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1113 lines
30 KiB
1113 lines
30 KiB
<!-- <?xml version="1.0" ?>
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<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd">
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To validate or process this file as a standalone document, uncomment
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this prolog. Be sure to comment it out again when you are done -->
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<chapter id="faq">
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<title>Questions and answers</title>
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<para>
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This section answers some frequently asked questions about &arts;.
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</para>
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<qandaset id="faq-general">
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<title>General Questions</title>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>
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Does &kde; support my sound card for audio output?
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</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>
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&kde; uses &arts; to play sound, and &arts; uses the &Linux; kernel
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sound drivers, either <acronym>OSS</acronym> or <acronym>ALSA</acronym>
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(using <acronym>OSS</acronym> emulation). If your sound card is
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supported by either <acronym>ALSA</acronym> or <acronym>OSS</acronym>
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and properly configured (&ie; any other &Linux; application can output
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sound), it will work. There are however some problems with some specific
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hardware, please read the <link linkend="faq-hardware-specific">section
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for hardware specific problems</link> if you're having problems with artsd
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on your machine.
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</para>
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<para>
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Meanwhile also support for various other platforms has been added. Here is
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a complete list of how the most recent version of &arts; can play sound. If
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you have an unsupported platform, please consider porting &arts; to your
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platform.
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</para>
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<informaltable>
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<tgroup cols="2">
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<thead>
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<row>
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<entry>&arts; audio I/O method</entry>
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<entry>Comment</entry>
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</row>
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</thead>
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<tbody>
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<row>
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<entry>paud</entry>
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<entry>Support for AIX Personal Audio Device</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>alsa</entry>
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<entry>Linux ALSA-0.5 and ALSA-0.9 drivers</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>libaudioio</entry>
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<entry>Support for generic LibAudioIO library which works on Solaris</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>nas</entry>
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<entry>NAS sound server, useful for X Terminals with NAS support</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>null</entry>
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<entry>Null audio device, discards sound silently</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>oss</entry>
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<entry>OSS (Open Sound System) support (works on Linux, various BSDs and
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other platforms with OSS drivers installed)</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>toss</entry>
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<entry>Threaded OSS support, which works better in some cases where the
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standard OSS support doesn't work well</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>sgi</entry>
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<entry>SGI Direct Media support for IRIX</entry>
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</row>
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<row>
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<entry>sun</entry>
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<entry>Solaris support</entry>
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</row>
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</tbody>
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</tgroup>
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</informaltable>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question>
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<para>
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I can't play <literal role="extension">wav</literal> files with &artsd;!
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</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>
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Check that &artsd; is linked to <filename>libaudiofile</filename>
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(<userinput><command>ldd</command>
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<parameter>artsd</parameter></userinput>). If it isn't, download
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tdesupport, recompile everything, and it will work.
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|
</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
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|
<para>
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|
I hear sound when logged in as <systemitem
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|
class="username">root</systemitem> but no other users have sound!
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|
</para>
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</question>
|
|
|
|
<answer>
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|
<para>
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The permissions of the file <filename
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class="devicefile">/dev/dsp</filename> affect which users will have
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sound. To allow everyone to use it, do this:
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</para>
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|
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<procedure>
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<step>
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<para>
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Log in as <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem>.
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</para>
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</step>
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<step>
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<para>
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Open a &konqueror; window.
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|
</para>
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</step>
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<step>
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<para>
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Go into the <filename class="directory">/dev</filename> folder.
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</para>
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</step>
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|
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<step>
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<para>
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Click on the file <filename>dsp</filename> with the
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<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> mouse button, and choose properties.
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</para>
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</step>
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|
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<step>
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<para>
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Click on the <guilabel>Permissions</guilabel> tab.
|
|
</para>
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|
</step>
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|
|
|
<step>
|
|
<para>
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Check the <guilabel>Read</guilabel> and <guilabel>Write</guilabel> check
|
|
boxes in all sections.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</step>
|
|
|
|
<step>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Click on <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
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|
</para>
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|
</step>
|
|
</procedure>
|
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|
|
<para>
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You can achieve the same effect in a terminal window using the command
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<userinput><command>chmod</command> <option>666</option>
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<parameter>/dev/dsp</parameter></userinput>.
