RME madiface

RME madiface

[D. Sen]

Hello,

I have been trying to use the hdspm driver with a recently purchased RME
Madiface device. The functionality that I require is to play various
files through various channels under program (script) control. I am
happy to report that it *almost* works - in that I can use my simple
userspace programs to play files. However, there are subtle problems -
in that the external MADI A-to-D (an Euphonix 703) does not seem to lock
into the sampling rate (something that works under windows). Its very
close to achieving full functionality (for my needs) - but just that
tiny bit away from being fully useable.

Any ideas?

Havent had much luck contacting RME and Winfried Ritsch (who
wrote/maintains the code).

Information on the the hardware and/or windows code would help to figure
out how to modify the driver (which was originally written for the rme
9652/aes32 devices).


Regards,
D. Sen

Re: RME madiface

[Florian Faber]

Pleaseuseafullname,

> I have been trying to use the hdspm driver with a recently purchased
> RME Madiface device. The functionality that I require is to play
> various files through various channels under program (script)
> control. I am happy to report that it *almost* works - in that I can
> use my simple userspace programs to play files. However, there are
> subtle problems - in that the external MADI A-to-D (an Euphonix 703)
> does not seem to lock into the sampling rate (something that works
> under windows). Its very close to achieving full functionality (for
> my needs) - but just that tiny bit away from being fully useable.
>
> Any ideas?

There is no difference on the MADI bus wether you use Windows, OS X or 
Linux. This seems to be a specific problem with the Euphonix.

What are the exact parameters you use on Windows (when the Euphonix 
worked)?

> Havent had much luck contacting RME and Winfried Ritsch (who
> wrote/maintains the code).

I maintain the code at the moment.


Flo
-- 
Machines can do the work, so people have time to think.
public key 6C002249          x-hkp://wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net

Re: RME madiface

[D. Sen]

Florian Faber wrote:
> Pleaseuseafullname,
> 
>> I have been trying to use the hdspm driver with a recently purchased
>> RME Madiface device. The functionality that I require is to play
>> various files through various channels under program (script)
>> control. I am happy to report that it *almost* works - in that I can
>> use my simple userspace programs to play files. However, there are
>> subtle problems - in that the external MADI A-to-D (an Euphonix 703)
>> does not seem to lock into the sampling rate (something that works
>> under windows). Its very close to achieving full functionality (for
>> my needs) - but just that tiny bit away from being fully useable.
>>
>> Any ideas?
> 
> There is no difference on the MADI bus wether you use Windows, OS X or 
> Linux. This seems to be a specific problem with the Euphonix.

I have no reason to believe the MADI bus is different. However, I
suspect the stream are different.

I have two Euphonix boxes and they both behave perfectly under windows -
but not under linux. The main problem under linux is that they lose sync
- at the slightest electromagnetic interference (such as turning off/on
the speakers - on the analogue side - even from a distance of 3 metres).
The actual detection of the incorrect sampling rate (or "custom") while
disconcerting is not really much of a problem if the files are playing fine.


> 
> What are the exact parameters you use on Windows (when the Euphonix 
> worked)?

Windows Parameters:

Buffer Size: 256
Clock Mode: Both "Auto sync" and "Master"
Madi Out: Both "56" and "64"
WDM Devices: 32
96 kHz: both "48 k" and "96 k" Frame
System Clock: 44.1
DDS: not selected

