[Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Patrick Shirkey]

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I originally sent this to jackit-devel but it should probably be 
discussed on this list too.

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From: Patrick Shirkey <pshirkey@boosthardware.com>
To: Joern Nettingsmeier <nettings@folkwang-hochschule.de>
Cc: "jackit-devel@lists.sourceforge.net" <jackit-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>
Subject: Re: [Jackit-devel] Multiple cards.
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 17:58:00 +0900
Message-ID: <3D070D18.4050505@boosthardware.com>

Joern Nettingsmeier wrote:
> Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> 
>>Sorry if I have missed the answer to this.
>>
>>Why doesn't a running jackd allow me access to all the cards in my system?
>>
>>Currently I can only access one card at a time. Should I be using the
>>plughw layer in the .asoundrc file to fool jack into thinking they are
>>all one card or is it just not a possibility to use jack for more than
>>one card at a time if they are not sample synced?
>>
>>The reason I want to do this is so I can use my pro multi channel card
>>for playback to my external mixer and my consumer card as a headphones
>>playback device so that I can cue tracks in alsaplayer using two or
>>three mixer channels in ardour for each alsaplayer gui. Latency isn't
>>much of a prob for headphones at this point.
>>
>>I know I can do this if I only use one card but that means sacrificing
>>the headphones because my card has four channels not six. It seems a
>>shame as I do have two other cards giving me a total of four channels at
>>24bit/96KHz and 6 channels at 16bit/48KHz these latter ones currently
>>being redundant in a live situation.
>>
> 
> 
> i learned from jaroslav and takashi how to do that with a "multi" device
> (i.e. some .asoundrc voodoo). i posted it to lad/lau and alsa-dev under
> the subject 'Re: How to "connect" two audio devices with alsa?'. mark
> rages added it to the wiki at
> http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php?page=TwoCardsAsOne.
> 
> still, as long as the cards are open, they *will* run out of sync. i
> don't understand all of it, but my guess is you'd have to stop the cards
> to be in sync again, i.e. the longer the session, the worse it gets.
> works for me, though.
> 
> 

In your example you don't say whether your cards have are stereo or mono 
  channels.

I get this ouput when starting jack

----
# jackd -R -v -d alsa -d ttable
jackd 0.33.0
Copyright 2001-2002 Paul Davis and others.
jackd comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details

3475 waiting for signals
creating alsa driver ... ttable|1024|2|48000|swmon
ALSA: no playback configurations available
ALSA: cannot configure capture channel
cannot load driver module alsa
jack main caught signal 15
-----

Using the following in my .asoundrc file. I'm not sure if it is correct 
as card0 has two stereo pcm devices. I'm not sure whether they are being 
defined in the following or not.

Does

         slaves.a.channels 2

refer to the pcm devices

         eg. hw:0,0 and hw:0,1

or the first two mono channels available on card0?

         eg. left and right channels on hw:0,0

----
# create a virtual four-channel device with two soundcards:
# iiuc, this is in fact two interleaved stereo streams in
# different memory locations, so jack will complain that it
# cannot get mmap-based access. see below.

pcm.multi {
         type multi;
         slaves.a.pcm "hw:0,0";
         slaves.a.channels 2;
         slaves.b.pcm "hw:1,0";
         slaves.b.channels 1;
         bindings.0.slave a;
         bindings.0.channel 0;
         bindings.1.slave a;
         bindings.1.channel 1;
         bindings.2.slave b;
         bindings.2.channel 0;
#        bindings.3.slave a;
#        bindings.3.channel 1;
}
# i do not really understand what it means to have
# a ctl interface to a multi device. but jack will be
# unhappy if there is no mixer to talk to, so we set
# this to card 0.
ctl.multi {
         type hw;
         card 0;
}

# this creates a 4channel interleaved pcm stream based on
# the multi device. jack will work with this one.
pcm.ttable {
         type route;
         slave.pcm "multi";
         ttable.0.0 1;
         ttable.1.1 1;
         ttable.2.2 1;
#        ttable.3.3 1;
}
# see above.
ctl.ttable {
         type hw;
         card 0;
}
----
-- 
Patrick Shirkey - Boost Hardware Ltd.
For the discerning hardware connoisseur
Http://www.boosthardware.com
Http://www.boosthardware.com/LAU/guide/
========================================


