nightmorph 07/05/19 03:00:29 Modified: alsa-guide.xml Log: spacing fixes by pva, bug 177969. no content change.
Revision Changes Path 1.80 xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml file : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml?rev=1.80&view=markup plain: http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml?rev=1.80&content-type=text/plain diff : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml?r1=1.79&r2=1.80 Index: alsa-guide.xml =================================================================== RCS file: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml,v retrieving revision 1.79 retrieving revision 1.80 diff -u -r1.79 -r1.80 --- alsa-guide.xml 7 May 2007 07:08:24 -0000 1.79 +++ alsa-guide.xml 19 May 2007 03:00:29 -0000 1.80 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ <?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?> -<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml,v 1.79 2007/05/07 07:08:24 nightmorph Exp $ --> +<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml,v 1.80 2007/05/19 03:00:29 nightmorph Exp $ --> <!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd"> @@ -34,18 +34,18 @@ <body> <p> -ALSA, which stands for <e>Advanced Linux Sound Architecture</e>, provides -audio and MIDI (<e>Musical Instrument Digital Interface</e>) functionality to -the Linux operating system. ALSA is the default sound subsystem in the 2.6 -kernel thereby replacing OSS (<e>Open Sound System</e>), which was used in the +ALSA, which stands for <e>Advanced Linux Sound Architecture</e>, provides +audio and MIDI (<e>Musical Instrument Digital Interface</e>) functionality to +the Linux operating system. ALSA is the default sound subsystem in the 2.6 +kernel thereby replacing OSS (<e>Open Sound System</e>), which was used in the 2.4 kernels. </p> <p> -ALSA's main features include efficient support for all types of audio -interfaces ranging from consumer sound cards to professional sound -equipment, fully modularized drivers, SMP and thread safety, backward -compatibility with OSS and a user-space library <c>alsa-lib</c> to make +ALSA's main features include efficient support for all types of audio +interfaces ranging from consumer sound cards to professional sound +equipment, fully modularized drivers, SMP and thread safety, backward +compatibility with OSS and a user-space library <c>alsa-lib</c> to make application development a breeze. </p> @@ -56,9 +56,9 @@ <body> <p> -One of Gentoo's main strengths lies in giving the user maximum control over -how a system is installed/configured. ALSA on Gentoo follows the same -principle. There are two ways you can get ALSA support up and running on your +One of Gentoo's main strengths lies in giving the user maximum control over +how a system is installed/configured. ALSA on Gentoo follows the same +principle. There are two ways you can get ALSA support up and running on your system. We shall look at them in detail in the next chapter. </p> @@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ <body> <warn> -The methods shown below are mutually exclusive. You cannot have ALSA compiled +The methods shown below are mutually exclusive. You cannot have ALSA compiled in your kernel and use <c>media-sound/alsa-driver</c>. It <e>will</e> fail. </warn> @@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ </p> <p> -If you were to use ALSA provided by the kernel, the following are the pros and +If you were to use ALSA provided by the kernel, the following are the pros and cons: </p> @@ -174,14 +174,14 @@ <body> <p> -Whichever method of install you choose, you need to know what drivers your +Whichever method of install you choose, you need to know what drivers your sound card uses. In most cases, sound cards (onboard and otherwise) are PCI -based and <c>lspci</c> will help you in digging out the required information. +based and <c>lspci</c> will help you in digging out the required information. Please <c>emerge sys-apps/pciutils</c> to get <c>lspci</c>, if you don't have it installed already. In case you have a USB sound card, <c>lsusb</c> from <c>sys-apps/usbutils</c> <e>might</e> be of help. For ISA cards, try using <c>sys-apps/isapnptools</c>. Also, the following pages <e>may</e> help users -with ISA based sound cards. +with ISA based sound cards: </p> <ul> @@ -217,10 +217,10 @@ We now know that the sound card on the machine is a Sound Blaster Live! and the card manufacturer is Creative Labs. Head over to the <uri link="http://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main";>ALSA -Soundcard Matrix</uri> page and select Creative Labs from the drop down menu. -You will be taken to the Creative Labs matrix page where you can see that the SB -Live! uses the <c>emu10k1</c> module. That is the information we need for now. -If you are interested in detailed information, you can click on the link