ALSA for audio
 

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:31:33 +0000 (GMT), Jim Lesurf
wrote:

In article , Davey
wrote:
On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:55:37 +0000 (GMT) Jim Lesurf
wrote:


I'd have to dig though my old mags and documents to be sure. But I'd
guess it uses DIN sockets and has a line sensitivity of about 500 -
100 mV. So would need some resistors to cope with modern line voltages
(circa 1V to 2V).


I would be using the Tape Recorder Input on the Goodmans. Physically, I
can get the signals there, after a bit of soldering. Interestingly, the
DIN socket from the dead donor cassette deck has a bunch of resistors on
the DIN socket board, but I can't see what colours the bands are, they
are hidden. At the moment. I have a DIN-DIN cable already, it's a matter
of getting the signal to it that requires the soldering and construction
of a connector. This is possible.

A possible complication is that the original DIN specification included
that the signal should be a *current* source. Not everyone was mad enough
to impliment that, and instead went for voltage. So you can easily find
items from the period that aren't compatable with others unless there are
some 'bodge' resistors in the circuit!

That aspect of the DIN standard came to mind when I read that. The
idea being the source would include 100K to 1M ohm series resistors
(transistor or valve outputs) and the inputs would be low Z, 1 to 10K
ohms. I guess the two orders of variance within that spec alone, never
mind the out of spec departures employed by some manufacturers, is
what gave the DIN standard such a bad name[1].

Most tape decks and recorders had both phono sockets and a DIN
socket. Most users would decry the 'convenience' of the DIN connection
in favour of the less varaible phono connections (voltage sources
feeding high Z inputs).

[1] All that plus there being no standard as to which pins were to be
inputs and which were to be outputs - A simple rule fixing the pin
designations and a requirement for the DIN interconnect cables to
_only_ be cross-over type, as in the firewire standard, could so
easily have solved this issue (and possibly inspired a similar
standard for the RJ45 pin outs for ethernet as well. Oh, how the
unintended consequences of woolly thinking cascade down to afflict
other standards!).

--
Regards, J B Good

ALSA for audio
 

In article , Davey
wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:07:19 +0000 Davey wrote:

On Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:37:01 +0000 John Legon
wrote:



I fixed the no-audio with video clips by disabling the .asoundrc file!

What did your .asoundrc file contain?

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

ALSA for audio
 

On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article , Davey
wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:07:19 +0000 Davey
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:37:01 +0000 John Legon
wrote:



I fixed the no-audio with video clips by disabling the .asoundrc
file!

What did your .asoundrc file contain?

Slainte,

Jim

This (based on your advice):

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "plughw:1,9"
channels 2
}
}

It had the same effect on Youtube videos as on Firefox embedded videos.
I disabled it by putting '#' at the beginning of each line, but I was
thinking of renaming it, by one letter difference, to be easily
flip-flopped if I can't find the real fix.
--
Davey.

ALSA for audio
 

In article ,
Davey wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article , Davey
wrote:

I fixed the no-audio with video clips by disabling the .asoundrc
file!

What did your .asoundrc file contain?

Slainte,

Jim

This (based on your advice):

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "plughw:1,9"
channels 2
}
}

AIUI That specifies the default for output *from* your computer, not
capturing input. IIRC when you use "arecord -l" it told you the EZCap was
hw:2,0,0 for capture. So you need to specify the capture (i.e. input)
device you want seperately from the above.

Use alsamixer and press F4 to show the capture inputs. You should then be
able to experiment (as outlined on
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/ALSA/ALSAforUsers.html
)
with which capture device you choose. If that doesn't work we can try
adding to the .asoundrc file. But I'm still wondering if the device
actually outputs audio in a standard pcm format. You should, however, be
able to get 'garbage' - i.e. non-zero streams of 'samples' - if that is the
case and you can select a format that copes.

N.B. Check after a power cycle that the changes you made with alsamixer
*are* still shown. If not, you'll need to follow the advice about
specifically saving and re-loading the alsa state, or using sudo.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

ALSA for audio
 

On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article ,
Davey wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article , Davey
wrote:

I fixed the no-audio with video clips by disabling the .asoundrc
file!

What did your .asoundrc file contain?