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Re: [Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Takashi Iwai]

At Wed, 12 Jun 2002 19:16:59 +0900,
Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> 
> In your example you don't say whether your cards have are stereo or mono 
>   channels.
> 
> I get this ouput when starting jack
> 
> ----
> # jackd -R -v -d alsa -d ttable
> jackd 0.33.0
> Copyright 2001-2002 Paul Davis and others.
> jackd comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
> This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
> under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
> 
> 3475 waiting for signals
> creating alsa driver ... ttable|1024|2|48000|swmon
> ALSA: no playback configurations available
> ALSA: cannot configure capture channel
> cannot load driver module alsa
> jack main caught signal 15
> -----
> 
> Using the following in my .asoundrc file. I'm not sure if it is correct 
> as card0 has two stereo pcm devices. I'm not sure whether they are being 
> defined in the following or not.
> 
> Does
> 
>          slaves.a.channels 2
> 
> refer to the pcm devices
> 
>          eg. hw:0,0 and hw:0,1
> 
> or the first two mono channels available on card0?
> 
>          eg. left and right channels on hw:0,0

the latter.  hw:0,0 and hw:0,1 are different substreams,
i.e. different pcms.

if your second card has only one channel, then the amount of resultant
channels will be three, as you modified.  it should work so.

do both cards support the same condition (48kHz) ?
 

Takashi

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Re: [Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Patrick Shirkey]

Takashi Iwai wrote:
> At Wed, 12 Jun 2002 19:16:59 +0900,
> Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> 
>>In your example you don't say whether your cards have are stereo or mono 
>>  channels.
>>
>>I get this ouput when starting jack
>>
>>----
>># jackd -R -v -d alsa -d ttable
>>jackd 0.33.0
>>Copyright 2001-2002 Paul Davis and others.
>>jackd comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
>>This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
>>under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
>>
>>3475 waiting for signals
>>creating alsa driver ... ttable|1024|2|48000|swmon
>>ALSA: no playback configurations available
>>ALSA: cannot configure capture channel
>>cannot load driver module alsa
>>jack main caught signal 15
>>-----
>>
>>Using the following in my .asoundrc file. I'm not sure if it is correct 
>>as card0 has two stereo pcm devices. I'm not sure whether they are being 
>>defined in the following or not.
>>
>>Does
>>
>>         slaves.a.channels 2
>>
>>refer to the pcm devices
>>
>>         eg. hw:0,0 and hw:0,1
>>
>>or the first two mono channels available on card0?
>>
>>         eg. left and right channels on hw:0,0
> 
> 
> the latter.  hw:0,0 and hw:0,1 are different substreams,
> i.e. different pcms.
> 
> if your second card has only one channel, then the amount of resultant
> channels will be three, as you modified.  it should work so.
> 
> do both cards support the same condition (48kHz) ?
>  
> 

Yes. Testing them seperately they both work at 48Khz

Do you know what this means?

----
# aplay  -f dat -D ttable /1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav
Playing WAVE '/1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little 
Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
configurations available

# arecord -f cd -D multi -c 3 | aplay -D multi
Recording WAVE 'stdout' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, 
Channels 3
arecord: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
configurations available
Playing WAVE 'stdin' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, 
Channels 3
aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
configurations available
----



-- 
Patrick Shirkey - Boost Hardware Ltd.
For the discerning hardware connoisseur
Http://www.boosthardware.com
Http://www.boosthardware.com/LAU/guide/
========================================


_______________________________________________________________

Sponsored by:
ThinkGeek at http://www.ThinkGeek.com/

Re: [Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Takashi Iwai]