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</para>
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<para>
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For restricting access to sound to specific users, you can use group
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permissions. On some &Linux; distributions, for instance Debian/Potato,
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<filename class="devicefile">/dev/dsp</filename> is already owned by a
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group called <systemitem class="groupname">audio</systemitem>, so all
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you need to do is add the users to this group.
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|
</para>
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</answer>
|
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</qandaentry>
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|
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<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
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<para>
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|
This helps for &artsd;, but what about &kmix;, &kmid;, &kscd;,&etc;?
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|
</para>
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</question>
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<answer>
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<para>
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There are various other devices which provide functionality accessed by
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multimedia applications. You can treat them in the same way, either by
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making them accessible for everyone, or using groups to control
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access. Here is a list, which may still be incomplete (also if there are
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various devices in a form like <filename
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class="devicefile">midi0</filename>, <filename
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|
class="devicefile">midi1</filename>, ..., then only the 0-version is
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listed here):
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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<filename class="devicefile">/dev/admmidi0</filename>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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<filename class="devicefile">/dev/adsp0</filename>
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/amidi0</filename>
|
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</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
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|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/amixer0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/audio</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/audio0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/cdrom</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/dmfm0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/dmmidi0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/dsp</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/dsp0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/midi0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/midi0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/midi00</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/midi00</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/mixer</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/mixer0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/mpu401data</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/mpu401stat</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/music</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/rmidi0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/rtc</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/sequencer</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/smpte0</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/sndstat</filename>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>What can I do if artsd doesn't start or crashes while running?</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
First of all: try using the default settings in &kcontrol; (or if you
|
|
are starting manually, don't give additional options besides maybe
|
|
<userinput><option>-F</option><parameter>10</parameter>
|
|
<option>-S</option><parameter>4096</parameter></userinput> for
|
|
latency). Especially <emphasis>full duplex is likely to break</emphasis>
|
|
with various drivers, so try disabling it.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
A good way to figure out why &artsd; doesn't start (or crashes while
|
|
running) is to start it manually. Open a &konsole; window, and do:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen width="40"><prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>artsd</command> <option>-F</option><parameter>10</parameter> <option>-S</option><parameter>4096</parameter></userinput></screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
You can also add the <option>-l0</option> option, which will print more
|
|
information about what is happening, like this:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<screen width="40"><prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>artsd</command> <option>-l0</option> <option>-F</option><parameter>10</parameter> <option>-S</option><parameter>4096</parameter></userinput></screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Doing so, you will probably get some useful information why it didn't
|
|
start. Or, if it crashes when doing this-and-that, you can do
|
|
this-and-that, and see <quote>how</quote> it crashes. If you want to
|
|
report a bug, producing a backtrace with <command>gdb</command> and/or
|
|
an <command>strace</command> may help finding the problem.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>Can I relocate &artsd; (move compiled files to another
|
|
folder)?</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
You can't relocate &arts; perfectly. The problem is that &artswrapper;
|
|
has the location of &artsd; compiled in due to security reasons. You can
|
|
however use the <filename>.mcoprc</filename> file
|
|
(TraderPath/ExtensionPath entries) to at least make a relocated &artsd;
|
|
find it's components. See the <link linkend="the-mcoprc-file">chapter
|
|
about the <filename>.mcoprc</filename> file</link> for details on how to
|
|
do this.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>Can I compile &arts; with gcc-3.0?</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Short answer: no, &arts; will not work if you compile it with gcc-3.0.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Long answer: In the official release, there are two gcc-3.0 bugs which affect
|
|
&arts;. The first, gcc-3.0 bug c++/2733 is relatively harmless (and has to do
|
|
with problems with the asm statement). It breaks compilation of convert.cc. It
|
|
has been fixed in the gcc-3.0 CVS, and will no longer be a problem with
|
|
gcc-3.0.1 and higher. A workaround has also been added to the CVS version
|
|
of KDE/aRts.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The second gcc-3.0 bug, c++/3145 (which is generation of wrong code for some
|
|
cases of multiple virtual inheritance) is critical. Applications like &artsd;
|
|
will simply crash on startup when compiled with gcc-3.0. Even if some progress
|
|
has been made in the gcc-3.0 branch at time of this writing, still &artsd;
|
|
crashes quite often, unpredictably.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>What applications run under &arts;?</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Obviously, all of the applications included with &kde; are
|
|
&arts;-aware. This includes:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para>&noatun;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>&arts-builder;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>&aktion;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>&kmid;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>&kmidi;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>&kmix;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>&kscd;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>&kde; games such as &kpoker; and
|
|
&ktuberling;</para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Some &kde; applications that are not yet included in the &kde; release
|
|
(⪚ in kdenonbeta) also support &arts;, including:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para>&brahms;</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para><application>Kaboodle</application></para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para><application>Kdao</application></para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
The following non-&kde; applications are known to work with &arts;:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para><application>xmms</application> (with &arts;
|
|
plug-in)</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>Real Networks <application>RealPlayer</application> 8.0
|
|
(works with &artsdsp;; native &arts; support is being
|
|
considered)</para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
The following applications are known <emphasis>not</emphasis> to work
|
|
with &arts;:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para>none</para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
See also the answers to the questions in the section on
|
|
<link linkend="faq-non-arts">non-&arts; applications</link>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
This section is incomplete -- if you have more information on supported
|
|
and unsupported applications, please send them to the author so they can
|
|
be included here.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
</qandaset>
|
|
|
|
<qandaset id="faq-non-arts">
|
|
<title>Non-&arts; Applications</title>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
As soon as &kde; is running, no other application can access my sound device!
