 79 but with no usable effect.
> 
> Anybody out there who knows what could be wrong?
Judging from the output, the firebox doesn't support the standardized 
method of selecting the sync source. Which is very unfortunate since 
that means we need info from presonus to figure out how it should be done.

What might work is that you have a valid spdif source connected before 
you start jack, or maybe before you power up the firebox. It might 
auto-select SPDIF when there's a valid signal. I know the quatafire 
works like this.

> 
>> Keep in mind that all time spent on support is not spent on development.
> 
> Thanks a lot for your great work - freeBoB works just great for me and I
> respect your policy regarding support for ffado. All I want is to help
> others, that feel a strong itch to use their machines with Linux but
> decide to do not, because they cannot alter settings like clock-source.

The settings and configuration part of ffado is the section that needs 
the vendor support the most. It's sort off a chicken and egg problem. As 
I mentioned before, our current strategy is to focus on devices that we 
have access to, in order to get things moving. FFADO might (partially) 
work with other devices since it's designed to be as broad as possible. 
But it might not, and then you're sort-off on your own. On the long run 
things should resolve themselves. The best thing you can do is harass 
the vendors a bit such that they realize (think?) we're not a bunch of 
insignificant freaks. I've been advising strategy this a lot over the 
last year and I'm starting to see the results of that.

Getting a decent (released) version is a real priority since I'll 
probably be visiting the Musikmesse in Frankfurt again this year, and I 
really want to have something solid there. Face-to-face communication 
with the vendors should work better than email.


Greets,

Pieter