At Wed, 12 Jun 2002 21:15:32 +0900,
Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> 
> Takashi Iwai wrote:
> > At Wed, 12 Jun 2002 19:16:59 +0900,
> > Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> > 
> >>In your example you don't say whether your cards have are stereo or mono 
> >>  channels.
> >>
> >>I get this ouput when starting jack
> >>
> >>----
> >># jackd -R -v -d alsa -d ttable
> >>jackd 0.33.0
> >>Copyright 2001-2002 Paul Davis and others.
> >>jackd comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
> >>This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
> >>under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
> >>
> >>3475 waiting for signals
> >>creating alsa driver ... ttable|1024|2|48000|swmon
> >>ALSA: no playback configurations available
> >>ALSA: cannot configure capture channel
> >>cannot load driver module alsa
> >>jack main caught signal 15
> >>-----
> >>
> >>Using the following in my .asoundrc file. I'm not sure if it is correct 
> >>as card0 has two stereo pcm devices. I'm not sure whether they are being 
> >>defined in the following or not.
> >>
> >>Does
> >>
> >>         slaves.a.channels 2
> >>
> >>refer to the pcm devices
> >>
> >>         eg. hw:0,0 and hw:0,1
> >>
> >>or the first two mono channels available on card0?
> >>
> >>         eg. left and right channels on hw:0,0
> > 
> > 
> > the latter.  hw:0,0 and hw:0,1 are different substreams,
> > i.e. different pcms.
> > 
> > if your second card has only one channel, then the amount of resultant
> > channels will be three, as you modified.  it should work so.
> > 
> > do both cards support the same condition (48kHz) ?
> >  
> > 
> 
> Yes. Testing them seperately they both work at 48Khz
> 
> Do you know what this means?
> 
> ----
> # aplay  -f dat -D ttable /1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav
> Playing WAVE '/1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little 
> Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
> aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
> configurations available
 
the error came from snd_pcm_hw_params_any().

i'm wondering why the second card has only one channel.
is it really correct?


> # arecord -f cd -D multi -c 3 | aplay -D multi
> Recording WAVE 'stdout' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, 
> Channels 3
> arecord: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
> configurations available
> Playing WAVE 'stdin' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, 
> Channels 3
> aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
> configurations available

both aplay and arecord say the same error.  the reason must be
identical.


Takashi

_______________________________________________________________

Sponsored by:
ThinkGeek at http://www.ThinkGeek.com/

Re: [Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Patrick Shirkey]

Takashi Iwai wrote:
>>----
>># aplay  -f dat -D ttable /1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav
>>Playing WAVE '/1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little 
>>Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
>>aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
>>configurations available
> 
>  
> the error came from snd_pcm_hw_params_any().
> 
> i'm wondering why the second card has only one channel.
> is it really correct?
> 
> 

It has one pcm device yes. hw1:0

I think I found the reason though I have changed my .asoundrc slightly.
----
pcm.multi {
         type multi;

         slaves.a.pcm "hw:0,0";
         slaves.a.channels 1;
         slaves.b.pcm "hw:0,1";
         slaves.b.channels 1;
	
         slaves.c.pcm "hw:1,0";
         slaves.c.channels 1;
	
         bindings.0.slave a;
         bindings.0.channel 0;
         bindings.1.slave b;
         bindings.1.channel 0;

         bindings.2.slave c;
         bindings.2.channel 0;
}

# jack will be unhappy if there is no mixer to talk to, so we set
# this to card 0.
ctl.multi {
         type hw;
         card 0;
}


----
# arecord -f cd -D multi -c 3 | aplay -D multi
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:797:(snd_pcm_hw_open) open /dev/snd/pcmC0D1c failed: 
No such file or directory
arecord: main:447: audio open error: No such file or directory
aplay: playback:1739: read error

----

Is there anyway to fake a capture channel so that I can get the cmipci 
to work with this?

I imagine that it is something to do with

         bindings.1.slave b;
         bindings.1.channel 0;


-- 
Patrick Shirkey - Boost Hardware Ltd.
For the discerning hardware connoisseur
Http://www.boosthardware.com
Http://www.boosthardware.com/LAU/guide/
========================================


_______________________________________________________________

Sponsored by:
ThinkGeek at http://www.ThinkGeek.com/

Re: [Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Takashi Iwai]

At Wed, 12 Jun 2002 22:56:03 +0900,
Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> 
> Takashi Iwai wrote:
> >>----
> >># aplay  -f dat -D ttable /1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav
> >>Playing WAVE '/1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little 
> >>Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
> >>aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
> >>configurations available
> > 
> >  
> > the error came from snd_pcm_hw_params_any().
> > 
> > i'm wondering why the second card has only one channel.
> > is it really correct?
> > 
> > 
> 
> It has one pcm device yes. hw1:0
 
but this pcm device has stereo channels, doesn't it?


sorry, i still have not clear idea what you are exactly trying to do.

you have two consumer cards.  assuming sblive and cmipci.
and you'd like to combine these two cards as if 4 channel captures
(and playbacks).  or do you have any other wish?

if yes, the exactly same as Joern's configuration should work...