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Since the &arts; sound server used by &kde; is running, it is using the
|
|
sound device. If the server is idle for 60 seconds, it will
|
|
auto-suspend and release it automatically.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
You said it suspends after 60 seconds, it doesn't for me!
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
If you start artsd from the KDE control panel, the default is to suspend
|
|
after 60 seconds. If you start artsd from the command line you need to
|
|
use the -s option to specify the autosuspend time, otherwise it will
|
|
default to disabling the autosuspend feature.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Currently it doesn't suspend when using full duplex. Turn full duplex
|
|
off from the &kcontrol; and it will suspend. Disabling full duplex is
|
|
generally a good idea anyway if you only use &arts; for playing audio
|
|
and not recording.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
How can I run old, non-&arts; applications?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Run them using the &artsdsp;. For instance, if you normally would run:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen><prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>mpg123</command> <option>foo.mp3</option></userinput></screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>instead use:</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen><prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>artsdsp</command> <option>mpg123 foo.mp3</option></userinput></screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
This will redirect the sound output to &arts;. This method doesn't
|
|
require changes to the applications. It is something of an ugly hack
|
|
however, and does not yet fully support all features of the sound card
|
|
device, so some applications may not work.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
I can't run &artsdsp; with any application, it always crashes!
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
You need a recent version of the glibc library; &artsdsp; will not work
|
|
reliably on some older &Linux; distributions. For instance, on Debian
|
|
2.1 (which is glibc 2.0 based) it doesn't work, while on Debian 2.2
|
|
(which is glibc 2.1.3 based), it does.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Are there theoretical limitations with some applications that will
|
|
prevent them from ever working with &artsdsp;?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
No. Using &artsdsp; can result in slightly more latency and
|
|
<acronym>CPU</acronym> usage that using the &arts;
|
|
<acronym>API</acronym>s directly. Other than that, any application that
|
|
doesn't work should be considered a bug in &artsdsp;. The technique used
|
|
by &artsdsp; should, if implemented properly, allow
|
|
<emphasis>every</emphasis> application to work with it (including large
|
|
applications like <application>Quake</application> 3).