Slainte,

Jim

This (based on your advice):

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "plughw:1,9"
channels 2
}
}

AIUI That specifies the default for output *from* your computer, not
capturing input.
Yes, I only made the 'playing' changes, as I had nothing yet that I
knew to change for the capture.

IIRC when you use "arecord -l" it told you the EZCap
was hw:2,0,0 for capture. So you need to specify the capture (i.e.
input) device you want seperately from the above.

Use alsamixer and press F4 to show the capture inputs. You should
then be able to experiment (as outlined on
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/ALSA/ALSAforUsers.html
)
with which capture device you choose. If that doesn't work we can try
adding to the .asoundrc file. But I'm still wondering if the device
actually outputs audio in a standard pcm format. You should, however,
be able to get 'garbage' - i.e. non-zero streams of 'samples' - if
that is the case and you can select a format that copes.

N.B. Check after a power cycle that the changes you made with
alsamixer *are* still shown. If not, you'll need to follow the advice
about specifically saving and re-loading the alsa state, or using
sudo.


Ok, but it will be much later on. But I have spent the morning playing
around with moving the cassette player down to the present location of
the sound-card-equipped desktop PC, re-arranging devices on a small
table-top, and getting that Audacity working again, so it may be some
time before I get around to taking the laptop down there! Logistics,
logistics.
Thanks, meanwhile.
--
Davey.

ALSA for audio
 

Jim Lesurf wrote:

Use alsamixer and press F4 to show the capture inputs. You should then be
able to experiment (as outlined on
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/ALSA/ALSAforUsers.html
)
with which capture device you choose. If that doesn't work we can try
adding to the .asoundrc file. But I'm still wondering if the device
actually outputs audio in a standard pcm format. You should, however, be
able to get 'garbage' - i.e. non-zero streams of 'samples' - if that is the
case and you can select a format that copes.

I've just spent a couple of hours trying to get the sound output to work
on a Linux install on my laptop. The problem turned out to be the one
thing I never imagined it might be - the LFE output in the alsamixer was
muted! And this was for playing mono and stereo wav files. Insane!

ALSA for audio
 

In article , John
Legon
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

Use alsamixer and press F4 to show the capture inputs. You should then
be able to experiment (as outlined on
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/ALSA/ALSAforUsers.html ) with which
capture device you choose. If that doesn't work we can try adding to
the .asoundrc file. But I'm still wondering if the device actually
outputs audio in a standard pcm format. You should, however, be able
to get 'garbage' - i.e. non-zero streams of 'samples' - if that is the
case and you can select a format that copes.

I've just spent a couple of hours trying to get the sound output to work
on a Linux install on my laptop. The problem turned out to be the one
thing I never imagined it might be - the LFE output in the alsamixer was
muted! And this was for playing mono and stereo wav files. Insane!

Afraid that looks like an example of how the developers these days tend to
make assumptions about how 'most users' will use their machine. Combined by
how the playing software was set up. And the distro.programs using Pulse or
some other sound 'layer' by default which tries to be too clever and take
control out of the hands of the mere user.

The assumptions tend to be things like 'surround sound' and 'mp3 files'
these days. Not plain and decent stereo LPCM.

Its generally curable with alsamixer or an .asoundrc file. But the user
then hits the problem of lack of clear documentation. Hence the pages I
wrote that deal with questions I've seen appear many times. FWIW the other
page I did at http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/ALS...reSilence.html
may also help for such.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

ALSA for audio
 

On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article ,
Davey wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim Lesurf wrote:

In article , Davey
wrote:

I fixed the no-audio with video clips by disabling the .asoundrc
file!

What did your .asoundrc file contain?

Slainte,

Jim

This (based on your advice):

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "plughw:1,9"
channels 2
}
}

AIUI That specifies the default for output *from* your computer, not
capturing input. IIRC when you use "arecord -l" it told you the EZCap
was hw:2,0,0 for capture. So you need to specify the capture (i.e.
input) device you want seperately from the above.

Use alsamixer and press F4 to show the capture inputs. You should
then be able to experiment (as outlined on
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/ALSA/ALSAforUsers.html
)
with which capture device you choose. If that doesn't work we can try
adding to the .asoundrc file. But I'm still wondering if the device
actually outputs audio in a standard pcm format. You should, however,
be able to get 'garbage' - i.e. non-zero streams of 'samples' - if
that is the case and you can select a format that copes.

