MrSinatra wrote:
also, i know less than u about device drivers i'm sure, but i gather
from what the other poster said that the driver itself could buffer at
least some of it, esp local files. i'm not sure how well it could do
that in "real time" things like net streams though.
Drivers can't buffer local files. They just get the raw audio data from
the application that's feeding them.
if there had to be a slight delay, as opposed to other [traditional]
sound card methods, i could live with that. like i said, its not much
different than the SB today as is.
For some applications delays would be fatal.
erland;174726 Wrote:
Anyway, I haven't read all your posts lately, so I am not sure if you
have answered these questions already:
understandable.
erland;174726 Wrote:
1. Is the reason for a device driver just that you want to start playing
music from a specific software you already know instead of using the
slimserver/SqueezeBox interfaces ?
partially, yes, certainly. i love winamp.
but also b/c i simply don't like SS, for a whole host of reasons, from
bugs to difficulty of use to resource hogging, etc...
erland;174726 Wrote:
In that case, do you have a specific software in mind or does it have to
work with everything ?
for me, winamp, but i would expect it would work with any app capable
of streaming bits to a sound device.
erland;174726 Wrote:
2. Is it for both locally stored music and internet radio and other
music not stored on the local computer ?
yes, i listen to mp3 streams, as well as local mp3s.
erland;174726 Wrote:
3. Is it just for playing music or are you also thinking about using
this as a way of view videos or redirecting sounds in games to
SqueezeBox ?
definitely secondary to my concerns.
it would be neat to play DVD audio on it, but i don't know if SB can do
5.1 or anything beyond normal stereo, can it?
Yes it can if you use the digital out. (never tried it but I read others
have)
still, if the network was latent free, and the buffer started audio
immediately, and then built itself up, is it not possible it would sync
to the video?
I don't think so. I think when playing video and audio through a normal
media player application, the audio is sent to the device driver in real
time. Therefore the mythical slim driver would be unable to send future
audio to the SB, which would be unable to buffer, unless the SB played
with a delay. Some delay is of course acceptable, but with video/audio
sync it quickly becomes annoying. Ethernet is an unreliable medium,
because collisions can occur at any moment. The busier the network, the
more likely the collisions. With wireless ethernet these problems are
even bigger because all stations share the same bandwidth and radio
interference may cause problems. If a collision or other transmission
error occurs packets must be resent and delays will happen. If you have
a small buffer any delay will lead to (very annoying) dropouts in the
sound. When playing with a minimal buffer any considerable network
activity (like copying a file from one workstation to another) will
probably interfere with your video playing. The customers will complain
loudly.
erland;174726 Wrote:
I'm asking these questions just to get an idea why you want a device
driver. A device driver is probably one solution but there might also
be other solutions available that also solves your problem.
my main reason is b/c i truly don't like SS or the remote as a way to
use the SB, due to bugs and inelegance of usage.
You're looking for a replacement. I'd like it as a nice extra since I
really like the SS architecture. I've explained elsewhere that those
people looking for a replacement wouldn't stop at just a device driver.
They'd want to use the remote and the display as well. Why pay for it if
you can't use it?
erland;174726 Wrote:
Regarding GPL, it is definitely no problem making non GPL software that
uses open specifications/APIs of GPL software. In that case it would be
impossible to sell any commercial software on the Linux platform and
such software do exist.
i could be wrong, i really don't know... but if i were to use
information i got from SD, wouldn't i then have to give it back to
them, and they then could use it however they wanted to?
No, not if it were just information. If you use GPL code, then you have
to share your product's source code with the world.
and even if not, how would i stop this close knit community from buying
once and sharing 10000 times?
I don't think they would.
in any case, its moot b/c i won't do it, and i wouldn't want to make
moeny off of it anyway... that was someone elses petulent remark.
If you don't want to make money, then copying is no problem either, is it?
Regards,
Peter
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