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What can I do if an application doesn't work with &artsdsp;?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
You can wait for &artsd; to suspend or use the command
|
|
<userinput><command>artsshell</command>
|
|
<option>suspend</option></userinput> to ask the server to suspend
|
|
itself. You will only be able to suspend the server if no &arts;
|
|
applications are currently using it, and no &arts; applications will be
|
|
able to run when the server is suspended.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
If the server is busy, a crude but effective way to get rid of it is:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<screen><prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>killall</command> <option>artsd</option> ; <command>killall</command> <option>artswrapper</option></userinput>
|
|
<lineannotation>Now start your own application.</lineannotation>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kcminit</command> <option>arts</option></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Any currently running &arts; applications may crash, however, once you
|
|
kill the server.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What about applications written for &kde; 1.x?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
If you are running &kde; 1.x applications, which output sound via the
|
|
&kde; 1 audio server, you will need to run
|
|
<application>kaudioserver</application> to make it work. You can start
|
|
<application>kaudioserver</application> in the same way than other
|
|
non-&arts;-applications:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>artsdsp</command> <option>kaudioserver</option></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
You will need to have installed kaudioserver (from the same source where
|
|
you got your &kde; 1.x applications from) - it belongs to &kde; 1.x, not
|
|
&kde; 2.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What about applications using the enlightened sound daemon,
|
|
<acronym>ESD</acronym>?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The issue is similar than with
|
|
<application>kaudioserver</application>. Such applications will need a
|
|
running esd server. You can start <command>esd</command> via &artsdsp;,
|
|
and every <acronym>ESD</acronym> aware application should work fine,
|
|
like this:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>artsdsp</command> <option>esd</option></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Newer versions of aRts (>= 1.2.0) also can also use the enlightened sound
|
|
daemon instead of directly accessing the soundcard. On the command line, you
|
|
can use the -a option, such as
|
|
</para>
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>artsd</command> <option>-a esd</option></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
<para>
|
|
to get EsounD support, whereas in KDE, you can use kcontrol to configure artsd
|
|
to use esd via Sound -> Sound Server -> Sound I/O.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
</qandaset>
|
|
|
|
<qandaset id="faq-latency">
|
|
<title>Latency</title>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
I sometimes hear short pauses when listening to music, is this a bug?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
This is most likely not a bug, but caused by the fact that the &Linux;
|
|
kernel is not very good at real-time scheduling. There are situations
|
|
where &arts; will not be able to keep up with playback. You can,
|
|
however, enable real-time rights (via &kcontrol;), and use a large
|
|
latency setting (like <guilabel>250ms</guilabel> or <guilabel>don't
|
|
care</guilabel>), which should improve the situation.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What's the effect of the response time setting?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The help text for this setting in the &kcontrol; can be misleading. A
|
|
lower value means that &arts; will take less time to respond to external
|
|
events (&ie;. the time that it takes between closing a window and
|
|
hearing a sound played by &artsd;). It will also use more
|
|
<acronym>CPU</acronym> resources, and be more likely to cause
|
|
dropouts.</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Is there anything else I can do to prevent pauses?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
For users of <acronym>IDE</acronym> drives, you can use the
|
|
<command>hdparm</command> command to put your <acronym>IDE</acronym>
|
|
drive in <acronym>DMA</acronym> mode. A word of warning: this does not
|
|
work on all hardware, and can result in having to do a hard reset or in
|
|
rare cases, data loss. Read the documentation for the
|
|
<command>hdparm</command> command for more details. I have successfully
|
|
used the following command:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>hdparm</command> <option>-c1</option> <option>-d1</option> <option>-k1</option> <option>-K1</option> <parameter>/dev/hda</parameter></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
You need to run this after every boot, so you might want to place it in
|
|
a system startup script (how to do this distribution specific, on Debian
|
|
&Linux; it is usually put in <filename>/etc/rc.boot</filename>).
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Realtime priority doesn't seem to have any effect for me?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Verify that artswrapper is really installed suid <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem>, like it is supposed to
|
|
be. A lot of distributions (SuSE7.x for instance) don't do this. You can verify
|
|
this using: ls -l $(which artswrapper). Good:
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>ls</command> <option>-l</option> <parameter>$(which artswrapper)</parameter></userinput>
|
|
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root root 4556 Sep 24 18:05 /opt/kde2/bin/artswrapper
|
|
</screen>
|
|
Bad:
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>ls</command> <option>-l</option> <parameter>$(which artswrapper)</parameter></userinput>
|
|
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4556 Sep 24 18:05 /opt/kde2/bin/artswrapper
|
|
</screen>
|
|
If you are not having the s, you can get it using:
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>chown</command> <option>root</option> <parameter>$(which artswrapper)</parameter></userinput>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>chmod</command> <option>4755</option> <parameter>$(which artswrapper)</parameter></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>If you make &artswrapper; SUID <systemitem
|
|
class="username">root</systemitem>, it will likely improve the quality
|
|
of your audio playback by reducing gaps in the music. However, it
|
|
also increases the risk that a bug in the code or a malicious user can
|
|
crash or otherwise harm your machine. In addition, on multi-user
|
|
machines, prioritizing high-quality audio may result in deteriorated
|
|
performance for the users who are trying to make
|
|
<quote>productive</quote> use of the machine.</para>
|
|
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Why is &artsd; taking so much <acronym>CPU</acronym> time?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Check your response time settings. However, the current version is not
|
|
yet really optimized. This will improve, and until then no real
|
|
prediction can be made how fast &artsd; can or can't be.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
</qandaset>
|
|
|
|
<qandaset id="faq-network">
|
|
<title>Network Transparency</title>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What do I need for network transparency?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Enable it in the &kcontrol; <guilabel>Sound Server</guilabel> settings
|
|
(<guilabel>enable X11 server for security information</guilabel> and
|
|
<guilabel>network transparency</guilabel>). Then copy your
|
|
<filename>.mcoprc</filename> to all machines you plan to use network
|
|
transparency from. Log in again. Make sure that the hosts that interact
|
|
know each other by name (&ie; they have resolvable names or are in
|
|
<filename>/etc/hosts</filename>).