N.B. Check after a power cycle that the changes you made with
alsamixer *are* still shown. If not, you'll need to follow the advice
about specifically saving and re-loading the alsa state, or using
sudo.

Slainte,

Jim


2nd brief reply. I had already tried the alsamixer/F4 exercise, and it
shows one Capture device whether or not the EZCap is plugged in, no
different. I'm not sure what it is, as there is also a Front Mic Boost
and a Mic Boost, which I assume are the built-in microphone and the
microphone socket. nless it's the Internal card, which is supported
by the fact that it is apparently on the Intel Internal Sound Card.
But I am more and more inclined to the view that this approach is
doomed anyway, as I expressed recently, which is why I moved the player
down to the desktop PC this morning.
I might try with the EXCap plugged into the VCR, without the video
connection, so that will be akin to what I was doing with the cassette
player, but from what I have seen so far, I am not expecting much of
any use.
--
Davey.

ALSA for audio
 

Davey wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim wrote:

In ,
wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim wrote:

In , Davey
wrote:

I fixed the no-audio with video clips by disabling the .asoundrc
file!

What did your .asoundrc file contain?

Slainte,

Jim

This (based on your advice):

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "plughw:1,9"
channels 2
}
}

AIUI That specifies the default for output *from* your computer, not
capturing input. IIRC when you use "arecord -l" it told you the EZCap
was hw:2,0,0 for capture. So you need to specify the capture (i.e.
input) device you want seperately from the above.

Use alsamixer and press F4 to show the capture inputs. You should
then be able to experiment (as outlined on
http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Linux/ALSA/ALSAforUsers.html
)
with which capture device you choose. If that doesn't work we can try
adding to the .asoundrc file. But I'm still wondering if the device
actually outputs audio in a standard pcm format. You should, however,
be able to get 'garbage' - i.e. non-zero streams of 'samples' - if
that is the case and you can select a format that copes.

N.B. Check after a power cycle that the changes you made with
alsamixer *are* still shown. If not, you'll need to follow the advice
about specifically saving and re-loading the alsa state, or using
sudo.

Slainte,

Jim


2nd brief reply. I had already tried the alsamixer/F4 exercise, and it
shows one Capture device whether or not the EZCap is plugged in, no
different. I'm not sure what it is, as there is also a Front Mic Boost
and a Mic Boost, which I assume are the built-in microphone and the
microphone socket. nless it's the Internal card, which is supported
by the fact that it is apparently on the Intel Internal Sound Card.
But I am more and more inclined to the view that this approach is
doomed anyway, as I expressed recently, which is why I moved the player
down to the desktop PC this morning.
I might try with the EXCap plugged into the VCR, without the video
connection, so that will be akin to what I was doing with the cassette
player, but from what I have seen so far, I am not expecting much of
any use.

What does dmesg say?
What kernel messages do you get when you plug in the capture device...
Is it being recognized and modules loaded? which ones?

ALSA for audio
 

On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:27:26 +0100
Johann Klammer wrote:

Davey wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim wrote:

In ,
wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:56:45 +0000 (GMT)
Jim wrote:

In , Davey
wrote:

I fixed the no-audio with video clips by disabling the .asoundrc
file!
snip

2nd brief reply. I had already tried the alsamixer/F4 exercise, and
it shows one Capture device whether or not the EZCap is plugged in,
no different. I'm not sure what it is, as there is also a Front Mic
Boost and a Mic Boost, which I assume are the built-in microphone
and the microphone socket. nless it's the Internal card, which is
supported by the fact that it is apparently on the Intel Internal
Sound Card. But I am more and more inclined to the view that this
approach is doomed anyway, as I expressed recently, which is why I
moved the player down to the desktop PC this morning.
I might try with the EXCap plugged into the VCR, without the video
connection, so that will be akin to what I was doing with the
cassette player, but from what I have seen so far, I am not
expecting much of any use.

What does dmesg say?
What kernel messages do you get when you plug in the capture device...
Is it being recognized and modules loaded? which ones?



This would appear to be a fairly definitive statement, from my very
limited understanding of these things:

kernel: [26208.354299] ALSA pcm.c:174: 6:2:2: endpoint lacks sample
rate attribute bit, cannot set.

I think I'll give up here, what with the failed Audacity as well. But
thanks, anyway.

--
Davey.