next to +Soundcard Matrix</uri> page and select Creative Labs from the list. You will +be taken to the Creative Labs matrix page where you can see that the SB Live! +uses the <c>emu10k1</c> module. That is the information we need for now. If +you are interested in detailed information, you can click on the link next to the "Details" and that will take you to the <c>emu10k1</c> specific page. </p> @@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ </p> <p> -Please note that for ease of use, all examples show ALSA built as modules. It +Please note that for ease of use, all examples show ALSA built as modules. It is advisable to follow the same as it then allows the use of <c>alsaconf</c> which is a boon when you want to configure your card. Please do <e>not</e> skip the <uri link="#alsa-config">Configuration</uri> section of this document. If @@ -301,10 +301,10 @@ <M> OSS PCM (digital audio) API <comment>(You now have a choice of devices to enable support for. Generally, -you will have one type of device and not more. If you have more than one +you will have one type of device and not more. If you have more than one sound card, please enable them all here.)</comment> -<comment>(Mostly for testing and development purposes, not needed for normal +<comment>(Mostly for testing and development purposes, not needed for normal users unless you know what you are doing.)</comment> Generic devices ---> @@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ <comment>(IF you had the Gravis, you would select this option)</comment> <M> Gravis UltraSound Extreme -<comment>(Move one level back and into PCI devices. Most sound cards today are +<comment>(Move one level back and into PCI devices. Most sound cards today are PCI devices)</comment> PCI devices ---> <comment>(We now select the emu10k1 driver for our card)</comment> @@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ Now that your options are set, you can (re)compile the kernel and ALSA support for your card should be functional once you reboot into the new kernel. Don't forget to update your GRUB configuration to use the newly built kernel. -You can now proceed to <uri link="#alsa-utilities">ALSA Utilities</uri> and +You can now proceed to <uri link="#alsa-utilities">ALSA Utilities</uri> and see if everything is working as it should. </p> @@ -342,16 +342,16 @@ <body> <p> -So you've decided to go the <c>alsa-driver</c> way. Let's get started then. -There are a few minor things to be done to ensure only the drivers for your -sound card are compiled. Although this is not really necessary, it cuts down +So you've decided to go the <c>alsa-driver</c> way. Let's get started then. +There are a few minor things to be done to ensure only the drivers for your +sound card are compiled. Although this is not really necessary, it cuts down on the unnecessary drivers that will be compiled otherwise. </p> <p> -If you don't have an idea of what drivers your sound card might need, please -take a look at the <uri link="#lspci">lspci</uri> section of this guide. Once -you have your driver name (<c>emu10k1</c> in our example), edit +If you don't have an idea of what drivers your sound card might need, please +take a look at the <uri link="#lspci">lspci</uri> section of this guide. Once +you have your driver name (<c>emu10k1</c> in our example), edit <path>/etc/make.conf</path> and add a variable, <c>ALSA_CARDS</c>. </p> @@ -363,8 +363,8 @@ </pre> <p> -If you have compiled your kernel and want to use <c>alsa-driver</c>, please -ensure the following before proceeding, else <c>alsa-driver</c> is likely to +If you have compiled your kernel and want to use <c>alsa-driver</c>, please +ensure the following before proceeding, else <c>alsa-driver</c> is likely to fail. The next code listing gives you one way of performing the checks. </p> @@ -431,8 +431,8 @@ <body> <p> -<c>alsa-utils</c> forms an integral part of ALSA as it has a truckload of -programs that are highly useful, including the ALSA Initscripts. Hence we +<c>alsa-utils</c> forms an integral part of ALSA as it has a truckload of +programs that are highly useful, including the ALSA Initscripts. Hence we strongly recommend that you install <c>alsa-utils</c> </p> @@ -441,10 +441,10 @@ </pre> <note> -If you activated ALSA in your <uri link="#kernel">kernel</uri> <e>and</e> did -not compile ALSA as modules, please proceed to the -<uri link="#initscript">ALSA Initscript</uri> section. The rest of you need -to configure ALSA. This is made very easy by the existence of the +If you activated ALSA in your <uri link="#kernel">kernel</uri> <e>and</e> did +not compile ALSA as modules, please proceed to the +<uri link="#initscript">ALSA Initscript</uri> section. The rest of you need +to configure ALSA. This is made very easy by the existence of the <c>alsaconf</c> tool provided by <c>alsa-utils</c>. </note> @@ -462,13 +462,12 @@ </p> <note> -Please shut down any programs that <e>might</e> access the sound card while +Please shut down any programs that <e>might</e> access the sound card while running <c>alsaconf</c>. </note> <p> -Another way to configure your sound card is to run <c>alsaconf</c>. Just type -<c>alsaconf</c> in a shell as root. +To configure your sound card just type <c>alsaconf</c> in a shell as root. </p> <pre caption="Invoking alsaconf"> @@ -476,10 +475,10 @@ </pre> <p> -You will now see a neat menu guided interface that will automatically probe -your devices and try to find out your sound card. You will be asked to pick -your sound card from a list. Once that's done, it will ask you permission to -automatically make required changes to <path>/etc/modules.d/alsa</path>. +You will now see a neat menu guided interface that will automatically probe +your devices and try to find out your sound card. You will be asked to pick +your sound card from a list. Once that's done, it will ask you permission to +automatically make required changes to <path>/etc/modules.d/alsa</path>. It will then adjust your volume settings to optimum levels, run <c>update-modules</c> and start the <path>/etc/init.d/alsasound</path> service. Once <c>alsaconf</c> exits, you can proceed with setting up the ALSA @@ -493,9 +492,9 @@ <body> <p> -We're now almost all setup. Whichever method you chose to install ALSA, you'll -need to have something load your modules or initialize ALSA and restore your -volume settings when your system comes up. The ALSA Initscript handles all of +We're now almost all setup. Whichever method you chose to install ALSA, you'll +need to have something load your modules or initialize ALSA and restore your +volume settings when your system comes up. The ALSA Initscript handles all of this for you and is called <c>alsasound</c>. Add it to the boot runlevel. </p> @@ -506,8 +505,8 @@ </pre> <p> -Next, just check the <path>/etc/conf.d/alsasound</path> file and ensure that -SAVE_ON_STOP variable is set to yes. This saves your sound settings when you +Next, just check the <path>/etc/conf.d/alsasound</path> file and ensure that +SAVE_ON_STOP variable is set to yes. This saves your sound settings when you shutdown your system. </p> @@ -541,17 +540,17 @@ <body> <p> -We've completed all the setups and prerequisites, so let's fire up ALSA. If -you ran <c>alsaconf</c>, you can skip this step, since <c>alsaconf</c> already +We've completed all the setups and prerequisites, so let's fire up ALSA. If +you ran <c>alsaconf</c>, you can skip this step, since <c>alsaconf</c> already does this for you. </p> <pre caption="Start the service"> -# <i>/etc/init.d/alsasound start</i> +# <i>/etc/init.d/alsasound start</i> </pre> <p> -Now that the required things have been taken care of, we need to check up on +Now that the required things have been taken care of, we need to check up on the volume as in certain cases, it is muted. We use <c>alsamixer</c> for this purpose. </p> @@ -570,9 +569,9 @@ </impo> <p> -This is how the ALSA Mixer <e>might</e> look the first time you open it. Pay -attention to the Master and PCM channels which both have an MM below them. -That means they are muted. If you try to play anything with <c>alsamixer</c> +This is how the ALSA Mixer <e>might</e> look the first time you open it. Pay +attention to the Master and PCM channels which both have an MM below them. +That means they are muted. If you try to play anything with <c>alsamixer</c> in this state, you will not hear anything on your speakers. </p> @@ -589,28 +588,28 @@ <ul> <li> - To move between channels, use your left and right arrow keys. (<- + To move between channels, use your left and right arrow keys. (<- & ->) </li> <li> - To toggle mute, move to the specific channel, for example Master and press - the <e>m</e> key on the keyboard. + To toggle mute, move to the specific channel, for example Master and press + the <e>m</e> key on the keyboard. </li> <li> - To increase and decrease the volume levels, use the up and down arrow keys + To increase and decrease the volume levels, use the up and down arrow keys respectively. </li> </ul> <note> -Be careful when setting your Bass and Treble values. 50 is usually a good -number for both. Extremely high values of Bass may cause <e>jarring</e> +Be careful when setting your Bass and Treble values. 50 is usually a good +number for both. Extremely high values of Bass may cause <e>jarring</e> on speakers that are not designed to handle them. </note> <p> -After you're all done, your ALSA Mixer should look similar to the one below. -Note the 00 instead of the MM and also the volume levels for some optimum +After you're all done, your ALSA Mixer should look similar to the one below. +Note the 00 instead of the MM and also the volume levels for some optimum settings. </p> @@ -686,20 +685,20 @@ <body> <p> -If for some reason you're unable to hear sound, the first thing to do would -be to check your <uri link="#doc_chap3_pre6">alsamixer</uri> settings. 