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
This should be all you need to do. However, if it still doesn't work
|
|
here are some additional details. The &arts; sound server process,
|
|
&artsd;, should only run on one host, the one with the sound card where
|
|
the sound should be played. It can be started automatically on login by
|
|
&kde; (if you configure that in &kcontrol;), or manually using something
|
|
like:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>artsd</command> <option>-n</option> <option>-F</option> <parameter>5</parameter> <option>-S</option> <parameter>8192</parameter></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
The <option>-n</option> parameter is for network transparency, while the
|
|
others configure latency.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Your <filename>.mcoprc</filename> file should have this entry:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<userinput>GlobalComm=Arts::X11GlobalComm</userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
on all machines involved, in order for network transparency to work,
|
|
This is what is enabled by the <guilabel>X11 server for security
|
|
information</guilabel> control panel setting.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Finally, in any &kde; version in the 2.0.x series, there is a bug which
|
|
applies if you don't have a domain name set. Clients of &artsd; try to
|
|
find where to connect to via the <systemitem
|
|
class="systemname"><replaceable>hostname</replaceable>.<replaceable>domainname</replaceable></systemitem>
|
|
combination. If your domain name is empty, it will try to connect to
|
|
<systemitem
|
|
class="systemname"><replaceable>hostname</replaceable></systemitem>. (note
|
|
the extra dot). Adding an entry like this to
|
|
<filename>/etc/hosts</filename> (&ie; <userinput>orion.</userinput> if
|
|
your hostname is <systemitem class="systemname">orion</systemitem>)
|
|
works around the problem.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
How do I debug network transparency if it doesn't work?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Assuming you have the &kde; source code, go to <filename
|
|
class="directory">tdelibs/arts/examples</filename>, and run
|
|
<userinput><command>make</command> <option>check</option></userinput> to
|
|
compile some programs, including
|
|
<application>referenceinfo</application>. Then run
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen>
|
|
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>./referenceinfo</command> <option>global:Arts_SimpleSoundServer</option></userinput>
|
|
</screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
The output will indicate the host name and port being used by
|
|
&arts;. For example, <computeroutput>tcp:orion:1698</computeroutput>
|
|
would mean that any client trying to use network transparency should
|
|
know how to reach host <systemitem
|
|
class="systemname">orion</systemitem>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
</qandaset>
|
|
|
|
<qandaset id="faq-hardware-specific">
|
|
<title>Hardware specific questions</title>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What hardware artsd doesn't work well with?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
It seems that there are a few linux drivers which don't work well with aRts in
|
|
some kernel versions. Please read this list before reporting a bug. If you
|
|
find that some information in this list is incomplete, please don't hesitate
|
|
to let us know.