Takashi

_______________________________________________________________

Sponsored by:
ThinkGeek at http://www.ThinkGeek.com/

Re: [Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Patrick Shirkey]

Takashi Iwai wrote:
> At Wed, 12 Jun 2002 22:56:03 +0900,
> Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> 
>>Takashi Iwai wrote:
>>
>>>>----
>>>># aplay  -f dat -D ttable /1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav
>>>>Playing WAVE '/1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little 
>>>>Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
>>>>aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
>>>>configurations available
>>>
>>> 
>>>the error came from snd_pcm_hw_params_any().
>>>
>>>i'm wondering why the second card has only one channel.
>>>is it really correct?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>It has one pcm device yes. hw1:0
> 
>  
> but this pcm device has stereo channels, doesn't it?
> 
> 
> sorry, i still have not clear idea what you are exactly trying to do.
> 
> you have two consumer cards.  assuming sblive and cmipci.
> and you'd like to combine these two cards as if 4 channel captures
> (and playbacks).  or do you have any other wish?
> 
> if yes, the exactly same as Joern's configuration should work...
> 

Sort of.  The cmipci has two stereo devices and the intel8x0 has one.

If I want the cards ganged then I want to be able to use all the 
playback channels. Unfortunately the cmipci doesn't have a corresponding 
  capture device for pcmC0D1p which I think is what's causing the problems.

I'm not sure that the .asoundrc file can deal with that or not. Is there 
anything I can do to fake pcmC0D1c or alsa-lib into using pcmC0D0c 
instead or can I just not use that device as part of a multishare dummy 
card?

-- 
Patrick Shirkey - Boost Hardware Ltd.
For the discerning hardware connoisseur
Http://www.boosthardware.com
Http://www.boosthardware.com/LAU/guide/
========================================


_______________________________________________________________

Sponsored by:
ThinkGeek at http://www.ThinkGeek.com/

Re: [Fwd: Multiple cards.]

[Takashi Iwai]

At Thu, 13 Jun 2002 00:02:51 +0900,
Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> 
> Takashi Iwai wrote:
> > At Wed, 12 Jun 2002 22:56:03 +0900,
> > Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> > 
> >>Takashi Iwai wrote:
> >>
> >>>>----
> >>>># aplay  -f dat -D ttable /1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav
> >>>>Playing WAVE '/1REC/beastie_boys-track_8.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little 
> >>>>Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
> >>>>aplay: set_params:737: Broken configuration for this PCM: no 
> >>>>configurations available
> >>>
> >>> 
> >>>the error came from snd_pcm_hw_params_any().
> >>>
> >>>i'm wondering why the second card has only one channel.
> >>>is it really correct?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>It has one pcm device yes. hw1:0
> > 
> >  
> > but this pcm device has stereo channels, doesn't it?
> > 
> > 
> > sorry, i still have not clear idea what you are exactly trying to do.
> > 
> > you have two consumer cards.  assuming sblive and cmipci.
> > and you'd like to combine these two cards as if 4 channel captures
> > (and playbacks).  or do you have any other wish?
> > 
> > if yes, the exactly same as Joern's configuration should work...
> > 
> 
> Sort of.  The cmipci has two stereo devices and the intel8x0 has one.
 
ah, then you want to use all 6 channels?
you can't - the rear channel is shared with the capture, so they cannot work
together.


> If I want the cards ganged then I want to be able to use all the 
> playback channels. Unfortunately the cmipci doesn't have a corresponding 
>   capture device for pcmC0D1p which I think is what's causing the problems.
> 
> I'm not sure that the .asoundrc file can deal with that or not. Is there 
> anything I can do to fake pcmC0D1c or alsa-lib into using pcmC0D0c 
> instead or can I just not use that device as part of a multishare dummy 
> card?

iirc, there is no method on asoundrc to set up playback and capture
separately.  yes, it would be a nice feature...


Takashi

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