80% of -the issues lie with muted channels or low volume. Also check your Window +If for some reason you're unable to hear sound, the first thing to do would +be to check your <uri link="#doc_chap3_pre6">alsamixer</uri> settings. 80% of +the issues lie with muted channels or low volume. Also check your Window Manager's sound applet and verify that volumes are set to audible levels. </p> <p> -<path>/proc</path> is your friend. And in this case, <path>/proc/asound</path> -is your best friend. We shall just take a short look at how much info is made +<path>/proc</path> is your friend. And in this case, <path>/proc/asound</path> +is your best friend. We shall just take a short look at how much info is made available to us there. </p> <pre caption="Fun with /proc/asound"> -<comment>(First and foremost, if /proc/asound/cards shows your card, ALSA has +<comment>(First and foremost, if /proc/asound/cards shows your card, ALSA has picked up your sound card fine.)</comment> # <i>cat /proc/asound/cards</i> 0 [Live ]: EMU10K1 - Sound Blaster Live! @@ -844,11 +843,11 @@ </p> <p> -If your sound card is one of those that come with on-board MIDI synthesizers -and you would like to listen to some .mid files, you have to install -<c>awesfx</c> which is basically a set of utilities for controlling the AWE32 -driver. We need to install it first. If you don't have a hardware synthesizer, -you can use a virtual one. Please see the section on +If your sound card is one of those that come with on-board MIDI synthesizers +and you would like to listen to some .mid files, you have to install +<c>awesfx</c> which is basically a set of utilities for controlling the AWE32 +driver. We need to install it first. If you don't have a hardware synthesizer, +you can use a virtual one. Please see the section on <uri link="#vsynth">Virtual Synthesizers</uri> for more information. </p> @@ -857,21 +856,21 @@ </pre> <note> -You will need to copy over SoundFont (SF2) files from your sound card's driver -CD or a Windows installation into <path>/usr/share/sounds/sf2/</path>. For +You will need to copy over SoundFont (SF2) files from your sound card's driver +CD or a Windows installation into <path>/usr/share/sounds/sf2/</path>. For example a sound font file for the Creative SBLive! card would be 8MBGMSFX.SF2. </note> <p> After copying over the Soundfont files, we can then play a midi file as shown. -You can also add the <c>asfxload</c> command to -<path>/etc/conf.d/local.start</path>, so that the sound font is loaded +You can also add the <c>asfxload</c> command to +<path>/etc/conf.d/local.start</path>, so that the sound font is loaded every time the system starts up. </p> <note> -<path>/mnt</path> paths mentioned in the code listing(s) below will <e>not</e> -be the same in your machine. They are just an example. Please be careful to +<path>/mnt</path> paths mentioned in the code listing(s) below will <e>not</e> +be the same in your machine. They are just an example. Please be careful to change the path to suit your machine. </note> @@ -885,8 +884,8 @@ </pre> <p> -You can now play midi files using a program like <c>aplaymidi</c>. Run -<c>aplaymidi -l</c> to get a list of available ports and then pick one +You can now play midi files using a program like <c>aplaymidi</c>. Run +<c>aplaymidi -l</c> to get a list of available ports and then pick one to play the file on. </p> @@ -923,7 +922,7 @@ install some sound font packages for you. There are a few other font packages available in Portage, such as <c>timidity-freepats</c> and <c>timidity-eawpatches</c>. You can have multiple sound font configurations -installed, and you can place your own in <path>/usr/share/timidity/</path>. To +installed, and you can place your own in <path>/usr/share/timidity/</path>. To switch between different timidity configurations, you should use <c>eselect</c>. </p> @@ -971,7 +970,7 @@ <p> You can have more than one sound card in your system simultaneously, provided that you have built ALSA as modules in your kernel (or have installed -<c>alsa-driver</c> instead). You just need to specify which should be started +<c>alsa-driver</c> instead). You just need to specify which should be started first in <path>/etc/modules.d/alsa</path>. Your cards are identified by their driver names inside this file. 0 is the first card, 1 is the second, and so on. Here's an example for a system with two sound cards. @@ -1020,7 +1019,7 @@ <p> Everyone who contributed to the earlier version of the Gentoo ALSA Guide: -Vincent Verleye, Grant Goodyear, Arcady Genkin, Jeremy Huddleston, +Vincent Verleye, Grant Goodyear, Arcady Genkin, Jeremy Huddleston, John P. Davis, Sven Vermeulen, Benny Chuang, Tiemo Kieft and Erwin. </p> -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