|
|
|
|
<informaltable>
|
|
<tgroup cols="4">
|
|
<thead>
|
|
<row>
|
|
<entry>Linux Driver / Soundcard</entry>
|
|
<entry>Fails under</entry>
|
|
<entry>Works under</entry>
|
|
<entry>Remarks</entry>
|
|
</row>
|
|
</thead>
|
|
|
|
<tbody>
|
|
<row>
|
|
<entry>i810 driver (Intel 810 + AC97 Audio)</entry>
|
|
<entry>2.4.9</entry>
|
|
<entry>2.4.18, 2.2.20, commercial oss driver, alsa-0.5.12a with OSS emulation</entry>
|
|
<entry>driver causes cpu overload (see below)</entry>
|
|
</row>
|
|
|
|
<row>
|
|
<entry>maestro 3/4 chipset</entry>
|
|
<entry>2.4.9</entry>
|
|
<entry>?</entry>
|
|
<entry>driver sometimes causes cpu overload (see below)</entry>
|
|
</row>
|
|
|
|
<row>
|
|
<entry>aureal8820, aureal8830 drivers from sourceforge</entry>
|
|
<entry>2.4.17</entry>
|
|
<entry>?</entry>
|
|
<entry>driver triggers assertion / causes cpu overload (see below)</entry>
|
|
</row>
|
|
|
|
<row>
|
|
<entry>OSS Commercial 3.9.4g with Aureal Vortex</entry>
|
|
<entry>?</entry>
|
|
<entry>?</entry>
|
|
<entry>system lockup</entry>
|
|
</row>
|
|
|
|
<row>
|
|
<entry>ymfpci</entry>
|
|
<entry>2.4.0, 2.4.12</entry>
|
|
<entry>2.4.17</entry>
|
|
<entry>driver triggers assertion (see below)</entry>
|
|
</row>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</tbody>
|
|
</tgroup>
|
|
</informaltable>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Why are there hardware specific problems and how do I see them?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The usual problem is that the driver doesn't supply aRts with enough or accurate
|
|
enough information on when to write sound data. Most OSS drivers do supply
|
|
correct information, but not all.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
You might notice that some other applications (like xmms) may not need this
|
|
data, and thus work correctly even with your hardware. However, &arts; needs
|
|
this data, so artsd might fail. This is still a bug in the driver, and not
|
|
in &arts;.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
There are two kinds of behavior that artsd exposes on being run on an incorrect
|
|
driver. Either, it continously tries to feed new data, but never really
|
|
succeeds, which eventually leads to consuming all CPU power and reporting
|
|
<emphasis>cpu overload</emphasis> and exiting. The other problem is that artsd
|
|
might get supplied with wrong information how much to write. Artsd will then
|
|
<emphasis>stop with an assertion</emphasis> like:
|
|
<screen>
|
|
artsd: audiosubsys.cc:458: void Arts::AudioSubSystem::handleIO(int):
|
|
Assertion `len == can_write' failed.
|
|
Aborted
|
|
</screen>
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What is wrong in the driver if I get the cpu overload problem?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Usually, artsd uses select() to find out when to write new data. Then, it
|
|
uses an ioctl(...GETOSPACE...) to find out how much data to write. Finally,
|
|
it writes this data.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
A problem occurs if artsd is woken up either always or if there are minimal
|
|
amounts of data to write. The OSS documentation specifies that select() only
|
|
wakes up a process if there is at least one fragment to write. However, if
|
|
artsd is woken up if there isn't data to write, or very little, for instance
|
|
one sample, then it will keep writing little pieces of audio data, which can
|
|
be very costly, and eventually overload the cpu.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
To fix this, the driver should wake up artsd only if there is a full fragment
|
|
to write.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
What is wrong in the driver if I get the assertion?
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Usually, artsd uses select() to find out when to write new data. Then, it
|
|
uses an ioctl(...GETOSPACE...) to find out how much data to write. Finally,
|
|
it writes this data.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
If artsd can't write as much data as indicated by the ioctl, it will fail in
|
|
the assertion. To fix this, the driver should supply the correct amount of
|
|
free space.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
</qandaset>
|
|
|
|
<qandaset id="faq-other">
|
|
<title>Other Issues</title>
|
|
|
|
<qandaentry>
|
|
<question>
|
|
<para>
|
|
I can't use &arts-builder;. It crashes when executing a module!
|
|
</para>
|
|
</question>
|
|
<answer>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The most likely cause is that you are using old structures or modules
|
|
which aren't supported with the &kde; 2 version. Unfortunately the
|
|
documentation which is on the web refers to &arts;-0.3.4.1 which is
|
|
quite outdated. The most often reported crash is: that performing an
|
|
execute structure in &arts-builder; results in the error message
|
|
<errorname>[artsd] Synth_PLAY: audio subsystem is already
|
|
used.</errorname>
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
You should use a Synth_AMAN_PLAY instead of a Synth_PLAY module and the
|
|
problem will go away. Also see the &arts-builder; help file (hit
|
|
<keycap>F1</keycap> in &arts-builder;).
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Recent versions of &arts-builder; (&kde; 2.1 beta 1 and later) come with
|
|
a set of examples which you can use.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</answer>
|
|
</qandaentry>
|
|
|
|
</qandaset>
|
|
|
|
</chapter>
|