The linux parameters:
>cat /proc/asound/card0/hdspm
RME HDSPM MADI (Card #2) Rev.d5 Status2first3bits: 1
IRQ: 16 Registers bus: 0xe3100000 VM: 0xffffc20009640000
--- System ---
IRQ Pending: Audio=0, MIDI0=0, MIDI1=0, IRQcount=109
HW pointer: id = 0, rawptr = 0 (0->65472) estimated= 0 (bytes)
MIDI FIFO: Out1=0x0, Out2=0x0, In1=0x80, In2=0x80
Register: ctrl1=0x1094c9e, ctrl2=0x0, status1=0xc00000, status2=0xc0050701
--- Settings ---
Size (Latency): 8192 samples (2 periods of 32768 bytes)
Line out: on ,   Precise Pointer: off
Inputsel = Coaxial, SyncRef = MADI
ClearTrackMarker = on, Transmit in 64 Channel Mode, Auto Input on
Sample Clock Source: Internal 44.1 kHz
System Clock Mode: Master
Preferred Sync Reference: MADI Sync
System Clock Frequency: 44100
--- Status:
Inputs MADI=NoLock, WordClock=NoLock
AutoSync: Reference= Input not valid, Freq=0 (MADI = 3, Word = 0)
Input: Optical, Mode=56 channels

> 
>> Havent had much luck contacting RME and Winfried Ritsch (who
>> wrote/maintains the code).
> 
> I maintain the code at the moment.
> 

Good to hear.

> 
> Flo
Dee

-- 
Dr. D. Sen
School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications
University of New South Wales
Sydney
NSW 2052
Australia
Tel: +612+93854754

Re: RME madiface

[Florian Faber]

Dee,

> >> Any ideas?
> > There is no difference on the MADI bus wether you use Windows, OS X
> > or Linux. This seems to be a specific problem with the Euphonix.
> I have no reason to believe the MADI bus is different. However, I
> suspect the stream are different.

The MADI cards work autonomous, they are only controlled by a few 
parameters. If the parameters are the same, the behaviour is the same. 
Thus the settings must differ, and we have to find out where.

> I have two Euphonix boxes and they both behave perfectly under
> windows - but not under linux. The main problem under linux is that
> they lose sync - at the slightest electromagnetic interference (such
> as turning off/on the speakers - on the analogue side - even from a
> distance of 3 metres). 

I don't believe electromagnetic interference to be a reasonable cause 
for this. What exactly is your setup - 1x 703 and 1x 713? And both lose 
sync?

I just had a glance over the Euphonix' user manual and had to learn that 
they cannot loop through MADI and you have to use the wordclock. So, 
please, be a bit more specific about the setup - and maybe via private 
mail, because that's of no relevance to alsa development..


Flo
-- 
Machines can do the work, so people have time to think.
public key 6C002249          x-hkp://wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net

Re: RME madiface

[D. Sen]

Sure ...going over to private email.

Florian Faber wrote:
> Dee,
> 
>>>> Any ideas?
>>> There is no difference on the MADI bus wether you use Windows, OS X
>>> or Linux. This seems to be a specific problem with the Euphonix.
>> I have no reason to believe the MADI bus is different. However, I
>> suspect the stream are different.
> 
> The MADI cards work autonomous, they are only controlled by a few 
> parameters. If the parameters are the same, the behaviour is the same. 
> Thus the settings must differ, and we have to find out where.
> 
>> I have two Euphonix boxes and they both behave perfectly under
>> windows - but not under linux. The main problem under linux is that
>> they lose sync - at the slightest electromagnetic interference (such
>> as turning off/on the speakers - on the analogue side - even from a
>> distance of 3 metres). 
> 
> I don't believe electromagnetic interference to be a reasonable cause 
> for this. What exactly is your setup - 1x 703 and 1x 713? And both lose 
> sync?
> 
> I just had a glance over the Euphonix' user manual and had to learn that 
> they cannot loop through MADI and you have to use the wordclock. So, 
> please, be a bit more specific about the setup - and maybe via private 
> mail, because that's of no relevance to alsa development..
> 
> 
> Flo

Re: RME madiface

[Florian Faber]

Dee & alsa community,

> I have no reason to believe the MADI bus is different. However, I
> suspect the stream are different.

Problem solved. The MADIface uses a different internal clock than the 
HDSP MADI, resulting in a wrong DDS calculation. The driver with the 
fix will be released together with the RayDAT support, before end of 
july.


Flo
-- 
Machines can do the work, so people have time to think.
public key 6C002249          x-hkp://wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net